EP 025 III: BETTER Not Said

The apartment lights buzzed faintly above, casting a warm glow across the small living room. The quiet that had followed Boruko's return didn't last long. Maria dropped onto the couch, folding her legs up as she watched him with a narrowed gaze. Kisimoto leaned against the wall near the window, arms crossed. Roko, already halfway through a soda, raised an eyebrow and broke the silence first.

"So, wanna explain why you're late and smell like interdimensional static?"

Boruko looked up from where he was crouched, fiddling absently with the laces on his boot. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try us," Kisimoto said flatly. "We've seen weirder."

Boruko sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Alright. A thing — a being, I guess — came through a portal. Looked like a walking silhouette. No face, no eyes, but… somehow familiar. He said his name was HEADLESS."

Maria sat up straighter. "Headless? That's not unsettling at all."

Boruko gave a weak laugh. "Yeah, I know. But it wasn't just creepy — he wasn't threatening. He knew me. Knew my full name. And he talked about some other version of Earth... one that hasn't been discovered yet."

Kisimoto's expression tightened. "Another Earth?"

"He said there's someone named Aaron Sorsel. A key figure there. Said he's dying, and when he does, things are going to shift. Something about 'secrets being the last of their kind.'"

There was a silence. Then Roko muttered, "Okay, so this HEADLESS guy shows up, name-drops a dying man we've never heard of, and tells you we're part of a massive interdimensional unraveling? Right after we have a peaceful day for once?"

Boruko looked genuinely conflicted. "I felt him. Like… not physically, but mentally. It was like he was showing me something under the surface, like I was meant to already know. He said someone — not from here — is going to realize the truth first. Someone I wouldn't expect."

Maria's fingers tapped the couch arm, thoughtful now. "That doesn't sound like he's just rambling. It sounds like… a setup. Like he came to plant an idea."

Boruko nodded. "That's the part that freaks me out. He didn't lie. I mean, I felt it. He wasn't trying to scare me. He was warning me."

Kisimoto pushed off the wall, slowly pacing. "So either this is some cosmic prank, or we're in the middle of something way bigger than we thought."

"And the worst part," Boruko added quietly, "he said he'd come back. When I was ready."

They all sat with that for a moment. The hum of the fridge seemed louder now. The peace of the night had thinned out like a veil lifted too soon.

"HEADLESS," Maria repeated, almost to herself. "Weird name for a messenger."

"Or maybe the name says everything," Kisimoto said. "No face. No identity. Just truth."

Boruko slumped back into the armchair. "I don't know if I'm ready for whatever's next… but I don't think we get to choose, do we?"

Roko glanced toward the hallway, the shimmer of that fading portal still flickering faintly in his mind. "Guess not."

Outside, Osaka moved on like normal. But inside the apartment, the four of them knew — their lives had just cracked open again, and something strange was waiting on the other side.

TO BE CONTINUED WITH A NEW SEASON...