I had to put my phone on the other side of my dorm so I wouldn't get distracted long enough to finish editing this. That being said, it's not obscenely late, you should be proud.

The meeting comes to a close and its attendees stand up and stretch, some making small talk as they gather their things and prepare to leave.

Kageyama pushes his chair in and braces himself as Hinata jumps onto his back. Now significantly taller, Hinata leans over to press a kiss to Yachi's cheek before she has to leave with Yamaguchi and Matsukawa.

Oikawa files his papers as the glamor Yamaguchi applied falls away. He mutters something under his breath and Iwaizumi rolls his eyes before cracking a smile. This is his first meeting as a member of Balance, having finally put in for transfer. He says something in response, barely above a whisper, and Oikawa doubles over laughing.

Kuroo's brought Daichi with him, the two putting the finishing touches on a set of schematics they discussed during the meeting. With Change and Death finally merged properly, they need to get to work installing communications. Kuroo makes to write something down and Daichi smacks his hand away. Kuroo just laughs and lets Daichi mark up the schematic

Akaashi is nearly out the door already, Sugawara trailing behind. They have things to deal with back on Knowledge. Record alteration takes some time, as does undoing such alterations, and Akaashi's had everyone on full press trying to get it fixed as soon as possible. On top of that, his Archivists are operating at all hours to update their personal records. Because the History can't leave Death, his Couriers have just finished the last of thousands of back and forth trips. As if that wasn't enough, he announced plans to empty out the Hidden Matter today.

Yamaguchi greets Yachi with a smile and offers her his arm as they exit the meeting room. He can walk without a cane now, Yachi's purification rituals have restored Consumption to good health, and Yamaguchi's health is all the better for it. Matsukawa waves to Hinata and Kageyama before following his Leader out.

They walk down the Bridge and pass through the gate, Kenma greeting them with a nod. They disappear across the obsidian to the site of the Rot.

Kenma takes a deep breath as he stands at the gate, his sword strapped to his side, wringing his hands together. He waits for Tendou of all beings. Kenma has somewhere he needs to go, something he needs to deliver, and he needs to leave Consumption to do it. He feels like Tendou is messing with him, making him wait longer on purpose.

The moment his resolve is about to crumble, Tendou pops up beside him.

"Off you go, Kozume, have fun!"

Kenma rolls his eyes but opens the gate. With a deep breath, he steps onto the Bridge, already feeling the call of of his Realm, entreating him to return. He'd stunned Yamaguchi into silence when he mentioned wanting to go off Realm for an errand at some point.

He'd stunned himself.

The Realm of Transition is a strange hash of Death and Change. It's all gardens and whimsical design, lots of shining bits and shimmering stars, floating lights traveling at dazzling speeds from one plot to another. The Keep is a small structure at the heart of the gardens, and it's here that he's headed.

Kenma hadn't made the connection until Repose passed through the gate. He seemed familiar, though Kenma had no memory of him. When everyone returned, Yamaguchi summoned his inner circle at the gate so Kenma could participate in the conversation. The Leader Repose, of the Realm of Death, had been their patron.

Kenma figures it's only right that he return Repose's property. He's never given back a toll, never removed one for good, so this will be a first, rather first and second. The Realm should understand, and if Yamaguchi finds out, he'll understand too. Kenma hopes so anyway.

He removes his necklace and draws out the light, opening the window. He withdraws a blade, black metal and wicked, and a faded, leather bound journal, both of which he places in front of the door to the Keep.

Then, heart racing and hands shaking, Kenma returns to Consumption. He's not a Shadow Walker, but the gate is part of him, and he is part of the gate, so he simply closes his eyes and reaches out for it.

Tendou only arches a brow when Kenma appears, breathing fast and hunched over just inside the gate.

"It went well, then?"

"Something like that," Kenma manages, letting himself fall to the ground. He unslings his sword from his side and lays it over his lap like always.

"So, where'd you go? What did you have to do?"

Tendou sits down next to him, languid and relaxed, though his eyes are alight and hyper focused on Kenma.

"I had to return some of Repose's belongings."

"You do realize that doesn't tell me anything, right?"

Kenma sighs and hunches his shoulders a slight bit. He has no obligation to answer.

"You're so slow," Oikawa grumbles, grabbing hold of Hajime's arm and tugging him. "Come on, we could have been back to the Keep already!"

"We could have, but I'm still getting used to this place. Besides," Hajime takes Oikawa's hand and moves it to rest at the crook of his elbow, "I like appreciating the view."

Oikawa rolls his eyes but stops trying to rush the two of them.

Balance really is gorgeous. Not that Knowledge wasn't, but there's something about this Realm that draws Hajime in more than his primary Realm had. Who knows, maybe he was always meant to transfer.

They'd discussed it before, the two of them. Before Oikawa caught the eye of his Leader, he was going to transfer to Knowledge, Hajime had no doubts that he'd easily find a role with the Watchers. Ancients know, he wouldn't last a day in the Archives. But Oikawa ended up becoming a successor, and Hajime rose through the Watcher ranks. Hajime could fly at that point, so visiting wasn't as much of a hassle.

They made it work.

Hajime brings his free hand to join Oikawa's where it rests on his arm.

Things changed, but Oikawa's back now. They'll be fine.

Hajime yawns as they make it back to the office, letting Oikawa's hand slip from his arm and dropping himself down in the window seat. The view afforded here is spectacular, only seeing the glowing parts of Balance, the occasional glint as a Courier flies to and from the Bridge. He'd started off as a Courier, Oikawa was working below the Law Master of the time, and the two crossed paths often.

They're together again, falling into their old routines. Hajime never thought he'd be reconciling the fact that Oikawa's actually been in the Resting Place this entire time. It does make him feel a touch better though, knowing that Oikawa hadn't suddenly decided he wanted to go it alone, that he didn't want Iwaizumi at his side.

Strange how these things work.

He starts to get comfortable and Oikawa makes to follow his lead but Hajime swings his legs up, stretching out

"You have paperwork to do, I don't know why you're trying to relax," Hajime says with a laugh, easing back against the pillows.

"I've been in prison for ages, I can take a break. And you have paperwork too!"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm almost certain you have a backlog of transcriptions you haven't finished. I don't need Keen Eye on my case for stealing his best translator just because you don't want to work." Oikawa shoves his legs off the seat and settles with his back to the opposite wall so he's facing Hajime.

"If memory serves, I came here of my own volition." Hajime snaps his fingers and the paperwork from Oikawa's desk vanishes then reappears in Oikawa's lap.

"Oh, very mature, Hajime."

"I thought so."

With another snap, he summons his own paperwork, pointedly avoiding Oikawa's look of incredulity. The scripts from the last court session swim into view and Hajime puts them to paper, color coding speakers the way he knows his assigned Courier hates. When he's a few pages in, he glances over to Oikawa.

His Leader has his nose to the papers, scribbling his signature at the bottom of one sheet, crossing out a few lines on another. He glances up then, meeting Hajime's gaze, and promptly sticks out his tongue.

Hajime only laughs and returns to his work.

It's like old times.

It's nice.

Keiji takes a deep breath and opens the door to the Hidden Matter, one hand clutched tight at his Patron Stone. It gives him a soft hum, spreading warmth in his chest.

"Right."

He steps inside, breathing steady as the heavy magic surrounds him. Sugawara and Azumane follow close behind, the former patting Keiji's shoulder before passing him and delving further into the room.

They start with the newest acquisitions, and separate them based on ownership. There are scrolls and Rites, which will stay on Knowledge, but ledgers and journals get put into piles based on the Realm of origin. The further back they go, the more Keiji starts to question things.

There are artifacts from Death and Change, and some that hold an essence similar to Creation, such that they must have belonged to Life when it existed. With each item uncovered and indexed, Keiji remembers more.

Images of his predecessor and the other old Leaders, what they did to Oasis and Repose. Scenes from lives that aren't his own.

His legs nearly give out but he feels a warm pressure in his chest before his body feels light, and he's floating a touch off the ground.

Keiji takes a breath, gripping tight to the Patron Stone with both hands.

He's more than a little upset with the fact that Fable has broken into the Hidden Matter twice now, how he managed is beyond Keiji at the moment, but he fully intends to sit down and talk with the former Leader and figure it out.

There's too much to do now however. He's trying to make things right. Keiji knows, deep down, that he's not solely responsible for what happened, the blame rests with the predecessors. But his fellow Leaders begged him for entry to the Hidden Matter, and because of the faith he had in his predecessor, he'd refused.

As the Leader Keen Eye, he can at least begin to make amends for what happened in the past.

His Patron Stone hums happily at his chest, and Keiji takes a deep breath before returning to the task at hand.

Once his Patron returned after vanishing, the Stone has been more active than ever, as if making up for the momentary distress Keiji endured. He appreciates the gesture.

He pulls down a small bin and begins to sort through it. Most of the papers inside appear to be meeting transcriptions, he'll have to send those to his Translators with a codex. At the bottom of the bin however, is a small leather pouch.

The aura surrounding it is of the not-quite-Creation variety. This must have been something of Oasis' then. Curiosity getting the better of him, Keiji opens the pouch.

Inside are golden petals, about the length of his index finger he finds when he pulls some from the pouch. They're not dried up or fragile, in fact, they look as though they've just been picked off of a flower. They don't even look real, Keiji's never seen petals of this color. They carry more than just the aura of the Realm of Life, too, he can sense it.

Oasis had asked Bronze about a Garden, maybe this has something to do with it?

Keiji makes a mental note to arrange a visit to deliver these personally, and tucks the petals back into the pouch, setting it in his pocket once he's done so.

Daichi falls into his chair in a heap, tipping his head back and heaving in a sigh.

It's been some time since his Leader has involved him in the process of running the Realm. Daichi is more than happy to stay in his Communications Hub, it's his job, it's where he's meant to be. That being said, it was maybe a little nice to have a change of pace, to see the Realm outside his little room. It was something else entirely to go to a meeting, to sit across from the other Leaders.

Kuroo's in the room too, sprawled out on the floor, belly up, eyes closed.

Ever since the debacle with Fable, Repose, and Oasis, he's been unusually withdrawn. This meeting was no different, though he put on a showy facade for everyone else, Daichi knows that was exactly what it was. A facade. They've known each other for far too long, Kuroo can't pull the wool over his eyes, not anymore than Daichi can.

And Daichi's somewhat responsible anyway.

He'd noticed a strange pattern of calls and movement on Law's part, Fable's rather. He'd contacted a low ranking Watcher from Knowledge, Terushima, and had him do some investigation. While Daichi would have never guessed that Fable was Law, he was fairly certain that "Law" had some goal he wasn't clueing anybody into.

And Kuroo's a fairly good liar, but again, he can't fool Daichi. He knew that Kuroo was building something at Fable's request, though he had no idea what it was for. It didn't click until the Communications shut down, rather, it didn't click until he saw Kuroo's reaction to the shut down.

That cinched it. Kuroo was somewhat responsible, whatever he made had been used to cause the shut down, and he hadn't expected it.

Daichi could have said something, could have forced Kuroo's hand to make him a confidant. But he hadn't said anything, and now he's not privy to any of Kuroo's thoughts.

Daichi taps his foot on the floor, letting ripples rumble through the stone until they jostle Kuroo out of his pseudo peaceful rest.

"What was that for?" Kuroo is mindful, facing Daichi before he starts talking. It took some getting used to on the now Leader's part, but Daichi's glad for the fact.

"What's bothering you?"

"Nothing-"

"Don't lie to me."

"Daichi."

"Don't 'Daichi' me, either. Something is clearly bothering you. Is it Fable? I'm sure you're not the only one who felt duped. Have you spoken to him?"

Fable's made himself available to the Leaders who have questions, though he's given Keen Eye a bit of space, he's been back and forth with Law several times.

"It's not him I'm worried about."

Now, that's interesting. Must be Oasis then. Come to think of it, Kuroo hadn't said a word to her all meeting.

"It's not your fault, " Daichi says, joining Kuroo on the floor. "As far as you knew, Creation manifested just like any other Realm. It's what you'd been told, it's what was in the records. How could you know?"

Kuroo is quiet for a long while, if Daichi weren't looking at him, he might suppose Kuroo had fallen asleep.

"I get that, it's just. I don't know, poor girl gets deposed, and she can't even go to her own Realm when she gets back."

"Does she seem upset?"

"What?"

"Does she seem upset? You saw her at the meeting, you said you spoke to her that first day. Was she upset?"

"Of course! She had just-"

"Let me rephrase, actually. Does she seem upset with you?"

"Well, no."

"There you go. Now, we have plans to finish, and unless you're going to make yourself useful, get out. You can talk to Oasis when we go to Transition."

It hasn't been long, but Consumption has changed.

For the better, Tadashi thinks, most definitely.

The first time Oasis stepped through the gate, flowers sprung up at her feet. They didn't stay, instead, took up a soft glow and sunk into the ground. With each visit, even just her presence was enough to mend the Realm a touch or two.

He's since gotten used to the glowing flowers Oasis leaves in her wake, but this?

Tadashi thinks he'll never tire of the sight.

They're just off the shores of the Rot, between it and Kunimi's Observation Post.

Oasis is doused in blue and green, a thrumming undercurrent of purple, and accents of pink and gold. Her form isn't quite visible, she's merely a being of light.

It's a contrast to the sterile brightness of the Rot. Oasis' light is warm, breathing life into his dying Realm.

Well, no longer dying anyway.

Oasis finishes her purification and Tadashi is at her side in a moment to keep her upright until she gets her strength back.

"I don't think it will get much smaller than this," she says. "That being said, it won't get any bigger."

She laughs a little, little dots of blue light float out of her mouth when she does.

"I can't thank you enough."

"Oh, you know that's not necessary. You've done plenty for us, we should be thanking you."

Tadashi's learned to bite his tongue when talking to Oasis, and Fable, and Repose. They tell him they owe him, he just smiles and says there's no need. They insist, he just nods, and lets the conversation go where it will.

"I'll have Tendou walk you to the Gate, I'm afraid I have to get back to overseeing renovations."

"Of course, until next time, Yamaguchi."

"Until next time, Oasis."

Tadashi summons Tendou with a thought and he steps out of the Shadows a moment later, offering his arm to Oasis.

Hearing his name, it's strange. Kenma knows it, as does Matsukawa, but it's only them. Apparently, their three newest Leaders know everyone's names, it should be frightening.

But it's not.

Oasis and Repose explained their Gardens, the flowers.

It was all rather poetic.

Tadashi makes his way into the citadel, stepping into the Shadows and out in the time it takes to blink.

With the Rot now controlled, and Consumption regaining its prior stability, other beings can visit without too much issue. They can get Couriers now, which is something everyone is fairly appreciative of.

Bronze's Builders are identifiable from the golden shine of their magic, they stand out amongst the obsidian and purple light.

It's a long process, transplanting the Forest once more, relocating their surface population back to, well, the surface. But they're making good progress.

Tadashi can feel it too, with each passing moment. He feels lighter than he has in hundreds of years. There's no longer a sickly stain across his skin, he doesn't shake anymore, or lose his energy.

With a smile, he makes his way into the heart of the busy bodies.

Tobio feels his chest warm when Hinata's hand closes around the handle of the sword.

The black, jagged metal glows bright for a moment, enough that even Tobio has to close his eyes. When it dims, it's a sight to behold.

It's a large blade of gleaming silver, longer than Hinata is tall, though that's not saying much. The Leader in question handles it with ease though, giving it a few artful swings and jabs. The air around the blade resonates, sending out small ripples of black and white magic. From his arm, vines sprout, twisting down to Hinata's hand and joining it to the grip. Flowers bloom along the vines, all different colors, and with each blossom, a small symbol lights up down the middle of the blade.

"I missed this," Hinata says, turning to Tobio.

He can feel it. The sword amplifies everything, not just Hinata's magical ability. Tobio hadn't had the chance to save it. They'd been arguing with the former Keen Eye when Hinata was deposed. Tobio had to act quickly to send him to Abyss as a Patron, and protect the Garden. When he and Yachi returned, the sword was nowhere to be found.

But it's come home now.

Hinata has taken to highly exaggerated poses, a poorly concealed grin on his face.

Tobio leans against the wall of the sitting room, fondness in his heart.

He perks up when he senses Yachi step onto the Realm. He knows Hinata senses her too because he drops the ridiculous pose he's holding and dashes out the door. Tobio follows at a carefully conveyed leisure pace, despite the buzzing in the back of his head to go faster, see her faster, hug her faster.

When he does see her, Hinata's just picking her up off the ground. The sword is still in his hand though, and that gets Tobio to speed up enough to throw a ball of light toward the blade. Gold and pink encase the sword, wrapping the edges so they're blunt and harmless.

Hinata spins Yachi around before setting her back down.

When Tobio reaches the two, he swats Hinata across the back of his head.

"What was that for?" Hinata jumps back, glare alternating between his sword and Tobio's face.

"Poor sword safety," Tobio says simply.

Yachi laughs and he finally gives her a proper hug.

They walk back, arm in arm with Yachi in the middle.

Tobio keeps quiet, but he listens as Hinata tells Yachi about coming back from the meeting to find his sword and old meeting log on the steps. Of course, Tobio gave the latter to Kozume. It was difficult taking it from the old Keen Eye's personal library. He couldn't keep it though, it could be tracked down, and the only place it wouldn't be found is the pocket dimension Kozume uses to store the Tolls.

He never imagined that Kozume would give it back though.

Maybe guilt is a Consumption based trait, they all seem to have it.

In any case, Tobio's had his fill of talking for the next couple hundred of years. He did enough running his mouth as Law, kept composure, spoke eloquently.

It was exhausting.

But it's better now.

He's not a Leader anymore, but Hinata and Yachi have bodies again. He's not in the Resting Place, and neither is Yamaguchi for that matter.

When Hinata and Yachi left Oikawa's office that day, the newly freed Leader started crying. Tobio hadn't known what to do, so he waited without breathing a word. It wasn't much better when Oikawa finally composed himself. He spoke, at length, Tobio's almost certain that time was slowed within that office, because it felt like Oikawa spoke to him for months. He asked Tobio if he'd be willing to experience what the Resting Place was like. Tobio agreed. That felt longer, though it only took a handful of minutes to experience Oikawa's life in prison.

The decision was much faster after.

"Knowing you could fade in the Resting Place, would you do this all again if given the choice?" Oikawa had asked after a brief moment of silence.

"Yes."

"Very well then."

That was the end of their conversation.

Tobio's still waiting for the other shoe to drop, but if it does, it won't be for a long while. He plans to enjoy the time he has now.

Why does Yamaguchi get three parts in this story that's not really about him? Because I love him, that's why, and I'm not apologizing for it.

In any case, this convoluted, chaotic, complicated train ride is over! I hope you enjoyed it! If you have any questions, please ask them, I know this mess is confusing at times. Please let me know what you think!