Kimimaru looked at Tyouro coldly. His expression was completely different from the usual calm face he wore around his friends.
"I kinda feel bad for you, Tyouro. I don't have time to let you melt me and my Zweihander."
Tyouro's smile disappeared.
Kairo stepped forward, but the moment he entered the area around the barrier, he immediately felt the heat pressing against his skin.
His breathing became heavier.
His eyes widened.
He instinctively took a step back.
"No way..." Kairo muttered. "The barrier is even hotter than before... Sensei, what should we do now?"
Griffin adjusted his hat and stepped forward.
"Don't worry, Kairo. I'll do my best to stop them."
Then his voice suddenly became much louder.
"KIMIMARU! TYOURO! STOP THIS NONSENSE!"
The two of them stopped.
"You're both friends! Shougo wouldn't want this!"
Tyouro slowly turned toward Griffin.
"Ohh..."
His jaw tightened.
He looked back at Kimimaru.
"You're not my friend anymore, Kimimaru."
His voice became colder.
"I'll just end your life."
Before Tyouro could move, Griffin opened a portal beneath him.
WHOOSH!
Tyouro suddenly disappeared from the barrier and landed several meters away.
"What?! Sensei?! Why did you do that?!"
Tyouro immediately stood up.
"I could've ended him right there!"
"Shut up, Tyouro!"
Griffin's expression was unusually serious.
"You're not going to kill him! Kimimaru is emotionless because he doesn't know how to deal with his emotions. He cares about Shougo's death, but he doesn't want to admit it!"
Tyouro froze.
Griffin continued.
"And right now, you need to stop. If you keep pushing this fight any further..."
He looked toward the sky.
"The sun itself could explode."
Everyone went silent.
"And if that happens," Griffin said, "the consequences won't stop here. It could destroy everything around us... possibly even the entire universe."
Tyouro's eyes widened.
"Ohh..."
For once, he didn't have a joke.
He didn't have anything funny to say.
Kairo suddenly rushed toward him.
"Tyouro!"
Tyouro looked up.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! Kimimaru is our best friend! You don't have to do this!"
Kairo grabbed him tightly.
"We're all best friends, Tyouro..."
Tyouro's body trembled.
Then his eyes began to fill with tears.
He grabbed Kairo's shirt and hugged him back.
"I..."
His voice cracked.
"I don't know what's wrong with me..."
Kairo held him tighter.
"It's okay."
Tyouro finally broke down.
And for the first time, everyone saw something behind his usual goofy smile.
Something he had hidden for years.
A memory.
A memory from when he was just a child.
Years Ago
A Small Town
The town was peaceful.
It wasn't a place filled with powerful Reikou users or famous warriors.
It was just a small town where everyone knew each other.
Children played in the streets.
Shopkeepers greeted their neighbors.
And every afternoon, the sound of children's laughter could be heard throughout the streets.
Among them was a young Tyouro.
He was running down the road with his best friend, Hero.
"Hey, Hero!"
Tyouro pointed toward a girl sitting alone near the edge of the street.
"Did you see that girl? She looks kinda sad. Why don't we go say hi?"
Hero stopped and laughed.
"Sure, sure!"
The two boys ran toward her.
At that age, neither of them understood how their words could affect someone else.
They only wanted to joke around.
"Hey!" Tyouro said.
The girl slowly looked up.
"What's your name?"
She didn't answer.
Tyouro tilted his head.
"Are you okay?"
Hero laughed.
"She doesn't look like she wants to talk."
The girl looked down.
"Go away..."
Tyouro and Hero looked at each other.
They laughed.
The girl suddenly raised her voice.
"GO AWAY! I HATE YOU BOTH!"
She stood up and ran away.
Tyouro and Hero remained there, laughing.
At the time, Tyouro didn't understand.
He didn't realize that she wasn't angry because she hated him.
She was hurt.
And he had made that hurt worse.
That Afternoon
Tyouro walked home alone.
He kicked a small rock along the road.
"Man..."
He sighed.
"That girl was weird."
He kicked the rock again.
"She started hating us even though we didn't do anything."
He continued walking.
But something about the girl's face kept bothering him.
Her voice.
Her tears.
The way she ran away.
For some reason, he couldn't forget it.
The Next Morning
Tyouro arrived at his small school.
He sat through class like normal, but his mind kept wandering.
During lunch, he noticed the same girl sitting by herself.
He stared at her from across the classroom.
Then he remembered yesterday.
Tyouro lowered his head.
"Maybe... I was being stupid."
For the first time, he thought about how she might have felt.
After school, Tyouro walked toward the school gate.
Then he saw her.
She was walking alone.
Tyouro hesitated.
He almost turned around.
But instead, he ran toward her.
"Hey!"
The girl stopped.
She looked at him cautiously.
"What?"
Tyouro scratched the back of his head.
"About yesterday..."
He paused.
"I'm sorry."
The girl blinked.
"You're... apologizing?"
"Yeah."
Tyouro gave her an awkward smile.
"I didn't know you were actually upset."
She looked away.
"...Okay."
Tyouro smiled.
"Can I walk with you?"
"No."
"Oh."
He stood there awkwardly.
Then the girl started walking.
Tyouro followed a few steps behind.
She turned around.
"Why are you following me?"
"I don't know."
She stared at him.
Tyouro smiled.
"I'm bored."
She rolled her eyes.
"You're annoying."
Tyouro laughed.
"That's what Hero says!"
For some reason...
The girl almost smiled.
The Following Days
Tyouro kept walking with her after school.
At first, she barely talked.
Tyouro didn't force her.
Instead, he simply stayed around.
He told terrible jokes.
He made ridiculous faces.
He pretended to trip over invisible rocks.
He even tried copying their teacher's voice.
One afternoon, Tyouro dramatically raised his hand and said:
"Teacher! I have discovered the greatest secret in the universe!"
The girl looked at him.
"What?"
Tyouro leaned closer.
"I'm hungry."
Silence.
The girl stared at him.
Then...
She laughed.
A real laugh.
Tyouro's eyes widened.
"WAIT!"
He pointed at her.
"You laughed!"
She immediately covered her mouth.
"I didn't!"
"You did!"
"No!"
"You definitely did!"
Tyouro started laughing too.
And somehow...
That became their little routine.
Every day, Tyouro tried to make her laugh.
Every day, she slowly became more comfortable around him.
Days became weeks.
Weeks became months.
They began sitting together during lunch.
They walked home together.
They talked about school.
They talked about their dreams.
They argued about stupid things.
Sometimes they didn't even talk.
They would simply sit beside each other and watch the sunset.
And Tyouro never realized how important those moments would become.
One afternoon, the girl finally asked him something.
"Tyouro?"
"Hm?"
"Why are you always trying to make me laugh?"
Tyouro thought about it.
Then he smiled.
"Because I like seeing you smile."
She looked at him.
Tyouro continued.
"When you're smiling, you don't look sad anymore."
She became quiet.
Then she smiled.
"...You're actually a nice person."
Tyouro immediately placed his hands on his hips.
"Of course I am!"
She laughed.
"You're also really stupid."
"HEY!"
They both laughed.
For Tyouro, those were the happiest days of his childhood.
He had no idea that happiness could disappear so quickly.
He didn't know that the person who had become his closest friend...
Would soon become the reason he could never look at his childhood the same way again.
And he certainly didn't know that years later, whenever someone he cared about was in danger...
That little boy would still be somewhere inside him.
The boy who was terrified of losing another friend.
The boy who hid his fear behind jokes.
The boy who smiled...
Because he didn't know what else to do.