Shoto never said a single word as he slowly turned away from the others, refusing to meet anyone's eyes for longer than a fleeting moment. His gaze drifted across the clearing one last time, quietly taking in Hikaru, Ren, Ryuji, Yuumo, and Yumiko as they stood together beneath the shattered canopy, surrounded by broken trees, scorched earth, and the lingering traces of a battle that had changed far more than the forest itself. The air still carried the scent of burned wood and damp soil while fragments of shattered stone lay scattered across the ground, serving as silent reminders of everything that had happened only moments before. Without speaking, Shoto took a slow step toward the darker part of the forest, then another, allowing the long shadows cast by the towering trees to swallow him piece by piece until his figure slowly began to disappear into the wilderness.
No one immediately followed after him because everyone seemed frozen in place, as though they were still trying to process everything they had witnessed. They had watched Shoto fall from the heavens wrapped in black flames, drive his fist clean through a man who simply refused to die, and learn that his own father stood behind everything that had begun to unfold. The weight of those revelations settled heavily over the group, making even the simple act of speaking feel impossible.
Yumiko was the first to notice that Shoto was truly leaving. Her fingers tightened into trembling fists at her sides as she stared at his shrinking figure with growing anxiety, unable to shake the painful feeling forming deep inside her chest. She noticed that he was walking steadily, neither limping nor stumbling despite everything his body had endured, but somehow that frightened her even more because she knew Shoto well enough to recognize that he only became this quiet whenever something inside him had completely shattered. She wanted to run after him, grab his hand, and tell him that none of this was his burden to carry alone, yet her feet refused to move as uncertainty rooted her to the ground.
Ryuji scratched the back of his head awkwardly, his brows knitting together in frustration as he looked between Shoto and the rest of the group before finally breaking the suffocating silence. "Uh… should we go after him? I mean… he's obviously not okay."
Before anyone else could answer, Hikaru spoke with a calm certainty that silenced the clearing.
"Leave him."
Everyone turned toward him.
Hikaru slowly adjusted the bridge of his glasses, the fading sunlight reflecting softly across the lenses while his eyes remained fixed on Shoto's disappearing silhouette. There was concern hidden beneath his composed expression, but it was buried beneath years of understanding someone who had been his rival—and his friend—for almost his entire life.
"He's going to be okay," Hikaru said quietly, his voice carrying none of its usual sharpness. "If we chase after him now, he'll only feel cornered. Right now he needs time to think, because if we force him to talk before he's ready, we'll only make everything worse."
Ren folded his arms across his chest, still unconvinced as he watched Shoto disappear deeper into the trees. "You really believe that?" he asked. "After everything that happened today?"
Hikaru nodded without hesitation.
"I do. I've known him long enough to know what he's like when he's hurting. He'll come back when he's ready."
Ren stared toward the forest for another moment before letting out a slow sigh. The faint sparks of lightning dancing around his legs gradually faded away until only silence remained. "Alright," he muttered. "I'll trust your judgment."
Without waiting for anyone else's opinion, Hikaru turned and began walking toward the forest exit. Ren quietly followed after him while Ryuji reluctantly shoved both hands into his pockets and fell into step behind them, muttering complaints beneath his breath that lacked any real conviction. Yuumo remained silent as always, though her eyes lingered on the path Shoto had taken for several seconds before she finally turned away and followed the others with a thoughtful expression that revealed nothing of what she was truly thinking.
Yumiko was the only one who remained behind.
She stood motionless beneath the broken trees, watching the place where Shoto had vanished until she could no longer see even the slightest movement between the branches. Countless thoughts raced through her mind, each one telling her to run after him, yet another voice reminded her that Hikaru was probably right. Shoto had always hidden his pain behind silence, and perhaps this was another one of those moments when all she could do was believe that he would eventually find his way back.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Yumiko finally turned away and hurried after the others before they disappeared beyond the forest trail.
By the time Hikaru, Ren, Ryuji, Yuumo, and Yumiko emerged from the forest, the outside world felt almost insulting in its normalcy. The sky stretched endlessly overhead in brilliant shades of blue, warm sunlight spilled across the quiet streets, and a gentle breeze rustled through the leaves as though the world itself had completely ignored the catastrophe that had nearly unfolded only a short distance away. Birds chirped peacefully from nearby rooftops while distant laughter drifted through the neighborhood, creating an almost surreal contrast to everything they had just experienced.
Waiting beside the path was a familiar gray cat lazily flicking his tail back and forth.
Neko looked up as the group approached, blinking slowly before tilting his head with mild curiosity.
"Huh?" he asked casually. "What were you guys doing all the way out in the forest?"
Hikaru came to a stop several feet away from him and simply stared at the cat for a long moment before rubbing the back of his neck with an exhausted sigh.
"…Honestly," Hikaru admitted, "I don't think you want to know."
Neko's ears twitched.
Hikaru looked away toward the distant trees where Shoto had disappeared.
"Right now," he continued quietly, "all any of us wants to do is think."
The relaxed expression on Neko's face slowly disappeared. His golden eyes narrowed slightly as he studied each member of the group one after another, noticing the bruises covering their bodies, the exhaustion in their eyes, and the silence that hung over them like a storm cloud.
"…Tell me everything," Neko said, his voice no longer playful. "Every single detail."
Shoto wandered through the streets alone.
The familiar roads leading toward his house felt strangely foreign, as though he were walking through fragments of an old dream instead of the neighborhood where he had grown up. Every passing house, every parked bicycle, every child laughing somewhere in the distance seemed disconnected from him, existing in a world that no longer felt like his own. His body continued moving only because years of habit guided his feet while his thoughts remained trapped somewhere back in that ruined forest beneath a collapsing sky.
Eventually he found himself standing in front of his home.
He quietly opened the front door and stepped inside.
The comforting aroma of freshly cooked food immediately filled the hallway, wrapping around him with a warmth that normally would have made him smile. Instead, he simply removed his shoes and stood silently at the entrance as though unsure whether he belonged there anymore.
At the kitchen table, Endo sat happily coloring inside a children's activity book with complete concentration. Bright crayons were scattered across the tabletop while pages filled with uneven colors surrounded him in cheerful disarray.
From the kitchen, Shoto's aunt leaned around the corner with a warm smile.
"Hey, Shoto!" she called happily. "I'm making dinner. Do you want some before it gets—"
Her words stopped as Shoto silently walked past without answering.
He didn't look at her.
He didn't acknowledge Endo.
He simply climbed the staircase one slow step at a time until he reached the second floor.
A quiet click echoed through the hallway as his bedroom door closed behind him.
Shoto leaned against the door for several seconds before the strength left his legs. Slowly, he slid down until he was sitting on the floor with his back resting against the wood, his knees loosely drawn toward his chest while his head lowered until his bangs concealed his tired eyes.
The silence inside the room was overwhelming.
Every painful memory returned the moment he closed his eyes.
Kyoya's laughter.
His father's name.
The impossible machine on the moon.
The realization that Ayato had become someone he could no longer recognize.
A soft creak interrupted his thoughts.
The bedroom window slowly slid open.
Without making the slightest sound, Neko gracefully jumped onto the windowsill before hopping onto the bed, where he circled once across the blankets before settling comfortably near the pillow with his tail lazily swaying behind him.
"You know," Neko said casually, "it's pretty rude to lock your pet out of the room."
Shoto slowly lifted his head just enough for their eyes to meet.
After only a brief moment, his gaze drifted back toward the floor.
Neko watched him quietly for several seconds before speaking again, this time with a noticeably gentler voice.
"I heard about your father," he said. "Are you doing alright?"
Shoto remained motionless.
"What father?" he replied quietly.
Neko sighed.
"Ayato," he answered. "The whole situation with the Rune Gate… I always knew opening something like that would come with consequences. I expected problems. I just never imagined your father would become one of them."
The muscles in Shoto's jaw tightened as his fingers slowly curled against the wooden floor.
"…Can you stop talking about him?" he whispered. "Just… for a little while."
Neko looked at him for a long moment before nodding.
"Alright."
Silence settled over the room once again.
Outside, the neighborhood continued living its ordinary life. Cars rolled past the house, someone laughed across the street, and downstairs Endo's cheerful voice echoed faintly through the hallway while Shoto sat completely detached from it all, feeling as though the world had continued moving forward without waiting for him.
After several quiet minutes, Neko stretched lazily across the bed before speaking once more.
"Tomorrow," he said, "all of us are going somewhere."
Shoto slowly looked up.
"Where?"
Neko's tail flicked thoughtfully behind him.
"We're meeting some… interesting people," he answered with a faint grin. "You can think of it as one really big meeting."
Shoto didn't ask any more questions.
His exhausted body slowly relaxed against the bedroom door as fatigue finally began overcoming the chaos inside his mind. Across the room, Neko curled into a comfortable ball atop the bed, closing his eyes with one last lazy stretch before drifting off to sleep. Shoto never made it that far. Still sitting against the door with his head resting against the wooden frame, he slowly closed his eyes as well, and before long the quiet rhythm of his breathing became the only sound filling the room while the peaceful night settled over the Kazami household.