The Haven of 6 was unusually quiet.
Katsu sat at the table, surrounded by notes and scattered papers. He had spent most of the morning trying to make sense of everything they had learned about the River, but every theory seemed to lead to another question.
Across the room, Kentarō was lying on the couch.
"How long has he been doing that?" Rokuro asked.
"Three hours," Katsu replied without looking up.
Kentarō raised a finger.
"Four. I took a break to eat."
"That doesn't count."
"It absolutely counts."
Before Katsu could respond, the door opened.
Aegis walked in first, followed by Ryosen.
"We're back!"
Kentarō sat up.
"Did you bring food?"
"No."
"Then why announce your return?"
Aegis ignored him and pulled out a chair.
"We found something."
That got everyone's attention.
Even Rokuro sat up.
Katsu pushed his papers aside.
"What did you find?"
"Heart University."
There was a brief silence.
"...A university?" Shichiro asked.
"Heart University," Ryosen repeated. "A major institution for the education and development of Heart users. It has four divisions: Martial, Academic, Applied Sciences, and Heart Studies."
Aegis leaned back in his chair.
"And before you ask, yes. I used to attend."
Kentarō stared at him.
"You went to university?"
Aegis looked offended.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"I just didn't think you'd voluntarily sit in a classroom."
"I can sit in a classroom!"
"For how long?"
Aegis opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
"...That's not the point."
Ryosen continued before the conversation could derail any further.
"The university has reopened after being shut down for years. According to its records, the closure was caused by the loss of professional Heart users and instructors."
Katsu's expression sharpened.
"Caused by what?"
"That's the problem," Aegis answered. "The records don't explain the actual cause."
He folded his arms.
"I remember Bellerophon. I remember what he did to the professional Heart users. But the university's records don't mention him at all."
Katsu went still.
"Not even his name?"
"Not once."
Katsu reached for a blank sheet of paper.
"Tell me exactly what the records said."
Ryosen recounted what they had found. Aegis added details whenever he remembered something, occasionally correcting Ryosen on the layout of the campus or the wording of the historical plaques.
Katsu listened carefully, writing down every detail.
When they finished, he stared at his notes.
"So the consequences remain, but the explanation has disappeared."
"That's what we think," Ryosen said.
Katsu tapped his pen against the table.
"The River isn't simply making people forget individual events. If the records themselves have changed, then whatever happened may have affected how history is recorded—or how reality remembers its own past."
Shichiro leaned forward.
"Can the university help you figure out what the River actually is?"
"I don't know yet."
Katsu looked at his notes.
"But Heart University has researchers, historical archives, and an entire division dedicated to studying Hearts. If there's anywhere we might find information about phenomena like this, it's there."
He paused.
"I've been trying to understand the River using what we already know. Maybe I've been looking in the wrong place."
Ryosen nodded.
"Then we should investigate it together."
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Aegis clapped his hands.
"Great! So we enroll."
Everyone turned toward him.
"That's it?" Rokuro asked.
"What do you mean, 'that's it'?"
"We've been discussing a mysterious force that can apparently alter history, and your conclusion is to sign up for classes?"
"Yes."
Aegis smiled.
"What's wrong with learning something while we're at it?"
Kentarō raised his hand.
"Important question. Do they have a cafeteria?"
"Yes."
"I'm in."
"You're not even going to ask what the tuition costs?" Katsu asked.
"Do they have a cafeteria with good food?"
Katsu rubbed his forehead.
Shichiro, however, was looking thoughtful.
"The Martial Division..."
Aegis noticed.
"Interested?"
Shichiro nodded.
"If we're going to keep fighting, we need to get stronger. Not just individually, either. We need to learn how to use our Hearts together."
Rokuro stretched his arms.
"Could use a little more practice myself."
Kentarō grinned.
"Imagine how annoying I'll be after proper training."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Rokuro muttered.
For the first time that day, the idea seemed simple.
A place where they could train.
A place where they could learn.
A place where Katsu might finally find answers.
Then Ryosen brought up the one problem none of them could ignore.
"What about our Hearts?"
The room fell quiet.
Shichiro's expression changed.
Katsu slowly put down his pen.
They all knew what Ryosen meant.
Their Legendary Hearts.
The powers they had awakened. The abilities that had changed their lives. The very things they had considered suppressing or separating in order to return to their first-born Hearts.
Aegis glanced around the table.
"That's something we need to figure out before we enroll. We can't exactly walk into a university full of Heart users and assume nobody will notice what makes us different."
Katsu nodded.
"Legendary Hearts aren't ordinary. We don't know whether the university has dealt with anything like ours before, and we shouldn't assume keeping them hidden will be easy."
"Then we go to Ingram," Rokuro suggested. "He can help us seal them away, right?"
"Possibly," Katsu answered. "Suppressing them could allow us to use our first-born Hearts again. Separating them might also be possible, depending on how they're connected to us."
"Great," Rokuro said. "Problem solved."
"No," Shichiro replied.
Everyone looked toward him.
Shichiro leaned back in his chair.
"Why are we already talking about getting rid of them?"
Rokuro frowned.
"Because they're dangerous?"
"So is everything else we've been dealing with."
"That's not the same thing."
"Then tell me how it's different."
Rokuro sat forward.
"We barely understand our Legendary Hearts. We don't know what they can do, how they affect us, or what happens if something goes wrong. And you want to walk into a university full of Heart users and start experimenting with them?"
"I'm saying we shouldn't throw them away before we even understand them."
Kentarō slowly raised his hand.
"Okay, I have to agree with Shichiro on this one."
Rokuro stared at him.
"Of course you do."
"Listen, if we're being offered the chance to train under actual professionals, why waste this opportunity to actually evolve with our Legendary Hearts?"
He spread his arms.
"Think about it! We could learn how to use them properly instead of spending the rest of our lives being afraid of what we've got."
"That's not what I'm afraid of!" Rokuro snapped.
The room fell silent.
Rokuro looked down at his hands.
"I'm afraid that we'll keep pushing ourselves because we think having more power means we can solve everything. We already awakened these Hearts faster than we should have. And now we're supposed to believe everything will be fine if we just train harder?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Even Kentarō's grin had disappeared.
Katsu watched them carefully.
Both arguments had merit.
Their Legendary Hearts offered possibilities their first-born Hearts might never have provided. But they still lacked the knowledge to understand the consequences of relying on them.
Returning to their original Hearts would be safer in some ways.
It would also mean giving up an opportunity they might never have again.
Katsu picked up his pen.
"Then perhaps we're looking at this the wrong way."
Shichiro turned toward him.
"What do you mean?"
"Everyone's treating suppression as if it means abandoning our Legendary Hearts. It doesn't have to."
Katsu set the pen down.
"What if suppressing them could also be part of our training?"
Rokuro tilted his head.
"How?"
"We've spent so much time focusing on what our Legendary Hearts can do that we haven't considered what happens when we can't rely on them."
Katsu began writing on a fresh sheet of paper.
"Think about it. If we can deliberately suppress our Legendary Hearts and return to using our first-born Hearts, we'd have to develop our original abilities further. We'd be forced to approach battles differently instead of immediately relying on our strongest powers."
He looked up.
"And once we can control both, we could learn when to use each one."
Ryosen considered the idea.
"Rather than choosing between them, we learn to fight with both."
"Exactly," Katsu replied. "We don't even know if switching between them will be possible, or whether suppression will have limitations. We'd need Ingram to help us understand the mechanics first. But if it works, we could train in two different states."
Aegis leaned forward.
"That actually sounds pretty useful."
"There's more," Katsu continued. "If we can fight effectively without our Legendary Hearts, then we won't be completely dependent on them. If we ever face an opponent who can interfere with our powers, suppress them, or exploit their weaknesses, we'd still have another way to fight."
Shichiro's expression shifted.
"So we keep our Legendary Hearts, but we don't make them our only option."
"That's the idea."
Kentarō grinned.
"So we get stronger with our Legendary Hearts AND our original ones?"
"Potentially."
"That's two ways to become a menace."
"Please don't describe our training like that," Katsu muttered.
Rokuro was still thinking.
"But what if suppressing them is dangerous, too?"
"Then we don't do it without proper guidance," Katsu answered. "I'm not suggesting we seal them away tomorrow and hope for the best. I'm suggesting we investigate the possibility and find out whether it can be done safely."
He paused.
"We don't need to make a permanent decision before we even understand our options."
Ryosen nodded.
"That seems reasonable."
Aegis folded his arms.
"And Heart University could help us figure out how to control our Legendary Hearts in the first place. The Martial Division for combat, Heart Studies for research, and Applied Sciences if we need equipment."
"Which means," Shichiro said, "we can train without having to ask a god to make us stronger."
The words hung in the air for a moment.
They had encountered powers far beyond their understanding. They had received help from beings who operated on a level they could barely comprehend.
But they couldn't rely on someone else to solve every problem for them.
If they wanted to become stronger, they needed to put in the work themselves.
Katsu nodded.
"Exactly. The university can give us the knowledge and the facilities. What we do with those opportunities is up to us."
Rokuro finally leaned back.
"Fine. I'm willing to try it."
Kentarō pumped his fist.
"YES! TRAINING ARC!"
"Don't call it that," Katsu said.
"Why not? That's literally what it is!"
"Because knowing you, you'll start treating every class like a tournament."
"Now you're understanding me."
Ryosen shook his head, but a faint smile crossed his face.
Then he glanced toward Aegis.
"And you?"
Aegis had been quiet for a moment.
He looked at the others, then toward the door.
"I think we're forgetting something."
Kentarō tilted his head.
"What?"
"We're talking about our Hearts as if we're the only ones who have to deal with them."
Aegis rested his elbows on the table.
"If we enroll, we'll have instructors. Researchers. People who have spent years studying these things. We don't have to figure everything out alone."
He looked at Shichiro.
"But that also means we have to be willing to listen if they tell us we're doing something wrong."
Shichiro nodded.
"Fair enough."
"And," Aegis added, pointing at Kentarō, "you're not allowed to challenge every instructor you meet."
Kentarō looked genuinely offended.
"I would never."
"You challenged a vending machine once."
"It stole my money!"
"It was broken!"
"THAT'S WHAT THEY ALL SAY!"
Ryosen sighed.
Somehow, they had returned to normal.
And perhaps that was exactly what they needed.
Katsu gathered his notes into a single stack.
"Then it's settled. We enroll at Heart University. I'll focus on Heart Studies and investigate the River. Ryosen can help me with the research, while the rest of us develop our combat abilities through the Martial Division."
"What about Applied Sciences?" Rokuro asked.
"We can use their facilities if we need equipment or technical assistance," Katsu replied. "And we'll all take whatever foundational classes are necessary."
Kentarō leaned back.
"So we're going to school."
"Yes."
"With homework."
"Almost certainly."
"Examinations."
"Yes."
"Actual attendance requirements?"
Katsu stared at him.
Kentarō slowly sank into his chair.
"...I suddenly understand why the university closed."
Aegis burst out laughing.
Even Rokuro cracked a smile.
Shichiro stood up.
"Well, then. We have a lot to prepare."
He looked around the table at his friends.
They had spent so much time reacting to one disaster after another that they had rarely stopped to consider what came next.
Now, for the first time in a while, they had somewhere to go.
Something to learn.
And a chance to become stronger without waiting for the next enemy to force them into it.
Katsu picked up his notes and headed toward his room.
"I'll start researching the enrollment process tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Aegis repeated. "Why not today?"
"Because the university is closed for the evening."
"Oh."
Aegis paused.
"...Right."
Kentarō shook his head.
"Former student, everybody."
"Keep talking, and I'll make sure you get the worst dorm room."
"YOU CAN DO THAT?"
The argument continued long after the decision had been made.
But beneath the noise and the laughter, all six understood that their next step had finally become clear.
They were going to Heart University.
And they weren't going to waste the opportunity.