This glorious oneshot is going to be set a few days after the defeat of The Dark Lord (good grief, they're all over the place XD). There will be a quote in here that I made up myself (well, I think so. I don't really know if anyone else has said it, but someone probably has.), and I've had it planned out since literally the beginning of the whole series. I've just been waiting for the right time for the character to say it, and now it has come! 

See if you can figure out which quote I made up and love so much. 

~

Despite how exhausted Shintaro was due to how busy he had been for the past few days, he could not find sleep as he stared into the darkness of the room he'd chosen. He had been working to help find homes for everyone who had agreed to use the old fortress as their home, and for days he'd been organizing and planning the rebuild of most of the structure (which was old and broken from many years of abandonment.). 

Even after bustling around the streets, pointing out houses, discussing home plans, and barely finding any sleep the nights before, Shintaro could hardly even keep his eyes closed. His mind was buzzing with activity, thinking back on how things could be done for a certain home, questioning how the rebuild for a building was going to work out, and many other things. 

One of them being how he felt absolutely awful for letting this happen. Almost five months ago, he'd begun to think that there was no way to stop the coming of his father - and for the most part, he knew that was true. But he literally had done nothing to try to stop it. He had let Brethren break free, and now innocent people were paying for it. 

Including his friends, who would all have to find new homes because of the destruction of theirs. 

Ruby, Falte, and Kai didn't have a town to return to. Zeke couldn't return to his home now, even if he had one to go back to, with his concussion. Shintaro had carefully assessed him (secretly, because he figured that Ezekiel would get weirded out of Shintaro simply walked up to him and examined his facial features.) and figured out that his concussion was pretty serious, which meant that Zeke would probably be in pain for maybe a month, possibly two. 

Shintaro was pretty sure Rachel wasn't really sure where to go, since she had Amy had previously shared a home. Although Rachel tried to hide it beneath her reassuring smiles and words, it wasn't hard to tell that Rachel didn't want to live alone - and Shintaro didn't question why. 

Linda and Nanami were both staying in the abandoned structure with Shintaro, but he wasn't sure where everyone else would go. There were towns scattered here and there, but from what Zeke had told them after he'd found their house, most of them were destroyed and in the process of being rebuilt. 

Shintaro could help but think about where he and his family would have gone if none of this had happened. If Moon had simply stayed in hiding and never returned, if Chase and Amy hadn't died for this. 

Though they had been living in Falte's house for a time (which felt like eons ago), Shintaro was sure they would have moved out eventually. It was just that none of them wanted to leave each other, and they all knew that Moon had still been out there somewhere. 

Sighing, Shintaro sat up and ran his hands through his thick hair. He clenched his teeth together, unsure of what to do to pass the time before he finally could sleep. 

After almost twenty minutes of sitting in silent darkness, Shintaro rose to his feet and opened the door, aimlessly striding out into the long hallway. His goal was to find some place with a sink so he could at least get some water, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to do that or not. This castle was basically just a maze of hallways, stairwells, and rooms. 

Fifteen minutes later, Shintaro had finally found what he was looking for. He'd somehow made it down to the old kitchen, which was probably at the lowest floor. Though his legs ached from descending so many stairs, he continued through the kitchen until he found a glass and a sink. 

He also found Kai, seated atop one of the counters with his chin resting on his hands and his elbows propped on his knees as he leaned forward almost forlornly. He didn't seem to notice as Shintaro paused a few paces away from him. 

"Couldn't sleep either?" Shintaro asked, hoping not to startle him. 

But Kai didn't move, which probably meant he'd seen Shintaro and simply chosen not to say anything. "No," the teenager replied a moment later, sighing through his nose afterwards. He didn't look away from the spot his brown eyes were locked on. 

Sighing in sympathy and concern, Shintaro set the glass down on the nearest counter and walked over to Kai, taking the spot in front of him so that the teenager would lose focus on whatever he was thinking about. As Kai looked up at Shintaro, it was easy to tell that he'd been troubled by something. 

"What is it?" Shintaro asked gently, tilting his head slightly at Kai. 

Kai just listed his head right back without changing his blank expression. 

Shintaro frowned slightly. "Something is bothering you, Kai. Tell me what it is." 

Kai stared at him for a few moments, his brown eyes searching Shintaro's. Finally, he looked away and sighed. "I was just thinking about my mother," he said quietly, his voice wavering slightly. "She would have turned forty-three today." He said the last part as a whisper, and Shintaro knew he was holding back tears. 

Unfortunately, Shintaro didn't know how to respond. Slowly, he lifted himself onto the counter next to Kai, folding his hands absently in his lap. "I'm sorry," he found himself saying as he stared down at his interlocked fingers. 

He could feel Kai's stare as the teenager glanced at him. "What for?" he asked in the same quiet tone he'd been using before. 

"This isn't your home," Shintaro answered apologetically, sincerely. "Your home is gone because I gave up. Remember? You told me how terrible it was to give in just like that, and I didn't listen to you." 

Kai was silent for a long time, and when Shintaro glanced up at him, he saw that the teenager was studying him with sympathetic eyes. His black hair, which had grown to his shoulders, was falling over his eyes slightly, but he made no move to brush it away as he gazed at Shintaro. 

"It doesn't matter," the teenager said after a moment, and Shintaro noticed the change in his tone. He sounded determined, confident, and even content. 

Why was he content? 

After everything that had happened, how could he be content? 

"It doesn't matter," Kai said again, this time sternly. His brown eyes bored into Shintaro's as he gazed intently at him. He shook his head and dropped his hands into his lap. "This is my home now, because you're here. I am home, Shintaro, because home is where family is." 

~