Sougo didn't know how they were still alive after what Kouri had done, but...

He kinda wished he had died back there.

Leaning on the railing he looked out, the social worker inhaled, closing his eyes and trying to calm down.

But no matter how many times he tried, he couldn't stop remembering that Impull's words.

He didn't know why he was remembering this all now. After waking up, those memories were stuck in his head.

Tsukuyomi had aimed a gun at his head. Tried to kill him. Swartz. Hiryu...

"Sougo..." A familiar voice spoke up.

A slight head turn. There she was. Geiz was there too, and he looked... Guilty.

He turned back. He couldn't.

Silence.

"... Why didn't you kill me?" He asked.

"Sougo, I-"

"If you had... If you had killed me all those years ago..." His voice cracked. He hated when those happened. No weaknesses, right? A king shouldn't have weaknesses...

Especially one that caused the deaths of his loved ones.

"Maybe Hiryu would have his parents. Maybe my mom and dad would still be alive. Sure, Swartz-san had his reasons for doing all that he did but you only helped him, facilitated it. If you wanted me to not be Ohma Zi-O, all you had to do was change that, save my family. So... why? Why let them die?" 

His tone was anything but blank. Emotion colored every word out of his mouth. No manipulation. For once, Sougo sounded genuinely heartbroken and hurt... 

Tsukuyomi looked down. She... "I-I... I wasn't thinking, and I'm sorry. I wish I had thought of that."

He let out a bitter laugh. "Clearly. For people who got mad at me for messing with time, you guys sure didn't have qualms about it."

"My overlord..." Woz looked... worried. "Are you-"

"Okay? How can I be okay when it turned out my friends had apparently killed my parents and didn't even tell me?" Sougo's tone betrayed the pain he was feeling. The ache of loneliness that had been healed up... had finally been reopened, and it hurt. So so badly... "Turns out I'm alone in this world, huh? They never even told me, not even once. And Hiryu... Oh God, look at me. I told Hiryu to move forward when I was really the cause of the accident. What have I done...?"

Geiz had had enough. He strode over, ignoring Tsukuyomi's yelp, and hugged Sougo tightly. 

The former overlord froze. Warm... It was warm, yet-

Why did his shoulder... feel wet? 

"You're not alone, Zi- no, Sougo," Geiz said. "We... we're so sorry for what happened. It's okay if you don't forgive us, but-"

"UNHAND HIM RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Woz snarled while prying him off, eyes burning. How dare he!! "After what you did to him emotionally, you dare try to do this to him! You don't know what it's like to have this pit of loneliness! Stop making it sound like you get it! You always had Tsukuyomi-kun with you! My overlord never did! I never did!" 

And Sougo's head swiveled over. Woz...

He remembered, of course. When he as Ohma Zi-O had tried to rewrite the timeline... 

He had tried to integrate Woz in as well but...

"You are from another world."

It wasn't an accusation. It was a statement. 

"Does it truly surprise you?"

"Not quite. I had my suspicions for a while." Ohma Zi-O hummed quietly. "You clearly knew something when you went on that espionage mission for the resistance. You never truly were on their side, that I could tell." 

As astute as ever. "Indeed. I come from a group called Quartzer that sought to keep the timeline stable."

"What changed?" 

Ah, he caught on. "I... I am unsure myself, my overlord. The only guess I have is that-"

"You got used to us. You came to CARE for us." 

Once again, spot on. "As expected. You read my mind." 

"I wish I could integrate you into the timeline, Woz. I truly do. But-"

"It is fine, my overlord. I will keep a watchful eye on you. And should Time Jackers come to wreck the timeline..."

The words were left unspoken. Had they truly synced up that much to that extent? 

"... Very well. I leave that in your hands... my old friend." 

A bittersweet smile formed as he closed his eyes, letting the golden light, warm yet chilling in its own way wash over him. 

It was fine, he told himself. He was fine. 

... And yet he wasn't. 

"So please refrain from acting as if you know the suffering this loneliness puts on people!" Woz roared. 

The two were definitely stunned to pieces now. Silence reigned...

Until Sougo turned back to the two. Finally, he gained the courage to. 

Tsukuyomi's eyes were red, as if she had spent the hours since she awoke crying her eyes out. Her hair was a mess, her arms were marred with flame burns. She had bandages on her forehead and neck too... 

Geiz... was not faring any better. Freeze burns were clear on his now-exposed neck. Wounds as bad as the one that he had sustained from the tournament covered his arms and legs, and his own eyes looked swollen. It was a miracle he was still standing... 

Then again, he was just as bad, Sougo mused quietly, touching the side of his head to feel the scratchy gauze on it. He didn't cry, of course, but he doubted that he could help Keiwa out with the kids any time soon. 

IF they got past this entire mess, that is...

A quick look at Woz told him everything. He was wearing the same hospital gown as the rest of them, but he knew that it wasn't just physical. It wasn't just the electricity burns. It was... Woz was aching inside. 

He... he was responsible for that... So... 

"I... I'm sorry you had to go through so much on your own, Woz. If I had been a better friend, I would have found a way for you to be with us," Sougo quietly said. "Maybe if I had found a different way to integrate you... you wouldn't have been affected by Ohma Zi-O's words..."

Turning to Tsukuyomi and Geiz, he tried his best for a bow, even as his head ached. "And... I'm sorry for what happened. If I hadn't taken on that belt again, if I hadn't been so selfish... maybe, just maybe..."

"Don't say that!" Tsukuyomi snapped, her tears threatening to break out again. "My brother messed you up! I contributed to that! If I hadn't... if I hadn't helped him, you would have your parents, Sougo! You wouldn't have grown up so lonely!" 

"It... probably didn't help that we kept on nitpicking every single thing you did that was selfish as a sign of Ohma Zi-O," Geiz added. "I heard from Daiji-san how being too selfless could hurt someone, and..." 

More of overheard, actually. Ikki and Geiz shared a room, after all. He had heard Daiji mention that one time Ikki had been burnt by his own Vistamp for not caring for himself. How it had caused him burns like these... 

He shuddered, thinking about how many times Ikki-san had been burnt or hurt badly cause he tried to help others and... 

"Honestly, we said it was for the greater good, but we really justified things to our views," he bitterly chuckled. "We never once asked you if you felt hurt. We assumed you were fine. Didn't think that you were so lonely all those years... Being lonely was what led you to be Ohma Zi-O in the first place, right? We should have picked up on that. We should have realised that what truly would have cemented your tyranny was loneliness. We should have-"

What the heck were they saying!? It wasn't solely their fault!

"STOP SAYING ALL THIS ****!" Sougo grabbed his shirt, eyes burning. "YOU TWO WERE THE ONES WHO MADE LIFE WORTH LIVING! WHO HELPED ME OVERCOME THE TYRANNY IN MY HEART! IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU, OHMA ZI-O WOULD HAVE BECOME THAT TYRANT! I WOULD HAVE BECOME THAT TYRANT! SO DON'T YOU ****ING ASSUME ANYTHING, KEITO, ALPINA!"

Both their heads shot up. Sougo rarely, if ever, used their first names. And judging by his own tears, he was serious. He wasn't messing around... 

Shallow breaths were heard as the usually mild volunteer tried to calm down. What was that trick Keiwa had shown him once? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, in... hold for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... then, out, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 

Once he was sure that he was calm again, he met both their eyes, steel in them. "I'm mad, yes, but it doesn't mean you two should be beating yourselves up. You three coming to my time was the best thing that had happened in my life, so if you say stuff like that again, I will Time Break you." 

Wait, three?

Woz froze. Did his overlord mean...?

"Yes, you too Woz. All three of you are precious friends, and I, for one, don't ever want to forget Woz again. The pain is there, sure, but I'm going to push through," he said. 

"You... you forgive us?" Tsukuyomi was crying again, dang it, but she couldn't help it... 

Sougo gave a sigh, smiling lightly. "To be honest, I'm madder at that Impull who used Uru's face and at Kougami for pulling this **** on us. We fought our ***es off and deserve rest for a lifetime. A bit at myself too, but-"

Tsukuyomi finally, finally surged forward, embracing him in a hug as she sobbed. "I-Idiot! You definitely already averted Ohma Zi-O! Look at you! You're a social worker now! You work so hard for others, and that's proof you mean something! That you're loved!" 

"My overlord-- no, Tokiwa Sougo, I have never been more horrified by your words as I am right now," Woz snapped. "Some confidence will go a long way, and you have definitely proven that you can change your destiny. You will become the king, but on your own terms, so don't you dare act as if you're just some demon king! You will be the kindest, greatest one known to the world!" 

Geiz nodded. "We're in this together, Sougo, so another self-deprecating word and I will smash your head in."

"You can cry all you want. We won't judge at all, we promise." 

"You guys..." Sougo couldn't help the tears now. Dang it, how did they get past his defenses so easily!? He... he really was grateful they came into his life. "You guys are the best..." 

The three smiled at him, and he hugged Tsukuyomi back, letting the tears fall. The screams were let out. 

Tokiwa Sougo... finally let his sorrows out at long last, in front of Tsukuyomi, Geiz and Woz. 

Keiwa smiled a bit, leaning on the hallway before straightening up and moving away. Sougo was fine, and that was great. He didn't have to intervene after all. 

He did wonder why one of Woz's trinkets had glowed. The red and blue one. 

Ah, that was probably a matter for some other time.

As he walked past, he spotted a child reading a book about what he assumed to be history in the pediatrician ward and smiled. The sheer excitement, and the passion in the kid's eyes reminded him why he fought in the DGP. 

In order to get world peace, he had to deal with this situation first, though, so there was something to focus on. 

For now, he had to go check on Ace as well. Knowing the Dezashin he was probably trying to escape the room right now! 

He quickened his pace, but a part of him still wondered why the bookmark the kid had was the exact shade of red and blue from that trinket of Woz's...