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If someone carried the weight of the future on their shoulders, it was unavoidable that it would crush most people.
Carrying the universe was a great weight - many people had been crushed under the expectations and the decisions that they had to make.
Thankfully, Ootori Tsurugi was not most people.
He was a truly exceptional man - that’s why did the Houou Kyuutama chose him, after all.
He truly was someone, who could carry this weight, and walk through the universe, even if he got stained by blood, even if he had to dirty his hands.
Even if he had to choose between… the life and death of people, to save the universe.
He was willing to do that.
He was the only one who could have done that.
…back then, at least.
Now, things were different. He didn’t have to, he wasn’t allowed to carry the weight of the universe alone.
Which, on one hand, definitely eased up the weight on his shoulders.
On the other hand—
On the other hand, it meant it was out of his control.
Back then, when he made decisions, he took the responsibility. He’d make the calls nobody else could make, and everyone had fallen back on him, trusting him implicitly.
But—
(And they died, they died and they died, one by one by one by ten, all of them, falling, falling, and he kept moving. He was their only hope, they were banking on him, but he was, but he was—)
Now things were more complicated.
Now, they’d look him straight in the eye and say it’s a stupid plan, and move on to figure out something else.
Now they’d look at him, and say we might be your shields, but we’ll also keep fighting. That’s the team you have now.
Back then, Tsurugi was the biggest, the only target.
Now, they were all targets. Beautiful, shining stars lighting up the universe, and Tsurugi couldn’t keep them safe.
…then again.
…
When Tsurugi was awake, he carried everyone in his heart. Everyone he had lost. He’d repeat their names as a mantra to keep going, an apology to the stars.
Their names got forgotten, erased, alongside Tsurugi’s own, and Tsurugi wasn’t going to let that happen either.
He was going to make sure they would be remembered.
That was when he was awake.
When he was asleep, that was a different beast altogether.
And if he was asleep, it was typically Lucky who showed up.
His body twisted in Lucky’s arms, and he looked up at him, with disdain in his eyes.
“This is all you do, don’t you?” Lucky coughed, blood colouring his teeth. “Use us as stepping stones, so you would be the biggest star. Well there you have it. Mr President.”
“This is not what I wanted,” Tsurugi heard himself say, cradling Lucky in his arms.
“Didn’t you?” Lucky’s eyes widened, turning bright red like his own Kyuutama, hands gripping into Tsurugi’s arms. “That’s all you talk about. This is your legend, Ootori Tsurugi. This is your legacy.”
It was just a dream, he knew.
Just a dream.
After all, they won.
They won, they survived, the universe got freed. And Lucky was free as always, bright smile and loud voice, his luck spreading like rumours, and—
Lucky was irrevocably, unmistakably Lucky.
And while he was also lucky, sometimes things still went sideways for him.
That’s how Tsurugi got wind of the situation.
It was Stinger who showed up, and when Stinger stormed into his office, he knew something was wrong.
“Intercepted a video message meant for you.”
“Listening into my messages is a breach of privacy,” Tsurugi raised an eyebrow, and Stinger scoffed.
“If it’s a completely unknown sender to the President of the Space Federation? Your security team will check in on it. And it’s about Lucky.”
There was something in the way Stinger spoke that made Tsurugi’s heart drop.
Something was terribly wrong.
It was a petty debacle, really.
Because people always have delusions of grandeur.
And unlike Tsurugi, not everyone could back it up with actions.
On the video, Lucky was there, hands tied above his head, and his face was bruised and bloody and—
“So. Mr President—”
As the perpetrators spoke, Lucky grinned.
“Tsurugi? You are sending this to Tsurugi? Talk about lucky! You couldn’t ask a better person about this!”
“Quiet, you! Can someone make him shut up already?!”
Another figure moved there, shoving something into Lucky’s mouth, obviously making him gag, and then the first figure sighed.
“Regardless. Not very happy about your policies. You see, we gained a lot of treasures from Jark Matter and it’d be unfair for you to take that away—”
Tsurugi zoned out the rest of the video, his eyes focusing on Lucky in the back. And Lucky was—
He knew that Lucky was looking at the camera, but it felt like he looked right back into Tsurugi’s eyes.
So… trusting.
No, not even just trusting.
Certain.
“Do you know where was this sent from?” He asked Stinger in a cold voice, as he ended the message, and Stinger snorted.
“Who do you think I am?”
That was a yes.
He could have called the others as well. Garu was bound to blame himself for leaving Lucky alone, even if just for a short time, and everyone else would have jumped back to action to help Lucky, no matter what.
But first of all - there was a time limit. Everyone else was further away, it would have taken time for them to get there. Time they didn’t have.
And two - if Stinger’s information was correct (and it was bound to be), this wasn’t going to pose the two of them a challenge.
So after fighting his way through, and Stinger fighting the remaining ones, it didn’t take long for Tsurugi to untie Lucky, and Lucky was smiling.
“Talk about lucky. You got here so quickly.”
“Of course I did. Nobody hurts my comrades and gets away with it. Where would be the legend in that!”
“It would be a terrible one.”
He pulled Lucky to his feet, and he kind of expected Lucky to wobble on his feet, but he didn’t.
Because Lucky would always keep going.
And Tsurugi realised ages ago wanted to keep going by his side.
Metaphorically, if nothing else.
Stinger dealt with the lot of the remaining stragglers, and after checking on Lucky and treating his injuries quickly, he immediately went off to look for any connections this group might have had.
And Lucky was there, beaming up at Tsurugi.
“It’s been a while, Tsurugi.”
He was smiling, Lucky had bruises and a bandage on his face, his cheek still puffy, and had a split lip. He was beaten up, but he was smiling.
“How did you even get into that situation?”
“They had something in their hands from the Orion System,” Lucky explained, as Tsurugi pushed him down to the bed, because he was about to get up, because Lucky was Lucky. “So I had to get it back.”
“Oh that’s sensible. Not like you know any thieves who could have helped you.”
“There was no reason to steal it,” Lucky pouted. “They should have returned them.”
“There is a lot of light in the universe,” Tsurugi sighed, pushing his fingers through Lucky’s hair. “But it will always have a lot of darkness too.”
And Lucky smiled again.
“Then we just have to shine a brighter light.”
Tsurugi rolled his eyes, before leaning down and pressing his lips by Lucky’s.
“You need some rest. Talk more tomorrow. Try not to run off into more shenanigans without saying goodbye.”
Lucky was Lucky, and in a few days, he would be gone, running through the universe again.
Tsurugi would stay in his office - ghosts in his dreams, names repeated as a mantra, as a memento.
There were bound to be more nightmares, because a long life is bound to lead to that, right?
Lucky was not going to be one of those names - nor will the rest of the Kyurangers.
It was not going to happen.
Nothing will be able to crush this legend of theirs, after all.