Epilogue

Two and a half weeks passed since that day in the hospital with Gingka, and, fortunately enough, things had very well improved for the group that had returned after what had seemed like an endless journey.
The younger bladers got back into their regular routines, participating in Bey Battles with all sorts of people and each other, while Madoka and Maru managed to get back into regular business at the B-Pit, where it was as busy as ever.
Benkei had gotten back to work at Bull Burger after a week-long absence, and many people were more than happy to see the Manager back in the place that he loved.
Kira hadn't really stuck around with them for too long after they got back, and had almost seemed a little hesitant, even when leaving awhile after Zyro had said that he didn't owe him anymore - whether or not he actually went back to the rest of the former DNA bladers was unknown to the rest of them, considering they knew that it possible they could (still) be a little upset with him. Even so, the multicolor-haired boy had seemed rather irritated with his usual amount of sass at the fact, stating: "Well, they'll have to stop acting like whiny teenagers at some point".
Zyro had been unable to stifle a laugh.

True to his own word, although it had been unknown to them, Kyoya had indeed contacted Tsubasa once more not a few days after receiving the news of Gingka and his brother's survival, and the silverette had had to take about an hour off duty to actually fully explain the whole thing as best as he could.
Kyoya had seemed pretty accepting of it, actually seeming quite smug and as cocky as he usually was; Tsubasa wasn't surprised to hear him mention that he would still have a chance to defeat Gingka after all these years, which relieved him in the fact that it was evidence to both that Kyoya was getting better, and that things were hopefully starting to return to normal.
Gingka was, naturally, still in the hospital, and still in the psychiatric ward, although the doctors seemed to be, as they noticed whenever any of them visited, a little less wary around the redhead and had a bit of a more casual air to them, though still with the usual caution that came with PTSD patients. By now, the redhead had started both psychiatric and physical therapy, the former being one that he evidently didn't like very much (some of them might have even said loathed, though they never said that in his presence), and the latter being one that he seemed to be doing fairly good in. Slowly but surely did it assure that he would get the strength back in his legs, which it was doing fairly well at accomplishing, with sessions being almost everyday except Tuesdays and Saturdays, and going on for several hours. None of them were permitted to visit during this time; whether because it was hospital protocol or because Gingka didn't want them too was not certain to them. Physical Therapy in general was already difficult as it was, but, in Gingka's case, it was made even more difficult with the fact that it require some physical contact between himself and the therapist at times, which Gingka was still instinctively and actively not happy about. Even so, he was getting better, physically even if not too much psychologically, so that was a positive at least.
However, in all the time through when they had been back, none of them had seen Minoru. They probably would've assumed that the blue-haired man had simply up and left the first chance he got had Gingka not continuously stated that his younger brother came and saw him almost every day.
They were never there when Minoru was, though, who seemed to be trying to avoid them. Gingka had explained that it was a matter of that the younger twin was a bit intimidated by them, which a few of them found a little absurd in the fact that Minoru had to power to command all of them to his will if they so wished.
However, they took Gingka's word for it, and didn't really try too hard to find Minoru, since they had no idea where he went other than the hospital - Gingka didn't know either since the younger had never said
anything about it, and he himself had never asked, so they were at a dead end for that. At some instances, though, a few of them thought that they saw the telepath out of the corner of their eyes sometimes, though they had never been sure; Madoka had also sworn a couple times that she glimpsed him when she went to the hospital within the dense crowd of doctors, nurses, patients, and visitor.
Whatever the case, all of them still continued on with their regular lives, though the tournament had not started back up yet due to further delay. Many people had grown used to it by now, but the younger bladers really couldn't help but wonder how it would blow over once it did start up again; though they doubted it would be before the school year started.

That day it was raining, the sky blanketed over with a thick sheet of dark grey-blue clouds, the rain pouring down in the streets of Metal Bey with thing such as mercy to speak over for those who had no coats or umbrellas.
Fortunately, Zyro, Ren, and Shinobu were among those who had such things, although the winds that gusted strongly through the streets didn't make things too much better. None of them were complaining though, since with all the hot weather this summer they were due for a little rain. Despite the cold and wet conditions it did nothing to dampen (no pun intended) their mood, which was quite upbeat and perky. After all the things that they had been through, rain was not something they were going to be irritated about.
"I'm telling you!" Ren said earnestly to Shinobu as they went on in their heated discussion about a science lab situation that had gone a little haywire in Ren's class the previous school year, "It was like she didn't even listen for the entire unit, it was ridiculous! She picked up sugar instead of sodium which wrecked the whole thing! So of course it exploded and then she blamed it on me!"

"Okay, but why, exactly?" Shinobu questioned, "Earlier you mentioned that you guys were friends, didn't you?"

"Well,yeah." Ren said with a small roll of the eyes, "We're friends, and I love 'er, don't get me wrong... But she's a coward, and don't even try to criticize me for saying that, because everybody knows it! And either way, it makes sense that she would blame me since I sorta tend to accidentally set things on fire in the science lab anyway..."
At this, Ren gave a sheepish look, while Shinobu raised an skeptical eyebrow.
Zyro stiffed a laugh from behind the two of them, and Ren sent him angrily flustered look.
"Hey, don't laugh!" She said, turning her head forward and seeming to almost pout, "It's like I did it on purpose!"
Zyro chuckled softly anyway, not being too surprised at the prospect of Ren setting a lot of things in the science lab on fire (albeit accidentally). He watched as she and Shinobu kept on in their conversation, trailing along right at their heels as the sound of heavy raindrops pattered down on their umbrellas.
It was nostalgic... And whether or not it was the nostalgia or something else, something out of the corner of his eye that he saw, a force that pulled him, or just simple coincidence, Zyro looked over across the street as the three of them were just about to turn the corner, and saw the Metal Bey City graveyard, iron gates slightly ajar as they most typically were.
The graveyard was always a gloomy looking place, but it was even more so at night and when it was raining, which caused a light, haunting mist to rise up from the roads and spread over the ground in a vague fog that didn't go up past the knees.
Zyro stopped walking just as they were about to turn the corner onto the next street that intersected the one they were walking on, but it wasn't because of how slightly spooky the graveyard looked at the moment.
It was because he saw someone in there, dressed entirely in a black raincoat with a hood and black boots, with an equally as black umbrella hovering over their head as they seemed to place something down on the ground, or pick something up.
Now, of course, it was impossible to tell whether they were male or female, and it really could've been any person dressed in black going to visit someone's grave in there, but, somehow, Zyro knew that it wasn't just anyone. He had seen that raincoat, those boots, that umbrella before, had known them almost all his life, even if they weren't entirely the same.
His dreams had always been the same, and, even through it all, so had he.

"Hey, Zyro, you coming?" Ren's voice asked from the end of the corner, and Zyro looked towards both of his friends who looked at him in wonder. Under other circumstances, he would've been tagging along again in a heartbeat, but, this time, he felt that there was someone more important to do rather than head over to the B-Pit for some hot chocolate with Madoka and Maru.
"Uh..." He started, "No, actually. I think I'll hang back a bit - tell Madoka I'll be there in a bit!"
The two of them looked at him strangely for a moment, but, upon glancing over towards where Zyro's body was facing (the graveyard), both of them seemed to understand. Even if not in the way that they might think they understood.
"Sure." Shinobu said with a nod, "We'll see you in a bit. Be careful."
Zyro nodded.
"You too!" He said cheerfully, before pressing the button on the lamp post and waiting for the walking sign to come up before he crossed to the other side of the street that the graveyard was on. He briefly glanced back to watch Ren and Shinobu go, before he himself jogged up to the iron gates. Gingerly did he push them open, only the slightest, high-pitched creak of the half-rusted hinges ringing out into the air, making him cringe a bit.
The person in the graveyard didn't seem to hear, though, over the sound of the rain, and Zyro saw that they had moved to another place than where they had originally been. Being mindful of them, Zyro walked through the maze of headstones all the way over to where they were now kneeling and placing a flower at the foot of one the headstones.
Only by the picture frame and the several other dead flowers there did Zyro recognize who's grave it was - Sakyo's.
Just in front of the picture frame that held that selfie that Takanosuke had taken quite awhile ago the person delicately placed a blue hyacinth, being careful not to disturb anything else that was placed there. Zyro wasn't the best on the symbolism of flowers, but he knew that hyacinths of some sort represented sincerity of whatever kind.
It appeared that Hikaru had not been the only one who thought the type and color of flowers were important.

"Hey." Zyro said loudly enough for the other to hear him once they had stood.
The other jumped slightly, unsuspecting of the boy who stood only a few meters from him, and turned his head to look at the younger that stood not too much shorter than he himself did. Slowly, the startled look on his face faded, and, with a forlorn grief that Zyro was more familiar with than he probably should be, Minoru adverted his eyes.
"Hi, Zyro..." He said softly, clutching the umbrella over his head awkwardly in his hands, "S-sorry, I... I know I shouldn't be here, I just..." Golden-brown eyes looked down at the grave at his feet again, "...I wanted to pay my respects, is all.."
Softly, Zyro shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, that's fine." The ginger-ravenette said with a smile, "I'm sure they would appreciate it."
Minoru didn't seem too convinced of that.
"I doubt it..." He said with a sigh and a shake of the head, "Typically, you don't really want the person - or at least some variation of them - who killed you leaving flowers on your grave... Besides, they were you're friends, not mine... So, I can leave if you want."

"No, no, it's okay!" Zyro said, waving his hand in the air dismissively, before scratching his cheek, "I didn't really know them too well myself, to be honest... I think it's nice, though, that you wanted to leave something for them."
Minoru looked away somewhat awkwardly, a guilty light in his golden-brown eyes that were so similar to Gingka.
"Soooo..." Zyro began, "Where have you been these past couple weeks? We've all kinda been wondering, since the only place we kinda know you go is the hospital to see Gingka..." Minoru didn't answer right away, and looked around briefly before spotting a single bench under the outdoor patio of a small building in the graveyard.
He then looked towards Zyro, almost nervously.
"Do you... Want to get out of the rain, first?" The bluenette asked, and Zyro nodded in agreement. After all, standing in a graveyard in the cold wind with rain beating down on you wasn't the most ideal setting to talk.
Both of them navigated their way through the mass of the graves (far more than one should probably be comfortable with, even in a city this big) until they finally came under the outdoor roof of the concrete patio, closing their umbrellas (Minoru lightly shaking his off), and then sitting down on the bench where they could sit without the weather to disturb them. Hoods down, the two of them sat in an almost uncomfortable silence, contradictory to the way it had always felt for all those years that they would spend their days (or nights, or whichever).
What was familiar, however, was the rain, even though it had made no sound in those dream, nor touched them - it was the familiarity of it that Zyro cherished.

"I would always see you in the rain.." He said abruptly, causing Minoru to look over at him.
"Yeah..." The other said softly, before looking back out at the graveyard, a light mist covering the rain as the rain beat down on the headstones, "...I always liked the rain, personally. I found calming... My uncle was gracious enough to let me go out and play in it every now and then... I guess that might've been why the scenery was always like that. I'm not sure."
Zyro looked over towards the elder, curiously.
"How did you make those dreams, exactly?" The ginger-ravenette asked, "I always kinda thought of you as just a reoccurring thing from my imagination, until now... I never really did too much about how they kept happening, really."
Minoru shrugged his shoulders, clearly unsure himself.
"I don't know." He said, "I'm not too sure I even made them at all... To tell the truth, I somewhat thought of you as the same thing, before Alcorin. I would always get... Bad feelings... I never knew how I knew bad things were going to happen, I just sort of... Did, I guess. I never knew what those dreams were about whenever I had them, but I felt that, somehow, I could trust you. Having you around was comforting, even though I more took to comforting you, being older and all... Maybe I did make them. There's always been a lot I haven't understood about my powers.."

Zyro chuckled a bit.
"That makes two of us!" He said enthusiastically, and saw Minoru looking at him questionably for a moment, "Though, I didn't really know I had any like that until then. Cool to know, though!"
The bluenette looked at him for a moment longer, and then looked down towards the ground. A solemn expression lay on his face, that ever present sorrow, forlorn guilt, clearly written there.

"You didn't have to save me, you know..." He said softly. Zyro's smile disappeared, and he looked towards the elder again. When the Ifraid Blader said nothing, Minoru took it as the okay to keep talking. "You had no real reason too..." He said, just loud enough for Zyro to hear, "Even if Alcorin isn't me, I've done some rather unsavory things myself. You didn't have to forgive me for all of it, either... You could've just saved Gingka and left me, like I told you too... I was so sure I couldn't be saved by that point, since I was already too far gone in him. Gingka, I understand, he's worth saving far more than me... So... Why would you?"
Zyro wasn't sure exactly what to say to that. He was struck silent by that question, and wondered himself for a moment. However, it didn't take long before he had his answer. Resolute, the blue-eyed boy looked up towards Minoru again.
"That's not really a question, to be honest." The raven said bluntly, causing the blue-haired man to look over towards him in confusion, "I think it should be obvious, really. I know I didn't have too, and maybe a few of the others thought so too, but... Gingka was right. Alcorin's an entirely different person compared to you, and you didn't do any of the things that he did. You'd been trying to help us the whole time! I'm assuming that's what all the voices we're about. And..." Zyro rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I really couldn't kill anyone, anyway!"
Minoru smiled softly at that, since he especially knew that to be true.
"Besides..." Zyro continued on, and looked towards the elder with a reassuring look, "You and Gingka - you're twins! When Gingka asked me to destroy you two, he meant of you. Same for when he gave me the option to save both of you... Really, I didn't want to be the one to separate you two again, since I know that he and you didn't deserve that."

"You sound really sure of yourself, on that..." Minoru said softly, a hint of admiration in his voice.
"Well, yeah!" Zyro said with an upbeat smile, "I've known you forever! Besides... I'm not about to just not let you have a chance to actually live at life."
Minoru continued to look at the boy for a moment, calm, considering. Slowly, he smiled - a smile that the boy had very rarely seen in those dreams of theirs - and looked out towards the rain drenched city again.
"I guess Gingka really was right when he said that I created something good..." He said, and looked down for a moment, before turning to look towards Zyro again, "You really are amazing, you know that?"
The Ifraid Blader seemed surprised by the comment, but chuckled a bit with a bit of his usual, more cocky attitude, though still with a bit of modesty present.
"Uh, thanks!" He said with a little pride, and Minoru actually laughed at that.
"I know I've been avoiding most of you, but..." The bluenette said as his laughter died down, "We should talk more. Get together some time, or something."

"Yeah, sure!" Zyro said in excited agreement, before a sudden idea struck him. With wide and excited eyes, the Ifraid Blader leaned forward with almost visible sparkles around his face. "Hey, you should come to the B-Pit with us!" The raven suggested enthusiastically, "Me, Ren, and Shinobu were just gonna meet Madoka and Maru there for some hot chocolate. You should come! It'd give you a chance to get to know some of us better!"
Minoru seemed a bit taken aback by that, and stared awkwardly at the younger boy for a moment.
"I don't know if that would necessarily be appropriate, I mean..." He trailed off in a small voice, but Zyro just smiled encouragingly.
"I'm sure they wouldn't mind!" He said, "Besides, they've been eager to talk to you anyway, since we haven't seen you in awhile! Come on, it'll be fun!"
Minoru was silent a moment, considering this argument (though it wasn't too much of an argument, really) thoroughly, a slightly nervous look on his face. He knew it was unreasonable, but he was always uncomfortable on the prospect of facing the rest of them after all that his other half had put them through.
Still, though, Zyro did make a point even if it wasn't entirely spoken. He had been afraid for a lot of his life, and had spent most of his time hiding, running, living in the shadows of Alcorin and of his brother, just as the stars did. He had stood up at the end, though, even if only for a short time. Maybe it was about time that he stopped running from all the things he was afraid of...
After all, he was the one who had control again, and he wasn't about to let it slip from him as it once had so easily.
The bluenette sighed softly through his nose, and gave a soft, slightly timid, smile in Zyro's direction.
"Yeah, okay..." He said in agreement, "Sure."

"Great!" Zyro exclaimed happily before standing and pulling the elder up along with him (which wasn't too hard, considering they were roughly of the same sort of build and size) much to Minoru's surprise, "Let's go then! Ren and Shinobu are probably already there, by now."

Pulling up his hood and opening his umbrella again, Zyro started off once more through the graveyard and headed towards the gates, leaving Minoru standing there for a moment.
The elder just stood there for a moment, staring after the Ifraid Blader in surprise, awe, and admiration at how full of life he was, how forgiving...
He closed his eyes, bowing his head slightly and smiling. He and Gingka really were so alike...
Minoru, in turn, pulled up his hood and opening his umbrella once more (being careful not to do so under the patio roof), and quietly, but peacefully, went to catch up with the young blader, who stood at the gates waiting for him. They exited the yard together, neither of them minding the creak that the doors made so very often.
Together they walked side-by-side on the sidewalk, best friends once more, neither minding the rain or the wind or the cold anymore if they previously had, and leaving in the knowledge that the souls that had been condemned by his other half were, hopefully and truly, at peace.

Though as they both crossed the street, Zyro practically pulling Minoru along excitedly with the latter allowing it contentedly, neither of them noticed the pitch black car with tinted windows on the opposite side of the street, which, after a brief pause and a phone call from within, drove away into the rain-drenched, mist-covered streets...

The Tokyo WBBA was always a busy place, as was natural for a corporation that was basically the head of government of Japan, so, of course, it was only natural that people would be running through the offices with papers to get to meetings, that phones would be ringing frequently from around everywhere, that it would be loud and full of chatter with business and other important matters. However, while today was very much the same, it was also far different, and for a very good reason.
The exact same reason that Director Hideyoshi now stalked briskly through the halls with a very satisfied look on his face, Naomi following obediently behind him with an Ipad in her arms, flipping through and reading across many different things as she followed along in his footsteps.

"Well, this has been a very productive day, if I do say so myself." Director Hideyoshi said with pride as he made his way towards one of the many elevators that lined the building, "Wouldn't you agree, Naomi?"

"But of course." The brown-haired woman said tightly, her eyes never leaving the device in her arms, "This is the biggest news we've had in years about this, or at all, truly."

"Yes, indeed." Hideyoshi said in agreement, pushing his glasses expertly up on his nose, "After all of these years, we're finally getting back what was always ours. Everyone in the AETL is quite thrilled at the news. I don't doubt he will be as well."
Both of them finally came to the elevator, which opened with a 'ding!' upon the button being pressed, revealing the stark white-silver insides that made up most of the walls of the building. Hideyoshi stepped halfway in - mostly as a maneuver to keep the door open - before he turned to look at his right-hand assistant.
"I want you to stay up here and make sure everything is running as smoothly as possible until I return." The Director instructed, "I'm going to give him the good news."

"Yes, sir." Naomi said obediently with a nod of her head, before she turned and walked back towards the offices.
Satisfied, Hideyoshi stepped fully into the elevator, which closed behind him once he swiped the dark grey key card across a card reader beside the buttons. He waited a few moments, patiently, his smug and satisfied smile never leaving his lips.

After a short while, the elevator door opened once more, letting him out into a hall of metal-plated walls, colored a dull green that was easy on the eyes, where several men and woman in white uniforms and coats, as well as a few in dark suits, walked too and fro briskly.
Hideyoshi easily made his way out into the hall, and was greeted by many passing person in respect, stopping every now and then to check with certain people how things were running - sure enough, they were all running smoothly with all the others, with all due preparations being made. As satisfied as ever, Hideyoshi made his way through the very halls, having only one destination in mind, of which he and many others went to often, but never as often as in the early years when he had actually been of use and interest.
Of course, he was still useful, though weak, still interesting, though unstable, and Hideyoshi knew that more than anyone.

Footsteps ringing softly in the metal halls, he came before the metal doors that parted his room from the rest of the hall, and slid his key card through the card reader.
The doors opened for him, and he walked into the brightly-lit, almost stuffy room, where he saw him sitting, as always, in the chair at the end of his bed, slumped forward and breathing heavily in exhaustion, long hair (which he always stubbornly refused to let them cut) falling over the sides and all around him.
Smiling, Hideyoshi walked a short ways into the room, speaking once the boy raised his head slightly to look at him.
"I have some good news for you, Kuro." Hideyoshi said in his usual proud, business-like manner, and the boy raised his head more until he was leaning against the back of the chair, eyes half-lidded, an unreadable look on his face, "We've found your older brother."

(He never saw the darkening of disappointment in his eyes)

"And we're bringing him home."

Yup. Surprise again, bitches B3

Guess what's not over? This storyline! And so I shall leave you all with this hateful cliffhanger! XD

Ta ta for now~ I'll see you all when we go to what's gonna end this! OwO