Morning came slowly.
The sanctuary didn't brighten the way the surface did – no sunrise spilling through windows, no shifting sky – but the change was there all the same. The low amber lights along the halls had dimmed overnight, now slowly warming again, and the steady hum of the generators carried a slightly sharper edge as systems cycled back into full activity.
In Kanesaki's room, the stillness lingered a little longer.
Yasuko stirred first.
Barely at first – just a slow shift beneath the covers, a quiet breath as she came back to awareness. Her eyes opened gradually, unfocused for a second before settling.
Kanesaki was still there, right where he had been.
Her gaze softened slightly.
Without a word, she shifted in his arms, turning to face him properly. The movement was slow, careful, her hand resting lightly against his chest as she adjusted.
She leaned in.
The kiss was soft, unhurried – just enough to wake him.
Kanesaki stirred a second later, brow tightening faintly before his eyes opened halfway.
'…Morning?' he muttered, voice still rough with sleep.
Yasuko didn't answer.
Instead, she shifted closer.
Her lips brushed his again briefly before trailing lower, her breath warm against his skin as she moved to his neck. One hand slid lightly along his side, pulling herself closer against him.
Kanesaki exhaled slowly, one hand instinctively settling at her waist.
'What time is it…?' he asked quietly.
Yasuko ignored him.
'Does it matter?' she murmured instead, her voice low, almost amused.
Her breath ghosted against his neck again as she shifted slightly, pressing closer, the space between them disappearing entirely.
Kanesaki let out a faint breath, somewhere between a sigh and a quiet laugh.
'Probably,' he said, though there wasn't much conviction behind it.
Yasuko hummed softly in response, clearly unconcerned.
For a moment, the world outside the room didn't exist.
Then–
BANG BANG BANG
The door rattled sharply under the force of it.
'Up you two!'
Sho's voice cut through the quiet like a blade.
'We've got things to do, and I'm not waiting on you two all morning!'
Yasuko froze.
Then slowly pulled back, staring at the door like it had personally offended her.
Her expression flattened.
'…We can never get privacy,' she muttered.
Kanesaki let out a small laugh, dragging a hand over his face as he pushed himself up slightly.
'Seems that way.'
Another knock, louder.
'You ain't got long!' Sho called.
Yasuko rolled her eyes hard enough it was almost audible, already shifting away.
'Yeah, yeah! We're up!' she snapped back.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed, grabbing a pair of shorts from nearby and pulling them on quickly, still visibly annoyed.
Kanesaki sat up properly, reaching for a shirt and dragging it over his head, stretching slightly as he did.
The quiet moment from before was gone just like that.
Yasuko stood, running a hand through her hair as she shot the door one last irritated look.
'One day,' she muttered, 'I'm locking that door.'
Kanesaki smirked faintly as he stood beside her.
'He'd probably break it down.'
'Yeah,' she sighed. 'You're right.'
Yasuko moved toward the door, already done arguing.
'We're coming! Happy now!?' she called, yanking it open before Sho could keep going.
He stood there, as expected, completely unfazed.
Kanesaki shook his head slightly as he followed her out.
Morning had officially started.
***
Morning settled into motion without ever really announcing itself.
Breakfast was simple, quick, and mostly quiet. Sho ate first, leaning against the counter as he worked through his portion without much comment, eyes still half-focused from the early start. Ryuu followed not long after, stepping in, taking what he needed, and eating with the same efficient stillness he brought to everything else.
There was no wasted movement, no unnecessary conversation.
Once finished, he set his plate aside and left without a word.
The sound of the shower started soon after.
Sho went next.
By the time Yasuko and Kanesaki made their way in, the space had warmed slightly, the air carrying the faint scent of food and steam. Yasuko grabbed what remained without hesitation, eating far more casually than the others, while Kanesaki sat across from her, slower, quieter.
They didn't talk much, they didn't need to.
Somewhere in the middle of it all, Asami finally appeared.
Her crimson hair slightly disheveled, expression unreadable, she stepped into the room like she had always been there, taking one look at the state of things before muttering something under her breath and grabbing whatever was left.
Elsewhere, the day had already begun.
Mitsuko was awake and moving almost instantly, already halfway inside the open frame of the cargo ship before most of the others had even finished eating. Tools clinked and sparked as she worked, voice occasionally drifting out in half-finished thoughts as she adjusted wiring and panels with practiced ease.
Katsumi came and went just as quickly.
One moment he was there, lazily grabbing his jacket and keys.
The next, he was gone – engine echoing faintly as his bike disappeared out into the desert.
He returned sometime later with crates strapped to the back, hauling them down with a grunt and dragging them inside. By then, Asami had finished eating and joined him, the two unpacking supplies in quiet coordination, sorting without needing to speak much.
The rhythm of the sanctuary carried on.
Outside, the air was sharper.
The training space bore the marks of repeated use – scuffed ground, shallow cracks, the faint remnants of past impacts scattered across the concrete.
Ryuu stood at the centre of it.
Sho moved first.
The clash came fast – steel against steel, bodies moving with practiced precision. Their Chimera weapons phased into existence without hesitation, drawn cleanly from their bodies as if the boundary between flesh and weapon didn't exist at all.
Ryuu's twin blades carved through the air in controlled arcs, black metal catching faint red along their edges. Sho's weapon followed a different rhythm – faster, sharper, the movement of it precise and deliberate as it cut in and out of range.
Kanesaki joined soon after.
The tempo shifted.
Three bodies moving, clashing, separating – then colliding again. Strikes landed. Blades bit. Blood followed.
None of it lasted.
Wounds closed almost as quickly as they were made, Chimera regeneration stitching flesh back together beneath the surface, leaving only faint traces behind.
It wasn't about damage, more about refinement and control.
Time blurred between rounds, and at some point, Yasuko appeared.
She lingered at the edge at first, arms folded as she watched the exchanges, eyes tracking movement with quiet focus. The television glow from earlier still lingered in her posture, but it didn't last.
Not long.
She stepped in without announcement.
Her weapon phased into her hand as she moved, the curve of it catching light as she joined the rhythm seamlessly, forcing the others to adjust, to shift, to react.
The balance changed again.
The training carried on.
Eventually, it ended the same way it always did – without ceremony, without conclusion.
Just stopping.
Kanesaki stepped away first.
The quiet of his room welcomed him back without resistance. He settled into it easily, picking up where he had left off, a book resting in his hands as he leaned back and let the outside world fade again.
Time passed.
The door opened at some point.
Yasuko slipped in, quieter this time, moving with purpose rather than noise. She didn't interrupt him, didn't say anything at first – just moved around the room, searching.
A drawer.
A shelf.
Then–
'Ah.'
A deck of cards appeared in her hand, followed shortly by a small stash of cash.
She smirked to herself.
Kanesaki didn't even look up.
'You're stealing,' he said absently.
'Borrowing,' she corrected, already heading for the door.
He turned a page.
She was gone.
Outside, Ryuu hadn't stopped.
The others had filtered away, but he remained, blades moving through empty air now, refining each motion down to something sharper, cleaner, quieter.
Mitsuko appeared eventually, wiping her hands on a cloth as she approached.
She didn't interrupt, simply watching.
After a moment, she tossed him a bottle of water.
Ryuu caught it without looking, pausing only briefly before taking a drink.
'You're going to wear a hole in the ground at this rate,' she said lightly.
He didn't answer, nor did he move away.
The day stretched on, softening over time.
Evening crept in slowly, the light shifting across the desert, the heat easing just enough to let the air breathe again.
Kanesaki climbed higher.
Up through the structure, past the familiar paths, until he reached the upper edge of the garage – where the rock opened out and the view stretched far beyond the sanctuary itself.
He sat near the sign fixed into the stone, the worn logo catching the last of the light as the sun dipped lower.
Above, the sky burned.
Gold to orange, orange to red.
And beyond it were the rings.
Massive, silent structures arcing across the heavens, catching the fading light as they loomed over the world below.
Kanesaki watched in silence.
Footsteps trailed somewhere behind him.
Yasuko.
She didn't say anything as she approached, just moved to sit beside him, close enough that their shoulders brushed.
For a while, they just watched.
The sun slipped further, the sky deepened the first hints of night creeping in.
Yasuko leaned slightly into him.
Kanesaki turned just enough and kissed her.
She didn't pull away, instead shifting closer, one hand resting lightly against him as the space between them disappeared again.
Above them, the sky darkened fully, the moon rose, and the world, for a moment, felt still.
Chapter 77 – end