Morning broke over the plains, pale gold spilling across half-finished piles of wood, metal, and scattered tools. The boys woke up groggy, sore, but strangely… hopeful.
Shichiro stretched until his spine cracked."Alright, Shikekaro," he yawned, "let's actually build something today."
Kentarō blinked. "…Shikekaro?"
Katsu's eyes widened. "Thats.. Our authors name. We can't use that."
Ryosen raised an eyebrow. "what?"
-Nevermind. Katsu said.
Shichiro looked at the ground. "Yeah.. lets work on that."
Rokuro shrugged. "Shikekaro sounded better than 'Guys Who Almost Die Weekly. But.. Whatever.'"
Shichiro clapped his hands. "Okay! Today's mission: foundations. We need the outer walls up before nightfall."
Katsu pointed at the sketch they made yesterday. "We start with the semicircle housing row. Ryosen, Rokuro, chop duty again. Kentarō, scrap sorting. We need nails, hinges, anything usable."
Kentarō saluted lazily. "Aight, I got yo"
"Kentaro," Katsu said casually.
Kentarō stopped.Slowly turned.Eyebrow twitching.
"…It's Kentarō."
"Right, Kentaro."
"It's KENTARŌ!!"
Shichiro leaned over to Katsu. "At this point you're doing it on purpose."
"No I'm not," Katsu whispered.A beat."…Okay maybe a little."
Material Gathering 2: Electric Boogaloo
Ryosen stood in a forest with his hands on his hips."Round two."
The Buddha hand appeared again calm, serene, massive.
FWAM!Trees fell.
Rokuro sighed. "You know you could just ask the tree to fall. Your thing is so dramatic."
He froze another tree cleanly and smashed it with the axe.CRACK!
Ryosen narrowed his eyes."You trying to one-up me?"
"Not at all," Rokuro said. "I already won."
Ryosen screamed internally. Smiled on the outside.
Scrap Gremlin Kentarō
Kentarō sorted metal pieces into piles.
"Screws… bolts… gears… something alive AHHH- nope nevermind not alive."
He tossed a weird moving cog into the "deal with later" pile.
From the distance:
"Kentaro! You need help?"
Kentarō stood up, fists clenched, eyes glowing with pent-up fury.
"IT'S. KENTARŌ!!!!"
Ryosen clapped slowly."Honestly? Respect."
Building Begins
The boys finally stood together, wood stacked, scrap sorted, tools gathered.
Katsu unrolled a blueprint he drew last night."I made upgrades. Larger houses, more space, and a central bonfire area."
Shichiro whistled. "Damn, architect arc."
"The base needs style, dang it. We really should make a name." Katsu said.
Ryosen placed a beam down. "Okay but who builds first?"
They all looked at each other.
Then-
All: "NOT IT."
Rokuro groaned. "I'll do it. Move."
He raised his hand. Ice formed under the beam, creating perfect alignment.
Kentarō hammered nails with metal scraps shaped into tools.
Ryosen kept dropping entire tree trunks like a forklift.
Shichiro and Katsu supervised like the two idiots who definitely weren't as useful as the others.
First Wall Done
They stepped back as the sun dipped low.
A wooden wall stood firm. Rough, uneven… but real.
Shichiro whispered, "We… actually did it."
Katsu smiled. "Day one of construction complete."
Kentarō slumped to the ground. "I'm dead. Wake me up tomorrow."
Rokuro sat beside him. "Same."
Ryosen flexed. "I could go another round."
Everyone else:"No you couldn't."
The boys laughed under the fading sky.
Their home wasn't much yet.
But it was growing.
So were they.