White.
That was the only color that existed.
Yuuto stood alone in an endless empty space.
Only silence echoed around him.
Suddenly—
"Yuuto."
A deep yet warm voice echoed from behind him.
Yuuto quickly turned around.
There stood Arthur Pendragon, the King of Knights—calm, upright, and dignified as always.
"Arthur… why are you here?
Were you the one who called me?" Yuuto asked, confused.
Arthur gave a faint smile.
"Yes. I was the one who called you."
Yuuto took a step closer.
"What's wrong?
Did Sin Pride or Genuine Fae do something again?"
Arthur slowly shook his head.
"No. I called you here… to say goodbye."
Yuuto froze.
The smile on his face disappeared.
"Goodbye…?"
Shock and disbelief clearly appeared on his face.
"What do you mean, Arthur? Did I use your power too much?!" Yuuto's voice rose without him realizing.
Arthur just looked at him gently.
"No, Yuuto. This is simply the time.
With this, you'll be able to grow stronger.
Don't worry—Sin Pride's and Genuine Fae's consciousnesses will disappear along with mine.
You'll be safe.
There will be no other voices in your head after today."
Suddenly Yuuto grabbed Arthur by the collar—yanking him closer, his hands trembling.
His eyes turned red.
"D-don't you dare disappear!
I… I still need you by my side!"
And the tears fell.
"I can't do anything without you. I'm still weak!! Please… don't leave me."
Arthur was taken aback.
The king who had borne thousands of burdens and slain giants… was shocked to see this young man crying like he'd just lost family.
Slowly, Arthur raised his hand and patted Yuuto's head—gently, like an older brother soothing his little brother.
"No, Yuuto.
You're already strong. Stronger than you think."
Yuuto's grip weakened.
He fell to his knees, crying, and his soul-form shifted back into his original appearance—before he had Arthur's body.
That fragile face showed clearly.
"Wh-why does it have to be like this… we just met…"
Yuuto covered his eyes with both hands as tears kept falling.
"This is already fate, Yuuto.
I can't stay with you forever.
You have to stand on your own now."
"Without you…
I wouldn't be this strong… I'm just a weak kid…"
"You're wrong.
You're strong because of yourself.
Remember, Yuuto—I only gave you a sword.
The one who walked, ran, learned, felt pain, fought, and survived… was you."
"You… went through all that on your own."
Yuuto wiped his tears, still sobbing.
Arthur continued, his smile gentle yet bittersweet.
"You don't have to become some hero of justice.
Just protect your world…
Protect the people you consider precious.
Don't become like me.
Your path is different."
"Stand up, Yuuto."
Yuuto lifted his head and looked at Arthur's body.
"And carve out your own king's road.
Follow your heart, not my footsteps."
Arthur's body began to crack, shards of light spilling from his skin.
Yuuto's eyes widened.
"A–Arthur?!"
Arthur smiled.
"This is as far as I go, Yuuto.
From now on… I won't be watching over you anymore."
White light began swallowing the king's body.
Yuuto reached out for him in panic.
"Don't go!!
Arthur!!!"
Arthur slowly vanished, whispering:
"Farewell… my little brother."
Then he shattered into light and disappeared.
Yuuto stood there frozen…
until his soul-form shifted back into Arthur's shape completely—but with Yuuto's own consciousness, feelings, and wounds.
"Goodbye… big brother."
But the farewell wasn't over yet.
Two other voices echoed around Yuuto—like lingering reverberations.
"Boy, live well."
A voice full of arrogance… yet also boundless pride.
"Yuuto~ even if it was short… it was really fun being with you!"
A cheerful voice, bright and full of light.
Yuuto closed his eyes, bit his lip, and held back another wave of tears.
He knew exactly whose voices those were—
Two entities that had once resided inside him.
They too faded away… disappearing just like Arthur.
Yuuto lowered his head.
"Goodbye… everyone."
He stood there alone—but now, there were no other voices in his mind.
For the first time since this journey began… Yuuto was truly alone inside his own body.
---
Morning light slipped through the curtains, gently touching Yuuto's face.
He slowly woke up—eyes still heavy, breath rough, and faint traces of tears still visible on his cheeks. Everything that had happened in that white space… lingered in his mind.
Yuuto slowly sat up on the bed.
He stared at his open palm, then clenched it.
"Thank you," Yuuto whispered.
He looked around the room and started moving his body.
But when he moved his left hand, something felt… off.
"Hmmm? What's this?"
Yuuto lifted the blanket—
And there was Miku, hugging his waist tightly like a koala.
"Yuuto…" she mumbled softly, rubbing her face against his stomach.
Yuuto sighed in resignation. "Miku, you did it again." Then he reached for her.
"Miku, wake up. It's already morning."
"Five more minutes…" Miku whined, hugging Yuuto even tighter and sliding higher up like she wanted to sink into him.
Yuuto took a long breath.
"Miku, don't you want to eat the breakfast I'm making?"
Like an automatic alarm—
Miku shot up straight.
"Food YOU made?! I WANT IT!"
With 300% enthusiasm, she hopped off the bed.
Yuuto chuckled softly at her, then he asked:
"Miku, why do you keep climbing into my bed every night?"
Miku looked back while fixing her hair.
"Because I like Yuuto very much.
You're so warm and smell nice.
When I sleep while hugging you… it feels like sleeping somewhere cool and comfortable."
Then she smiled and walked out of the room.
"I'll be waiting for your cooking, Yuuto."
"Yeah."
The door closed.
Yuuto stood up and stretched his body.
"All right. Time to start a new day."
---
The dining table was full of food—meat, bread, soup, warm drinks, and—of course—ultra-spicy mapo tofu prepared specially for Irene.
All members of Tree of Life were gathered.
"All right, what's our next plan, Captain? Where are we going?" Yamato asked, mouth full of meat.
"How about we travel along the Grand Line using the eternal poses we got from Mock Town as our guide while we wait for that dimensional rift to open?" Yuuto said.
"That's a good plan," Lady Avalon nodded.
Kuroneko rested her cheek on her hand.
"Fine. While we wait… I want to train. I can already control chakra, but all I can really do so far is walk on walls. It's hard to train in my world because of the place."
"Oh, you want to train? How about you learn Haki too, Kuroneko?" Yamato suggested.
Her cheeks flushed.
"T-t-that's for later. I need to master jutsu from Naruto's world first… especially Tsunade's jutsu."
Miku raised her hand.
"And I want to write some new songs about our adventures!"
Everyone smiled.
Then Yuuto turned to Irene, who was eating the mapo tofu.
"Irene, can you teach me magic from your world?"
Irene paused mid-bite and stared at him sharply.
"Are you asking me to teach you Dragon Slayer magic? If so, no. I don't know what kind of side effects it would have on your body."
Yuuto quickly raised both hands.
"No, not that!
I'm interested in Requip magic.
If I have that, I won't have to keep putting on and taking off armor. And if possible… teach me other magic too."
Lady Avalon chimed in:
"Oh, I'm interested as well!
The magic from your world, Erine, is quite diverse.
May I learn too?"
Irene blinked slowly, a bit confused.
"You're interested? Even though you're already very strong."
"I am strong. But knowledge is important. What's wrong with knowing more things, even if they're small?"
Irene stared at the two of them for a long moment, then sighed.
"All right.
I'll teach you some magic I know."
"Yaaaay~!" Lady Avalon cheered quietly.
Yuuto smiled.
Then he turned toward Belfast, who was eating spicy soup gracefully.
"Belfast, if you need extra energy, just tell me. I can transfer mana into your body again."
"There's no need, Commander.
The energy you transferred is enough for one week."
Kuroneko added,
"I didn't expect Belfast's energy system to change as well.
Normally, ship girls use oil as their main fuel.
Now her body's been modified so she can use mana—similar to SE systems in the Fairy Tail world."
"That's very helpful. I don't have to worry about running out of energy anymore, and it's environmentally friendly," Belfast said.
Yamato nudged her.
"Now all that's left is ammunition and someone who can repair you."
"There's no need to worry, Miss Yamato. I still have plenty of ammunition, and perhaps someday more ship girls from the Port will arrive to handle that."
Miku's eyes sparkled.
"Ohh, your friends will come!"
Kuroneko slapped the table.
"I hope the next one is from Eagle Union… ENTERPRISE if possible! Or the whole port!"
Miku started sweating.
"That would be troublesome, Kuroneko… that'd definitely take a lot of mana to power them all."
Belfast nodded politely.
"At the moment, the only ones who can supply me with mana are Yuuto, Lady Avalon, and Irene."
Yuuto replied casually,
"It doesn't use up that much mana.
I could even transfer mana to you all day long."
Lady Avalon lifted her shoulders lightly.
"Irene and I can do it too, but not as much as Yuuto.
We'd run out of mana if there were hundreds of ship girls."
Yuuto smiled crookedly.
"My body's strong… so I can handle hundreds or even thousands of ship girls in one night."
TING!
Kuroneko instantly turned red like a boiled crab, her mind jumping straight to indecent thoughts.
Yamato panicked at the sight of her face.
"What's wrong, Kuroneko? Are you sick? Your face is really red."
Lady Avalon stared at her sharply, trying not to laugh.
"Oh~ looks like someone's thinking something weird."
Yuuto looked at Kuroneko with a pitying expression.
"Kuroneko…"
"Y–Yuuto! I wasn't thinking anything dirty! I swear!"
Yuuto fell silent.
"Eh? Since when did I say you were thinking something dirty?"
His voice was as soft as a needle slipping in.
Kuroneko froze.
"Kuroneko, you…"
Yuuto's gaze sharpened dramatically.
"T-that's not itttt!!"
Irene commented coldly, "Pervert."
"NOOOOO!!"
Kuroneko shrieked, covering her face.
The whole table burst into laughter.
And that morning passed in overflowing warmth and joy.