The next day, a historical event actually took place in Class 1-A.
Tsutsumi Ryoko had finally shown up for class.
"Why the hell are you all looking so surprised!?" Tsutsumi snapped, staring at his classmates as they looked back at him with bewildered and downright shocked expressions.
Honestly, their reactions were beginning to annoy him.
After all, their Class President had been missing from classes for more than a month. At this point, everyone had practically accepted his absence as a normal part of their school life. Even Aizawa-sensei hadn't bothered to object.
Ida, of course, had been furious at first. Seeing the Class President neglect his responsibilities and disappear from school for weeks at a time was something he simply couldn't accept. He had even tried to convince the others to hold another election and appoint someone who would actually fulfil the role.
Unfortunately, his proposal had failed miserably.
With almost no support from the rest of the class, Ida had eventually been left with little choice but to sulk in frustration. There wasn't much he could do when the person in question was Tsutsumi Ryoko, after all.
Besides, Tsutsumi had never been particularly strict with them. As long as they followed the rules, didn't cause unnecessary trouble, and didn't do anything that would bring trouble down on the class, he generally allowed them to act as they pleased. Things like curfew and other minor restrictions weren't something he went out of his way to enforce.
So, despite his questionable attendance record, nobody could honestly say that he was a terrible Class President.
Not that this made his classmates any less surprised to see him sitting in their classroom again.
Tsutsumi looked even more annoyed as he continued to receive their bewildered stares. However, rather than waste his time arguing with them, he eventually gave up, returned to his seat, and promptly fell asleep.
And strangely enough, nobody tried to disturb him.
Not even Aizawa.
The usual sleepy-eyed teacher simply watched him for a moment before returning his attention to the rest of the class. Unlike many of the students, he had already noticed something that they hadn't.
That Tsutsumi Ryoko had lost his desire to become a hero.
The fact that he was still attending classes, and hadn't simply dropped out of U.A., wasn't because he had suddenly regained his enthusiasm for hero work. It was because he still wanted to live a meaningful life, even if he no longer knew what that meant.
For now, he wanted to spend what time he had left with the people he considered his friends. He wanted to experience the ordinary days that he might have once taken for granted, and perhaps enjoy the time he had with them before everything eventually came to an end.
For the next few weeks, Tsutsumi continued attending classes, usually spending most of his time sleeping at his desk. Whenever Aizawa gave them a test or a surprise quiz, he would still complete it without any trouble, earning perfect scores as though he hadn't spent the entire lesson asleep.
Outside the classroom, he still joined his friends and classmates in their activities. He was present when they gathered together, and he didn't outright refuse when someone invited him to participate.
But even then, he couldn't bring himself to enjoy any of it.
Things that would normally have entertained him no longer had the same effect. Even when surrounded by people he cared about, he found it difficult to feel the same happiness he once did.
How could he?
He knew how everything would eventually end. More importantly, he knew that he would be the one bringing that ending about.
It was difficult to enjoy the present when he was constantly reminded of the future waiting for it.
The changes didn't go unnoticed.
The students of Class 1-A noticed them, and so did the teachers at U.A. Everyone who had spent enough time around Tsutsumi could tell that something was wrong.
He no longer messed around with his classmates like he used to. The occasional jokes and troublesome remarks that had once been part of his everyday interactions gradually disappeared. He spoke less, kept to himself more often, and slowly began distancing himself from everyone.
And before long, he stopped smiling altogether.
They tried to cheer him up.
Some attempted to talk to him, others tried inviting him to spend time with them, and there were even those who went out of their way to involve him in activities. They all wanted to see him return to the person they remembered.
But no matter what they tried, the result was always the same.
Nothing changed.
As heroes-in-training, helping people in need was something they were supposed to do. If anything, sticking their noses into someone else's problems had practically become a common trait among them by now.
And this time, it wasn't just about fulfilling their responsibilities as future heroes.
He was their classmate.
Although Tsutsumi could be annoying, troublesome, and occasionally downright unreasonable, none of them could deny how much he had helped them improve. They had spent so much time together that seeing him slowly withdraw from everyone was something they couldn't simply ignore.
They wanted to help him, even if they didn't know how.
Unfortunately, there was something none of them knew.
Despite seeing Tsutsumi almost every day, the person they met each time was never quite the same age as the one they had seen before.
Every time they saw him again, he had grown older by roughly a month, sometimes even more.
And while everyone else continued living their ordinary lives, Tsutsumi never stopped his endless journey through different worlds.
He continued stepping into parallel worlds, experiencing their histories, encountering their inhabitants, and gaining more power along the way.
Only to eventually destroy them.
During those journeys, he had also managed to figure out who was responsible for spreading the rumour, or perhaps the information, at this point, that he was Decade, the Destroyer of Worlds.
It was the reason so many people across those worlds had immediately turned against him. They had been led to believe that he was a threat who needed to be eliminated, and their attempts to kill him had ultimately forced him to destroy those worlds.
The person responsible looked almost identical to Narutaki, the man Tsutsumi remembered from Tsukasa's journey.
However, there was something strange about him.
His appearance was familiar, but his voice wasn't quite the same as Narutaki's. There was something about it that reminded Tsutsumi of someone he knew, someone whose identity he couldn't quite place.
It was a familiar feeling, but not familiar enough for him to put a name to it.
Unfortunately, before Tsutsumi could get a better look or figure out who he was, 'Narutaki' escaped through an Aura Curtain.
And rather than confront Tsutsumi himself, he continued summoning other Riders from parallel worlds for him to fight, forcing him to destroy them and obtain their powers.
...
Currently, inside Tsutsumi Ryoko's living room, the young man was lying on the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Several Ride Cards rested in his hand.
He had been looking at them for a while before finally letting out a quiet murmur.
"Now that only leaves Den-O..."
His fingers loosened, allowing the cards to slip from his hand. Before they could fall onto the floor, they disappeared, returning to his Reality Marble.
Throughout his endless journeys between worlds, he had managed to gather several Riders, including Gaim, Revice, Gotchard, and even Zi-O, along with a few others.
Of course, he hadn't encountered God Gaim or Ohma Zi-O themselves. The versions he had obtained were only their AR counterparts.
The only Rider he hadn't managed to encounter was Den-O.
Unlike the others, Den-O was a singularity point, an existence independent of the flow of time. Because of that, there were no AR versions of Den-O wandering around in parallel worlds for Tsutsumi to encounter.
Which meant that if he wanted to obtain Den-O, he would have to find the real one.
Not that he was particularly in a hurry.
After all, Tsutsumi had already made up his mind not to form any new bonds during his journeys.
There was little point in getting attached to people, only to eventually destroy the worlds they belonged to.
"Say, how long do you plan to keep living like this?"
A familiar voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
Morgan had appeared on the table beside the sofa, flying on her stomach as she looked toward him.
Tsutsumi shifted his gaze toward her.
Those eyes, which had once been filled with life, now looked dull and exhausted. There was no particular emotion in them, only the same weariness that had been lingering there for quite some time.
"Does it even matter?" he replied.
His gaze soon drifted away from her and returned to the ceiling.
"As long as I don't lose the will to live, I'll eventually return to normal."
Although, truthfully, he wasn't even sure what normal meant anymore.
Ever since he had begun entering realms that surpassed even the gods, his understanding of ordinary life had gradually become distorted. The things that once seemed extraordinary had become mundane, while the things that should have mattered to him had started to feel increasingly distant.
In his world, All For One was considered one of the greatest hidden threats to society.
But to Tsutsumi?
After killing five different All For Ones from five separate worlds, the name Shigaraki Zen was little more than the original name of All For One written on one of his Ride Cards.
It was difficult to take someone like that seriously when he had already encountered and defeated so many versions of the same person.
The only reason he hadn't gone out of his way to eliminate the All For One in this world was because doing so would create a massive power vacuum.
As the current mob boss of the criminal underworld, All For One was at least capable of keeping the other villains under control. The moment he disappeared, countless criminals would begin fighting over the empty throne, and the resulting chaos would likely be far worse than the situation they currently had.
Besides, this wasn't his responsibility.
All For One in this world should be defeated by the heroes and the future heroes of this world. Not by Tsutsumi Ryoko, someone who was merely playing pretend as a hero.
"Does it matter? Does it matter?"
Morgan repeated his words in a mocking tone, clearly growing tired of hearing the same response over and over again.
"Can you stop acting like an NPC and say something different for once?"
This certainly wasn't the first time she had asked him something like this. She had brought it up more times than she could count, and every single time, Tsutsumi gave her some variation of the same distant, dismissive answer.
It was getting old.
Of course, Morgan understood that Tsutsumi was powerful. He could accomplish things that most people, even those who considered themselves gods, couldn't even dream of.
But that didn't make his current behaviour any less frustrating to watch.
In a way, she found his desire for something genuine both idiotic and fascinating.
Despite everything he had experienced, Tsutsumi still wanted something real.
He wanted the people beside him to be the people he had actually formed bonds with, rather than alternative versions of them. He didn't want a recreation, a replacement, or someone who merely carried the same appearance and memories.
He wanted the genuine person.
The one he had actually met, spent time with, and grown attached to.
It was a rather troublesome desire for someone who had become so accustomed to travelling between countless different worlds.
Meanwhile, Tsutsumi casually lifted his feet and placed them on Morgan's back, using her as a convenient footrest.
"Hey! Don't just ignore me!"
Morgan immediately complained, although she made no attempt to push his feet away.
"You're annoying. Can you quiet down?"
"You're the annoying one here!"
Tsutsumi didn't bother responding.
He was deflecting the question, just as he always did. It wasn't that he didn't want to answer Morgan. Rather, he simply didn't have an answer to give her.
He knew that distancing himself from his friends in this world was a horrible decision. He knew that they were worried about him, and that they were only trying to help.
But what else was he supposed to do?
He couldn't think of a better solution.
He didn't want to build relationships with them, only to eventually tear everything down with his own hands.
Even now, he had deliberately skipped the school festival for that very reason.
He didn't want to make more memories with them, knowing that one day, those memories would become something he would have to carry into the destruction of this world.
And perhaps that was the saddest part.
He still wanted to spend time with his friends. He still wanted to enjoy the ordinary moments he had once taken for granted. But the more he allowed himself to become attached, the harder it would be when the time eventually came.
So, rather than risk that pain, he chose to keep his distance.
Just the sound of the door opening without its usual rattling was enough to catch Tsutsumi's attention.
Before the door had even swung fully open, Morgan disappeared in an instant, leaving no trace of her presence as though she had never been there in the first place.
Tsutsumi didn't bother getting up from his position on the sofa. He didn't even need to turn his head to see who had entered. Through his connection to the cameras installed around the house, he had already identified the visitor.
A moment later, the sound of small footsteps running across the wooden floor reached his ears.
"Onii-san? Are you there?"
Miyu's soft voice echoed through the living room. She peeked around the corner, and her expression brightened slightly when she spotted her big brother lying on the sofa.
Without wasting another moment, the little girl hurried over. She climbed onto the sofa and settled down beside him, looking at his face.
"Onii-san, is everything alright?" There was a hint of worry in her voice. "I heard from Kyoka-nee that you've been really distant with everyone lately."
"It doesn't matter, Miyu." Ryoko replied, shifting his gaze toward her. "I'll eventually turn back to normal."
Miyu frowned at his answer.
It wasn't what she wanted to hear, and judging by the way he said it, she didn't think he was going to offer anything else. Still, she didn't argue. Instead, she moved closer, gently nuzzling against his side.
"You've gotten older again, haven't you?"
Her voice trembled slightly as she asked.
Thanks to Idle Transfiguration, his outward appearance hadn't changed; Miyu could still tell. She couldn't explain exactly how she knew, but something about her brother felt different.
Perhaps it was instinct.
After all, she was also learning how to control the Aurora Curtain. She understood some of what it could do, and she knew enough about her brother's circumstances to recognize the changes that came with his endless journeys.
"Only a little," he answered.
But even as he said that, he could feel the familiar tightness in his chest growing worse.
Miyu was one of the few people who could understand his situation to some extent. Unlike the others, she didn't belong to this world either. She knew what it was like to live somewhere that wasn't originally her home, and she had experienced enough of his power to understand that his circumstances were far from ordinary.
In that regard, she might have understood his feelings better than anyone else around him.
Even so, there was still a great deal he had never told her.
Although Miyu believed she was one of the people who knew him best, Ryoko had never explained the full truth about his existence. He had never told her that, eventually, his very existence would become the cause of the destruction of all worlds.
He didn't want her to carry that knowledge.
Being his sister didn't mean she shared the same fate as him. She wasn't bound to the same endless journey, nor did she have to live with the knowledge that her existence was tied to an approaching end.
She could enter other worlds and live her life however she wanted. She could meet new people, make friends, and find somewhere she wished to stay.
She was free to choose her own future.
Ryoko, on the other hand, was running on a timer.
No matter where he went or how much time he spent exploring other worlds, that timer would continue moving forward. And once it finally ran out, the end of all worlds would begin.
It was a fate he couldn't escape simply by pretending it wasn't there.
"Onii-san must have run into something bad, right?"
Miyu's voice brought him back from his thoughts.
She leaned a little closer, looking up at him with a concerned expression.
"I know I don't understand everything, and I probably can't convince you to change your mind just by talking about it."
She paused for a moment, seemingly trying to find the right words.
"I also know I can't help Nii-san the same way you always help me. There's probably a lot of things I don't know how to do..."
Her small hands rested against him as she continued.
"But... I don't want Nii-san to keep living like this."
Ryoko didn't respond. He simply looked at her, listening.
Miyu lowered her gaze for a moment before looking back up at him. Her expression softened, and her voice became a little quieter.
"Can we go out together?"
"...Huh?"
"We haven't spent much time together lately." She puffed her cheeks slightly, almost as though she were complaining about something that had been bothering her for a long time. "Ever since you moved into the school dorms, I barely get to spend time with you anymore."
She shifted closer to him.
"Miyu really misses the time she spent with Onii-san."
There was a slight childish innocence in her voice, something that hadn't been there before.
It was a small change, but Tsutsumi Ryoko couldn't help noticing it.
After all, he had known Miyu long before she had learned to express herself this way. Back then, she had been more like a doll learning how to live, slowly figuring out the world around her through his guidance.
But things had changed.
Having grown up under the care and affection of the Jiros, Miyu had gradually become what could be considered an ordinary little girl. She had learned to express her feelings more openly, to complain when something bothered her, and to ask for the things she wanted without having to carefully consider every word.
She had grown more comfortable being herself. And now, she was asking him to spend time with her.
Not because she needed his help with something, nor because she wanted him to teach her anything.
She simply missed her brother.
For a while, Ryoko remained silent.
He looked at the little girl sitting beside him, her expression still carrying that quiet concern. She hadn't asked him to explain what was happening, nor had she demanded that he tell her everything he was going through.
She wasn't trying to solve his problems. She knew that she couldn't help, and knowing would only make it even worse.
She just wanted to spend some time with him. It was such a simple request. And yet, for some reason, it made his chest feel even tighter.
Perhaps because he had forgotten the last time he had properly spent time with her. Perhaps because he knew that everything would eventually end because of his existence.
What would she think of him then?
No matter how far he tried to run or ignore it, everything always came back to this exact question.
After a moment, Tsutsumi Ryoko finally let out a quiet sigh.
"...Sure."
...
AN: Sorry for the late update; I've been busy with work and other stuff. Also, I've been reading a few Uma Musume and JJK fics, got bored, and came up with an idea for a few of them. I still haven't decided to publish them yet; I need to focus on my current three works to avoid leaving them incomplete, and I'm still working on how to execute those stories, so it's better to hold off for now and spend time refining them.