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The world was saved.
All of his friends were alive, as were the prime ministers, and the Hokuto Trio, and everyone else Sento had watched die. There was no Sky Wall, no red glow, no Pandora's Box. No Evolt existed in this world.
The world was saved.
Sento was alone.
He should not have existed in this world. No version of him lived here that he could combine with. Kiryuu Sento was an anomaly. Even the voice in his head belonging to Katsuragi Takumi had left to become one with his new world counterpart.
"It makes sense," he muttered to himself, sitting on the edge of a fountain in a park, "but it's still terrible."
In the old world, he had also been an anomaly. A man with no memory and no family living in the secret basement of a café. He had come to love the people in Nascita—Misora, Sawa, Kazumi, Gentoku. But even as he loved them like the family he never had, he'd felt apart from the world, like a puzzle piece that didn't quite fit right.
He had loved Banjou Ryuuga in a wholly different way. Without noticing and without planning to, Sento had given Banjou his entire heart. Lost it to a man still hung up on his late fiancé. Because sure, Banjou had come around to Sento's ideals and fought for a world of love and peace, and yes, he loved Sento, but in the way Sento loved Misora or Gentoku. Nothing romantic or sexual about it.
That was part of the reason Sento was okay in the knowledge that he wouldn't exist once the worlds combined. No one had been in love with him. If they remembered him, they would mourn, but it wouldn't crush anyone's world, and they would have each other to lean on. If they didn't remember him, all the better.
But then, in the final fight against Evolt, he and Banjou's souls had come together in union. He had touched Banjou's very essence, had experienced all of what made Banjou Banjou. With their souls combined, the perfect match, they defeated Evolt and made the impossible possible. And as the shift took place, the universes combining, Sento had felt it.
Love. Love to match his own. Intense love like only Banjou could do.
Love for the way Sento's hair popped up when he got excited. Love for the doodles Sento put on his science reports to help Banjou understand. Love for Sento's smile and his laughter. Love that made him want to protect Sento from his pain and suffering. Love that made him give up everything trying to save Sento's life—twice. Love that even possession by a murderous alien could not erase.
Here was someone who would mourn him, who his death might alter forever. Sento was going to break his heart. The thought made Sento fight back, made him want to survive. And somehow, someway, he had.
But Banjou didn't remember him.
It was cruel of the universe to spare him but carve out his heart.
Sento stared out at the people enjoying the park—families, people and their pets, friends, and even some alone—and wondered what to do now. This was his universe, molded by his hand with help from his friends, the people who made him into the man he was. But he felt hollow and lost. This world, safe from Smash, didn't need Build. His friends were living happy lives, like they deserved to.
The image of Banjou and Kasumi smiling and laughing together, off to get ice cream, had Sento pressing his lips together in a thin, pale line. He would not cry. The embarrassment of being caught crying alone in a park, even by strangers…But his chest ached.
"Do I not deserve to be happy as well?" Sento murmured the question into the air, lifting his eyes to the clear sky. "He loved me too. Didn't that mean something?"
His intentions had always mattered before. He was able to become Build because he wanted to protect others. The system didn't work otherwise. He was able to surpass human limitations of strength because he knew he needed to, because he wanted it bad enough, because the system responded to his pure intentions. Whole universes had combined to suit his will: a world without Evolt or his kind. A world of love and peace. So many things could have gone wrong when smashing two universes together, the outcome could have left them worse off than they already were—if not from Evolt, then from some other disaster. But Sento's intention when blending the worlds had affected the outcome. It had always mattered.
So why was he left without Banjou at his side? If he existed, there had to be a reason. Sento just didn't know what it was.
He lowered his eyes to the pathway before him and gave a pitiful smile. "This is—"
"Sento!"
Heart leaping to life in his chest, Sento stood and turned toward the voice. That name, and that voice—it sounded like—
"Banjou?!" Sento gasped, seeing his Banjou—red haired and frowning—panting a few feet away.
Banjou pointed at Sento. "Where the hell have you been?" he demanded, then dropped his arm like he was too tired to keep it up. He fell into a squat and ruffled his hair, whining, "Do you know how many places I looked for you, huh? Was this city always so damn big?"
The complaining had Sento's lips quirking up in fond amusement. Banjou was still Banjou. Better yet, he knew who Sento was. The universe hadn't been so cruel, after all.
Closing the distance between them, Sento also crouched so that he was at Banjou's level. He reached out to pat Banjou's head, almost like he was a dog.
"Huh?" Banjou let out, an almost offended sound.
Sento gave a laugh. "I've been looking for you, too," he admitted, pulling his hand back.
For a moment, Banjou's eyes wavered with emotion, and it seemed he might tip forward to wrap his arms around Sento. Instead, he mumbled, "No one remembers me."
Shaking his head, Sento said, "Me neither. But that's okay, as long as they're happy. Right?"
Banjou thought it over for a second, then nodded and hummed in agreement. He reached out to hold on to Sento's wrist, and Sento's attention zeroed in on the point of contact.
"But you know me, right?" Banjou asked, as if they could possibly be having this conversation if Sento didn't. His tone was frantic enough that Sento chose not to tease him about it.
"Mm. Right," Sento agreed. "How could I forget my muscle-brained idiot?"
This time, Banjou did tip forward and throw his arms around Sento in a hug that knocked them both to the ground. Banjou's weight all along Sento's front, the warm stone beneath his back, and Banjou's arms clutching him desperately—it felt like all of Sento's fractured pieces were knitting themselves back together, and he wrapped his arms around Banjou in return. It wasn't like their union of souls, nothing ever could be, but Sento still felt like he knew everything about Banjou in that moment, like they shared one beating heart.
"You scared me," Banjou grumbled into Sento's shoulder. "I wanted you to survive. That's why I took him myself. But then you showed up and I thought—I thought I was going to lose you."
Intentions mattered. Sento had survived because Banjou wanted it badly enough. And Banjou, this Banjou, remained for the same reason. They were anomalies who shouldn't exist in this new world, but their feelings for each other had rewritten physics.
Sento laughed softly and squeezed Banjou tighter. "This is fantastic," he giggled.
Banjou pulled back enough to look Sento in the eyes. Frowning, he said, "Hey, I'm serio—"
Sento pulled him down into a kiss, their lips impossibly soft against each other. The merging of the universes had wiped away their injuries and the physical effects of war. A new start for them, together. After a moment, Banjou's wide eyes slid shut and he kissed back. Only then could Sento close his own eyes and feel his way through the kiss.
Banjou had been engaged to be married, and he certainly knew how to kiss. Had he kissed Kasumi like this? Had he clutched at her with hands shaking with relief? Had he held her like she might disappear at any moment?
Pulling back from the kisses, Banjou smacked Sento's forehead, earning him a, "Hey! Watch it! I'm the main character!"
"Stop thinking so much," Banjou chastised, then finally rolled off Sento.
Together, they stood up and dusted themselves off. Then Banjou took Sento by the shoulders and stared intensely into his eyes.
"I love you," he said as if it were the most important thing in the universe. And maybe it was.
Sento smiled. "I thought it was obvious," he lied blithely, knowing he had hidden his feelings like his life depended on it. "I love you too."
A beaming smile spread across Banjou's face, and then he pulled Sento in for another hug—this one standing. "This is fantastic!"
Sento grumbled, but his own smile and the way he held Banjou in return sort of ruined it. "That's my line."
…
…
fin