Morning inside Federation X , Researchers carried unfinished reports between laboratories, medical drones continued repairing Kanji's battered body without interruption, and engineers spent the early hours rebuilding communication systems damaged less by the previous day's broadcast than by Tenka's increasingly aggressive attempts to discover who had created it. Life insisted upon moving forward with almost irritating normality, yet for Tenka, normality had become considerably more difficult annoying.
She had slept for exactly two hours.
Every time she closed her eyes, another inconsistency from the battle returned to the front of her mind. Enazumi's final movements. he unknown suited man. The mysterious organization behind the crimson "Z." Individually, each mystery would have occupied months of research. Together they formed a puzzle so enormous that even deciding where to begin had become frustratingly difficult.
After another unsuccessful attempt to reconstruct the broadcast's transmission route, she finally surrendered for the morning, quietly closing the final holographic display before leaving the command center in search of something she rarely allowed herself during working hours: a genuine break.
The library occupied one of the quietest sections of Federation X, hidden beneath three floors dedicated almost entirely to archives and historical research. Officially, Tenka visited it whenever she needed reference material unavailable through digital databases.
Unofficially, one particular bookshelf concealed a collection she had personally assembled over several years without informing anyone else. She carefully checked both ends of the corridor before sliding several technical manuals aside, revealing an entire row of manga tucked discreetly behind books discussing quantum mechanics and advanced Yin theory.
Satisfied that nobody had witnessed the small ritual, she selected the newest volume, sat beside the window overlooking the artificial garden and opened it with the unmistakable expression of someone momentarily escaping responsibilities.
She barely reached the third page before laughing under her breath.
It wasn't a sophisticated story.
Half the characters solved problems through misunderstandings that could have disappeared after a single honest conversation.
Objectively...
It wasn't even particularly well written.
She loved it anyway.
For twenty peaceful minutes the world's greatest strategist became nothing more than another reader quietly following fictional lives considerably simpler than her own.
There were mornings when Tenka suspected that was precisely why she kept returning to stories like these. Fiction rarely obeyed logic completely, yet unlike reality, it always promised that eventually every mystery would receive an answer.
Her communicator vibrated softly against the table.
Work.
She sighed.
Closed the volume.
Carefully hid it behind the same textbooks.
Then immediately looked around to confirm nobody had seen any of that.
"...Good."
She had almost escaped unnoticed.
Almost.
One elderly librarian looked up from the reception desk.
He smiled.
She immediately pretended she had been searching for a textbook the entire time.
Several hours later, another habit.
Tenka sat alone inside her office, one monitor displaying international news while another remained occupied by a live stream belonging to an online strategy tournament she had followed for months. Instead of money, viewers competed by predicting match outcomes using digital points accumulated simply by watching previous broadcasts. There were no prizes.
She was currently ranked...
Fourth.
Which annoyed her immensely.
Tenka – "...No, don't attack from there. He's clearly baiting you."
The player attacked.
Lost immediately.
Tenka closed both eyes.
"...Unbelievable."
Without hesitation she invested nearly half her remaining prediction points into the next match.
A minute later...
She had lost those too.
She leaned back in her chair.
Folded both arms.
Stared at the ceiling.
Tenka – "Statistically, that decision made no sense."
The chat exploded with celebration.
Someone typed:
"OMEGALOL SO BAD!"
Tenka quietly muted the stream.
Around noon she stopped by the medical wing under the perfectly reasonable justification of reviewing Kanji's recovery progress. The doctors presented updated reports while automated systems projected encouraging improvements across every physiological indicator. She listened attentively, asked several precise questions and approved minor adjustments to the treatment schedule before leaving exactly as expected.
Or at least...
That had been her intention.
Akashi happened to be sitting outside Kanji's room.
He wasn't reading.
Wasn't even thinking particularly hard about anything.
He had somehow become completely fascinated by watching one of the maintenance robots replace ceiling lights.
Tenka quietly stopped walking.
She observed him.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Fifteen.
How could someone capable of fighting Enazumi become so interested in a robot changing light bulbs?
The robot finished.
Akashi nodded to himself with obvious satisfaction.
"...Efficient."
A tiny smile appeared on Tenka's face before she realized she had been smiling.
At exactly that moment...
Akashi turned.
Their eyes met.
Tenka immediately looked toward an entirely unrelated wall with astonishing determination, as though examining reinforced concrete had suddenly become the most important task scheduled for the afternoon.
Akashi – "Were you looking at me?"
She answered much too quickly.
Tenka – "No."
Akashi tilted his head.
Akashi – "You were smiling."
Tenka – "I absolutely was not."
He looked genuinely puzzled.
"...Okay."
Then...
He returned to watching another maintenance robot carrying replacement cables down the hallway.
Within approximately three seconds...
He had already forgotten the conversation.
Tenka remained standing there for another moment, slowly turning back toward him.
He hadn't looked again.
Not once.
Her expression gradually flattened.
Tenka – "...You're unbelievable."
She wasn't entirely sure whether that sentence referred to his strength...
His curiosity...
Or the infuriating ease with which he moved on to something else.
She continued walking.
Perhaps a little faster than before.
By the time she reached the command center again, her composure had returned completely. Researchers greeted her with questions regarding the mysterious broadcast, engineers requested authorization for additional security measures and doctors submitted new reports concerning Kanji's recovery.
Sleep arrived for Omoshiro. Unlike most members of Federation X, whose minds remained occupied long after finishing their work, he possessed the unusual ability to fall asleep almost anywhere without effort, whether upon a couch inside the observation lounge, beneath one of the trees growing in the Federation's artificial garden or even across several chairs pushed together inside the library.
His body never seemed interested in maintaining rigid schedules, and because Theta continued gathering information even while he slept, he rarely considered those long naps to be wasted time. They simply represented another way of allowing the world to continue existing around him while he quietly listened.
Unfortunately...
Akashi had discovered this.
Omoshiro had barely managed to close his eyes across one of the recreation room sofas when footsteps approached with absolutely no attempt at subtlety. He recognized them immediately, though pretending to remain asleep occasionally delayed the inevitable by several seconds. It never worked for very long. Akashi quietly leaned over the back of the sofa until his face occupied almost Omoshiro's entire field of vision before speaking with the unmistakable enthusiasm .
Akashi – "Wake up. I want to spar."
Omoshiro opened one eye.
Omoshiro – "No."
Akashi – "Come on. It'll be fun."
Omoshiro – "I'm asleep."
Akashi – "You're talking surprisingly well for someone asleep."
Omoshiro – "It's one of my talents."
Akashi remained silent for several thoughtful seconds before lightly poking Omoshiro's forehead.
Akashi – "Are you angry yet?"
Omoshiro – "No."
Another poke.
Akashi – "Now?"
Omoshiro – "Still no."
A third poke followed, accompanied by an expression suggesting Akashi considered the experiment genuinely important.
Akashi – "I'm starting to think you physically can't get angry."
Omoshiro sighed, slowly sat upright and looked directly at him.
Omoshiro – "I'm starting to think you wake me up just to test that theory."
Akashi smiled broadly.
Akashi – "Exactly."
Satisfied with the answer, he stood up and walked away as though the entire interaction had perfectly accomplished its purpose. Omoshiro watched him disappear around the corner before quietly lying back down, wondering for perhaps the hundredth time whether Akashi truly behaved like this with everyone or whether he had somehow become the chosen target of an endless series of harmless experiments.
Curiously, despite the constant interruptions, he never found himself genuinely annoyed. If anything, the absurd predictability of Akashi's behavior had become strangely comforting.
Later that afternoon, Tenka found him asleep in exactly the same place.
She stood beside the sofa with both hands resting on her hips, studying him with the patient disappointment of someone who had already predicted this outcome before beginning her search. Around her, researchers hurried through the corridors carrying reports while engineers discussed repairs to the communication systems damaged during the mysterious broadcast. Federation X continued operating with disciplined urgency. Omoshiro, meanwhile, had somehow managed to sleep through nearly all of it.
Tenka – "You're asleep again."
One eye slowly opened.
Omoshiro – "Yes."
Tenka – "Do you ever do anything besides sleeping?"
He thought about the question sincerely.
Omoshiro – "Sometimes I eat."
Tenka closed her eyes for a brief moment.
Tenka – "That wasn't supposed to be a difficult question."
Omoshiro remained perfectly serious.
Omoshiro – "It wasn't."
She couldn't decide whether she wanted to laugh or lecture him.
Eventually she settled for neither.
Tenka – "Go find Akashi. The two of you should spend some time outside the training rooms. You're beginning to resemble brothers, and I'm fairly certain if I don't intervene, both of you are going to develop habits that make even less sense than they already do."
Omoshiro blinked.
Omoshiro – "Brothers?"
Tenka answered immediately.
Tenka – "Yes. One of you keeps dragging the other into trouble, and the other somehow always follows despite pretending he isn't interested. I've watched this happen for weeks."
She turned away before he could respond, quietly muttering to herself.
Tenka – "Honestly... I'm starting to feel like I'm raising children."
Omoshiro watched her disappear down the corridor.
Then looked toward the ceiling.
"...Children."
He wasn't entirely convinced she was wrong.
By evening, Akashi eventually found him exactly where Tenka expected he would: standing alone outside Federation X beneath the enormous shadow cast by Yggdrasil. The tree dominated the horizon with impossible majesty, its branches disappearing beyond the clouds while its trunk stretched so wide that even entire buildings appeared insignificant beside it. Omoshiro had visited this place countless times since joining the Federation, yet every visit left him with exactly the same sensation.
It felt...
Familiar.
As though something hidden beneath the bark recognized him.
Akashi approached without speaking at first, standing beside him while following Omoshiro's gaze toward the immense branches disappearing into the heavens.
Several minutes passed comfortably.
Finally, Akashi spoke.
Akashi – "You come here a lot."
Omoshiro nodded.
Omoshiro – "Almost every day."
Akashi – "Looking for something?"
His answer came slowly.
Omoshiro – "No."
Another pause.
Omoshiro – "...Waiting."
Akashi glanced toward him.
Akashi – "For what?"
Omoshiro continued staring upward.
Omoshiro – "I don't know."
The honesty of that answer surprised neither of them.
For weeks, perhaps months, Omoshiro had searched Federation X's archives for every historical reference remotely connected to a world tree.
He had explored Norse mythology, ancient Mesopotamian records, forgotten Japanese legends, obscure religious texts, archaeological reports and manuscripts so old that nobody remembered who first translated them.
Every search ended the same way. Fragments. Contradictions. Metaphors mistaken for history and history mistaken for metaphor. The more he learned, the less the tree resembled anything humanity had ever successfully described.
Yet every time he stood before it...
He felt called.
Akashi eventually sat down in the grass, folding both hands behind his head while continuing to study the enormous branches overhead. Unlike Omoshiro, he never searched for meaning inside the tree.
Akashi – "You know..."
Omoshiro looked toward him.
Akashi – "Whatever's calling you probably isn't in a book."
Omoshiro smiled faintly.
One of those almost invisible smiles that appeared only when he genuinely appreciated something.
Omoshiro – "I know."
Akashi laughed softly.
Akashi – "Then why keep reading them?"
Omoshiro lowered his eyes toward the grass before answering.
Omoshiro – "Because if the answer isn't there... I'll at least understand why it isn't."
Akashi – "Fighting me probably has a higher chance of showing the reason to why the tree seens to call you."
Omoshiro looked at him.
Omoshiro – "...uhm, sure.."
Consciousness returned gradually, The pain remained. The scars remained. But the purpose that had driven him through years of suffering no longer occupied the same place inside his heart.
His eyelids slowly opened.
The ceiling above him appeared blurred for several moments before gradually coming into focus beneath the soft white lights of the medical wing. He remained perfectly still, staring upward while memories returned one after another with merciless clarity. Kashigi. Enazumi. The fight beneath Yggdrasil. The dragons. The prayers whispered between attacks. Akashi catching him before he collapsed. Every image returned exactly as it had happened, leaving no comforting uncertainty capable of convincing him it had all been a dream. His breathing became slightly uneven as the final memory surfaced above the rest.
He had killed Enazumi.
Very slowly, Kanji pushed himself upright despite the immediate protest of countless healing injuries. The machines surrounding his bed emitted quiet warnings before automatically adjusting their support systems, allowing him to sit without reopening damaged muscles. He lowered both feet toward the floor but stopped before touching it, remaining seated upon the edge of the bed while his hands rested silently against his knees. Tears gradually escaped his eyes, rolling down his face one after another with complete indifference to the expression that never changed. He wasn't sobbing. He wasn't trembling. His face remained almost perfectly calm, as though the tears belonged to someone else entirely.
Kanji – "It... ended."
The words sounded strangely unfamiliar after living so many years with only one destination before him.
He closed his eyes.
Another tear followed.
Kanji – "I did it."
His voice became quieter.
Almost childlike.
Kanji – "God..."
He lowered his head.
Joining both hands together despite the bandages still covering them.
Kanji – "Thank You. Thank You for carrying me this far when I couldn't carry myself anymore. Thank You for never abandoning me, even when hatred became louder than my faith. I don't know why my life became what it did, and I still don't understand why so many people had to suffer before this day finally arrived... but I know You never left me."
His breathing faltered for the first time.
The next names escaped almost as whispers.
Kanji – "Maru..."
Kanji – "My love... I finally did it."
He closed his eyes again.
Kanji – "My children..."
"...I hope you've been waiting for me."
"...I hope you're together."
"...I hope you're smiling."
His shoulders lowered as another long breath escaped him.
Kanji – "Please... keep watching over me a little longer."
The room remained completely silent apart from the steady rhythm of the medical equipment surrounding him.
Eventually another face entered his thoughts.
Akashi.
Kanji slowly lifted his eyes toward the ceiling once more.
Kanji – "And... thank You for sending Akashi."
He laughed weakly through the tears.
Kanji – "I would've died."
The laughter gradually disappeared.
Enazumi's final words returned.
"He's your brother."
Kanji's expression slowly became distant.
Brother.
Akashi...
was also Enazumi's son.
The thought quietly settled inside his mind before something darker instinctively reached toward it.
If that's true...
Should he...?
The idea barely managed to finish forming before Kanji recoiled from it almost violently.
"No."
The word escaped aloud before he realized he had spoken.
His breathing grew heavier.
Kanji – "No."
He covered his face with one hand.
"What am I thinking...?"
The hatred had survived.
Not toward Akashi.
Toward the habit of hatred itself.
For so many years revenge had become his first answer to every painful question that his mind still attempted to walk down the same path even after reaching its destination.
He slowly lowered his hand.
Ashamed.
His hatred had tried to decide for him again.
Outside the observation window, Tenka had watched every moment without interruption. She had arrived nearly twenty minutes earlier expecting nothing more dramatic than another routine examination, only to witness Kanji regain consciousness before her eyes. leaving her uncertain whether entering immediately would comfort him or simply interrupt something deeply personal. For perhaps the first time since joining Federation X, all her careful planning offered no guidance whatsoever.
At that exact moment, the elevator doors behind her opened.
Akashi and Omoshiro stepped into the corridor together after returning from outside.
Neither spoke initially.
Tenka simply gestured toward the observation glass.
Both followed her gaze.
Kanji.
Awake.
Omoshiro felt it first.
Theta spread naturally through the surrounding area without conscious effort, brushing gently against Kanji's Yin before immediately detecting something unusual. It wasn't hostility in the ordinary sense. It resembled a turbulent current beneath an otherwise calm sea, as though enormous emotional pressure continued searching for somewhere to settle after years of existing solely for revenge. The darkness lasted only a brief moment before gradually receding beneath Kanji's prayer, yet Omoshiro still noticed it.
Omoshiro – "His Yin."
Tenka looked toward him.
Tenka – "What about it, Is it about to explode our something?"
Omoshiro slowly shook his head.
Omoshiro – "No."
He remained thoughtful.
Omoshiro – "Just..."
"...lost."
Akashi had barely heard the conversation.
His attention remained completely fixed upon Kanji through the observation glass, his eyes carrying the unmistakable excitement.
A broad smile slowly spread across his face.
Akashi – "He's finally awake."
Tenka immediately recognized that smile.
She sighed.
Tenka – "Akashi..."
He looked at her.
Tenka – "Don't overwhelm him."
He blinked.
"...Why would I?"
She answered without hesitation.
Tenka – "Because I know you. You've been waiting three days to ask him approximately eight hundred questions."
Akashi considered that estimate with surprising seriousness.
Akashi – "...It's closer to a thousand."
Tenka pinched the bridge of her nose.
Of course it was.
Inside the room, Kanji slowly wiped away the last traces of tears from his face before lifting his eyes toward the observation window. he noticed the three figures standing quietly beyond the glass.
Tenka's concern.
Omoshiro's calm curiosity.
Akashi's unmistakable excitement.
Three entirely different expressions.
Three entirely different reasons for being there.
People were waiting for him.