CHAPTER 135: CHAPTER 135 – “THE NEW SPARK”

The sky was still a deep indigo when Ren stirred slightly, feeling a warm presence tucked tightly against his side.

Aoi was awake.

Wrapped beneath the same blanket they had fallen asleep under the night before, she hadn’t moved much—except her hand was now resting gently on his chest, right above where the arc reactor had once glowed. The artificial core no longer sparked, but something in her fingers did.

Ren blinked sleepily and kissed the top of her head. "You didn’t sleep much."

"I didn’t want to," she murmured, barely above a whisper. "I’ve been thinking... a lot."

He shifted to look at her, brushing her hair aside to see her face. "About?"

A pause.

Then she sat up just enough to face him properly, her eyes luminous in the soft morning light that filtered through the trees.

"I’m pregnant, Ren."

The words fell softly—but carried the weight of an entire world.

Ren stared at her for a breathless moment, completely still. Even his heartbeat seemed to stop for half a second.

"I... you—really?"

Aoi nodded, eyes glistening. "I noticed my cycle was late... I waited a few days before testing. I wanted to be sure. I took three tests this time," she added with a sheepish laugh. "All positive."

Ren slowly sat up, his expression a mixture of shock, awe, and pure joy rising in his chest like a sunrise.

"You’re pregnant," he echoed, almost to himself. Then he grinned—his grin, the rare one that broke through all his shyness and made his eyes crinkle at the corners. "I can’t believe it."

Aoi leaned in. "Believe it."

Ren crushed her into a gentle, warm hug, his arms wrapping tightly around her.

He pulled back just enough to press his forehead to hers. "Another child... Hikari will be a big sister."

"She already told me she’d protect her new sibling from monsters," Aoi said, laughing through tears. "She doesn’t know yet it’s not a game."

"It is, though," Ren whispered. "The best kind. The kind where we build our own world."

Later that day, they sat together on the edge of the porch, watching Hikari chase butterflies in the morning sun.

Ren reached for Aoi’s hand and laced their fingers together.

"You’ve always made me want to become more," he said. "Stronger. Softer. Everything. You and Hikari... and now..."

He gently placed his hand over her belly, even though it was still flat.

"...now the three of you are my whole universe."

Aoi kissed him softly. "And we’ll protect it together."

In the distant blue sky, a silent satellite drifted in orbit—Lucia’s data core still humming safely far above the Earth, untouched, watching.

But for now, all was calm.

And in this pocket of peace, the Arakawa family continued building the future—one moment, one heartbeat at a time.