The plains stretched endlessly, gold, soft, and quiet. For the first time in days, the boys weren't running, bleeding, or fighting for their lives. Just… breathing.
"Alright," Shichiro exhaled, hands on hips. "We've been almost killed like, what? Eight times? I think we deserve a break."
Katsu scanned the horizon. "A break and a base. Somewhere to actually sleep without a monster sniffing our spines."
Ryosen cracked his knuckles. "Then let's get building."
Shichiro grinned. "Look at us. A bunch of idiots trying to make a town. Peak."
Kentarō stretched his back. "It'll be fine. We just need materials."
"Oh, speaking of," Katsu called out, "Kentaro, you're on scrap duty. Anything metal, busted, or trash, bring it."
Kentarō froze. "…It's Kentarō, bub."
"Right, right. Kentaro.""It's Kentarō!""Got it, Kentaro."
Kentarō groaned so loudly even Ryosen snorted.
Material Gathering Squad
Ryosen marched toward a cluster of trees, smirking. "Watch and learn, Rokuro."
He pressed his palms together. A gigantic Buddha hand materialized behind him, glowing gold, calm, divine.
WHAM!
Trees dropped like grass.
Rokuro raised an eyebrow. "…Show-off."
He approached his own tree, placed a hand on its bark, and whispered, "Freeze."
Ice coated the trunk instantly. With a single chop of his axe. CRACK!-the frozen tree shattered cleanly. Then he warmed his hands, melting the remaining frost off the stump.
"Told you. Easy," Rokuro said with a shrug.
Ryosen squinted at him. "You know what? I take it back. That was sick... But I break more easily"
Back.. To Kentarō
Kentarō wandered deeper into the plains, finding rusted gears, bits of armor, broken constructs left from ancient battles. His arms were full in minutes.
"Ugh, why is everything here so heavy?!"He tripped, fell, and more scrap landed on his head.
Katsu, from far away, cupped his hands and yelled: "You good, Kentaro?"
Kentarō's eye twitched."IT'S! KENTARŌ!"
His scream echoed across the entire field.
Meanwhile, Shichiro and Katsu
Meanwhile, Shichiro and Katsu sat on the ground, sketching with sticks in the dirt.
"Okay so, maybe the houses should be in a semicircle," Shichiro suggested.
"With a watchtower here," Katsu added, drawing a tall triangle.
"And a training ground there."
"And maybe a forge, once Kentaro-"
"KENTARŌ!!"His voice echoed again from the distance.
They both burst out laughing.
Shichiro wiped his eyes, chuckling uncontrollably. "Bro… I love you guys, but we're hopeless."
Katsu snorted. "Yeah. But it's our hopeless."
They sat there for a moment, wind warm, sky huge above them, everything finally still.
The Beginning of Their Home
By sunset, Ryosen and Rokuro returned with mountains of wood, Kentarō dumped heaps of scrap at their feet, and Shichiro and Katsu had a rough blueprint drawn in the dirt.
It wasn't much.
But it was theirs.
Their first real step toward something that wasn't running, fighting, or surviving.
A place to call home.
And under the fading sun, the boys looked at the cleared plains and saw a future forming.
Even if they were hopeless.
They were hopeless together.