Kato made them talk for almost two hours.
The buns helped.
More than Yūta expected.
At first, when Kato led them into a room and closed the door behind them, Yūta had been fairly certain they were going to die.
Not literally.
Probably.
Kato listened to everything in silence.
Hisayama.
The Tsukino house.
Mio.
The Vigil.
The man in red.
The people dressed in white.
The fight in the forest.
The body deforming from the inside until it could no longer hold whatever it had tried to force into itself.
Kato did not interrupt much.
He only asked questions when something did not fit.
"Did the man in red die?" he asked.
Hina nodded.
"Yes."
"Did you see the body stop emitting pressure?"
"Yes," Ishida said.
"Did the civilians wake up?"
"Most of them," Yūta answered. "They didn't seem to remember clearly what happened."
Kato remained thoughtful for a moment.
"That doesn't mean they won't remember later."
No one answered.
Because all of them had thought the same thing.
Kato bit into the last bun with an expression that was not quite enjoyment and not quite concern.
"And you buried him?"
"Yes," Mei said.
"Where?"
Ishida explained the exact area.
Kato listened without looking away.
Then he set the bun down on the table.
Yūta swallowed.
"So… are we in trouble?"
Kato looked at him.
"No."
Yūta blinked.
"No?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Amane."
"It's just that normally, after a long pause, something bad comes."
Kato sighed.
"You're not in trouble."
The four of them went still.
As if the sentence were a trap.
Kato looked at them one by one.
First at Hina.
Then Mei.
Then Ishida.
Then Yūta.
"You did a great job."
No one spoke.
Not even Yūta.
Kato rested his arms on the table.
"You left without permission. Used my name without permission. Walked into a situation that could have killed you. All of that is still stupid."
"There it is," Yūta murmured.
"But," Kato continued, "you also found a girl no one else would have found in time. You stopped a man who was using people as tools. You avoided killing civilians when treating them like enemies would have been easier. And all of you came back."
Hina lowered her gaze slightly.
Mei stopped pretending she did not care.
Ishida stayed serious.
Yūta made no joke.
Kato picked up the bun again.
"The fight you had against the man in red and the others was already more than enough punishment for you."
He bit into it.
Chewed.
Nodded, as if confirming something beyond the flavor.
"And besides, the buns were good."
Yūta closed his eyes in relief.
"I knew they were important."
"Don't exaggerate," Kato said.
Mei smiled.
"But they helped."
"They helped," Kato admitted.
Then he became serious again.
Not harsh.
Just clear.
"Good work."
The room fell silent.
This time, it was not uncomfortable.
It was strange.
Because none of the four seemed to know what to do with such direct recognition.
Hina was the first to answer.
"Thank you."
Mei looked away.
"Yeah. Well."
Ishida dipped his head slightly.
"Understood."
Yūta raised his hand.
Kato looked at him.
"If you're about to ruin the moment, think twice."
Yūta lowered his hand.
"I'll save it."
"Miracle."
The next day, his body still felt heavy.
Not like after an ordinary fight.
It was a strange mix of physical exhaustion, badly slept sleep, and the feeling of having seen something his brain still could not figure out where to put.
Morning training was canceled.
In theory, that should have been good news.
In practice, it meant Kana had summoned them to an empty training room in the middle of the morning.
And when Kana summoned someone to an empty training room, it was rarely to congratulate them.
Yūta entered last.
Hina was already leaning against a wall, her shoulder bandaged, wearing the face of someone who would rather fight another cult than receive another serious talk.
Mei was sitting on one of the mats, opening and closing a fan with false patience.
Ishida was reading.
Of course.
Kato stood at the back, arms crossed.
Kana stood in the center of the room.
That was the first thing that made Yūta frown.
"This looks official," he said.
"It is," Kana answered.
"That's bad."
Kato looked at him.
"Amane."
"I'm just reacting to the atmosphere."
"React in silence."
Yūta leaned against the wall beside Hina.
"Are we in trouble again?"
"Technically, we never stopped being in trouble," Ishida said, without looking up from his book.
"Thanks, Ishida. Always so hopeful."
Kana tapped the floor lightly with her cane.
The sound was not loud.
But everyone stopped talking.
"You are not here today because of Hisayama."
Yūta blinked.
"That's suspicious."
Mei looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because when an adult says you're not in trouble for one thing, it usually means you're in trouble for something else."
"You are not in trouble," Kana said.
Yūta relaxed.
"Ah."
Kato added:
"Yet."
Yūta tensed again.
"Ah."
Kana did not smile.
But came close.
"We have a new admission."
The sentence remained in the room.
Hina lifted her head.
Mei stopped moving her fan.
Ishida closed his book with one finger still between the pages.
Yūta looked at Kato.
"A new admission?"
"That's what she said," Kato replied.
"Yes, I heard. I'm processing."
"Don't strain yourself."
"Thanks for the confidence."
Kana turned toward the door.
"You may come in."
The door opened.
Yūta expected to see a new student.
Someone nervous.
Someone unknown.
Someone who had nothing to do with him.
But the boy who entered had a backpack hanging from one shoulder, slightly messy hair, and a serious expression Yūta recognized before he even understood why.
He froze.
The boy looked first at Kana.
Then at Kato.
Then at the others.
And when he saw Yūta, his face changed.
It was not a huge smile.
But it was a real one.
"Hi, Amane," Sota said. "How are you?"
Yūta opened his mouth.
He said nothing.
Then he took a quick step toward him.
"Sota?"
Sota raised one hand, awkward.
"Yeah."
Yūta hugged him before thinking.
It was not a perfect hug.
It was clumsy.
Fast.
Too impulsive.
Sota went rigid for half a second.
Then he let out a quiet laugh and patted him on the back.
"I'm glad to see you too."
Yūta pulled away, still looking at him as if he needed to make sure he was really there.
"How long has it been? A month? More? Are you okay? Is your mom okay? What are you doing here? Did you grow?"
Sota blinked.
"That was a lot of questions."
"I'm summarizing."
Mei looked at Hina.
"He hugs people?"
"Apparently," Hina said.
Ishida closed the book all the way.
"Amane."
Yūta turned his head.
"What?"
"Explanation."
It took Yūta a second to react.
Then he looked at the others.
"Ah. Right. This is Sota Miyazaki."
Sota dipped his head slightly, uncomfortable with the attention.
"Hi."
"He's the kid from Misato," Yūta said. "The one Kagami and I saved."
The name changed the air.
It did not destroy it.
It did not erase the joy of seeing him alive.
But it gave it weight.
Hina looked at Sota differently.
Mei stopped leaning her weight onto one leg.
Ishida went still, attentive.
Sota tightened his grip on the strap of his backpack.
"I didn't think I'd see you again so soon."
Yūta smiled.
"Me neither. But I'm glad."
Sota looked at him.
This time, he smiled a little more.
"Me too."
For one second, the room seemed less cold.
Then Kato spoke.
"Miyazaki has been training with Kana for the past month."
Yūta turned slowly toward him.
"Sorry?"
"You heard me."
Yūta looked at Kana.
Then at Sota.
Then back at Kana.
"A month?"
Kana nodded.
"One month."
Yūta slowly lowered his gaze toward Sota.
"Training?"
"Yes," Sota said.
"With mana?"
"Yes."
Yūta looked at him as if Sota had betrayed him personally.
"No."
Sota carefully raised one hand.
At first, nothing happened.
Then a faint layer of mana appeared around his fingers.
It was not strong.
It was not stable.
It flickered a little, like a small flame the wind could still put out.
But it was there.
Mana.
Visible.
Real.
In Sota's hand.
Yūta opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
"No."
Mei smiled.
"One month, you said?"
Sota lowered his hand, embarrassed.
"Yes."
Ishida studied Sota's fingers carefully.
"Functional basic control."
"Don't make it sound worse," Yūta said.
Hina looked at Yūta.
"How long did it take you?"
Yūta pointed at Sota.
"That is not the point."
Kato raised a hand from the back.
"It is a little bit."
"Don't all join in."
Mei rested her elbow on one knee.
"Amane, a fourteen-year-old boy learned in one month what took you…"
"Do not finish that sentence."
"I didn't know the exact number."
"Better."
Ishida opened his book again.
"Comparatively, it's efficient."
Yūta looked at him.
"You're enjoying this."
"No."
"Lie."
"I'm recording data."
"With happiness."
"That is irrelevant to the data."
Hina let out a quiet laugh.
Sota watched the scene without fully understanding it, but with something looser in his shoulders.
Yūta noticed.
And he was glad.
Because the Sota he remembered had eyes wide open with fear.
This Sota was still afraid.
But he also had something that looked almost like being here.
Kana tapped the floor with her cane again.
"Enough."
The teasing stopped immediately.
More or less.
Mei kept smiling, but silently.
Yūta made an expression of wounded dignity that no one respected.
Kana looked at Sota.
"Tell them."
Sota swallowed.
"Everything?"
"What is necessary."
Sota nodded.
He adjusted his backpack, even though he no longer needed to.
"After you left Misato, I… couldn't go back to normal."
The room went still.
Yūta stopped making faces.
"My mom thought it was because of what had happened. Because of Toma and Masa. Because of everything."
Sota lowered his gaze slightly.
"And it was because of that. But also because I knew there was something else. I couldn't tell her what I'd seen without sounding insane."
Hina crossed her arms, but said nothing.
Sota took a deep breath.
"A few days later, Kana came to my house."
Yūta looked at Kana.
Kana did not take her eyes off Sota.
"She spoke to my mom first," he continued. "She told her I needed a change of environment. That after what happened in Misato, a normal school might not be able to help me. That there was a place in Tokyo where they could support me better."
"You didn't tell her everything," Yūta said.
It was not an accusation.
Not exactly a question either.
Kana looked at him.
"I couldn't."
Yūta nodded slowly.
He did not like it.
But he understood.
That was happening more and more often.
Sota continued:
"My mom didn't want to. Obviously. She said she had already lost too much. That sending me to another city was another way of losing me."
No one spoke.
"Kana didn't argue with her like she knew better. She just… waited. She told her she wasn't taking me away, that she was giving me an option. And that she could say no."
Yūta looked at Kana again.
It was hard to imagine her sitting in Sota's house, speaking to a mother who did not know the whole truth, saying only the permitted part of something far too large.
But he could imagine it too.
Kana had that way of carrying decisions no one else wanted to touch.
"Then she spoke to me," Sota said.
His voice changed a little.
It became lower.
More his own.
"She told me the truth. Not all of it, I guess. But enough."
Yūta went very still.
"She told me what I saw was real. That the monsters existed. That Toma and Masa hadn't died because of anything normal. That you weren't ordinary students."
Mei made no joke.
Ishida lowered his gaze toward the book, but he was not reading.
Hina looked at the floor.
Sota clenched his fists.
"I asked her if I could do something. If I could learn."
Kana spoke for the first time.
"I told him learning would not give anything back to him."
Sota nodded.
"And I told her I already knew that."
The room fell silent.
It was not an uncomfortable silence.
It was one that deserved to be there.
Sota raised his gaze toward Yūta.
"I didn't come because I want to be like you."
Yūta blinked.
"Well. That hurt weirdly."
Sota smiled faintly.
But the smile did not last.
"I came because if something like that happens again, I don't want to just stand there watching."
Yūta stopped smiling.
He understood that sentence.
Too much.
"Yeah," he said. "I understand that."
Kato pushed away from the wall.
"Good."
Everyone looked at him.
"The emotional part is over."
"Did you have to say it like that?" Yūta asked.
"Yes."
Kato walked toward the center of the room.
"Miyazaki can use basic mana. Kana told me he has good sensitivity and a decent amount to start with. But we don't know how he moves under pressure."
Sota straightened his back.
"I can try."
"That's what you're going to do."
Yūta looked at Kato.
He no longer liked where this was going.
"Try what?"
Kato looked at him.
"To know what level he's at, he needs to fight."
Yūta raised both hands.
"No."
"Yes."
"Why did I say no if you were going to say yes anyway?"
"Because you still have hope."
"That was cruel."
Kato pointed toward the center of the room.
"Amane, you're going to fight him."
Sota turned toward Yūta.
He did not look scared.
He looked surprised.
And a little relieved.
Yūta pointed at himself.
"Me?"
"You."
"Why me?"
Kato raised one finger.
"If I put him against Ishida, he ties him up."
Ishida did not deny it.
"If I put him against Shirogane, she cuts him."
Mei smiled.
"Depends on my mood."
"That's why."
Kato pointed at Hina.
"If I put him against Tsukino, she scares him."
Hina frowned.
"Why do I scare him?"
Kato looked at her.
"You have an axe."
Hina lowered her gaze toward her hand, as if she had just remembered that was true.
"Makes sense."
Yūta sighed.
"And what do I do?"
"Measure him."
"That sounds adult. I don't like it."
"No copying," Kato said.
Yūta stopped.
"So I fight using only my natural talent?"
Kato looked at him.
"That's why I'm worried."
Mei lowered her head to hide her smile.
She failed.
Sota looked at Yūta.
"You don't have to hold back too much."
Yūta looked at him.
"That's what everyone says before regretting it."
"I want to know where I am."
"You're in a room with Kato. That's already a bad sign."
Sota let out a brief laugh.
That laugh made Yūta relax.
A little.
They took their places in the center.
Kato marked the distance with a gesture.
"Rules. No lethal techniques. No reinforced hits to the head. Amane doesn't copy. Miyazaki, if you lose control of your mana, you stop. If you don't stop, I stop you."
Sota nodded.
"Yes."
"Amane."
"What?"
"If you make a joke in the middle of every exchange, I'll make you run afterward."
Yūta opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Mei raised an eyebrow.
"That was self-control."
"It hurt," Yūta said.
Kato raised a hand.
"Begin."
Sota moved first.
He did not run badly.
That surprised Yūta.
His feet were a little rigid, yes. His shoulders were too tense. His breathing was slightly ahead of him. But he did not throw himself forward like someone who only wanted to hit.
Kana had taught him stance.
That much showed.
Sota reinforced his legs with mana.
The energy rose from his ankles to his knees in a faint layer.
Then he advanced.
Fast.
Faster than Yūta expected.
Yūta stepped back just in time.
Sota's fist passed in front of his chest.
It was not a perfect strike.
But if it landed, it would hurt.
"Ah," Yūta said. "That was almost offensive."
"Don't talk," Kato said.
"That was a verbal evaluation."
Sota turned and threw another punch.
Yūta dodged it narrowly.
This time, he did not retreat as far.
He watched.
Sota's mana appeared in his legs before it appeared in his torso. He wanted to arrive quickly. Wanted to close the distance. Wanted to prove he was not useless.
Yūta knew that.
Maybe too well.
Sota attacked again.
Yūta moved to the side, touched his wrist, and pushed his shoulder lightly.
Sota lost balance, but did not fall.
He corrected with mana in his right leg and turned again.
Yūta raised his eyebrows.
"Good."
Sota clenched his teeth.
"Don't praise me."
"Sorry. Bad."
"Don't apologize either."
"I'm receiving a lot of contradictory instructions."
Sota charged again.
This time, he raised a layer of mana over his forearm.
It was not a weapon.
It was reinforcement.
Crude, but useful.
Yūta blocked with both arms.
The impact pushed him back one step.
Mei opened her eyes a little wider.
"Oh."
Hina smiled.
"He hit you."
"He didn't hit me," Yūta said.
"He moved you."
"That's different."
Ishida watched without expression.
"Miyazaki concentrates too much mana at the point of impact."
Kato nodded.
"He loses efficiency."
"I'm here," Sota said, breathing hard.
"That's why we're talking about you," Kato replied.
Sota attacked again.
But by now, Yūta had understood something.
Sota did not fight like someone aggressive.
He fought like someone in a hurry.
Every advance said the same thing:
this time, I won't stay still.
this time, I'll do something.
this time, I'll arrive on time.
Yūta felt his chest tighten.
He could not let him win out of pity.
That would insult him.
He also could not crush him.
That would break something that was still learning how to stand.
Sota charged mana into his legs.
Yūta saw it in his shoulders before he saw it in his feet.
He took half a step back.
Sota struck empty air.
Yūta touched his wrist, turned to the side, and pushed his shoulder.
This time, Sota fell to his knees.
Not hard.
But he fell.
Sota placed one hand on the floor.
"That was cheating."
"No," Yūta answered. "That was moderate experience."
Mei laughed.
So did Hina.
Kato closed his eyes.
"I can't believe that sentence is technically correct."
Sota stood up.
He was breathing faster.
The mana around his fingers flickered.
Kana watched him carefully.
"Your emission is dropping," she said.
Sota looked at his hands.
"I can keep going."
"No one said you couldn't."
Kato crossed his arms.
"But listen when they tell you."
Sota nodded.
And took position again.
Yūta raised his hands.
"We continuing?"
"Yes," Sota said.
"Good."
Sota changed.
Not much.
But he changed.
He no longer attacked straight toward the center.
He feinted to the right, then tried to enter from the left.
Yūta almost fell for it.
Almost.
He had to turn quickly and block with his forearm.
The strike grazed his ribs.
"That one was good," Yūta said.
Sota did not answer.
He attacked again.
Yūta retreated.
Sota advanced.
Yūta retreated again.
Hina frowned.
"Is he letting him move forward?"
Ishida shook his head slightly.
"He's making him spend."
Sota kept pressing.
Every step carried mana.
Every strike too.
He did not have a bad amount.
But he used it as if having it meant he could afford to lose it.
Yūta waited.
One strike.
Two.
Three.
On the fourth, Sota's mana wavered.
Half a second.
Only that.
Yūta advanced.
Sota did not expect it.
Because until that moment, Yūta had been retreating.
That was the mistake.
Yūta entered his space, lowered his center of gravity, swept his foot, and took his arm before he could recover his balance.
Sota ended up on the floor.
On his back.
Breathing hard.
Yūta knelt beside him and raised one hand.
"Moderate experience wins."
Sota stared at the ceiling.
Then at Yūta.
"That sounds awful."
"It's my brand."
Kato clapped once.
"Enough."
Yūta helped Sota sit up.
Sota accepted the hand.
He did not look angry.
Frustrated, yes.
But not angry.
"I thought I'd do better," he said.
Yūta shrugged.
"You did pretty well."
"I lost."
"That too."
Sota looked at him.
Yūta sighed.
"You can use mana. That's already a lot. But when you fight, you want to arrive too fast."
Sota lowered his gaze.
"I don't want to fall behind."
The sentence came out before he could hide it.
Yūta did not make a joke.
"I know."
Sota pressed his lips together.
"I don't want to wait for someone else to arrive if something happens again."
Yūta thought of Misato.
Of the street.
Of the desperation.
Of Sota trembling.
Of Toma and Masa.
Of all the places where someone had arrived too late.
"That doesn't get fixed in a month," he said.
Sota raised his eyes.
Yūta smiled a little.
"But it starts."
Sota took a while to answer.
Then he nodded.
Kato approached.
"He can use mana," he said.
Sota straightened.
"Is that good?"
"Yes."
Sota seemed to breathe.
Kato continued:
"And he thinks using mana means he's ready."
Sota tensed.
"I don't think that."
Kato looked at him.
"Yes, you do."
Sota opened his mouth.
Said nothing.
Kato did not sound cruel.
That made him harder to argue with.
"That's why you're here," he continued. "To learn the difference."
Kana rested both hands on her cane.
"You will not go on missions."
Sota turned toward her.
"But—"
"No," Kana said.
The word was calm.
Final.
"Not yet."
Sota lowered his gaze.
"Then what am I here for?"
Kato answered before Kana could.
"So that the next time something looks at you from the darkness, you don't have to wait for someone else to arrive first."
Sota went still.
The sentence entered slowly.
Not like comfort.
Like a hard promise.
The kind that did not make the world better, but did let someone stand in front of it.
"I understand," he said.
Yūta looked at him.
This time, Sota did not seem like the boy they had pulled out of Misato.
He did not seem healed either.
He was not.
But he was standing.
That mattered.
Mei raised a hand.
"Serious question."
Kato looked at her.
"I'm surprised."
"Is Amane a mentor now?"
Yūta turned toward her.
"Don't do that."
Hina smiled.
"It makes sense. Sota trusts him."
"Don't do that either."
Ishida opened his book.
"An informal mentorship relationship could help with initial adaptation."
Yūta pointed at him.
"You are the worst traitor because you say it with serious words."
Sota looked at Yūta.
"I didn't say mentor."
"Thank you."
"I said I trusted you."
Yūta fell silent.
Mei smiled in a dangerous way.
"That was worse."
"Much worse," Hina said.
Yūta dragged a hand over his face.
"You're all aging me."
Kato crossed his arms.
"Welcome to the club."
"I don't want to be in your club."
"No one does."
Kana looked at Sota.
"Starting today, you'll be under Kato's supervision."
Sota's eyes widened slightly.
So did Kato's.
"Sorry?" Kato said.
Kana looked at him.
"I didn't hear a complaint."
"That was a complaint."
"Not a very good one."
Yūta stepped toward Sota.
"Relax. You survive."
Sota looked at Kato.
Kato did not look like the kind of person one could easily say relax about.
"Are you sure?"
Yūta thought for a second.
"We survived."
"That isn't the same."
"No, but it helps keep expectations realistic."
Kato sighed.
"Amane."
"Yes."
"Go run."
Yūta froze.
"Why?"
"For the realistic expectations joke."
"But it was good."
"That's why it's only ten laps."
Mei started laughing.
So did Hina.
Even Sota had to cover his mouth.
Yūta pointed at all of them.
"This is group abuse."
Ishida turned a page.
"It's social adaptation."
"Don't use fancy words against me."
Sota took one step toward Yūta.
"I'll run with you."
Yūta looked at him.
"You don't have to."
Sota shrugged.
"I said I trusted you. I didn't say I was smart."
Yūta smiled.
This time, he did not hide it.
"Good. Then first lesson."
Sota lifted his head.
"What is it?"
Yūta pointed at Kato, who was already walking toward the exit with Kana.
"When Kato says ten laps, he usually means twelve."
Kato spoke without turning around.
"Now it's fifteen."
Yūta closed his eyes.
Sota looked at him.
"Was that part of the lesson?"
"Yes."
Yūta started walking toward the track.
"The second is never trust me when I say I understand how Kato works."
Sota followed him.
Hina watched them go.
Mei stood beside her.
"It's going to be weird having him here."
Hina nodded.
"Yeah."
Ishida closed the book.
"But not bad."
Mei looked at him.
"Was that optimism?"
"No. Preliminary assessment."
Hina smiled.
On the track, Yūta was already complaining.
Sota ran beside him, still a little rigid, still not fully sure where he was, but with his eyes forward.
Not like someone dragged along.
Like someone who had decided to walk.
Yūta said something.
Sota answered.
Then both of them laughed.
Kato watched them for a moment from the doorway.
So did Kana.
"Are you sure about this?" Kato asked.
Kana held her cane with both hands.
"No."
Kato looked at her.
Kana did not take her eyes off the boys.
"But I'm sure about the other thing."
"What other thing?"
"Leaving him alone in Misato would have been worse."
Kato did not answer.
Because he understood that too.
On the track, Sota stumbled slightly.
Yūta caught him by the arm before he could fall.
Sota said something.
Yūta raised his hands as if defending himself from an unfair accusation.
Hina laughed from afar.
Mei shook her head.
Ishida opened his book again.
Headquarters continued to sound the way it always did.
Footsteps.
Voices.
Training.
Students complaining.
Teachers pretending not to hear.
And in the middle of all of it, a boy from Misato ran for the first time inside a world that had already found him once.
This time, he was not alone.