After the long battle miso had captured every last moment of the battle. "A shame I wasn't close enough to catch what they were saying, it surely must've been something great, but this footage alone will get me the story of the decade!" She said happily running off.
Rika jumped for joy. "We won, like we actually won!" She happily celebrates.
Nanami nods. "It hurts but we pulled through."
Kaito smiles at all of his friends. "I knew you guys could do it!" He says pulling them all into a hug.
Toni clicks his tongue. "I say, Nanami how'd you use your lil device without saying the words?"
Nanami smiles in an attempt to not look too proud of herself. "Well it was nothing really, however the device is not actually voice activated, I only spoke before using it so they would think that."
Toni lets out a low whistle. "So you been planning that lil move since the first fight?" Nanami nods.
Rika pulls them all to her and snaps a photo for her scrapbook.
They made the trek back in silence, passing the ruined outskirts of Renji's domain. As the first townspeople peeked from their homes, word began to spread, the tyrant had fallen.
"Hey um.... before you all go," Nyla began, fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve, "My birthday is coming up, and i'd really like it if you all came, it'll be in Estrelle, just the next town over."
Nyla pressed her palms together, a bit sheepish. "It's, Tonight."
Toni blinked. "Wait-what? You tell us now?! After all that?!"
"Well, it felt weird to say during a death match," she laughed awkwardly.
"I'm in," Rika said immediately, brushing her hair back with a grin. "After that chaos? I deserve a party."
Dante exhaled, glancing at the others, and shrugged. "Why not?"
Nanami gave a small nod. "I don't think any of us want to be alone tonight."
Kaito met Nyla's eyes and smiled. "We'll be there."
Nyla looks confused. "Do you not want us to drop you off?"
Rika shakes her head. "No, if that's ok, I kinda wanna camp again."
Dante looks surprised. "You WANT to camp, did the real Rika gets abducted back there?"
Rika punches his arm. "Shut it icy."
Kaito nods. "Of course we can, I love camping."
Nyla's father nods. "I understand, and we will await your arrival."
Rika clicks her tongue. "Not so fast! You think you're off the hook?!" Rika yells at him.
Mr, Harlow stumbles back. "W-what?"
"You sent assassins after my friend, and from what I heard, you weren't too fond of him when you first met him!" Rika shouts.
The man adjusts his tie. "Young lad-"
"Don't young lady me OLD MAN! Give my friend fifty-thousand blastie in damages!" Rika yells.
Mr, Harlow coughs. "B-but of course, it'll be one of the gifts for when he arrives."
Rika smiles. "Thank you.
Nyla giggles. "You are so full of energy." She says.
As the group slurps down jellies, Rika remembers something.
"Oh noble lady, I took this from you a while back, you can have it back." Rika says returning the bracle she had taken.
Nyla elegantly laughs. "You can keep it, I have hundreds just like it." She says.
Rika squints before stealing another, without anyone noticing.
After the Harlows left, the party was left alone. "You guys ready?" Kaito asks.
Rika smiles. "You guys go on ahead, i'll catch up, real quick." Rika says.
As the others walk away Rika turns a corner, and there's a man standing before her.
"Rika, I see you've made new friends." The man says.
Rika looks down at the ground avoiding eye contact. "I, got used to them.... you all finally remembered me?"
The man smiles. "Of course runt, we've got a new job, time to go." He says.
Rika holds her scarf, "Hey, you think... I could have just one more day with them?" Rika asks and the man raises an eyebrow.
"I don't know runt, once boss sees the news he might not be too happy with you."
Rika frowns, "I.... I know, but, I just want a little bit more time with them." Rika asks.
The man nods. "One day runt, i'll see you at the girls party." The man is gone next she looks.
Rika heads out to catch up with her friends.
Later that night....
The fire popped gently in the center of the clearing, nestled beneath tall pines and open sky.
Toni sat on a smooth log with his guitar in his lap, strumming a relaxed, rhythm that kept tempo with the crackling fire. His sleeves were rolled, his fingers taped, but the grin on his face said he hadn't felt this good in weeks.
"Alright, alright," he said between chords. "Everyone shut up and appreciate the fact that I managed to not break this thing during the battle. That alone is a miracle."
Kaito chuckled, hunched over the firepit, stirring stew with the last of his strength. "Yeah, right next to you somehow not getting knocked out in the first five minutes."
Toni strummed louder in mock offense. "Excuse you. I was inspiring morale."
Nanami, perched on a mossy rock with a scavenged notebook in her lap, looked up from where she was sketching a chaotic-looking flowchart. "Morale doesn't deflect punches, Toni. That's called luck. Quantifiably reckless luck."
"I call it style," Toni shot back, plucking a little melody.
"You're right, good work." Nanami complimented.
Kaito passed her a bowl. "Don't encourage him."
Dante let out a giddy laugh as he flopped back onto a bed of pine needles, arms behind his head. His shoulder armor was still half-melted from the earlier explosion, but he wore it like a badge of honor.
"I can't believe I actually won a fight," he said for maybe the sixth time. "Like. On my own. He came at me with a sword, and I dodged. Me! I dodged!"
"I bet you slipped on a rock and accidentally avoided it," Nanami corrected, not even looking up. "Statistically would still be impressive, though."
"Still counts! But I was dodging and blocking it was awesome!" Dante declared, grinning at the canopy. "Kaito saw it. Tell them, man!"
Kaito ladled stew into a bowl and handed it to Dante. "You did great. Even if you screamed the whole time."
"That was a battle cry!"
"It sounded like you were having a breakdown."
Everyone laughed. Even Rika, who had been quiet, resting with her back against a tree, cracked a small smile.
Toni switched chords and started humming a melody low under his breath. "Man, this is what it's about. Not the fighting. Not the magic. This. Forest. Food. Fire. Friends. And a flawless acoustic performance."
"You're flat," Nanami said.
"Emotionally or musically?"
"Yes." Rika said.
Nanami went back to scribbling in her notebook. "So if I'm right, Kaito stabilized fire, frost, wind, and enhancement simultaneously, then channeled all four into an weapon, without burning himself out until the end. Which shouldn't even be possible without external augmentation. Or divine-level channeling. Or, Kaito, are you secretly a demigod? I just need to label this correctly, because I thought you couldn't control it."
Kaito sighed. "I keep telling you, I'm not special. It just feels different now."
"You lit the floor on fire with your footsteps," Rika said. "Then drew a bow with your teeth. At this point, I'm expecting you to sprout wings and start speaking ancient languages."
"Actually," Nanami said, eyes lighting up, "that bow might have been the real hero. It didn't respond to normal draw mechanics, so there's a high chance it's semi-sentient or soul-bound—"
"Can we not do homework right now?" Rika groaned.
"Let her nerd out," Toni said, strumming a little flourish. "She's earned it. We all did."
He looked around, and the music slowed for a moment.
There was quiet.
Not the silence of fear or tension.
The silence of peace. Of friends too tired to fight, too full to talk, but not ready to stop smiling.
Kaito finally sat down beside Rika, bowl in his lap, watching the flames flicker and dance in the breeze. Her shoulder bumped lightly against his.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Getting there," She says.
"You sure, you've been more quiet then usual." Kaito says.
Then she leaned her head gently on his good shoulder.
"It's nothing, just enjoyed the food a lot." Rika said.
Toni's guitar picked up again, slow and lazy. Nanami was still muttering to herself about elemental convergences. Dante was humming along tunelessly, grinning with a bruised face and a full stomach.
Rika looked around at everyone, and she couldn't help the smile tugging at her lips, knowing their time together was coming to an end.