The world was… quiet.
Not the eerie, apocalyptic quiet of an aftermath, but a normal one. A human one. The kind where wind moved through the trees the way it always should've, and distant sirens weren't screams — they were just signals. Procedures. People doing their jobs.
Tokyo looked… almost unreal.
Colorful again. Stable. Whole.
Hydro stepped through reality with a muted *shffft*, the shadows stretching outward before folding into his body. Shadow Exchange dropped him onto a building rooftop — one of those mid-height office structures overlooking a wide plaza.
Down below, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police swarmed the ruins of the Nagashima Spa Land base. Dozens of officers. Specialized investigators. Drones humming through the air. Caution tape stretched across cracked pavement.
The officers looked stressed but grounded.
Human chaos — not monster chaos.
Hydro exhaled slowly, leaning on the railing.
He watched them walk around the crater — the crater where the corrupted portal once drilled into the sky. Now? Just a burn mark and confused investigators.
"…Good. Let them handle it." Hydro said, quiet, to himself.
He didn't move yet. Didn't speak. Didn't announce himself. He just let the world breathe without him for a minute. Maybe it deserved that.
Below, one officer kneeled and tapped shattered pavement.
"No radiation. No seismic activity. Just… something burned through here."
"We'll need the science unit. HQ wants a full report by morning."
"Sir! The witness statements still don't match. Some said monsters. Some said just lights."
"This whole thing's gonna be a nightmare for paperwork…"
Hydro smirked.
Yeah. This part of reality? It sucked, but it was normal.
He finally pushed himself away from the railing.
And then—
"HYDRO!"
A voice he knew.
Actually—several voices overlapping.
Hydro turned, and there they were.
Bea, Quinn, Atlarus, Terry, Kai, Yurei, Kristine, and Mina.
They weren't running toward him like he was some tragic hero who just returned from the dead. They were running the way friends run after losing track of someone in a crowded mall.
Real. Human. Relieved.
Kristine practically jumped to him first.
"Are you okay?? You just— disappeared!" Kristine said.
"Yeah… I'm good. Just… needed a second alone." Hydro answered.
Bea grabbed Hydro's shoulder, scanning his face like she always did — not gentle, not dramatic, just straightforward.
"So… is it finally over?" Bea said. "Yeah. It's done." Hydro responded.
She exhaled hard, like she'd been holding her breath for hours.
Yurei stepped next to him, bow slung on his back. "We saw the eclipse. And the lights. And the… whatever that was."
"Honestly? Same. I'm still processing." Hydro said.
Atlarus nudged him with an elbow, smirking. "You look like someone who just pulled an all-nighter at a con."
"Well, I pretty don't think it is." Hydro chuckled.
Mina, still piggybacked on Kristine, squinted at the investigation below.
"The police guys look super confused." Mina said.
"Pretty sure it's above their pay grade." Hydro responded.
Everyone stood beside him now, all of them leaning over the railing, watching the officers comb through rubble, analyze data, argue, and try piecing together something humanity wasn't meant to understand.
They weren't scared.
They weren't traumatized.
Just tired. Quiet in that "we survived something huge" way.
Bea crossed her arms. "They're gonna make so many theories about this…"
"Conspiracy YouTubers are gonna farm views for months." Kristine said.
"Bro, they're already typing their scripts." Terry said.
Hydro stayed silent.
He wasn't smiling, but he wasn't grim either.
He just… stared at normal life unfolding beneath a sky that had been broken hours earlier.
And for once, he didn't feel like an alien in his own world.
ONE WEEK LATER
Nagashima Spa Land was loud.
Not chaotic-loud — not "monsters crawling out of dimensional holes" loud — just event loud. Joyful loud. The kind of loud Hydro honestly forgot existed.
The Otakufest 2025 banner stretched across the entrance gates, swaying slightly in the wind. Streams of people flowed in — cosplayers, staff, tourists, nerds, families, everyone you could think of. Music blasting. Food stalls steaming. Event hosts screaming on microphones.
Hydro stood outside the entrance, hoodie pulled up, bag over his shoulder.
He stared at the event pass in his hand:
STAFF — COSPLAY DEPARTMENT.
His name printed on it.
His picture too — smiling awkwardly like he always did at ID photo booths.
He thumbed the plastic ID slowly.
Funny.
A week ago he was fighting corrupted inspectors above Earth's atmosphere. Stopping the collapse of a timeline. Battling glitches and monsters and judgment beings.
Now?
People were cheering for a Genshin cosplay group posing near the fountain.
Life moved fast.
Hydro took a breath.
Cold. Crisp. Normal.
Crowds streamed past him.
A kid tugged his mom's sleeve pointing toward a giant mecha display.
A couple argued about which merch booth to try first.
A group of cosplayers yelled "PHOTOOOOOO!" and sprinted toward the entrance.
Hydro just stood there for a moment — letting the noise wash over him.
For once, he didn't feel like a disaster magnet.
Or a cosmic anomaly.
Or the guy who had to save a world that didn't even know it needed saving.
He was just—
Hydro.
A staff member holding an ID, staring at an event gate.
Terry's voice suddenly behind him: "Bro, you gonna stand there all day or you comin' in?"
Hydro blinked, glancing back.
His friends were there. All in cosplay, all decked out, all ready to work or have fun.
Bea lifted a brow. "Don't tell me the cosmic savior of Earth is scared of a cosplay festival."
"Nah. Just… thinking." Hydro said.
"Wanna share?" Atlarus drops a joke.
"…Not really." Hydro said.
They all laughed.
And for the first time in a while, Hydro didn't feel like running from the world.
Didn't feel like hiding behind power, or shadows, or responsibility.
He clipped his ID to his lanyard.
Took a step forward.
And walked into Otakufest 2025 like a normal kid.
Well… as normal as he'd ever get.