The night drained all of the sun's light, the moon becoming the sole solace of acknowledgement for its validation.

The same could not be said for the newly titled Shanhaijing's Phantom, who stared at the signature Kisaki left on the blank contract in the Shittim Chest.

"Sensei." Arona voiced out. "Are you sure what you did was a good idea?"

"Query." Plana interjected. "Why do you ask, Arona?"

"I-I don't know! We could have asked for unlimited castella!"

"Analysis: castella brings no benefit than a slight raise in energy, sugar in the blood and a slight release of dopamine."

Plana looked at Kize, who only spared a glance towards her before eyeing the contract like an oath that shouldn't break.

"... Yeah. He gave it away for Instructor Shun." Arona appeared to smile just a bit wider soon after. "When's the wedding, Sensei?"

"No." Kize's brief response, followed by a tighter grip on the Shittim Chest was enough for Arona to giggle.

"Okay, okay~"

Silence then seeped into the room. A few seconds pass. And then another.

Both AIs knew Kize would never initiate a conversation anyway.

"Sensei. You really do like Plum Blossom Garden, don't you?"

"........"

He shut the Shittim Chest off, putting it aside. Seconds later, it came back to life on its own.

"Rude." Arona's playful tone was ignored by Kize, who slowly sunk back into the mattress, shutting his eyes to begin his slip back into the unknown.

His last remnants of reminder was Kokona's voice calling out to him about hot chocolate.

In the dark night, it was the AIs that glanced at each other, waiting until their Sensei had fallen asleep, his vitals stable and all, before they finally conversed to each other.

"He's been through a lot, hasn't he?" Arona stated, her hands clasped to each other.

"His dossier provided by Kaiser Corporation tells... Too much."

"... Mh." She looked to Kize, or as best as she could in the rather awkward angle of staring up to the ceiling.

"Do you think he's doing this to redeem himself? When everyone else is looking for and looking out for him?" Arona questioned, a small saddening frown appearing on his face.

"It is... Difficult to answer. Especially with Kize-Sensei. He is different than Sensei, undeniably. But his past haunts him more than the present."

"It's extreme, isn't it? Sensei wouldn't have done this."

"That is what makes Kize-Sensei... Human."

"... Is Sensei not human?"

"He is. But Kize-Sensei is... Flawed. Keeps secrets. Never admits that he's needed..." Plana trailed off. Arona finished it for her.

"Never thinks he's worth it..."

The AIs fell into silence. It reminded them of Arius. How they had their own self-loathing after being abandoned. After everything. But they chose to move on. To progress towards a better future.

Kize chose to regress. Because it was the only way he could still be himself without risking everything. And everyone could see that.

How long was it until he finally falls apart?

They didn't want that to happen. Even as they only knew him for a month, he had proven that he was genuine. He was painful. He was honest.

He was something they couldn't exactly call a replacement. He was their Sensei as much as he was to the other students who had claimed him as their own.

Both AIs stiffened, as Kize's vitals had a very subtle shift. They sensed a sudden hand twitch, followed by a skip of Kize's heartbeat. Like he was about to wake up anytime soon.

And then... It stabilized again. The AIs both had the same question.

What was Kize dreaming about?

—

The vastness of the dreamscape compared to Shanhaijing was unparalleled. Its liveliness was of another question, as Kize floated in the darkness. He could see nothing. Feel nothing. He wasn't even sure if he was breathing.

"It's been a while, Sensei."

A familiar, almost divine voice called out from above. A frown slowly formed on his face.

"Great Prophet Kuzunoha."

A giggle echoed through the mindscape, and slowly, Kize felt his legs finally having weight pulling it down. Standing on nothing, he watched as the small, white haired girl with fox tail and ears appeared from above, and standing before him.

"You continue to impress me, Sensei. Flawed. Yet careful."

"Aren't you a part of Hyakkiyako? Why invade my mind here?"

Kuzunoha giggled again, her little pipe balanced between her fingers.

"I transcend Hyakkiyako, Sensei. But enough about me. Instead, I have watched over you for a long while."

"... You're not the only one."

A stifled laugh from the prophet.

"Kaiser Corporation? You're worried about a megacorporation that's beginning to crumble by your hand?"

Kize didn't answer. The stare he gave her was the indicator. And then, behind him, the man in balaclava emerged. His tablet in hand, his voice now an invasion.

'Don't make me laugh, Katashi.'

'Miharu's looking for you.'

And then... Her voice.

'Katashi, where the hell are you?'

"Your past caught up, Katashi," Kuzunoha pointed out. "There is now a man who knows and weaponizes your past, and a woman who loves you till now."

Kize's scarred hand pulsed. Somehow, it could still ache in this strange dreamscape.

"What does she see in you to have given you so much love that you can't reciprocate?"

"......."

"'Katashi. Answer me."

"... Don't call me that."

Kize slowly stepped back before turning around, his back facing Kuzunoha.

"Katashi is gone. Just as the world wanted him to. I'm his only reminder."

"Oh, now you sound like you're trying to be edgy. Stop it. You're not like this, Sensei."

"Then what am I?" Kize glanced at her, only to look back up to that man in the balaclava. Nothing about his characteristics rang any bells. So how does he know so much? Why does he desire to ruin him?

"You know that I'm just a replacement. You know that when everything is over, I will be gone. So why? Why do I matter?"

Kuzunoha's eyebrows furrowed. The man in the balaclava slowly faded away...

And was replaced by him sitting in his desk, sifting through paperwork. A single flimsy photograph slipped into his hand...

And there it was. Arius, surrounding the plum blossoms they planted in the courtyard. He remembered what he thought that day.

'Progress.'

Why?

It faded again. Now, it was instead Shun. Her warm smile as she blended in the twilight.

'I'm not going anywhere, Sensei.'

WHY?

Finally... Yoshikawa Miharu. Standing on that train station, while Katashi stood beside her.

"Heh... Some confession that was, wasn't it?" She questioned.

"What?" Katashi questioned back in turn, turning towards her in confusion.

"Katashi, were you not paying attention?"

"Sorry, the students had more priority than your love life, Miharu."

'Eugh. You're the worst. But then again, because I rejected yet another one, that means one thing~" She nudged his arm, and he just let his eyes go half lidded.

"I'm not in love with you, you dumbshit."

"Not yet."

"Why are you desperate?"

"Because you're insufferable, Katashi! No one has the better expressions than you do! Your frustrations, your careful care, c'moooon! You're perfect husband material!"

"Can you not??? We're just colleagues."

"No one said that colleagues can't fall in love with each other! Who said so?!"

"The fucking dean?"

"Fuck the dean! You know, he was the one that tried to favor me the other day. I gave him the fing--"

"Why?!!"

"Because he's an ass!"

"Ah goddamn-- Miharu."

"What?! It's not like he'll fire you. It'll take some balls. Not like he had any left."

"........"

A stifled laugh escaped them both. Right on time for the train to appear. Katashi hopped onto it.

"Katashi." Miharu called out. He turned. There, he saw her. She didn't wear a lab coat. Just a pair of white trousers and a blue shirt with rolled up sleeves. Her long black hair flowed freely, her glasses a gateway to her dark brown eyes.

She smiled.

"Try not to disappoint them for me. I'll be waiting for you tomorrow."

He blinked. And then, he scoffed.

"You wish." The doors closed. And he watched as Miharu slowly grew distant. But... His eyes caught something between her lips.

'I.'

'Love.'

He wondered what else she was planning to say.

But the next day was never the same.

WHY?!!!!

"WHY DO YOU SHOW ME THIS?!!"

He tried to shake himself awake, as if trying to get out of this world that tried to show him his worth. A world he can't accept.

A world he will vehemently reject.

But the world stood still, uncaring of his own thoughts and opinions, as Kuzunoha floated beside him.

"Because you matter. They keep telling you this."

The student's faces emerged across the dreamscape. Arius Squad. RABBIT Platoon. Plum Blossom Garden. Hyakkaryouran. Foreclosure Task Force. Problem Solver 68. Helmet Gang.

Each face dedicated to memory.

Each one just as painful as the others.

"So why do you keep denying? Is it because you don't deserve it?"

"........." His hand twitched. He could feel his heart skip a beat at the question posed.

Why?

His excuses had always been flimsy. Always been so poorly. A declaration of nothingness combined to form something so profoundly wrong that he warped it to make it right.

And students accepted that, while waiting for the truth to surface. Patiently.

He finally spoke.

"I never will."

"......."

This was no salvation, Kuzunoha concluded.

This was self-erasure.

And that realization made the man before her a painful reminder that humans are always the most complicated creatures.

The faces faded away. It was empty again. And Kuzunoha floated, while Kize stood.

"I can only wish you the best, Sensei," Kuzunoha neutrally stated.

"... Don't wish what you can't keep."

And then. He was alone again. In this dreamscape of emptiness that he will, inevitably, forget.

Just like any dream he ever had.

And yet, in the faintest distance, he could hear someone.

Not Shun.

Not Miharu.

Not even the Stranger.

But someone else.

"You can always be better. Isn't that what growing up means?"

"........."

He thought it was better not to answer it.

But he never thought that the question would linger in his mind.

—

While the world slumbered, one man stirred.

Rin didn't believe it at first. The hand twitch and the sudden skip on the heart monitor meant that he could be waking up. But two months? It felt like it was an eternity.

But then, his eyes fluttered. And finally... It was open.

Sensei's eyes. Dark brown. Tired. But alive. It squinted under the sterile light, before he groaned and began to sit up, his hands trembling from his own weight.

Too much effort. Too little time.

His eyes scanned everything. Everywhere, and then, it landed on Rin. He looked up. He looked down.

Rin looked slightly anxious.

But then, Sensei smiled.

"How's work, Rin?"

His voice was hoarse.

But it was undeniably his.

He watched as Rin's lips quivered, and a shaky sigh finally breathed out of her lips, her shoulders relaxed after stiffening for too long.

"Tiring. Especially without you around, Sensei," Rin stated, before her expression slowly crawled back to anxiety.

Sensei naturally noticed this.

"Is something the matter?"

"..." Rin took a deep breath, composing herself once again. And then, she spoke professionally.

"You have been in a coma for two months, Sensei. We cannot say that it had been pleasant without you." She adjusted her glasses. "So... We kidnapped a replacement."

Silence. Sensei stared at Rin like she had two heads before both merged back into one, a procession that slowly got him to chuckle.

"You kidnapped someone? I thought you were better than this." He shook his head only ever so slightly. "Who are they?"

"...... His name is Seikato Kize." She began, before looking his way. She watched as Sensei blinked.

"That's a weird name. Where is he now?"

"Plum Blossom Garden. Shun is his current caretaker. He's... Mentally recovering."

"Wow. How long has he been here?"

"One month, one week, six days."

"Whoa... I mean, it makes sense. Gehenna's a real headache with all their problems, right?"

"... Kize never visited Gehenna."

Sensei blinked again. Interesting. Now, he could ask what happened while he was asleep, but Seikato Kize... He sounded interesting.

"What do you think of Kize, Rin?"

"........."

Rin wasn't sure how to answer that. She had read through every report. Every news. Every tabloid that involved him. There was secrecy. There was truth. There were numbers.

But there was something else as well.

"Kize... Is different. He's detached. He's a bureaucrat."

"Oh, he likes papers."

Rin continued, despite interjections.

"He doesn't really care on perceptions and platitudes and cares only for honest truths and efforts. An ends justify the means person."

"... Youch. Sounds a bit cruel, isn't it?" Sensei questioned. Rin nodded in solidarity.

"But... That's the paradox, isn't it? He shouldn't have worked. But it did."

A raised eyebrow.

"In five days, he made Arius a sovereign district."

Sensei blinked. His lips parted.

"In two days, he reinstated SRT in all but name."

His jaw was slack.

"And now? He had frozen Kaiser Corporation's debts against Abydos."

Rin watched as Sensei blinked multiple times over, the sheer amount of deeds Kize had been described doing sounding like he was superhuman.

And yet...

"But every time, he keeps breaking himself. He loses every single bit of his name piece by piece... And now he's fractured. And we don't know if he'll fully recover for the court case."

"......"

He wanted to ask about the court case. He did. But just hearing about Kize's current effort of self-sacrifice was painful. As if Kize knew he was a replacement and just didn't bother trying to make himself a distinct figure.

Only to fail that and became a figure of his own for the students to look on.

And Sensei couldn't do anything. He wanted to pat him on the back for a job well done. For all his efforts. For everything he had given for Kivotos despite being a foreigner.

... He wanted Kize to stay.

His hand tremored on his lap, gripping on the blanket weakly before he looked at Rin. He wished he could walk.

But recovery isn't instantaneous.

"Tell no one about me waking up."

"... Why?" Rin questioned. Wouldn't him waking up meant that Kivotos could breathe a sigh of relief.

"Because I don't want Kize to leave."

She blinked. A single squeak of a stretching glove could be heard from Rin. Her eyes closed, a deep breath, and she let it all out.

Sensei never changed at all. Still that caring soul that he is.

"Will do. But that doesn't mean you have to stay in that bed forever, too."

Sensei chuckled weakly. "Muscle atrophy. I know what you mean. When can we start?"

A beat passed through, as if she considered the options.

"Next week. The court case would be over by then."

Sensei nodded before adjusting himself ever so slightly so that he leaned his back against the hospital bed's frame.

"So. Tell me everything I missed."