The trial was a circus. Essentially what happened was that Kai Munenori was cornered in the forest near the Ketsueki home and brutally murdered. He was a loan officer who collected the payments. The prosecution argued that Bisharp believed Kai was attempting to break into their home or attack him so murdered him with excessive brutality, thus invalidating any self-defense laws. Worse still was that Bisharp had explored the forest before and therefore, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that Bisharp could've run into him. The mandatory psych test before trial was an additional nail in the coffin. Psychologists found out that Bisharp suffered from psychopathy.

However, all was not lost. Osoroshi had spared no expense to get an extremely talented attorney to defend her son. Momoku Masayoshi. A Garchomp defense lawyer who was renowned across the country. It was certainly a costly decision, but with the glory of the Ketsueki bloodline on the line, Osoroshi believed it was worth the price. Even with Momoku on their side, the trial lasted for days. Due to the lack of witnesses, both sides argued back and forth about whether or not Bisharp and Kai could've possibly met, not aided by the fact that Bisharp refused to testify. The prosecution made a grave mistake, however, they tried to emphasize Bisharp's mental illness as proof that he committed the act. Momoku pounced on that advantage.

Like in the UR, the burden of proof to incriminate someone was beyond a shadow of a doubt, known as Juzentaru in Nihonera. It's slightly easy since you only need 14 out of 15 witnesses to declare someone guilty, but still a hard task. Momoku argued that his psychopathy had nothing to do with the crime. More importantly, even with this disorder, he had lived a peaceful life. He never demonstrated malicious behavior prior and had been friends with someone as testified by a teacher of his. That someone was unable to testify, but Osoroshi confirmed it on the stand. As if that wasn't enough, Momoku then argued that since Kai was a loan officer, it was likely that he was killed by someone who couldn't pay off their debts and that someone could've just left them in the forest, thinking that no one would find it. Desperation is the mother of all crimes,

A split jury was unable to convict Bisharp on these grounds. He had been freed. But something was wrong. Bisharp didn't care about the result. He only had one question on his mind. Where was Meowstic?

Stepping out of the courthouse, Bisharp saw hundreds of people all standing around the court. They were separated from him and his mother by a fenced pathway. Everyone there glared at him with venom that could kill a city. It was humiliating. All of these people surrounded him, staring at him for a crime he didn't commit. He could tell what they thought of him, he could see it in their eyes. Though he was declared innocent via mistrial, the crowd saw a trail of blood behind him.

The very next day had arrived. Bisharp walked his way to school with the caution of a soldier in enemy territory, looking around for the slightest glint of danger. The building came into view as dozens of students enter the school. When they saw him, they all glared at him with hate in their eyes. Scoffing at them, Bisharp ignored them. He continued into the school without paying them any mind. He knew why they were angry. He just wanted to see if any one of them had the balls to act out on it.

When he arrived at his locker, he saw that they were more than willing to show how much they despised him. It was covered in graffiti that read,

"HE DID IT."

"PSYCHOPATH HERE."

"BLOODY HANDS."

It pissed him off. He scowled at the graffiti before trying to open his locker again. Someone was willing to be more upfront with his hatred and grabbed Bisharp by the shoulder and spun him around. Bisharp was met with the ugly face of a Throh, who snapped at him,

"Listen here, ax head! That lawyer bitch may have gotten you out of prison, but we know who you really are! We all saw those psych records!" Bisharp didn't react. He simply glared at him before pushing past Throh. Indigent, Throhstepped in front of Bisharp again and pushed him away, "Don't you ignore me! I am not going to let you roam around in my school!"

"Fuck off," replied Bisharp darkly. A Leavanny on the sidelines then piped up,

"Get out of here, murderer!" Someone then threw a can of soda at Bisharp, which dinked off of his head. This encouraged others to join in and throw trash at the steel type. Bisharp turned around and left. He knew when he wasn't welcome

Even as he left, he was still receiving harassment. The townsfolk. The shops were opening and people were beginning to make their way to work. Upon seeing him, they all jeered at him,

"We know the truth, murderer!"

"Who are you killing next?!" Bisharp tried to ignore them as he had before, but someone was out for blood.

A briefcase slammed into the side of his head. The impact knocked him to the floor. Bisharp looked up to see a businessman staring at him with an inferno in his eyes. The businessman violently yelled at Bisharp,

"Say something! Confess your guilt! We all know you did it!"

"Fuck. Off," hissed Bisharp. Other people roared at him, and another man grabbed a trash can and threw it at the steel-type. Bisharp rolled out of the way and began to sprint from the place. As he did so, he ducked and weaved past hammers, flower pots, bursts of water, fireballs, and anything that could hurt him. As he ran, something began to brew within him

He didn't do anything. Momoku had confirmed that he was innocent. All they had now was his mental condition. That was the only reason they were upset at him. Look at all of them, dirty pigs. They all thought them better than him, better than the Ketsueki bloodline. Now they saw his sociopathy and viewed him as nothing. But he wasn't going to prove them right.

The trail back home only made his anger more severe. It allowed him to ruminate on what had happened to him. All he could do was find his way home and perform for the emperor. He'd show them all. They'd all kneel before him and beg for forgiveness. He could now see his house and he decided to dedicate himself to his training, but first, he had to inform his mother of what was happening.

He opened the front door and saw Osoroshi staring at a letter. Her eyes were wide and glassy. It was as though she was traumatized by something. Worriedly, he asked her,

"What's wrong?" Wordlessly, Osoroshi stood up and walked away from the counter. It was like she was possessed by something. She limply walked into her room without uttering a word. Now confused and as close as he could get to frightened, Bisharp stepped over to the counter and grabbed the paper, and what he read made his blood run cold.

"To Osoroshi Ketsueki. As of the time of me writing this, your son's trial is still underway. I deeply apologize, but the royal family cannot risk a murderer stepping foot in the palace. That would be a horrible look. I apologize but your Onobuki is canceled. -Emperor Taguchi Kazuhiko"

That was it. That was his opportunity. His one chance to prove himself. To his parents, to those nobodies, to the entire country, and it was gone. Not a drop of blood had been shed, but the Ketsueki bloodline was dead.

Bisharp dropped the letter and watched it drift onto the floor. Opportunity wasted. But at that moment, Bisharp felt something for other people. For the first time in his entire life, he held an emotional response to someone other than himself, a feeling he get's whenever he lays eyes upon them.

That feeling was rage.

One of those rats had framed him. That was the only way any of this happened. Some rat bastard knew that he was heading to that capital and framed him. But who knew? Which one of them had the capability to do this? Who knew where he lived? Who had he told about his Onobuki? Who wanted him to remain trapped in this stupid hick town?

The door knocked. Bisharp looked back and got into a battle stance. Slowly, he approached the door, but a voice then called out from the other side,

"Curudo! It's me! Shiawase!" Upon hearing this, Bisharp felt relieved and opened the door. He needed a friendly face now more than ever, Meowstic then hugged Bisharp tightly, "I heard about what happened to you! I'm sorry I couldn't be there to help! I caught Pokerus." Bisharp patted Meowstic's head. Seeing a friend gave him some relief. Though he was unable to feel thankful toward his friend, he could recognize that having a comrade in this dire situation was important.

For a while, the two just stood there. Both of them needed to see the other separately after all this time and both were receptive to this embrace. Bisharp's fury from before began to fade away like a sand castle under the waves of a beach. Slowly vanishing under the pressure until there was nothing left but a small pile. But as with any pile of seemingly nothing, all it takes is an act of passion to build it back up, larger than ever, for a single glimmer of doubt popped his head.

It was oddly convenient that Meowstic was sick during his trial. He knew that Bisharp lived here and would've traveled the path toward his home numerous times. Enough to know where to place a body. But that couldn't be true, trust was a universal concept, even to the emotionless. After all these years, there was no reason for Meowstic to betray him. He was just being paranoid. That was it. That was all this was.

But not everyone is perfect. Everybody makes mistakes, and Meowstic was about to make the biggest mistake of his life.

"I'm sorry about what happened to you. Maybe a trip to the fair will cheer you up?"

That was it. That was all he said. But it triggered something within Bisharp. Within seconds, it all made sense. What Meowstic had said all those days ago. The hatred that had fizzled out had exploded into a grand wildfire, ready to consume Meowstic in its fiery grip. Mother was right. This was all a part of Meowstic's plan to bring shame onto the Ketsueki bloodline. He wanted Bisharp to stay trapped in this hellhole, all so he could keep his stupid childhood alive! How dare he? How dare he use his trust to destroy the reputation of his family? How dare this…thing call itself his friend?

"YOU," seethed Bisharp. Meowstic immediately recognized the hatred in Bisharp's voice and looked up to meet a glare that held murder within him. Panicked, he let go of the steel-type and backed away,

"Wh-Wh-What do you mean?"

"You did this to me!" snapped Bisharp, "You were the one who killed that man!"

"N-No! I didn't do anything!"

"LIAR!" roared Bisharp, far too angry to care about anything this thing said. Tears welled up in Meowstic's eyes as he stepped back,

"I'm being honest! Please calm down!" begged Meowstic.

"You never wanted me to go to the capital, so you and your lot of worthless trash made this whole plan to sabotage me!"

"There is no plan!" sobbed Meowstic, "Just listen to me!" In an instant, Bisharp slashed at Meowstic's legs, cutting them deeply and forcing him onto the floor. Meowstic cried out in pain as he clutched his legs, blood pooling around him. He begged Bisharp,

"Please! I didn't do anything! Don't kill me! Please! Please! I won't tell anyone, I promise! We're friends!" but his pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears.

"YOU WERE NEVER MY FRIEND!" roared Bisharp as he raised one of his wrist blades, "LET ME SHOW YOU YOUR PLACE!"

That night, Bisharp left Weskrin. He couldn't bare to spend one more second in this town of traitors. He'd get his revenge. But he couldn't just kill them, no, that was far too kind for them. They needed to suffer, each and every one of them. They all needed to feel every little bit of pain that tried to inflict on him. They needed to be broken down into broken heaps before he ends their pathetic lives. All of them deserved the worst fate imaginable. So imagine his luck when he heard about the Eclipse Gem.

See, this was never about sending the world into eternal slumber. That was just for the idiots. As soon as he summoned Darkrai, he would slaughter the lot before plunging Weskrin into a nightmare hellscape. Each and every fear they had would be magnified tenfold until their minds were broken. Until they all begged for the sweet release of death. But even that wasn't good enough. It would never be enough for Bisharp.

He planned to extend this suffering for as long as possible. Darkrai was a god. Surely, he could distort how these people perceived time. That way, when he made his way to each and every household and bled everyone out like pigs, he could do so knowing that those traitors would feel that pain for years, decades even. His lawyer said that he could've lived a normal life, even with his psychopathy, and that was true. He could've. Alas, the people of Weskrin refused to understand that. They created a monster. Weskrin had killed a man that day, and only pure hate remained.

His anger has flourished in the years after that day. Like an invasive species, every day he thought about the betrayal, fueling his loathing until it overshadowed everything else. That is why he would never trust anyone ever again. He knew what betrayal was like and he would forgive them. Moving on was forgiving them in his mind, and he'd rather kill himself than do that.

Back to the present, Bisharp was carrying a few bags when he looked back at Umbreon and Sableye. The two struggled to carry everything on them. Bisharp just smirked. They were right where they belonged, under his thumb. Servants to be disposed of as soon as their use had run out. For he was a Ketsueki, and though that name meant nothing anymore, he still clung to that, but it was nowhere near as important to him anymore. The only positive memory left from that day,

Was seeing the traitor where he belongs.