Silence seeped into the place after the last of the light faded, as if the island itself had stopped breathing out of respect for what had happened.
The sky calmed, the lightning vanished, and stillness blanketed the battlefield—now nothing more than traces of ash and lingering, motionless waves of magical energy.
Kojou stood at the center of it all, like a pillar of unshaken presence in a world that had just collapsed.
Once the subspace woven by Natsuki dissolved, a surge of familiar magical signatures washed over Kojou—pulses of power he knew well, each carrying the distinctive presence of its owner.
Sayaka… Atalanta… Lucretia… Vatler.
But amid that familiar blend, he sensed something else.
A strange signature.
Completely different.
A calm yet profound magical aura, walking beside Sayaka with the quiet, measured steps of someone wrapped in a white cloak that concealed their features entirely—no face, no traits, nothing but a thick silence that resembled shadows.
"Are you okay?!" — Sayaka's voice came from afar, worried and full of emotion, before she leapt lightly to Kojou's side, her eyes scanning him quickly as if afraid he might have been hurt.
But she froze in place when she heard a small voice calling her with innocent, overflowing joy:
"Mama!"
She turned, stunned, to find a little girl staring at her with eyes shining with pure happiness.
Satsuki was smiling warmly, arms outstretched as if she had finally found the one she had been waiting for.
"M-Mama?!" — Sayaka repeated, her voice tight, the words dying on her lips as she stared at the little girl—who looked like a miniature version of herself… the same features, the same eyes, the same way of smiling.
The only difference was her hair—white-silver strands glowing softly in the sunset light, exactly the color of Kojou's hair.
Sayaka stood frozen, her eyes widening little by little.
Her heart beat with a strange rhythm, filled with emotions that had no name—shock, confusion, and a warm, suffocating tenderness she had never felt before.
Meanwhile, Satsuki simply continued smiling with childish confidence, holding the edge of her dress with her tiny hands, unaware that a single word had just overturned Sayaka's entire world.
Kojou approached with quiet steps, his gaze steady and free of hesitation.
He bent slightly, placing the small girl gently into Sayaka's arms with a softness that revealed more than his words ever could.
"She's your daughter… from the future." — he said, his voice low but clear, his tone completely devoid of drama, as if it were just another fact in his world full of impossibilities.
Then he added, lightly patting Satsuki's head with a rare gentleness:
"Take care of her, and listen to her carefully… you'll understand everything from her later."
Sayaka stared at the child in her arms, feeling the warmth of her small body, the real rhythm of her heartbeat, that strange sensation that sneaks into the heart without permission.
She couldn't speak—she simply touched the silver strands of her hair with a trembling hand, while wonder and unfamiliar tenderness shimmered in her eyes.
Kojou then slowly turned toward Vatler, who stood a short distance away, his face holding an odd mix of disappointment and amusement.
Vatler's eyes, as always, gleamed with that insatiable curiosity that never faded.
"Get back to your business, Vatler." — Kojou said with complete coldness, waving his hand as if brushing aside something insignificant. "There's nothing here for you to play with."
Vatler chuckled softly—a short, quiet laugh laced with a hint of theatrical sadness—before replying in a smooth tone that barely hid his hunger:
"Oh, how cruel, Kojou… I was genuinely worried about you, truly."
Then he tilted his head slightly, and that familiar look appeared in his eyes—a mixture of hunger and fascination, as if everything that had happened had only increased his thirst to watch Kojou display his strength again.
Kojou didn't even look at him.
With perfect indifference, he simply turned toward Reina and Moegi, as though Vatler's existence held no meaning whatsoever.
That indifference alone made Vatler smile wider, a soft grin filled with wicked curiosity, before whispering in a barely audible voice:
"You grow more magnificent every day, my friend…"
Then he vanished in a swirl of golden mist, returning to his ship.
"So, you must be Reina and Moegi." — Kojou smiled warmly and affectionately as he looked at the two girls who were almost his age yet were his daughters, who had come back in time just to see him.
Reina resembled Touka—same calm features, same dignity in her presence.
But her eyes were something else entirely—blue eyes carrying Kojou's unmistakable brilliance, glowing with a mix of tenderness and suppressed strength.
Moegi, on the other hand, looked exactly like Asagi, with not a single physical trait inherited from her father. And yet Kojou instantly sensed that lazy, laid-back aura of hers—so similar to his own that it was almost shocking.
As if she had inherited his spirit more than his appearance.
"Kojou-kun!" — the moment Reina met her father's gaze, all her composure vanished, replaced by a bright and mischievous smile. Without hesitation, she rushed into his arms and hugged him tightly, as if trying to fill every empty moment between them with warmth and love.
Her little laugh broke through the silence like a thread of light weaving through the sunset—so pure it even surprised Kojou himself, a sound so full of life he had forgotten how much he missed it.
He froze for a second before a rare, soft smile appeared, lifting his arm to hold her gently.
"You really startled me with that sudden shift in personality." — he said quietly, his voice carrying a blend of surprise and subtle amusement, like a small smile slipping between his words.
"That's normal, Kojou-kun." — Moegi said lazily, placing a straw in her mouth and sipping calmly from the iced coffee in her hand. "Everyone becomes relaxed and cheerful around you… Even Tsurara-neesan, that rebellious one who barely listens to Aya-san, turns into a meek little lamb when you're nearby."
Pang!
Suddenly, Tsurara appeared beside Moegi, throwing a quick punch without hesitation—so strong it nearly destroyed the wall behind her.
"Oh… that hurts…" — Moegi whispered without a hint of emotion, as if it meant nothing. For vampires like them, descendants of the strongest vampire in the world, that level of force was hardly worth noting—even for Moegi, the weakest physically among the Akatsuki Family children.
"Don't say unnecessary things!" — Tsurara shouted with clear embarrassment, her face flushing red all the way to her ears and neck, her eyes sparkling with a mix of anger and anxious fluster.
Moegi smiled faintly, clearly enjoying Tsurara's reaction, before tilting her head and saying lazily:
"Hah… you're really strange, Tsurara-neesan. Sometimes I'm afraid you'll explode from anger at any moment."
Tsurara exhaled deeply, trying to control her embarrassment, feeling the urge to punch Moegi again—but finally restraining herself.
"Seriously, you're incredibly annoying."
...
To get more chapters please visit my p@treon :
[email protected]/Akasaki_Ryujin
For support :
https://ko-fi.com/akasaki_ryujin
_
I have improved a little and I was able to write a chapter, enjoy it.