For once, he'd woken without any 'assistance.'

Another oddity, Kyoya wasn't up with any jolt, not having woken with a start. Merely happening to have awoken, simply and plainly. To his undying gratitude, no deathly harbingers of sorrow paid him any visits in the night, so the boy opted to go ahead and start the day for fear of giving them any more chance to do just that.

Getting up, the absence of anything out of the ordinary was almost strange, but a welcome change nonetheless. His room was as he'd left it when going to bed, though his spare clothes were laid out next to a sort of three-section backpack.

"'Preciate it, sis." The boy said to no one, reviewing his belongings. The room contained nothing he'd call an essential, no real keepsakes of any kind. The bracelet given to him the night before was still tucked away in his pocket, and beyond that, there wasn't something he felt any particular urge to pack along. He understood well that anything not absolutely necessary to him would be better off here, and the bag only had so much space...

...No need to over-prepare.

He had three extra sets of clothes, not including the set he wore. His shoes didn't ever change, but an identical shirt and two more in the opposite scheme of the one he wore were the only tops he ever used. The additional bottoms were another copy of his current shorts, as well as a pair of long pants and slightly thinner shorts, both of which having their uses in more varied climates.

He packed them into the middle compartment of the bag, deciding then to save the other two parts for whatever else would need them. The sun was shyly peering through his window, meaning it was still at least relatively early. Kyoya stretched and looked about himself, deeming his own mediocrity to now be well above par.

There wasn't much to think about on account of having done more thinking than his entire life the previous night, so he made one last inventory check, put on his shoes, ruffled his hair, and walked into the commons.

The lanterns were alight, a somber breeze trailing the boy as he trod out past the entryway and out into the world again. That breeze swiftly morphed into one of advantage and anticipation, as if an excitable tension gnawing voraciously against its own tether.

Judging by the harmonious blues in the sky's occupation coupling with the light warmness in the air, it wasn't much past ten o'clock. With several looks around him, his eyes eventually caught two figures standing some hundred meters out, just in front of the shrine. He approached with a walk, leaves crackling underfoot with every advancing step, until that walk progressed to a jog, and then to a sprint, in a wild charge to them.

Reika and Guran both turned with smiles, as Kyoya began to slow his running so not to crash into the pair.

Their master offered an absent minded laugh, his students doing the same. "I would hope that you've prepared adequately. The dawn of your departure crept upon us rather speedily, didn't it?"

"Yeah... Yeah." The boy agreed, the slightest bit sullen. "But, I've come to terms with it. If there's ever a time I've been certain of it, it's now."

The old-timer nodded with closed eyes. Kyoya had no qualms left amidst him to wallow in, preparation to no end amounting to an uncontested readiness about the boy. Guran seemed to notice it, his eyes opening.

"Well, then. I do believe we needn't hold you here any longer..." A minute falter in the man's voice clued Kyoya in to at least some pang of sympathy from his old geezer.

On cue, Reika stepped forward, Kyoya's arms already outstretched.

They embraced; though this time, no tears were shed.

"I..." The girl looked back to a rightfully expectant Guran, who had his hands resting contently atop his cane. "...We, will always be here for you." She laughed. "Whether you're here with us or not, no matter how Fate would have it, you'll never be without our hope." They broke apart and exchanged a moment of silence with each other, no one party having any more to add. "You can do it. What's transpired has all lead up to now."

"She speaks the truth... as is the way." The man echoed himself, a determinate glare to the horizon seeming to make the sky stretch ever farther with his unending wisdom. His pupil had a whole world to discover, after all. How would he get anywhere if he didn't start now?

Guran placed a hand on Kyoya's shoulder, meeting his eyes in a stare-down like no other. "Go now, my boy: let the world bear witness to what you've become. And remember..."

Their master began, leaping stories into the air for a sudden overhead kick, "WHEN SOMETHING FANCIES ITSELF A CHALLENGER TO YOU-!"

Kyoya dash-stepped back and conjured a massive, blistering claw of flame, running forward and scraping it across the ground, it's vicious azure blaze igniting the very earth on which they stood.

"YOU FANCY YOURSELF A CHAMPION!"

He roared, the claw's ascent loosing a savage arc of flame forward and meeting Guran's foot, forcing an erupting shockwave throughout the shrine grounds. Once the immense force had been exerted, both combatants had ended up repelling the other's attack, Guran backflipping into a perfect landing and Kyoya recoiling his claw from the impact.

"Yes... I'd promised myself the day that you could tangle with a hit like that, I'd have no trouble sending you off. Though, I do suppose it was a little... fun." Guran smirked.

"How unfitting." Reika chimed in with her own smart remark, another cackle from their master meaning she'd passed with flying colors. "But, he's proven it." The girl breathed. "Remember that you'll always be welcome back here..."

The Rose offered her firecracker smile, Guran turning to her and nodding gently. "Be brave, Kyoya."

His mind stumbled, then caught itself.

"No sweat."

Seconds quickly spanned millennia, as it seemed that the conclusion of this chapter had come about. Reika and Guran both stayed and watched as he gave one last ever-so-lightly tearful smirk, clouds parting before him and blazing the sky blue as he turned to the main gateway.

This freedom had lost it's bitterness.

All he could taste was the sweet.