Атсуко Асано

For Shion, an elite student in the computerized metropolis known as NO. 6, life is choreographed to the minute. So when a storm descends, he opens the window to soak in a rare moment of chaos-only to find an injured boy desperate for shelter! But Shion's compassion shatters his perfect life when the boy turns out to be a fugitive, on the run from the mysterious powers that rule the city...

With the help of the enigmatic Rat, Shion becomes a fugitive, escaping No. 6 and getting his first glimpse of the desperation and violence that are facts of life outside the city wall. And as Shion learns more about the secret that forced him into exile, his loyalty to the people he left behind and Rat's thirst for revenge threaten to tear the pair apart!

On the run from NO. 6, Shion moves in with Rat in West Block. Though life outside the comfort of the city is a trial, Shion learns to survive. Meanwhile, back in Chronos, the elite core of No. 6, Safu begins to look into Shion's disappearance only to find herself under arrest! What can Shion possibly do from exile to help his lifelong friend?

Safu is a prisoner on the top floor of the Correctional Facility. Shion and Rat manage to slip back in amid the chaos sown by Dogkeeper, but what they find is almost too terrifying to conceive countless neatly organized rows of corpses, with their brains removed! Backed into a corner, Rat is ready for death, but Shion seizes a weapon, and insists on surviving at any cost!

Shion accidentally learning that his childhood friend Safu is under arrest - and all because of him! Not wanting to get Rat involved, Shion sets out alone to save her. But how can he possibly infiltrate No. 6's secure correctional facility and escape with a high-priority prisoner all on his own?

Soldiers from No. 6 suddenly begin a massacre of unarmed civilians, hauling the survivors off to the correctional facility! The only way to get into the facility to save Safu is to get swept up in the dragnet. But once Shion and Rat arrive, what they find is a hell worse than they could have imagined...

A series of strange incidents cast a pall over No. 6 as it prepares to celebrate its "Holy Day." Meanwhile, in the tunnels beneath the Correctional Facility, Shion and Rat meet with the mysterious "Elder," who reveals the perverse origins of No. 6, and their connection to Rat's past. How will Rat react when Shion begins to touch his most secret scars?