"We found her. Your sister."

"Where?!"

"Amano Mikado Stadium."

He could still remember the mix of relief and dread within him from that day. Relief of finally being able to see her again after roughly a month, and dread of what state they could possibly have found her in.

When he arrived at the scene, he vaguely remembered rushing in before any of the investigators was able to tell him where she was. Then again, remembering how he found her alone, having received no help despite her immensely injured state, the investigators had probably only found definitive evidence of her being in the area, and not her exact whereabouts.

"Masato-san?"

He turned to the navy haired boy sitting beside him.

"What are you thinking about?"

That, instead of an 'Are you alright?'. Because he so clearly was not.

"... For the record, I have no regrets forcing you and your family to watch all of that."

He knew that much. He didn't know how his parents or cousins were feeling at the moment, but he knew that, at the very least, he felt like shit. And he knew he deserved it.

"Do you think beating yourself up would get her to open up to you?"

!

The younger boy's gaze had long left him. Following it, he found Zanark, the one who stopped them from going their own ways after the memory-hopping, talking to two people he had never seen before.

(He wondered if he should be worried about that.)

He hadn't told them of his reason for doing so. He just dragged them to the clearing with his sphere device along with some food.

"How much about Zanark do you know? I'd assume more than me because you've met him before this whole ordeal, right?"

"Just an amount." Were the first words he found himself saying since they arrived. "I was here during Ragnarok. I saw how he... took care of Kimiko."

"Did you know about his criminal status?"

"We were told about it, but the worst of it was a false charge... Of course, that doesn't excuse his other crimes, like destruction of property, stealing, and so on."

"And his escapades?"

"The natural disasters stuff?" He was genuinely curious about where the boy was trying to go with this conversation. "Yeah. And I know about how he drags Kimiko with him too."

"You're not worried about that?"

"I was, but when she told us about the armor thing that the Feida kids made for her..." He trailed off slightly.

He didn't necessarily stop worrying, but it did ease his mind enough. Besides...

"Contrary to popular belief, we do not put each other into dangers that we know we can't handle."

Zanark himself said that, didn't he?

"Most of the things I know about him are things I heard from both Kyousuke and Kimiko while we were catching up with her after being gone for three-four months." Yuuichi began. "She told us about all the crazy things he and the rest of Zanark Domain put her through. But not a single moment made her feel threatened. If anything, she was just mildly annoyed at worst."

"Because she trusted them."

To his surprise, the younger boy shook his head. "Because Zanark was with her through everything."

"Wha..."

"She told us about how he, quite literally, never left her side. While she found it a little irritating, after sticking with her for that long, without realizing it, she started entrusting her back to him."

Never...? Compared to that, he...

"I have my brother to keep me company at home, but after meeting Kyou and Yuu-san, I just started looking forward to coming here more."

They had adopted her when he was in high school. But while he was quite free to spend time with her at the start, he became busy with university applications and preparations. While his campus wasn't too far from home, his assignments and training kept him outside the house for the most part. And his job as a freelance trainer, earning him a spot in different parts of the world every so often, only lengthened his time away.

And even when he brought her along for her own training...

"Are you sure you're related?"

... Fuck.

"Masato-san."

He barely looked up.

"What does being an 'older brother' mean to you?"

His eyes narrowed. "I don't want to hear that from you of all people."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"You have a close relationship with your brother. You two share everything with each other, from your blood to everything you do. Compared to that, Kimiko and I―"

"If you're going to give up on her this quickly, then why did you adopt her in the first place?"

His mouth clamped shut immediately and he hated it.

"And don't think that Kyousuke and I had it easy these past few years. The reason we kept smiling, despite everything, was because that was all we could do. I've always known he's been blaming himself for the accident, just like how he always knew the reason I didn't give up was because I didn't want to see him lose hope either. Even so, do you think that knowing was enough?"

He was about to say 'yes', before remembering how the younger brother joined Fifth Sector. "So... How did you get over it?"

"We didn't get over anything."

Though he emphasized on the later word, he couldn't help but focus on the 'we'.

"We got through it, by believing in each other." A small smile appeared on the navy haired boy's face. "If he didn't believe that I'd still accept him despite what he did, he wouldn't have returned on his own, and we wouldn't have reconciled. If I didn't believe that he would do the right thing, I doubt any of us would be here right now."

He seemed to be hinting at more than just Fifth Sector with that last bit.

"Masato-san... I wonder if you understand that there is a very thin line between trust and leniency."

"..."

"Do you need me to say it out loud?"

"... No."

How selfish he was to ask for his sister's trust when he had never given her any of his.

"I get it."

How stubborn he was to insist that he was in the right all this time.

"I get it now."

How foolish he was.

"Thanks, Yuuichi."

"You're welcome."

He thought that was where their conversation would end, but as the navy haired boy looked up at the night sky, he continued on.

"And for the record, Kimiko doesn't hate you."

"Wh―"

"She has issues trusting most people, but she still considers you her home."

"... Not more than you two though."

"Maybe, but does that matter?"

It matters to me. It took all he had to stop himself from saying it out loud.

The younger one seemed to notice, as he offered him a knowing smile. "It's tough, isn't it?"

To relent on certain things for their happiness. To allow yourself to lose so that they could gain. To patiently wait through the eternity before they would be fully honest with you, bearing through every cold shoulder and silent treatment.

That is what it means to be an older brother.

"But I don't regret it."

Because to be able to tell them about something only you may understand at that moment. To be able to rely on them without you even needing to ask. To be able to just share your days with them.

That is the irreplaceable treasure only a younger sibling could give.

"Good."

~~~~~

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out that your kid was here just an hour or so ago." Zanark stood before the grave with his arms crossed. Having finished cleaning the area, by lazily dusting off the stone with his bare hands and using his Second Stage Child abilities to burn any wild grass proliferating, he was now waiting for the other two to finish their little dispute.

"You owe me big time, Uncle Four-Eyes. I'm going the extra mile for her future here. This should've been your job, you know."

He could easily imagine the brunette's sheepish smile as a response.

"Kia doesn't get an excuse either. If she was that excited to become a mom, then she should come here and take over. I have ten of my own people to take care of already."

The blonde woman would give a snarky laugh, perhaps saying something along the lines of "She's your responsibility too."

"I thought you'd say that. Maybe so, but not as much as she is yours."

"It's Houou's fault for being so reckless with that bounty hunter."

"Kia, you can't say anything when you left first."

"Hmph!"

"Even in my head, all I can hear is you both and your pointless marriage squabbles." He scoffed. "Really, is barking at each other all that you two can do?"

"It is now."

"Yeah, Zanark. We're dead."

"Don't say that so easily." He let out an exasperated sigh. "Now I know where Kiko gets those random sprouts of morbidity from."

"Are you sure you don't play a hand in that too?"

"... You made me stay with you for nearly a year."

That was a lie. He was the one that had nowhere else to go and took up their offer.

And yet...

"Guilty as charged!" The voice in his head played along, just like how she would. "But you're the one who took in my habits."

"Yeah. If anything, I only started seeing Kia's more chaotic side in Kimmy when she started hanging around you."

"Oh, so it's my fault now?" Despite saying so, his smirk was ever-present on his face.

"Yeah, it is! So take some responsibility!"

"We're glad to know that her genes won't hurt her anymore, but with that personality, she'll need someone to hold her on a leash."

"And you want that to be me? Hah!"

The voices in his head died down as he finally tore his eyes away from the grave. His gaze wandered to the night sky, hundreds of twinkling lights visible above him.

"It's only been a couple of years for me, but way more than that for her. She already found someone else to do that... A lot of someones."

Family... Some of them are asses, but at least the brother is decent.

Friends... Way too many to count, even if she didn't feel comfortable with them all just yet.

And...

"The Okita Souji brat especially. And after this is over, I barely have to do anything anymore." He smiled back down to the stones before him. "She must've told you, right? She's gonna go back to the past. And I made a contract with the old farts in El Dorado that, after her business is done, Zanark Domain will stop messing with the timeline."

He could hear the voices of his teammates from when he first announced it.

"It's not like you to listen to them, captain."

"Even if they'll be saving your life, you shouldn't let them control it afterwards."

"The only reason they could save you is because you saved them from Feida first! You don't owe them shit!"

It's not my life that I owe them for... His pride would never allow him to admit it out loud. Not to his teammates, not to the long-gone couple, not even to himself.

But...

"Uncle four-eyes trusted me with you, and Kia wouldn't shut up about you being my responsibility even before you were born. That means, in the chance that you die, I'll have to be the one to escort you back to them. If I don't, they'll probably bother me for the rest of my short-ass life, and I'd hate that."

He remembered the way those words came out of his voice box so easily when that kid asked. It was almost annoying how naturally they came out, especially when he's been in denial about it for like... How many years had it been?

It was laughable how spending time with her had changed him.

Did it change you, or did it just give you a chance to grieve? This time, it was his own voice that echoed in his head.

He shook his head, knowing full well the answer didn't matter.

(He knew it was the latter.)

He was never one to dwell on the past, nor dread the future.

(They were the first home he's ever known.)

Only the present mattered, because that was the moment he was living in.

(And he could never forget that first night after he was captured.)

And he would continue living in it.

(It was the first and last time he had ever cried.)

Her too.

(He had once told them, "Consider me your son all you want, I'm still not agreeing.")

"I kept my promise."

(He didn't know when those words turned into a lie.)

"So now will the Children of the Night leave my team alone?"

Under the moon, two figures stood between him and the remains of the wooden cabin.