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Hiroto woke up agitated.
That was never a good sign - but he also couldn’t pinpoint why, and it bothered him even more. Typically, he could feel a tug at the edge of his consciousness, telling him at least a vague sense of what was going to happen.
Instead, now it felt like every single nerve endings of his were on fire, screaming danger, danger, danger.
Miu was also standing over her flowers, her eyes not focusing on them at all.
“...Miu?”
“Ah! Good morning,” Miu shook herself.
“Bad dream?”
“No, it’s just…” Miu trailed off. “Do you feel it?”
“...yeah,” Hiroto admitted, running his fingers over one of the roses. “I don’t know what it means, though. That bothers me.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t go out shipping with Saki,” Miu muttered, as Hiroto hissed, one of the thorns pricking his finger.
“No. Don’t worry about it. Go, but keep an eye out.”
“Are you sure?”
Hiroto nodded, and then Miu left, leaving Hiroto behind to train.
That was a good thing, training. Helped sharpen his mind typically, but now, as the hours passed, the more agitated he became, and when Miu came back, with her own shopping bags, she also seemed still on edge.
It was almost a relief when their senses alerted them of Gaiark activity.
No.
Not just one.
There were two Gaiarks, quite far from each other.
“One is in the mountains, and one at the edge of the city,” Renn said through the intercom. “Just– it’s more logical for Wings to go to the mountains. We’ll get the other one.”
“Agreed,” Hiroto said, although the sick feeling didn’t leave his stomach. “Let’s go, Miu.”
They got rid of the Banki with sharp wings who was set on destroying the trees, because of course it was - and might as well go and check on the Go-Ongers, right?
So they did.
It - was not going well.
Doomsday Banki was laughing, dodging attacks left and right and went And here come the Go-On Wings as if it was expecting them, while its sword disappeared in Gunpei’s chest, making him fall to the ground, not moving.
Gunpei was—
There were screams and even Hiroto found his own voice, as the awful, awful feeling that plagued him from the beginning exploded.
And yet—
And yet the Banki was good at dodging them, too good, none of this made sense, and then Miu was down, Hant was not moving, Saki was dragging herself towards Renn, whose upper body Hiroto couldn’t even see, but it had to be there, right, and Sousuke was also bleeding way too much and—
And Hiroto lounged at the Banki, burying his sword into its chest making the Banki leak oil all over him, as he felt the sharp pain, as he also got impaled, and he heard Sousuke screaming his name.
“Ah—” Doomsday Banki gasped. “Almost got it—”
And then everything went dark.
Hiroto woke up with a gasp, sitting up in his bed.
Wait— what.
He looked down on his hands - his gloves were covered in blood not a minute ago—
Wait.
Wait, no.
A dream?
He sighed, but the relief didn’t come - his entire body was tense, all his senses going haywire.
How foolish, feeling like this over a nightmare, right?
So he got out of bed, and found Miu standing over her roses.
“...Miu?”
“Ah! Good morning,” Miu shook herself.
“Bad dream?”
“No, it’s just…” Miu trailed off. “Do you feel it?”
The sick feeling was settling into Hiroto’s stomach, as he reached out towards Miu’s roses.
“...yeah.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t go out shipping with Saki,” Miu muttered, as a thorn prickled Hiroto’s finger.
He just stared at it.
And stared.
“No, you go. Just be careful.”
“Are you sure?”
Hiroto nodded absentmindedly, before turning away, looking at the blooddrop on the top of his thumb.
It had to have been a dream. Or just his psychic powers going overdrive. It was a bad dream, nothing more.
So Hiroto pushed himself during training until his muscles became sore, and he collapsed next to his equipment, and he just lay there, as Miu came home.
“Are you alright?” And Hiroto didn’t know what to say.
It wasn’t a relief when the feeling of the Gaiark activity hit the back of his brain.
He just felt dread.
He still agreed with what Renn had said. Maybe it was just his psychic power going wrong. Now he knows what to expect and—
—and he still didn’t expect the same Banki with razor sharp wings.
Oh no.
This wasn’t just a premonition.
Once the Banki was dead, he turned to Miu.
“I have done all of this before.”
“Huh?” Miu tilted her head to the side, and Hiroto shook his head in agitation.
“I don’t know how. But we— the battle, it didn’t go well. The Go-Ongers are in danger. We have to hurry. And look out for that Banki’s aerial attacks.”
Miu was clearly confused, but she nodded, following his lead.
But apparently even stalling for that long meant that they were late.
Only Sousuke was still on his feet, and the Banki, Doomsday Banki was limping as well, as the Go-On Wings descended.
The fight was still—
Sousuke fell, and so did Hiroto, and as everything got blurry, the last thing he saw was Miu screaming and raising her sword at the Banki.
And then Hiroto sat up in his bed again.
He was gasping for air, before kicking himself to his feet, immediately darting down to Miu, who was standing there in front of the roses, as always.
“Miu, listen, something is very wrong.”
And so he told her, and she looked at him with wide eyes.
“We die…?”
Miu’s eyes widened, as Hiroto shook his head.
“No, we can stop it,” Hiroto said in a sharp voice. “We just cannot split up. When we realise there are two Banki out there, we can not split up. We can deal with the Banki in the mountains easily afterwards, we need to work together to stop Doomsday Banki.”
It sounded so simple right?
So, so simple.
Until the flying Banki arrived, its wings cutting through Hant, and Hiroto screamed.
When he woke up again, he just lay there for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling.
A few things he put together now.
One. Since the oil from Doomsday Banki poured on him, he had been reliving the same day.
Two. Doomsday Banki’s tactics also change. He is aware about the loops - he is the source of the looping.
Three. The first one he remembered, he already woke up agitated, but Miu’s nervousness got worse and worse every loop. So - the first one Hiroto remembers definitely was not the first loop.
Four. The Go-Ongers alone were not strong enough to take out this one.
Five. Killing the Banki was not enough to stop the loop, but this way, he could make sure they all remain alive first, and then stop the loops.
So this loop, he decided to swap. Send the Go-Ongers to the mountains. Wings go face Doomsday Banki. He didn’t tell Miu this time, just focused on getting it right.
That was not Hiroto’s finest plan, in retrospect, when both of them lay on the ground broken and dying, and the Banki was injured but fine, and the last thing he heard was the Go-Ongers screaming their names as they arrived on scene.
He didn’t know how did that battle go afterwards, but judging by the fact that Hiroto woke up in his bed again, he could guess.
There was only one feasible tactic.
Go to Doomsday Banki together, and be aware of the flying one also joining the fight.
He didn’t need to burden Miu with this knowledge, Hiroto just had to pay attention.
Yank Hant out of the way, but then the next attack of the second Banki just skewered Sousuke, and that was also a no go.
They had to keep looping.
Killing Doomsday Banki did not stop the loop - in fact it kept it going. But they also couldn’t let it escape, because what if they would make it to the next day with someone dead?
No.
At least Hiroto this way also got many tries of figuring out how to save everyone.
But saving everyone meant a lot of tries.
A lot of days.
A lot of deaths.
But even before the end of the day, he could do different things.
He went with Miu and Saki on their shopping trip, to make sure Saki found outfits fitting for her, and to take Miu’s brain off her own agitation, and the two of them sat there, as Saki twirled around in the dresses they found for her.
“Not something I would wear every day,” Saki admitted, but she smiled brightly. “But I look cute, right?”
Hiroto didn’t say anything, but Miu clapped excitedly, and really, he also felt his own uneasiness ease up a little.
That day, Hiroto died shielding Saki from an attack, and she reached over his shoulder, crying as she fired at Doomsday Banki, begging Hiroto to stay awake.
Next day, same day, he went to a street vendor where Hant worked, looking at him clearly have fun, even if he was confused by Hiroto being there. But he smiled brightly nevertheless, happily explaining to him what they were selling, and Hiroto found himself buying some from everything.
He also left a big tip, and forced himself to not look back, even though he knew Hant was most definitely waving after him with a bright smile on his face.
He couldn’t not look back, when the two of them lay side by side at the end of the day, transformations broken, their hands almost touching, and Hant smiling through the pain.
“We got this, right?” Hant whispered, and Hiroto smiled a little, ignoring the way he tasted blood on his tongue.
“If not this time, then next time.”
“...huh?”
Hiroto couldn’t answer him anymore.
He found Gunpei running laps in a public park, and he joined him.
“Your form is kind of sloppy.”
“I went through police training you know!” Gunpei complained.
“That’s different than actual combat training.”
“Why you—”
Part of Hiroto knew it was a bad idea to push Gunpei more, when he knew what waited for them that day. But he enjoyed being the target of his ire a little bit.
Because this didn’t matter that much did it? Them arguing had no stakes.
“Didn’t you say you were a professional?! What would you do that for?!”
Gunpei shook him by the shoulders, and Hiroto couldn’t see his face from his helmet, but he could hear the panic in his voice.
“Don’t be sloppy,” Hiroto said softly, pushing his sword into Gunpei’s hand. “Make sure to kill it, or all of this is lost.”
If Gunpei was confused by his words, Hiroto didn’t hear it.
Inviting Sousuke over was also not one of his brightest ideas.
Because the plan was to train together, to go sparring, but Sousuke was so loud, and he wouldn’t ever shut up, and he just kept saying whatever comes, I’ll just go at it at Mach Speed! And Hiroto would remember the countless times he had seen Sousuke’s broken body, and how hard he always pushed himself, even at the door of death.
So Hiroto kissed him to shut him up.
He kissed him to shut him up, and next thing he knew they were in bed together, and if this was going to be the loop that sticks, Hiroto would never live it down.
Later that day, cradling Sousuke’s lifeless body in his arms, Hiroto looked up at Doomsday Banki, and he most definitely would make sure to keep the loop going, because this was not going to stay this way.
And meanwhile, he studied.
Memorizing attack patterns, trying to outthink Doomsday Banki, and trying to figure out the next step.
Standing over many, many dead bodies, and often waking up gasping for air after his own death.
Eventually, Miu noticed, because Miu was Miu, and as the loops went on, she got increasingly more and more nervous, her own psychic powers kicking into high gear.
“I really cannot go out with Saki,” Miu shook her head, staring at her roses. “Something is wrong, I can feel it. Can’t you?”
And Hiroto sighed, and sat down, pulling Miu next to him.
And just started telling her everything again.
“You kept it from me, didn’t you?!” Miu was agitated, and Hiroto sighed, massaging his eyes.
“Not every time,” Hiroto muttered, avoiding her eyes.
“Even one time is one time too many! Don’t you trust me?”
“Of course I do. That’s not what this is about. Maybe I just didn’t want you to worry.”
“I’m your sister. Of course I worry. Just because you are older than me, of course I worry. And I’ll be always by your side, but I can’t be, if you don’t tell me!”
Being scolded by one’s little sister was definitely not one of Hiroto’s proudest moments.
From that point on, he did tell her. And they would train together, and Hiroto would keep taking notes, planning strategy, but—
“Even if we perfect the fight to kill Doomsday Banki without all of us dying, it’ll just reset the day anyway,” Hiroto sighed, leaning back. “We’ll have to figure out how to kill it without it triggering the loop.”
“Do you have any ideas?”
“No,” Hiroto admitted bitterly. “And I can only think of one person who might be able to figure it out.”
Miu distracted the rest of them easily, while Hiroto climbed into the van, where Renn was doing the dishes.
“I will tell you something unbelievable, and I’ll need you to believe me.”
And Renn listened, deep in thought, and part of Hiroto wondered if he’d brush it off as a dream, just like Hiroto did at first.
Instead, Renn sighed.
“Okay. Tell me what you know.”
“You believe me that easily?”
“I had a feeling something was off,” Renn admitted, shaking his head. “Just - a mother’s intuition, if you will. There is an uneasiness in the air.”
“It’s not a full plan yet.”
“That’s fine,” Renn smiled. “You keep looping don’t you? Every day, come here, and tell me everything you know, and everything I figured out the previous days as well. That way, we’ll keep on working on sorting this out.”
That was a plan.
And so they did.
Hiroto delivered data. Renn kept thinking about it.
The others, reasonably confused, until three loops later, Miu broke for the first time, and told them what was going on.
From that point on, this was also part of the routine.
Wake up. Tell Miu. Go to Renn. Tell Renn. Miu tells the others. The others freak out. Renn tells them to stay quiet and let their parents work. Hiroto gives up arguing the last point in a few more loops.
Miu helps teaching the others the strategy, because she understands what Hiroto means by half-sentences. So they practice.
Bomper and the siblings sense the Gaiark arriving.
They go to fight Doomsday Banki. When the other one arrive, they deal with it too.
The fights get better.
Eventually, only the only casualties are Doomsday Banki and the other one.
But the loop keeps going.
“Have you ever watched us die, during these loops?” Renn asked one loop, even after Hiroto–
“I told you. The problem is the looping.”
“But you told me you had lived through a lot of loops. So we had time perfecting our strategy. So—”
Hiroto didn’t let him finish it, just reached across the table to pull him into a kiss.
After he pulled away Renn just smiled a little.
“If you don’t answer about us dying, will you tell me whether you have kissed any of us before?”
Hiroto threw himself back onto his seat, rolling his eyes.
“Yes, all of you died. A lot.”
“I see,” Renn nodded. “Just - consider doing it in a way we’ll remember.”
“Letting you die?”
“You know exactly what I mean.”
And then one day, and Hiroto long since stopped even trying to count - Renn figured it out.
“In his chest, half-hidden behind armor, there is a clock, that’s what Hiroto said,” Renn explained enthusiastically. “We have to break the armor, and break the clock. That is the only way.”
That was a plan.
An actual, tangible plan.
And it wasn’t easy.
Hiroto wedged his sword under its armor, and Sousuke and him pushed their entire bodies against it, while Renn and Miu held the Banki’s arms, Hant and Saki clung onto its legs, and Gunpei - Gunpei took a shot.
And he didn’t miss.
Hiroto crumpled to the ground, and started laughing.
He didn’t stop laughing when Doomsday Banki grew giant.
“Do hit its weak point again. I am not doing this whole thing again,” Hiroto lied.
He was taking notes mentally about it - how it looked like, how the armor was when the Banki grew giant. How the second one didn’t seem to grow yet. How it was definitely going to get better armor for the next loop, so he’d have to tell Renn about it and they’ll have to be prepared—
There was no next loop.
Because his teammates would have his back, and they would all know what to do now.
The sun was going down.
Hiroto stood there, looking at the sky getting red, and he sighed.
“You okay?” Miu walked to his side, and Hiroto just felt so, so tired.
“It’s just… been a while since I have seen the sun go down,” Hiroto sighed, turning his back on it. “I am tired.”
“Let’s go home then?”
“It’s too far away. Can’t be bothered.”
And with that, Hiroto walked right into the van.
He was not going to explain himself.
Absolutely not - but Miu still followed him without a question.
“I think you deserve rest,” Renn agreed, petting his shoulder, and Hiroto let him.
“I do. And— I might just think of something you told me.”
“Something I— ah. Probably in another loop right?” Renn beamed at him. “You should!”
“You don’t even know what it was.”
“Yes. But mother’s intuition. I think whatever I said must have been right.”
That was a problem for literally tomorrow. Hiroto can think about it later.
He will think about it when tomorrow finally comes.