"The place I want to go!"
Haruki froze when he heard those words. Then realization dawned on him, and he nodded firmly at Yuzhou.
"Got it! Then—let's go to the place I want to go!"
He pulled the trigger.
The clear ringing of bells echoed, and the world blurred.
When Haruki came back to his senses, he found himself standing beside a quiet rural riverbank.
Startled, he looked around—and the more he looked, the more familiar everything became.
Especially the short stone steps climbing up the slope ahead.
"This place feels like…"
"…when I was little, the place where I used to play with my dad."
Memories surged forward, overlapping perfectly with the scenery before him.
Just then, a baseball bounced down the steps, rolling toward him.
It stopped right at his feet.
"This ball…"
A strange sense of familiarity welled up from deep inside him.
"It's fine, I'll pick it up."
A voice—etched into his very soul—came from the grassy slope above.
Haruki looked up.
A middle-aged man in a red plaid shirt jogged down the steps toward him.
"I'm really sorry about that!"
The man smiled apologetically as he bent to retrieve the baseball.
Haruki stared at him in disbelief.
His eyes widened. His lips trembled.
"Dad…?"
"Huh?"
Yuzhou did not follow Haruki into that space.
Based on what he knew, the place Haruki most wanted to go could only be one thing—the time when his father was still alive.
Disappearing like that meant only one thing.
He's gone to see his father.
"Where did Juggler go…?"
Yuzhou snapped back to the present, only to realize Juggler was nowhere to be seen.
Frowning, he walked over to the closed bathroom door, raised his hand to knock—then heard a voice from inside.
"Since I'm already here, I might as well finish first."
Yuzhou: "..."
Fine.
He decided not to interrupt.
Not long after, Haruki reappeared before Yuzhou.
No questions were needed.
The redness around Haruki's eyes made everything clear.
Haruki's father had died because of a monster.
When the kaiju attacked, his father handed Haruki to his mother—then rushed out as a firefighter to help evacuate civilians.
That kind of self-sacrifice…
Yuzhou had never admired it.
When monsters appear, the first thing one should protect is the family beside them—not strangers.
Even if he was a firefighter.
Even if he bore responsibility.
Treating one's own life as expendable was Haruki's father's greatest mistake.
Because to Haruki's family, that man was their pillar.
He never stopped to think what would happen after his death—
To his wife.
To his son.
A child without a father.
A woman without her husband.
How were they supposed to survive?
"Haruki," Yuzhou said quietly, placing a hand on his shoulder, "you can deal with it."
"Bullton…"
Haruki clenched his teeth as he looked at the red-and-blue sphere outside the window.
"…I don't want it to disappear yet."
"I don't want Bullton gone right now!"
"There are still places I want to go!"
"I want to be selfish—just once!"
"…Oh?"
Yuzhou looked at him in surprise—then immediately understood.
Haruki wanted to save his father.
Bullton could send him back to the past.
Which meant Haruki could return to the day the monster attacked.
Back then, he was powerless.
But now—
He and Z were one.
He now possessed the power to fight monsters.
If he had the chance, Haruki wanted to go back and destroy the monster that killed his father.
"Senior… you understand me, right?"
Haruki asked, his body trembling.
"Calm down, Haruki," Yuzhou said gently.
"I understand. I know exactly what you want to do."
"But do you know what a temporal paradox is?"
"…Temporal paradox?"
Haruki did know.
As a top-tier STORAGE pilot, his theoretical knowledge was solid.
"If you go back and save your father," Yuzhou continued, "the timeline will collapse into chaos. The consequences would be unimaginable."
"But this is my only chance!"
"Only once—only this once!"
Haruki struggled internally.
He was kind by nature.
He didn't want the universe to suffer because of him.
"Trust me, Haruki," Yuzhou said firmly.
"You go deal with Bullton."
"As for your father—leave that to me."
"Senior?!"
Haruki stared at Yuzhou in shock.
Those words meant only one thing.
Yuzhou was going to save his father himself.
"But… the temporal paradox—"
"I have my ways," Yuzhou said with a faint smile.
"…Alright."
Haruki nodded solemnly.
"Then Bullton is mine. My father… I leave him to you, Senior."
"Go."
Yuzhou waved him off.
Haruki shattered the window, pulled the trigger, and began Fusion Rise.
Yuzhou stared at the broken glass in silence.
"…That kid. This is my house."
Shaking his head, he glanced at the still-closed bathroom door—then raised his own Z Riser.
"Yuzhou—access granted."
"Ultraman."
"Ultraman Jack."
"Tartarus."
"Ultraman Tiga—Chrono Form!"
Golden energy surged along his arms.
He swung it forward.
A golden wormhole bloomed open before him.
After loosening his shoulders slightly, Yuzhou stepped inside and vanished.
A figure clad in golden armour emerged from the wormhole.
Yuzhou arrived on a grassy lawn.
Judging by the surroundings, it appeared to be a public park.
Because he had appeared in a secluded corner, no one noticed.
He de-transformed and stepped out from the bushes.
Now came the problem.
He didn't know what Haruki looked like as a child.
He didn't know what Haruki's parents looked like either.
But Yuzhou knew one thing with absolute certainty—
When the monster appeared, the man running toward it—
Would be Haruki's father.