The battlefield was ruined.
Snow trenches everywhere.
Broken walls of packed ice.
Half the yard cratered.
The giant mound where Utahime had been buried still trembled with murderous intent.
Haibara was laughing on his knees.
Gojo had snow in his hair and refused to fix it.
Geto's coat was dusted white.
Shoko had somehow remained mostly untouched.
Nanami looked like a man who had aged ten years.
Utahime finally burst free from the mound.
Covered in snow.
Hair wild.
Eyes blazing.
"…TAKERU!"
Takeru looked at the devastation.
Looked at everyone panting.
Looked at the sunrise over the trees.
Then raised one tired hand.
"…War's over."
Silence.
Gojo blinked.
"…You can just call it?"
Takeru nodded weakly.
"…Yeah."
A pause.
"…I'm tired."
Haibara immediately accepted it.
"…Ceasefire!"
He threw both hands up.
Geto smiled faintly.
"…Reasonable."
Shoko shrugged.
"…Works for me."
Nanami exhaled deeply.
"…Finally."
Utahime pointed in outrage.
"…HE STARTED HALF OF THIS!"
Takeru was already walking away.
Slowly.
Like his battery had hit zero.
He reached an untouched patch of snow.
Turned once.
Then simply dropped backward.
Fwoomph.
He lay there flat on his back, arms spread, staring at the sky.
Breath visible in the cold air.
Too worn out to care.
"…Comfy."
Gojo walked over and looked down at him.
"…You look dead."
Takeru blinked slowly.
"…Resting."
Geto approached next, hands in pockets.
"…You exhausted yourself with snow warfare."
"…Worth it."
Haibara flopped into the snow beside him immediately.
"…Me too!"
Nanami stared at both of them.
"…Pathetic."
Then after a pause, sat on a nearby stump anyway.
Shoko leaned against the cabin wall.
"…Children."
Utahime marched over, still furious.
Raised a fist.
Paused.
Then kicked snow onto Takeru's face instead.
"…That's for burying me."
Takeru wiped it off lazily.
"…Fair."
Gojo grinned.
Then dropped beside him into the snow too.
"…Move over."
"…No."
Too late.
Gojo had already claimed space.
Geto looked at the two idiots lying there.
Then sighed and sat nearby.
The war was over.
For now.
And under the winter sky—
everyone finally got a moment to breathe.