"I'm done drying these plates, Brother."
"Oh, thanks! Just set them down over there, then."
"Honestly... why must I, the proud heir to the House of Borg, be reduced to washing dishes?"
"Don't be like that. 'No work, no food,' right? Everyone else did the cooking, so the least we can do is the cleanup."
After the party wrapped up, Yugo, Marcos, and Fee—who hadn't helped with the cooking—chatted while they scrubbed the used tableware.
Marcos grumbled as if it were an ordeal, but his hands never stopped moving. Perhaps he felt that since Yugo, the guest of honor, was taking the lead, he couldn't very well complain as the one who had come to celebrate.
Even putting that aside, Marcos was surprisingly diligent. While scrubbing plates he clearly wasn't used to handling, he spoke to Yugo at his side.
"The talk earlier... about the exchange students. You shouldn't let it get to you."
"Hm? What shouldn't I let get to me?"
"I mean... the part about you being a problem child, and how they would never let the Yamato students near you."
"Oh, that! It’s fine, really! I’m not worried about it! Actually, Marcos, aren't you the one who's concerned? I'm already used to that kind of talk. I'm not going to let it get me down, so relax!"
"Argh! I'm not worried either! Stop making assumptions, it's disgusting!"
Despite his outburst, Marcos had clearly been anxious that his own earlier comments might have hurt Yugo. After raising his voice to mask the fact that his true feelings had been seen through, Marcos spoke again, his hands moving vigorously as he scrubbed.
"I never thought the day would come when I'd be washing dishes beside you. This friendship... everything about this future was beyond my imagination."
"Hahaha! Too true! I never thought we’d become this close either. Well, considering how we met, I'm not surprised!"
A nostalgic smile played on Yugo's lips as he looked up at the ceiling, thinking back to their disastrous first encounter.
While Yugo marveled at the irony of fate—that he would come to trust someone he had once clashed with and hated so intensely—Marcos took a steadying breath and spoke.
"You’ve changed, as well. During that talk about the exchange students... the old you would have been obsessed with the Warrior Shrine Maidens and wouldn't have shown any interest at all in a male student."
"Ahahahaha, you've got a point there. Well, it started with my memory loss, and I don't really remember my past self very well, so I can't say much. But honestly, I'm just happy to have so many friends come over for my housewarming."
"That is because you changed... and because you changed the destinies of so many others. Everyone who gathered today is grateful to you, Yugo."
"Eh...?"
Startled by Marcos’s serious tone, Yugo looked over at him. Gazing at the other boy’s solemn profile as he continued his work, Marcos went on.
"Think about it, Yugo. If the first student Melt had teamed up with for a request hadn't been you, the Hero Candidates would have all tried to have their way with her. She might have been caught up in a fight like the one where Isaac tried to steal Claire from Zenon’s hands, and she would have suffered sexual harassment from even more men than just Egos. The reason that didn't happen is because she met you and you two hit it off."
"You're giving me too much credit. Melt could have handled those creeps on her own."
"Then what about Ann? If she hadn't met you, there's no doubt she would have been caught in the crossfire of the Demonic Sword incident Neid caused. The fact that the damage from that incident was kept to a minimum was also thanks to your efforts."
If Misery hadn't met Yugo, she likely would still be lost, unable to find her own goals. Presia and Hao would surely have been left with deep emotional scars from burning the Treant as Egos ordered, sacrificing an innocent child in the process.
Marcos told him that the reason things hadn't turned out that way was entirely because Yugo had changed their fates. He continued without looking Yugo in the eye.
"Hex, Claire, the people you've helped on requests, even Zenon who threw your life out of order... they surely feel they were saved by you. Yugo, you have changed. And by changing, you have changed the destinies of many more people. That is what I believe."
"……Thank you, Marcos."
Yugo squinted his eyes, moved by the roundabout praise.
By changing one destiny, more and more destinies begin to shift... Recalling the words left behind by the 100% Accurate Fortune Teller, he stopped washing for a moment and let out a long breath.
He had saved many people. But there were also those he hadn't been able to save, like Isaac.
Even so, as Yugo felt a sincere joy in being told that his efforts hadn't been in vain, a voice he didn't recognize echoed through the shared kitchen space.