So every Saturday night, Kiyo goes to the same place he blew up.

He continued to undergo harsh training sessions, hard labor; but he understood: This is for Ryota.

For the first time in his life, he accepted to work as an assassin with the reason to protect someone's life.

In the dark night, unlike in previous years, he was alone in the house, apart from the robot.

Kiyo eats dinner alone, watches TV alone, sleeps alone. Only him, no one else, because his two closest relatives have already left him.

His classmates in the past, all followed thay guy. Or is dead.

He also had no choice but to accept that loneliness and focus on his work. Having CVP with him as a companion, but Kiyo still couldn't get rid of that lonely feeling.

He no longer had much hope for the survival of this country. The suffering and despair that abounded throughout the land bore him.

Day in and day out, everything was like a loop for him.

One late afternoon, without snow, he went out to play in the park, quietly sitting on a red swing.

Memories of the end of the year flashed into his mind. From childhood silhouettes to three years of high school.

Kiyo rocked his seat slightly, replaying it in his mind like a VHS tape.

There was the sound of someone sitting next to him, but he didn't pay any attention.

"Brother..."

A very familiar voice. Kiyo heard it and turned around startled.

"Ryota..."

"Are you going alone?" - Ryota was surprised that there was no sign of Sunny, but didn't notice CV01-P hovering overhead.

"Yeah, it's only me now."

"Huh..? Where's Sunny?"

Kiyo closed his eyes and sighed.

"You want to see him? He's gone."

Ryota hesitated:

"Gone?! What's wrong??"

Kiyo looked at Ryota for a moment, then recounted everything that had happened.

"Is that so.." - Ryota lowered his voice, felt sorry for him.

"Where's Karin? She's not coming?" - Kiyo changed the subject.

"She has a cold, so she doesn't want to go out..."

At a glance, Kiyo's unhappy face was somewhat dark, so Ryota wanted to lighten up his brother's mood. He took out a notebook and a pencil and said:

"I'm also quite free today, but I don't know what to draw, so can I draw you?"

Kiyo realized that his younger brother had become an amateur painter at such a young age. He didn't want Ryota to draw him, but he found his brother was artblocked, so he accepted.

"If you want."

"Okay, sit still."

Ryota sat down on the ground in front of him, a little further away, about 50 cm.

While sitting as a model for it, Kiyo clearly heard the rustle of pencils on paper, and clearly saw Ryota's calm but hopeful face.

It wasn't the facial expression of a child when he first adopted Ryota either.

Time flies so fast... Like a fast flowing river.

Almost half an hour later, Ryota finished drawing. He pulled out the sheet he had just drawn, stood up, and walked over to Kiyo:

"See if it is good."

The picture depicts the real life model. In addition to the pretty solid drawing, it also exudes a rather melancholy, quiet look, like an assassin.

Ryota has added a flying CVP on his head, and it looks cuter, but it still doesn't overwhelm the melancholy look.

"Beautiful. Thank you." - Kiyo smiled and nodded. "So do I have to pay?"

"No need. Consider it a year-end gift I gave you and also a thank you gift for raising me these years."

Ryota let Kiyo hold the picture.

"Ryota.."

Kiyo immediately hugged the boy.

"Bro..?"

"Thank you. I have nothing to pay you back, sorry."

"What are you saying? Your effort to raise me is a priceless thing that you don't have to pay for."

Kiyo wanted Ryota to stay at his house for the year-end dinner, but suddenly remembered that Karin was sick. He released Ryota, patted his shoulder and said:

"You should leave early. Karin is waiting for you, right?"

"But-"

"Just go home."

Ryota sighed, packed his things, and left.

"Goodbye, see you another day."

It was snowing when Ryota left the park, and it was getting colder.

I should go home now..

Although at home to celebrate the new year with a robot, when off, he went out with the other two youngsters.

At least these days are times when Kiyo feels calm.

* * *

New Year's Eve is over, everyone and everything returns to the normal pace of life.

Things would still be the same if Kiyo hadn't noticed the dense vegetation that covered the Ikusaba campus and surrounding neighborhoods.

This is what happened.

Like every other morning, Kiyo woke up, brushed his teeth, washed his face, had breakfast, turned off CVP, and went to work. Still a boring daily routine for Kiyo.

Since the factory was close to the old Ikusaba dormitory, he often rode his bicycle there.

But today he couldn't cross by a bicycle, because the roots of the tree had completely entered the lane and then emerged!

"What is this..? Normally there are no old trees here?" - Kiyo paused, wondering.

Suddenly something slowly tied to his leg. A mistletoe is more than 6 meters long.

"What is this?!" - Kiyo tried to pull his leg away, knocking the bike over.

With no other choice, he took the knife and cut that tree thread. But it was so thick and hard, it took a while to break.

From somewhere unknown, there was a rumbling that got closer and closer, but the closer it got, the louder its sound.

"Don't tell me..."

Kiyo hid in a corner with the bike watching the cows pass by.

Out of roots and then cows?.. What happened to this city today?

And yet, some of them mutate their genes, grow wings, and fly away.

Kiyo couldn't say anything anymore.

Ikusaba School... Trees.. Cows grow wings...

Wait, don't tell me.. Mattia and Kanryo?!

But how did they destroy the pavement like that? God, that bastard Cosmic Vietnam...

Kiyo looked at the watch on his wrist.

Damn it, it's getting late! But who dares to go to work on this road?

....

Alright, maybe take a break from work..

Kiyo turned the bike around and headed straight home.

But when he got home, the chaos outside did not stop.

Because the ladybugs came from nowhere and flew around the house, twenty feral cats were lounging everywhere.

There was a cat that accidentally turned on the CVP power, causing the robot to jump up and the cat to be scared to death.

CVP complained:

"Dad! What is this?!"

"Who knows? Shoo, shoo!" - Kiyo chases away creatures that swarm in the house.

Ladybugs can still drive them out, but the cats are still stubborn in the house, stealing food from the refrigerator.

With no other choice, he and CVP carried them out with the neighbors, almost getting scratched in the face.

Except for one, they kept clinging to Kiyo, refusing to come down.

A yellow-orange cat, round black eyes, quite small (probably three weeks old)

It has a bell on its neck.

Why is this so familiar..

"Come on, go home." - Kiyo tried to pull it off, but it clung to it.

"Maybe it likes you." - The neighbor saw that and laughed. "Just keep it, it's small and cute."

"Didn't you bring it back?"

"My child has allergies, we can't adopt it" - She left.

When everyone left, the cat was still there.

Wait.. I remember now

I saved one in middle school, it also had a bell on its neck like this, its appearance was the same.

Couldn't it be it?

Kiyo looked at the cat and it happily uttered a "meow", he gently removed it from his leg.

No.. it's still small.. No way it is. Maybe that cat's child or something.

Or try feeding it fish?

Kiyo immediately called out CVP:

"CVP, go buy mackerel for me." - He put money on it.

"Huh? Why should I go?"

"You can fly, so it won't be a problem to get outside."

"Hmph, okay." - CVP took the money and left.

Raising a cat in an apartment is a bit difficult...

He patted its head and called the company.

Fortunately, the whole factory was off work today because everything in the city was too chaotic.

Not wanting to call "cat" anymore, Kiyo temporarily named it Miko, because he saw it as a female.

But.. if Miko was the cat's baby back then.. how did she get to Chushin when she was only three weeks old? Or did her owner come here from Machi but leave them both?

"I'm back." - CVP said lazily.

"Very well, let me bring the plate."

He put the fish on the plate to see if Miko would eat it.

Of course she did, but she only ate half of her breakfast, then fell asleep again.

Cats are so lazy..

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

Kiyo opened the door and saw a guy, probably around 16-17 years old.

Ikusaba school uniform?

"May I ask... Have you seen a three-week-old, orange-haired cat?"

Ah, turns out this is her owner..

"Here is it." - Kiyo gently held the sleeping cat.

"Thank you." - He left.

Kiyo closed the door, sighing.

Wow, it's just early in the morning, but it's already such a mess everywhere..

And so he had to clean all that stuff in the house.