A car moved to the city of Fumika, and it came to a stop in front of a house.
The car door clicked shut as the woman adjusted her coat, the faint scent of cigarette smoke lingering in the air. Her crimson eyes scanned the quiet street — neat houses, trimmed hedges, and the distant hum of cicadas.
[Insert image of Touko Aozaki]
Touko Aozaki exhaled, muttering to herself, "Peaceful little suburb, huh? Always the quiet ones with the biggest secrets…"
She walked toward the modest Fujimaru home, boots lightly tapping against the pavement.
As she reached the gate, she sighed and removed her glasses — the faint glow in her eyes fading slightly as her "gentler" personality surfaced.
"Tch. This better be worth it."
Her tone was less cynical, more thoughtful — but the weight of experience was still there.
It wasn't often that someone like her accepted private tutoring work anymore. She had long since moved past teaching beginners. But the request had piqued her curiosity.
A family line with confirmed Sun Magecraft heritage. Descendants of a lineage that was supposed to have vanished centuries ago — and yet no recorded involvement with the Clock Tower, the Mage's Association, or even the Holy Church.
Even odder, none of them had been consumed by the usual greed or madness that followed mage bloodlines.
"An entire family of mages," Touko murmured, narrowing her eyes, "and not a single one has joined the Clock Tower or gone rogue. They even raised a pair of twins without selling them off for circuits."
Her lips twitched into a faint smirk. "The Fujimaru family… definitely odd."
She could already sense faint magical signatures emanating from the house — subtle, warm, like sunlight filtering through curtains. Natural Sun Magecraft, not the weaponized kind she was used to.
And yet, underneath that warmth… there was something else. A distortion in the air, like a flicker between timelines.
Touko's eyes narrowed. "...What the hell are you two hiding?"
Inside the house, Ritsuka suddenly sneezed, startling Gudako who was chewing on toast.
"Ehh?! You caught a cold already, Onii-chan?" she asked, eyes wide.
Ritsuka blinked. "No, just… felt like someone scary said my name."
Gudako looked at him innocently. "Maybe it's Mom calling?"
Ritsuka frowned. "No, this one felt like… someone from the Clock Tower."
Before he could process the thought, the doorbell rang. Ding-dong!
Their father called out, "Ah, that must be your new teacher!"
Ritsuka's blood ran cold. Teacher? Wait. No, no, no—
Gudako bounced happily toward the door. "I'll open it!"
The door swung open—
And standing there was a smiling woman with short red-brown hair, sharp eyes, and the faint aura of a magus that could crush lesser mages by presence alone.
"Good morning," Touko said smoothly, her tone polite yet unreadable. "You must be the Fujimaru twins."
Ritsuka's inner voice screamed.
'Oh no. Touko Aozaki. The same one Da Vinci told me not to ever piss off!'
Meanwhile, Gudako just beamed. "Hi! Are you gonna teach us magic?"
Touko blinked once, then smirked faintly. "Something like that, kid."
Ritsuka stared up at Touko, trying not to show the existential panic behind his eyes. She radiated authority — the kind of aura that made even high-ranking magi step carefully.
He swallowed, thinking to himself, 'Ok, Ritsuka, calm down. You've faced Beasts, gods, and literal timelines collapsing. This is just… Touko Aozaki. The woman who kills Dead Apostles for fun and makes dolls that have souls.'
He straightened his tiny shoulders. 'Alright Ritsuka, let the plan start — play dumb, learn from her, rebuild your Magecraft foundation with this regression… and use the knowledge of the future to impress her. She won't suspect a thing.'
Gudako, meanwhile, was bouncing in place, holding up a drawing of a stick figure surrounded by suns.
"Look, look! This is Sun Magic! Dad said we're descendants of Mr Karna! He had a spear that could burn everything! I tried to make one with crayons but Mom said no fire indoors!"
Touko blinked. Once. Twice. Then slowly turned her gaze to Ritsuka.
"So… you're that kind of Sun Magecraft family."
Ritsuka forced the most innocent smile a reincarnated Master could manage.
"Hehe… we like the sun?"
Inside his head: 'Gudako, I love you, but please, for the love of Alaya, stop talking before she figures out I'm sentient.'
Touko crossed her arms, her tone half-curious, half-testing.
"Interesting. Genuine Solar-type circuits. Those are rare. But tell me—"
She crouched down so her eyes met Ritsuka's, the faint gleam of mystery shining behind her lenses.
"Do you feel the sun when you cast?"
Gudako raised her hand immediately. "I feel warm and fuzzy! Like I'm gonna sneeze out a fireball!"
Ritsuka deadpanned internally. 'That's not "Solar Resonance," that's your breakfast trying to escape.'
Still, he decided to play along. He held up his hand, letting a faint, warm glow form — gentle enough to pass as childish imitation, yet refined enough to mimic actual Sun Magecraft.
Touko's eyes widened just a little. "Well, well… not bad for a beginner. Your energy's unusually stable."
Internally, Ritsuka grinned. 'Hook, line, and sinker. Now to build my foundation right this time.'
Touko smiled faintly, straightening up. "Alright, kids. Let's see just how bright your 'sun' really shines."
Gudako pumped her fists in excitement. "Yay! Fire time!"
Ritsuka: "Wait, WHAT—"
BOOM!
A tiny explosion echoed from the living room. Smoke, soot, and two singed twins later —
Touko simply sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "...and that's why I never take jobs with siblings."
Their mother's footsteps echoed sharply across the wooden floor, her aura that of a woman whose patience had been burnt out long ago. Smoke still lingered faintly over the charred wood where Gudako's "fireball" had achieved an impressive range of two meters.
"Training. Outside. Now," Mrs. Fujimaru had ordered earlier. "And no more explosions near the tatami."
So now, the twins stood on the dirt field behind their home — Ritsuka trying to look composed, Gudako still humming happily with ash in her hair, and Touko Aozaki flipping through their father's notes with the expression of someone reading a bad comedy.
Touko sighed and muttered aloud, "Let's see... according to these notes, the Fujimaru bloodline gains energy from the Sun itself..."
She paused, turned the page.
"...like plants."
There was a beat of silence. A very awkward, soul-crushing silence.
Ritsuka: 'Why does it sound so stupid when someone else says it?'
Gudako beamed, holding her hands to the sky. "So that means we're like sunflowers! I love sunflowers!"
Touko slowly looked up from the notes. "Right. Except sunflowers don't explode."
"Yet," Gudako added proudly.
Ritsuka internally screamed. 'Gudako please, stop giving her reasons to run experiments on us!'
Mrs. Fujimaru, watching from the porch, crossed her arms. "So, Miss Aozaki, are my children talented?"
Touko gave her a thin smile — the kind she gave people right before saying something terrifying.
"Oh, they're something, all right. Your son has remarkable control, and your daughter... has remarkable enthusiasm."
Gudako puffed her chest out. "I'm the strong one!"
Ritsuka muttered, "You're the flammable one."
Touko flipped the notebook closed with a soft snap. "Alright, sprouts, if you really gain energy from the sun, then let's start there. Stand still and focus on the warmth, the rhythm of light."
Gudako immediately raised both hands dramatically. "I AM THE SUN GODDESS!"
A few sparks lit up around her fingers.
Ritsuka just sighed, tilting his head toward Touko. "Miss Aozaki, before we start... do you have fire insurance?"
Touko smirked faintly. "For you two? I might need divine intervention."
The sun was bright, the birds were chirping, and Touko Aozaki was questioning every single decision that led her here.
"Alright," she muttered, rubbing her temples. "Let's start simple. Feel the sunlight on your skin. Don't force anything. Just… breathe."
Gudako instantly threw herself onto the grass, limbs spread wide.
"PHOTOSYNTHESIS MODE, ACTIVATE!"
Touko blinked. Once. Twice. Then turned slowly toward Ritsuka.
"…Is she—?"
"Yes," Ritsuka replied before she could finish, voice utterly deadpan. "She's photosynthesizing."
Gudako inhaled dramatically through her nose. "Mmmm… I can feel the chlorophyll flowing through me…"
Touko pinched the bridge of her nose. I left the Clock Tower for this, she thought bitterly.
Out loud, she muttered, "If she turns green, I'm quitting magecraft."
Mrs. Fujimaru, watching proudly from the porch, called out, "That's my girl! She always had imagination!"
"Imagination," Touko repeated under her breath. "Right. That's one word for it."
Deciding to ignore the "sunflower experiment," Touko knelt next to Ritsuka, who stood still, eyes closed, his expression calm and focused. For a moment, the air around him seemed to… pulse. Warmth gathered — faint but steady — around his hands, forming a small, gentle glow.
Touko's eyes narrowed. That's no beginner's control. That's… structured. Deliberate. How the hell—
She took out her Mystic Code glasses and scanned him. What she saw made her physically lean back.
His circuits weren't just active — they were refined. Mature. Developed far beyond a child's capacity.
And the flow—no, the pattern—was familiar. Ancient. Sun-class magecraft.
"…Impossible," Touko whispered. "You shouldn't have this level of refinement at five years old."
Ritsuka blinked innocently, feigning confusion perfectly.
"Um, is that bad, miss Aozaki?"
Touko's right eye twitched. He's either a natural-born miracle or an abomination in short pants.
Then she looked over — Gudako had found a garden hose and was watering herself.
"Gotta stay hydrated! Real sunflowers need water too!"
Ritsuka facepalmed. "You're not a— you know what, never mind."
Touko just stood there, staring at the two Fujimaru twins, one radiating divine warmth, the other screaming "SUN ENERGY!" while covered in mud.
And at that moment, the great Touko Aozaki — genius magus, puppet master, and world-class researcher — realized something."I should've stayed in my workshop. I should've let Zelretch take this job. I should've become a librarian. Anything but this."
Mrs. Fujimaru cheerfully called out, "Tea's ready!"
Touko stared into the distance, her soul already leaving her body. "Make it strong," she muttered. "Very strong."
After a few minutes.
Touko was drinking Tea with Miss Fujimaru. "Miss, Fujimaru".
She smiled as he spoke. "Please, miss, call me Tomiko".
Touko held the teacup with both hands like it was a lifeline.
Miss Tomiko sat across from her, smiling warmly, completely oblivious to the spiritual damage her children were inflicting.
Touko cleared her throat.
"Miss… Tomiko. Your son is talented. Exceptionally so. His control, his adaptability, his mana refinement—he's far beyond what a child his age should be capable of."
Tomiko beamed, pride glowing in her eyes. "Aww, little Ritsuka always was a quick learner."
Touko nodded stiffly.
"Yes. Quick. Disturbingly quick. Alarmingly quick. If I didn't check twice I would've assumed he secretly had a decade of formal training."
Tomiko laughed lightly. "Kids grow fast nowadays."
Touko had to take a sip of tea so she wouldn't scream.
Then she sighed, placing the cup down.
"As for your daughter…"
Her eye twitched.
Tomiko leaned forward, curious. "Yes? What about my sweet little Gudako?"
Touko inhaled deeply through her nose.
"…She is… something."
Tomiko giggled. "Oh, she's energetic, isn't she?"
"Energetic," Touko repeated hollowly. "That is a word one could theoretically use."
A distant yell echoed from outside:
"RITSUKA! HOLD STILL! I'M TESTING IF SUNFLOWERS CAN LEARN MARTIAL ARTS!"
Followed by a thud and Ritsuka screaming: "NO, PUT THE SHOVEL DOWN!"
Touko stared blankly into her tea.
Tomiko didn't even flinch.
Touko continued, voice monotone.
"She attempted to photosynthesize, declared herself the Sun Queen, tried baptizing herself with a garden hose, and then—just now—challenged your son to combat in the name of botany."
Tomiko nodded thoughtfully.
"She does like playing pretend!"
Touko blinked slowly.
"She summoned a light construct shaped like a sunflower lance," Touko deadpanned. "That's not pretend. That's a war crime waiting to happen."
Another crash shook the house.
Gudako (outside): "BEHOLD MY ULTIMATE MOVE—SOLAR POWERED SUPLEX!"
Ritsuka (dying inside): "TOUKO-SENSEI HELLLP!"
Touko stared at Tomiko, voice flat, soul dry.
"She's… something."
Tomiko smiled gently.
"That's our Gudako."
Touko whispered into her tea: "I regret every choice that led me to this family."
Another yell echoed outside, followed by the distinct sound of a child being body-slammed into grass.
Touko put down her teacup and stood up with the calmness of a condemned prisoner.
Tomiko blinked. "Is something wrong, Touko-san?"
"I'm going," Touko said flatly.
"To prevent a homicide."
She slid the door open—
—and immediately saw Gudako suplexing Ritsuka like she was reenacting a WWE match powered by pure solar stupidity.
"SOLAAAAR—SMAAAASH!!"
"THAT'S NOT EVEN A REAL MOVE!"
Ritsuka's soul left him as he hit the ground.
Touko rubbed her temples.
"…I was hired to teach magecraft," she muttered. "Not wrangle gremlins forged from sunlight and chaos."
She snapped her fingers. Several floating runic restraints wrapped around Gudako mid-air like glowing ribbons.
Gudako dangled upside down, giggling.
"Hehehe—am I floating? Cool."
Touko grabbed her by the shoulders, turned her around, and stared into her bright yellow eyes.
"Hold still," she said through clenched teeth.
Gudako blinked. "Why?"
"I need to check your magic circuits," Touko replied. "To understand if you are truly this… this…"
She struggled to find the correct word.
Ritsuka, covered in grass, helped her:
"Menace. The word is menace."
"HEY!" Gudako puffed her cheeks.
Touko sighed and activated a diagnostic spell. Golden runes danced across Gudako's body.
Then she froze.
Her pupils shrank.
"What… is this…" she whispered.
Ritsuka swallowed. "Is something wrong?"
Touko stared at Gudako like she was reading the results of a cursed autopsy.
"Her circuits…"
Her voice cracked.
"Her magic circuits are just as strong as yours."
Ritsuka blinked. "That's… expected?"
Touko shook her head. Her hands trembled slightly.
"It's not the quality or quantity."
"It's the pattern."
She pointed at the glowing diagram floating between them.
"Your circuits are well-arranged. Predictable. Logical."
"But hers…"
The diagram resembled a plate of spaghetti, a cursed mandala, and a summoning circle made by a toddler—all at once.
Ritsuka blinked. "It's… messy."
Touko's eye twitched.
"It's chaotic."
Gudako smiled proudly.
"Yay! I'm special!"
Touko inhaled sharply.
"No, child. Not special."
She pointed at the swirling diagram.
"You are a walking Noble Phantasm of disorder. Your magecraft flows like a fever dream, your circuits are shaped like a drunken Escher drawing, and your efficiency is—"
She checked the numbers again.
"…impossible."
Ritsuka blinked. "How impossible?"
Touko stared into the void.
"If you focused, you could probably cast high-tier magecraft instinctively."
She slowly turned toward Gudako.
"Why aren't you using this correctly?"
Gudako beamed.
"Because Ritsuka's face is funny when I throw him!"
Touko shut her eyes.
"…I want to go home."
Meanwhile, Back in the Void…
The void rippled like a disturbed pond as a fourth figure appeared beside Yang Guifei, Oei, and Abigail.
A woman in a pristine white kimono.
Skin pale as moonlight.
Eyes like bottomless black mirrors.
Presence calm, cold, and infinitely overwhelming.
Void Shiki.
The embodiment of Emptiness.
The Root wearing a kimono.
She blinked once—slowly—like a computer booting.
"…So," she said in a perfectly flat voice, "let me understand this."
She pointed her teacup at Yang, then Oei, then Abigail.
"You saw Ritsuka's timeline collapse.
Oei was the only one paying attention.
Everyone panicked.
And Oei—"
She turned her eyes toward the tiny painter like a laser sight.
"—decided the solution was to punt him back in time into his five-year-old body… and forgot to lock his memories."
Oei shrank behind her brush. "Okay look— in my defense—"
Yang Guifei exploded. "NO. No defenses. NONE. Zero. You messed up worse than I messed up with the Emperor!"
Void Shiki sipped her tea.
"…That explains why I felt an entire branch of the Root snap, scream, and tape itself back together with spiritual duct tape."
She set down her cup with unnatural grace.
"At least you placed him in a timeline that resembles his original world," she added calmly.
Abigail nodded with innocent seriousness.
"Ritsuka is also the descendant of Karna, apparently."
Void Shiki froze.
Very slowly, she turned her head toward Oei.
Oei smiled weakly. "Heee… surprise?"
Void Shiki's eye twitched.
Then—without warning—
she YEETED her tea across the void.
The boiling stream of Root-infused liquid hit Oei directly in the forehead with the force of a meteor.
Yang's jaw dropped.
Abigail gasped.
Even Hokusai the octopus made a strangled "GLOORP!?"
Void Shiki pointed at Oei like an accusatory god.
"Oei.
What.
The.
Fuck."
Oei held her head, dazed. "Ow—!? Why does tea hurt like enlightenment!?"
Yang stomped her foot, flames bursting around her.
"She's right! You could've unraveled the whole multiverse! What were you THINKING!?"
"I SAID I PANICKED!" Oei screamed.
"I saw time eat itself and I DIDN'T HAVE COFFEE!"
Void Shiki glared.
"Never mind coffee. You didn't have common sense."
Oei: "HEY!"
Yang: "You deserve it."
Abigail, sipping her own tea delicately:
"So… do we fix it?"
Void Shiki stared upward into the void's infinite ceiling.
"…No. Not yet."
She exhaled deeply.
"Let's observe. He's still stable. For now."
Yang's flames flared protectively.
"We're watching every second of his life until this stabilizes."
Oei whimpered.
"I'll bring snacks…"
Void Shiki didn't look at her.
"You will bring competence, for once."
Oei: "THAT IS NOT ON THE MENU—"
Void Shiki exhaled slowly—
the kind of slow, controlled sigh that could erase a city block if she felt like it.
"...Fine. Whatever chaos you three unleashed is already done."
She flicked her sleeve dismissively.
"No use rewinding the Root again. It's already held together with metaphorical duct tape."
She narrowed her eyes.
"But do the others know about this?"
Yang Guifei blinked.
Even her flames dimmed nervously.
"The other Foreigners…? Well—"
She scratched her cheek.
"—maybe? Probably? Possibly? We don't really know if they felt the time ripple like you did."
Oei raised her paintbrush defensively.
"Hey! Just because you felt it doesn't mean every Foreigner felt it! Not everyone is connected directly to a Root branch like you!"
Void Shiki turned her gaze onto her.
It was the kind of gaze that made the void whimper.
"Oei… the ripple you caused was large enough that even the planetary foundation flinched."
Oei winced.
Abigail hugged her teddy, eyes wide.
Yang Guifei folded her arms, flames swirling.
"If we felt that? Then the others definitely noticed something.
At the very least:
Cthulhu's Vessel is probably having a tantrum,
Van Gogh is crying in a corner,
MHXX is checking for timeline contamination,
and Summer Abby is probably eating ice cream while the world burns."
Abigail raised her hand politely.
"Actually, that last part sounds accurate."
Void Shiki rubbed her temples.
"…Great. Exactly what we need.
A panicked network of Outer God Vessels."
Her voice dropped, low and grim:
"If they realize Ritsuka was reset and thrown back in time…
we'll have a cosmic custody war."
Yang Guifei clenched her fists.
"Let them try. Ritsuka is mine. I mean—OURS. OURS. Ahem."
Oei muttered under her breath,
"Yeah, sure. Definitely sounded like 'mine'…"
Void Shiki ignored the bickering and stared off into the void, expression unreadable.
"…If the other Foreigners know, they will intervene.
And if they intervene…
the timeline will destabilize again."
She looked sharply at Yang and Oei.
"For now, we observe.
And we PRAY the others remain ignorant."
All three froze.
Then, faintly—
from far across the void—
echoed a familiar voice:
"OOOOOEI! WHY DOES THE TIMELINE TASTE LIKE JELLY!?"
Yang paled.
Oei choked.
Abigail dropped her teddy.
Void Shiki's eye twitched.
"…Too late."
Meanwhile, back with Ritsuka…
Gudako kicked her legs on the couch, giggling as she pointed out the window.
"The cloud looks funny!"
Ritsuka, still internally screaming over magecraft revelations, regression, Karna ancestry, and Touko freakin' Aozaki being his tutor…
still forced himself to look.
He blinked.
"…Yeah. It looks like a snake trying to eat an eagle."
Gudako nodded with great seriousness, as if this were profound nature commentary.
"Snakes don't eat eagles."
"That one's trying," Ritsuka muttered.
Then he froze.
Because that cloud wasn't moving with the wind.
It was wriggling.
And the eagle shape was glowing—like lightning trapped inside it.
Ritsuka squinted harder.
'…Wait. That is not a cloud. That is spatial pressure. Outer God pressure. WHY is cosmic pressure forming in the sky!?'
Gudako cheerfully added:
"It looks angry!"
Ritsuka stared at the sky as the "cloud eagle" twitched violently, like something big and unknowable had sneezed on reality.
A faint distant cosmic screech echoed across the world:
"OOOOOEI! WHY DOES THE TIMELINE TASTE LIKE JELLY!?"
Gudako blinked.
"…Did the cloud just talk?"
Ritsuka's soul:
HELLO OLD TRAUMA, WE MEET AGAIN.
He slowly placed a hand on his face.
'Oei… Yang… what did you DO?'
Gudako happily went back to drawing the cloud with crayons, completely oblivious.
Ritsuka looked at her, then the sky again, and exhaled a long, suffering breath.
"…This regression is going to kill me before magecraft training does."
To be continued
Hope people like this ch and give me power stones and enjoy sorry for not uploading in a while