Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

                ...A sudden lightness in his hands, and the white flames passed by like petals in the wind.

                Tears pricked his eyes, and rage bubbled in his throat until it came out in a scream of anguish.

                And Ankh woke up.

                The heart inside his stolen body pounded frantically as he lay in bed, trying to process what had just gone through his head. He could recognize the terrible human phenomenon for what it was—a dream—but it came as no comfort. He had not dreamed once since he had taken over the dying detective. What had brought this on now?

                The sensation of fear and unease kept him from immediately noticing something else that was wrong. The ceiling above him seemed farther away than usual, and he felt a difference in the air that told him he was not as high off the ground as he should have been. The bedding beneath him was too soft, too flat to be his nest, and as he leapt up in surprise, he hit his head against a shelf and knocked a camera off to land heavily in his lap.

                This was Eiji's bed.

                He pulled himself out of the bed, staring at his crumpled red banner in a mix of confusion and revulsion. He had no memory of claiming Eiji's space as his own—much as he normally wouldn't care about intruding on the idiot's territory, he did not like the idea of nesting so close to the ground.

                He looked across at his nest, as if it would give him some kind of explanation. And it did, but one that only provided more questions than answers—the couch that he'd balanced on top of the stack had toppled over, and the rest of the boxes and trunks were strewn across the room as if someone had thrown them.

                When had this happened? How had it happened? Ankh couldn't seem to remember, and something about that fact made him feel uneasy.

                He pushed back the feeling. Eiji would have an explanation. Eiji better have an explanation.

                He kicked the junk out of the way and went downstairs. Chiyoko and Hina were changing out the decorations on the display table, adding colorful skeletons and a striped piñata.

                "Good morning, Ankh!" Chiyoko chirped. "How did you sleep? You must have been out late, what with the festival."

                For a moment, he had no idea what she was talking about, and in that moment, Hina said, "He didn't come to the festival."

                "Oh, really?" she asked. "I could have sworn..."

                Slowly, like the remnants of a dream, the memory of what they were talking about returned. Ankh did remember a festival—Obon. Hina was going to float a lantern for her parents.

                "What happened to your room, by the way?" Chiyoko asked. "I went up to see if you wanted to eat something, and I couldn't get the door open."

                Ankh shook off a sense of disorientation and a dull throb behind his eyes. Scowling, he stalked into the kitchen, ripped open the freezer, and grabbed his morning ice cream.

                "Forget it," Hina sighed.

                She seemed disappointed—not that Ankh was particularly paying attention, but she seemed to be more aggravated with him than usual. He didn't expect anything different, not when he'd had no intention of going with her...

                The moment Eiji walked in with two of Ankh's favorite ramune popsicles, he knew there was trouble. Not when the store had been out, and Eiji had flat-out refused to buy more while they still had a freezer full of other flavors.

                He had the gall to smile, then opened his mouth and said...

                The pain in his head became sharper, like he'd eaten his ice pop too fast. He pulled it out of his mouth, staring at the light blue treat in sudden confusion.

                Eiji had bribed him. That was right. He knew Ankh hadn't had this flavor for a week, and he'd used it to get him to go with Hina.

                Why had he forgotten that?

                "I went last night," he insisted, stepping out to lean against the bar. "What are you talking about?"

                "No, you didn't," Hina argued. "And why are you eating ice cream this early?"

                She took the popsicle out of his hands and tossed it in the garbage, then walked away. He shouted, "Hey!" and started to go after her, but Chiyoko shoved a strand of flower garland at him.

                "Could you hang these up for me? Since yesterday was the last day of Obon, I thought we could do a Mexican Day of the Dead festival today. It's a little out of season, but it felt like the right time to do it."

                "Huh?" he asked, confused.

                But she was turning him around and pushing him toward the entrance. "Just hang them up wherever you think, okay?"

                Since when did she think he helped with the restaurant in any way?

                The door was starting to open, so in lieu of actually putting anything up, he dropped the garland all over the counter and stormed over.

                "It's about time you showed up," he said, eager for some answers. "Just where the hell have you..."

                But it wasn't Eiji who walked in, carrying two bags full of groceries. It was Goto, who gave him his usual expression of annoyance before pushing his way past.

                That...wasn't right. Goto had returned to the Foundation. He had no reason to be anywhere near Cous Coussier.

                "What are you doing here?" Ankh asked.

                "Working," Goto answered, rolling his eyes. "Unlike you."

                Ankh had to stop for a moment and look around. Everyone was acting so normal that it was weird. If not for the fact that Goto was not supposed to be there, his behavior and work would be normal. Hina was picking on him, like normal, except that he'd gone with her to that stupid festival, so there was no reason she should be acting like this. And as much as Chiyoko normally gave him a lot of leeway, he was hard-pressed to believe that his nest could be completely torn apart and she wouldn't act like any of this was a problem.

                "Oh, Ankh," Chiyoko said, walking up to him with some kind of costume. "I'm not sure if it'll fit you—it looks a little big, but could you try this on?"

                That was it. He tore the costume out of her hands and threw it to the floor.

                "Ankh!" Hina shouted.

                "What is wrong with you?" Goto asked.

                "Me?" Ankh repeated. "What's wrong with all of you? You're not even supposed to be here!" He pointed accusingly at Goto before turning his attention back to Hina. "And you know damn well I got dragged to that stupid festival, so stop pretending I didn't."

                "Now, now, Ankh," Chiyoko said, putting up her hands as she went over to placate him. "There's no need to fight. If you don't feel up to working, just say so."

                "I'm not working!" he argued. "If Eiji's just going to run off, that's fine, but I'm not doing his stuff for him just because he decided to slack off!"

                "What?" Chiyoko asked, confused.

                "And where is he, anyway?" he added. "The room's a mess, I woke up in his bed, and he's nowhere to be found."

                "Ankh, what are you talking about?" Hina asked. "Who's Eiji?"

                Ankh was about to yell again when he heard the last part of her question, and he froze. A quick glance at Chiyoko and Goto told him that they were wondering the same thing. It was almost as if they didn't remember Eiji.

                As he stared at them, he had a sudden vision of Eiji's face flash in his mind for a moment, smiling.

                There was that smile again—why here, why now?

                The intrusive thought was disorienting and painful—so bad that his eyes started watering and he could feel his heart pounding. Something was wrong. Something had happened, but he couldn't remember what.

                He had to find Eiji.

                "Ankh!" Hina cried as he turned and stormed out of the restaurant.

                "He shouldn't be left alone," Goto warned.

                "I'll go after him," she promised. "I'll call you if anything happens."

                She took off after him, putting all thought of her responsibilities at the restaurant behind her. She had to set up. Customers would be coming soon. But right now, something was very wrong with Ankh, and she had to make sure he didn't find himself in any more trouble before he could explain himself to them.

~~~

                It wasn't until he reached the edge of Yumemi Town that Ankh realized he'd stupidly forgotten to grab one of the candroids he and Eiji had stashed throughout the attic. That was going to make things a little more annoying.

                The hard part about finding Eiji was, of course, that it was always impossible to tell where he might go. He was like a hummingbird, flitting from flower to flower, except that hummingbirds made sense, as far as Ankh was concerned. They had a reason for doing what they did and going where they went. Knowing that meant you could reasonably predict where you might find one. Who could really predict where Eiji would go?

                But there were Medals inside Eiji's body, Medals that reacted to the presence of a Greeed or Yummy—Ankh had seen that for himself. Logically speaking, Ankh's Medals should have the same reaction to his.

                He went to the hillside overlooking the town, reached his hand out, and closed his eyes.

                It was tricky doing this, especially with a human body. Sensory overload was so easy. He had to block out the sounds around him, smells and sensations, stray desires, and anything other than something immediately approaching him. It was a focus he imagined Eiji could never manage.

                "Ankh?"

                A familiar desire had entered his safety range, and he'd been content to ignore it too until he heard Hina speak. Aggravated, he abandoned his search.

                "What?" he growled.

                It wasn't a complete surprise when she huffed back and said, "Don't act like that. You know better than to go off on your own, especially with that other Ankh after you."

                That hit a nerve. Yes, he was being stupid. Yes, he should have made sure someone was with him. Maybe even tried another way to find Eiji without leaving the restaurant. But Ankh did not appreciate being told what to do, and especially not by Hina.

                "First off," he spat, "that thing isn't me. It's a fake, understand?"

                Her eyes went cold, as if she was just biting her tongue to avoid saying, "Look who's talking." But instead, she just nodded.

                "Second," Ankh added, ready to point out that he'd have been better off being protected by Goto, when something entered his safety range. "Get down!"

                Hina's eyes went wide, her surprise freezing her just enough that Ankh had to grab her arm and pull her to the ground, barely avoiding a small, white creature that leapt over their heads.

                The Yummy resembled the skeleton of a velociraptor, but with feathers protruding from its bones. It remained in a low, threatening stance, but even if it stood at its full height, it would only reach about to Ankh's waist, if that. It didn't need height to intimidate, though—there was a razor-sharp sickle claw on the back of one of its feet, trailing embers of white flame.

                White flame just like the ones in Ankh's dream.

                His heart was frantically pounding again, though he couldn't for the life of him explain why. His grip tightened on Hina's arm, enough that she gasped sharply in pain.

                "Ankh?" she asked.

                The Yummy swept its clawed foot in front of them, sending a flicker of flame their way. Ankh jumped to his feet, yanking Hina with him and pulling her in close to him for protection.

                "What is that?" she asked. "A Yummy?"

                He couldn't answer. Now that they were on their feet, the Yummy leapt up and lashed out with its tail. Ankh ducked, pushing Hina's head down as well as he backed them out of the way. His mind was going blank. He had to protect himself, but how? And where was Eiji at a time like this?

                He could see Eiji wide-eyed with terror. This Yummy was far more lethal than any of the others.

                He was on the verge of hyperventilating as the memory pushed its way forward. Realizing that there was no way he was going to be able to protect them, Hina kicked out at the Yummy, catching it in the skull and sending it reeling back a couple of feet.

                Ankh yanked her back towards him, finally screaming, "What do you think you're doing?"

                "Trying to stay alive!" she shouted back.

                "You're just going to piss it off!" he yelled back.

                And indeed, she had. The Yummy got into a low menacing stance, spreading its feathered arms out to its sides, like proto-wings. It was a warning to back off, or else it would attack. The body language couldn't be clearer, but Ankh couldn't seem to make his body move. He felt like he'd seen this kind of threat before, though he wasn't sure from where or who, or why he suddenly found himself focusing on it at a time like this.

                If he didn't move, he was going to die. But he couldn't seem to budge. In response, the Yummy growled. Worried, Hina shook his arm and called out, "Ankh?"

                Her voice broke through the fear paralysis. Seeing that the Yummy was about to attack, Ankh readied himself to take the only escape that would work.

                "Jump," he said.

                The Yummy ran at them again, aiming low. Ankh leapt as high as he could, pulling Hina along with him so that they could both clear the Yummy. But when it missed, the Yummy rebounded off of a tree and aimed for them again.

                Ankh couldn't get high enough to escape the next attack without dropping Hina and leaving her to take the hit. He knew it would save him; it was his most basic instinct as a Greeed, to preserve himself. But whatever remained in his nightmares kept his hand closed around Hina's wrist and refused to let go.

                He could only watch the Yummy get closer and feel gravity pull on him, closing the distance further. His hand refused to slip on Hina's and save himself. It was over.

                And that was when another terrible flash went though his Cores, unexpectedly saving them both.

                A blast of fire came from above—Ankh's impostor, swooping down with his one wing, providing a line of fire that kept the Yummy from Ankh and Hina. The two landed safely at the bottom of the hill, the Yummy crashing into the hillside.

                The Yummy snapped its jaws at the other Ankh and kicked out, sending an arc of white fire toward him. But the incomplete Greeed waved his left hand in an opposing direction, creating his own crescent of flames that met with the oncoming attack and canceled it out.

                This clearly wasn't what the Yummy expected, and it leapt up, trying to whip him with its tail. But another stream of flames threw it right back where it started, on the side of the hill, trying to withstand the attack.

                Ankh was still frozen, watching as his doppelganger blasted fire mercilessly at the Yummy, keeping it from getting up. Out of all of the outcomes he could have expected, he hadn't foreseen being saved by his long-lost body. But then, this wasn't really salvation, was it? His lost body just wanted to reclaim him, and wasn't about to let anything get between them.

                Hina tugged on his arm. He knew he had to go. But again, he couldn't make himself move—not while he watched the red flames bearing down on the Yummy

                like petals in the wind

                There was enough of a break in the next burst of flames for the Yummy to leap back, avoiding them entirely. It scurried off to safety, deciding that this was not the Ankh to test its luck against.

                And that left just the two of them. And Ankh no longer had time to run.

                The lost Ankh turned and held out his hand. Ankh felt the terrible pull of his Medals trying to break free from him, toward the stronger of the two. He let go of Hina as he cried out in pain, putting all of his focus into staying in one piece.

                With both Ankhs distracted, Hina did the only thing she could and dashed over to grab several small rocks, throwing them at the impostor. Thanks to her enhanced strength, they struck hard and shattered against the lost Ankh's body, breaking his attention.

                "You?" he asked, an unsettling amount of malice in his childlike voice.

                One more stone came at him, but he caught it in his left hand. Within seconds, he heated it up enough to melt it. He then flicked the molten rock off of his hand and started walking toward her.

                Hina froze as Lost Ankh approached her, his hand glowing hot with fire. Ankh was still recovering and in no condition to help her. She knew she needed to run, to scream, to do anything, but what good would it do? There was nothing left that could save her. Lost Ankh drew back his hand, ready to cast the fireball...

                This time, it was a screeching ultrasonic attack from a pteranodon candroid that saved her. Lost Ankh had to stop the flame in his hands so he could cover his ears as the candroid circled around, relentlessly keeping the sonic blasts on him. Hina ran over and grabbed Ankh, pulling him along to safety.

                Ankh let Hina lead him away from town, until he finally sensed that both his impostor and the Yummy were too far away to be a threat. Then he angrily ripped his arm away from her and started to stalk off.

                "You're welcome!" she called after him. "I did just save you, you know."

                Ankh snorted. "Really? Because you looked pretty damn helpless a minute ago, if not for that candroid showing up."

                "Really?" she asked. "I'm not the only one who froze back there—you panicked when that Yummy showed up!"

                Maybe it was the fear that brought out this more direct side of Hina, but Ankh didn't appreciate it one bit. He started walking off again, but she refused to let it go:

                "You know what it was, don't you?" she asked. "You've seen it before."

                That was the thing. Ankh wasn't sure if he had seen it before—he'd only seen those flames, and in a dream, at that. Still, he was very convinced that he couldn't let those flames touch him or anyone else.

                Not knowing when to leave well enough alone, Hina came around and got in front of him, asking, "What's wrong? You've been acting weird all morning."

                He huffed again. "Now you're going to mother-hen me too?"

                Hina scowled back at him. "Only because you're being stubborn."

                Ankh wasn't even going to dignify that with a response. True, he might have been digging in his heels, but what else could he be expected to do? He wasn't the one acting weird—everyone else was. Why the hell were they acting like they'd forgotten Eiji?

                "In the end, we all will be forgotten."

                It wasn't Eiji's voice that he remembered, but something horrible, less easy to place. A horrible sinking feeling filled his stomach, and another vision of those white flames appeared in his mind. But as he tried to focus, a sharp pain ripped through his head, and he brought his hand to the side of his head with a cry.

                "Ankh!" Hina gasped.

                She reached over to help him, but he pushed her away. Impatient, she snapped, "What's wrong with you? I'm just trying to help!"

                "Shut up," he growled. The pain was getting more bearable, as long as he didn't think too hard. He'd need her to do it for him. "Where were we last night?"

                "We?" she repeated. "You were at Cous Coussier. I was at the festival."

                "That's what I'm talking about!" he snapped. "I went do that damn festival with you! I watched you float a lantern for your parents. And Eiji..."

                A rare, real smile was on his face.

                Why here? Why now? Was this what he wanted all along?

                Another headache cut through the memory, and this time, Ankh didn't stop Hina from catching him when he started to sway. It took a few seconds more for him to focus on her and see worry all over her face, and when he did, he pulled himself away again.

                "We should head back," she insisted. "You don't look good."

                He couldn't. Not when he was so sure now that something had happened. The festival and what had happened there had to be the key.

                "Where was the festival?" he asked.

                "At the riverwalk," she answered. "But what does that have to do with..."

                Before she could finish asking, he headed off, flicking a Cell Medal into a nearby Ride Vendor and transforming it into bike mode. He couldn't have her distracting him right now. Something had happened to Eiji, and he had to figure out what.

                Hina watched Ankh ride off and sighed in frustration. True, "strange and sometimes frightening" described most of his behaviors on a daily basis, but this was going a bit far, even for him. She knew very well that he hadn't gone with her to the festival—she wouldn't even have wanted him there, a walking reminder that her brother couldn't be there. And as for who this "Eiji" was...

                She shook her head. She couldn't make Ankh make sense. All she could really do was try to keep an eye on him.

                The chirping from a grasshopper candroid caught her attention. She turned and held out her hands just in time for it to leap to her. As soon as she caught it, she could hear Goto asking, "Did you find him?"

                "I did," she admitted, "but he ran off."

                He sighed on the other line. "Damn. He knows it's dangerous to go off on his own."

                Hina nodded, even though he couldn't see her. The strange Yummy and Ankh's...impostor...had proven that. Grateful that they'd come out of it alive, she added, "Thanks for saving us, by the way."

                There was a note of hesitation in Goto's voice as he asked, "What do you mean?"

                "Didn't you send that candroid?"

                "This is the only one I've sent."

                Goto's answer came quickly, but the space between Hina's thoughts was unbearably long and slow. If it hadn't been Goto, then who could have sent it?

                She barely heard him ask, "It wasn't a dinosaur candroid, was it?" She didn't need to; she'd already come to the same conclusion and started running.

~~~

                Looking at it now, Ankh might never have known that the riverwalk had been the site of a busy festival the night before. The usual vendors had replaced the stands of popular festival food, and there were no hints of the strings of flags and lanterns or the drums and dancers that Ankh had barely noticed the night before. It made his memories feel even more hazy and distant, but if he stopped and thought, focused past the pain, then he could still see them.

                They stood over the edge of the waters, watching the lanterns float downstream. A blank one was at the back. Ankh pretended he wasn't interested in the spectacle, but since no one was really paying attention to him, he was free to look over at Eiji. There was a rare, real smile on his face, and for the life of him, Ankh couldn't understand how anyone could have messed him up so badly that something like this was what brought that kind of smile out of him.

                Ankh slowly walked along the riverside, tracing the path the lanterns had followed. Then he came to a bare spot on one of the banks and stopped.

                Something...had happened here, hadn't it? He thought he could recall the blank lantern being blown off-course and beaching itself.

                "Oh no!" Hina gasped, pointing.

                Eiji's lantern, so far in the back, got caught in a shift in the current and started heading toward the riverbank.

                "No, no!" he cried, automatically reaching for Ankh's wrist. "Hina, wait here! We'll put it back!"

                "Hey, why are you dragging me along?" Ankh argued.

                The lantern washed up on the shore, toppled over, its flame extinguished. For a moment, Ankh wondered if that was why Eiji grabbed him—to relight it.

                But then Eiji let go, drawing his hands to his chest with a gasp. He leaned forward so suddenly that Ankh had to take him by the shoulders to keep him from falling.

                "What? What is it?" Ankh asked, looking closely at Eiji's face. His eyes were shut tight, so Ankh couldn't see the usual purple flash that warned him before he felt it as well, and looked up to see Maki approaching the lantern.

                And suddenly he felt it—a dreadful silence in the whispering desires around him, a complete absence. It wasn't like with Eiji—although Ankh could not pick up desire from him, he'd never felt anything like this. It was a vacuum, a shadow on the face of the sun, something dead encroaching on all of the life the world's desires represented.

                Ankh couldn't even imagine what Eiji felt, if this was what he picked up.

                "You," he breathed, turning to stare at Maki.

                Maki, as always, avoided eye contact. But his words were pointed at Ankh, even if his eyes were on his doll as he stated, "It seems you also remember the one who's gone missing."

                "Missing?" Ankh repeated, knowing he could only be referring to Eiji. "What do you mean? Where's Eiji? What happened to him?"

                "Oh?" Maki asked, only briefly glancing his way before looking away again. "Perhaps there is a limit on how long these memories last. After all, the others' bonds with him were not enough to tether him here."

                That sinking, sick sense of dread suddenly flared up into anger. Eiji was missing, but Ankh couldn't remember why. There was another dinosaur Yummy out there, one that he was afraid of for some reason he couldn't remember. It all added up to one thing, something pressing enough that he could ignore how dangerous Maki was and charge at him, manifesting his Greeed arm so he could lock his talons around Maki's neck and shout, "What did you do to Eiji!?"

Chapter Text

                For everyone's attempts at keeping Hina from getting involved in Kamen Rider business, she'd gotten very good at figuring out the things they didn't talk about with her. For instance, she knew that the candroids may have belonged to the Kougami Foundation, but they were originally created by Dr. Maki, who had gone rogue and joined forces with the Greeed. Maki had access to a final set of Core Medals that had he planned to use to destroy the world. It was one of the things that he'd stolen when he left the Foundation, along with several candroids.

                Therefore, she knew that if Goto hadn't sent the Ptera candroid, it was a safe bet that Maki had.

                Just why, Hina didn't know. After all, Maki and Lost Ankh were supposedly on the same side, so it didn't make any sense that he'd try to stop an ally. Unless he wanted Ankh for some reason. And if he did want Ankh, then it equally made sense that he would try to meet up with him.

                Hina stopped running only when she reached the riverwalk, where she knew Ankh had to be. Another thing she was getting very good at was running long distances without stopping. One day, she would have to get Ankh or Goto to teach her how to use the Ride Vendors, but until then, she just had to hope she was fast enough to catch up to Ankh before Maki could.

                Unfortunately for her, this was one of those times when she wasn't. Ankh was ahead, gripping Maki's throat.

                Part of her knew that Maki deserved it. He was trying to destroy the world. He'd been complicit in her kidnapping months ago. He'd hurt Ankh and the others multiple times over. But at the same time, her conscience wouldn't let her stand by and let Ankh kill him in cold blood.

                "Ankh!" she screamed, running toward him.

                Ankh heard her, but he had no intention of stopping. Maki had done something to Eiji, and it wasn't the first time. Ankh owed it to Eiji to rid the world of him, regardless of what he or Hina might have to say about it.

                Unfortunately for him, Maki also heard Hina's cry and saw the momentary distraction as his chance to escape. Calling on the power of the purple Medals, he let the nothingness warp and twist the bones and muscles of his arm, turning his skin leathery and rough and creating numb claws from his fingers.

                Ankh felt it before he saw it, and he shot a horrified look at Maki, demanding, "What are you doing?"

                Maki lifted his hand, giving Hina a perfect view. She gasped, covering her mouth in disbelief. At that sound, he turned his hand away from Ankh, instead launching a wave of dark energy toward Hina.

                Ankh only had seconds to react. He let go and leapt back, pouring what strength he had in his limited Cores to manifest his right wing, which propelled his backwards leap and incidentally shielded Hina from the blast.

                But as soon as the energy hit it, his wing disintegrated into ghostly feathers. He fell gracelessly backwards, impacting right into Hina, who struggled with her reflexes for a moment and caught him a little too late. He was already starting to push himself off of her when she got a firm grip on him, essentially trapping him in an increasingly more awkward hug.

                It made Maki's warning of "You're wasting time," even more infuriating.

                "What did you do to Eiji?" Ankh demanded again, this time held back by Hina.

                "We have to go," she pleaded. "It's too dangerous!"

                Ankh tried to resist as she kept pulling him away, toward safety, but he wasn't a match for her strength. Still, he glared back at Maki, searching for any answer. But Maki turned to leave, only pausing long enough to say at his doll, "If you want to know the truth, you'll find me again. But we are both running out of time."

                Hina breathed a sigh of relief when Maki finally left, but she didn't loosen her desperate death grip on Ankh. She didn't care if she had to carry him out of there—she was not letting him out of her sight again.

                Of course, Ankh saw things differently and had to dig his talons into her wrist until she let go with a sharp cry. Finally able to breathe, he made sure he put some distance between them while she clutched at her scratched arm.

                "What did you do that for?" she argued.

                "I almost had answers!" he shouted. "I almost figured out what happened to Eiji!"

                "Ankh, who is Eiji?" she screamed.

                "What do you mean 'who is Eiji'?" he demanded. "Why are you all acting like you don't remember him?"

                "Because we don't!" she yelled back. "I don't have any idea who this person is or why he's so important to you. It's the first time I've heard you mention him, and it's the first time Chiyoko or Goto's ever heard of him either!"

                Ankh was ready to argue back, but he could see in Hina's expression that she was telling the truth. She didn't know. She really had forgotten.

                Fresh anger surged inside him, and he shouted back, "How the hell can you forget him?" He gestured at himself, grabbing his own shirt as he argued, "That idiot promised to give this body back and save your brother—all these promises he had no way of fulfilling, but did everything to keep. How do you just forget all that?"

                "I haven't forgotten anything!" she insisted. "You've been acting strange ever since you woke up. You keep going on about someone who doesn't even exist. And you talk about the festival like you went, but you didn't!"

                "I did!" he shouted. "Eiji dragged me along because he thought you would have wanted your brother there. It's not like ever considers how uncomfortable that makes either one of us!"

                His words shook her, and for a moment, she had to look away and take a deep breath. It was true; this whole arrangement between them was uncomfortable. And maybe it would have been nice to have her brother there with her to remember her parents. But the whole point was for it to be Shingo, not Ankh. She wasn't sure that she would have liked the substitution.

                "Okay, fine," she said. "Let's say I believe you. What happened, then? Why do you remember what happened, and I don't?"

                Ankh couldn't say. After all, they'd both been at the festival. At the very least, Hina should have remembered him being there, instead of swearing that he hadn't come along.

                He started pacing in frustration as he tried to think, but focusing too hard on trying to remember what happened the other night was making his head ache. Instead, he tried to sort through what he'd just found out from Maki.

                "Maki said that I 'also' remembered," he admitted. "Like he was surprised."

                "So you weren't supposed to?" Hina asked, curious.

                Ankh hesitated and thought for a moment. "I don't know. He sounded more surprised that I remembered but the rest of you didn't."

                And he'd said there was a limit to how long Ankh would remember. At any time, he could just forget, leaving Eiji stranded wherever he was, probably in danger, and...

                The vision of flames rose in his mind again, along with the pain, though now dull and throbbing. Hina started to move closer as he put his hand to his temples, but when he didn't make any move to run away this time, she stopped.

                "Are you okay?" she asked carefully.

                No. Not really. Not when Eiji was missing and Ankh couldn't even remember how or why. But at least he had one answer to the million questions going through his head, and he was able to answer, "The Yummy."

                "The dinosaur one?" she asked. "You were scared of it."

                He chafed at the suggestion, but he didn't waste time trying to correct her. Instead, he explained, "It must have done something to my memories."

                "You don't remember it?" she guessed.

                "No," he said. "That must be its power—it must have erased our memories during the festival last night. That's why you don't remember me going, or why none of you remember Eiji."

                She shook her head. "Ankh, that's..."

                "Eiji was there," he insisted. "He probably got hit too. So he's wandering around with no memories and probably walking into a trap without knowing it."

                Hina held up her hands to stop him. There was way too much to take in. But Ankh wasn't about to let her try to make sense of any of it. He started to stalk off again, and she had to grab his wrist to stop him.

                "Wait," she insisted.

                "I can't wait!" he shouted back. "You might not remember him, but I do. Eiji's out there somewhere. He might be hurt, he might be amnesiac, I don't know. But what I do know is that if Maki gets to him first, then..."

                Eiji let go, drawing his hands to his chest with a gasp. He leaned forward so suddenly that Ankh had to take him by the shoulders to keep him from falling.

                "What? What is it?" Ankh asked, looking closely at Eiji's face. His eyes were shut tight, so Ankh couldn't see the usual purple flash that warned him before he felt it as well, and looked up to see Maki approaching the lantern.

                "So, it seems that you're still resisting, Hino," Maki said.

                His own eyes flashed violet, and Eiji shouted in pain, his knees buckling. Ankh struggled to keep him standing, feeling his borrowed heart pound in his chest. How much more of this would Eiji be able to take?

                "Just let him have the Medals," he whispered in-between Eiji's gasps for breath. "You're not going to be able to protect anything anyway if he kills you!"

                Ankh froze, feeling a chill run down his spine as the memory hit him. Something had definitely happened to Eiji. He just had to hope that he'd successfully run away, and that Maki wouldn't find him first.

                "Okay, okay," Hina interrupted, easing her grip just enough to reassure him. "But let's do this the right way, okay?" Ankh gave her a puzzled look as he snapped out of his daze, and she sighed and started pulling him along. "Follow me."

~~~

                Hina did not like to think of herself as a liar, but the unfortunate truth was that she had been forced to come up with multiple cover stories for her brother's disappearance and Ankh's appearance, and she had gotten very, very good at remembering whom she'd told what. Chiyoko, for some reason, was under the impression that Ankh was some foreigner who'd grown up in an orphanage overseas. Most of her friends had been told that her brother was on some kind of undercover assignment, and they pretended not to notice the rude man who resembled him and whom Hina had to frequently scold.

                And then there were Shingo's fellow officers, specifically, his partner, Morisawa Atsushi. The day the Greeed escaped, Morisawa had been in the patrol car with Shingo, responding to what turned out to be a Yummy attack. In the resulting crash, Morisawa had been knocked unconscious, and Shingo had been critically injured, only to be possessed by Ankh. As far as the police knew, Shingo had disappeared completely, and they had no idea if he'd survived or fled, until it became clear that there was a mysterious, rude blonde wearing his face and hanging out with his sister. And after that, the cover story really just wrote itself.

                Ankh was trying to look disinterested as always as they walked into the station, but Hina could tell he'd noticed everyone's eyes on him, and it was making him uncomfortable.

                "Why are they staring?" he whispered to Hina.

                "Just follow my lead, okay?" she whispered back.

                The moment he saw them, Morisawa got up from his desk and walked over to greet Hina with a big hug.

                "How are you doing?" he asked.

                "Detective Morisawa!" she cried happily, returning his embrace with a much more careful one than she normally would. "I should be asking you that!"

                "Taking care, going slower than I used to," he admitted before glancing toward Ankh and giving him the same sad, uncertain look everyone else there had given him so far. "Izumi?"

                Before Ankh could figure out how he was supposed to respond, Hina interjected, "He still doesn't remember anything."

                "Ah," Morisawa answered awkwardly before holding out his hand. "So this is the first time we've met, as far as you know."

                Ankh stared for a moment before Hina nudged him to shake. Realizing that this is what she meant by "following her lead," he put up with it. As long as it meant finding Eiji.

                At least Morisawa was just as uncomfortable with the handshake, so it didn't last long. He turned his attention back to Hina and asked, "So what brings you both here today?"

                "Big Brother has a problem," she admitted.

                Ankh, shocked at hearing her call him that, started to glare at her, but another discreet push shut him up. Even when she wasn't putting her full strength into it, it still hurt.

                Hina continued, "He's looking for someone, possibly a missing person. I've never heard of them before, though."

                Again, Ankh bit his tongue, especially because Morisawa looked his way again, with surprise in his eyes, asking, "You don't remember something, do you?"

                This was downright insulting. Ankh wasn't the one with memory loss; everyone else was. But again, this was for Eiji. Through gritted teeth, he replied, "Maybe I do. Who knows?"

                "Well, let's see here," Morisawa said, leading them back to his desk. They sat down as he brought up a search on his computer and asked, "What's the name?"

                "Eiji," Ankh said automatically.

                "Do you know his family name?"

                Ankh opened his mouth to speak again, but his mind went completely blank. He should have known this. He had heard it millions of times, from others, but he'd never used it himself. It was almost as if because it hadn't been important to him, it didn't have to exist.

                Hina watched his eyes go wide in terror, and she gently whispered, "What's wrong?"

                Hina. The awareness that she was speaking to him jarred some loose fragment of memory from the tight seal that had been placed over it in his mind. Trying perhaps too late to mask his fearful reaction, he muttered, "It sounded like your name."

                "Hina?" Morisawa asked.

                "Something like it," he admitted. "Not exactly that." Then, with a meaningful glance at Hina, he added, "That's all I remember."

                "That's not a lot to go on," Morisawa said. "If you've got a description, I can see about getting a sketch artist here..."

                Ankh paused and tried to bring up a mental image of Eiji, but it was indistinct. Dark hair—maybe black? Or was it brown? His eyes were probably brown, but he couldn't think of how close or far apart they were.

                Eiji was a blur as he ran forward. Just colors—brightly colored fabric and more purple than Ankh felt comfortable seeing on him.

                This memory was less helpful than the rest. Eiji really was a blur, and it didn't make sense that Ankh couldn't seem to recall what he looked like. Reluctantly, he shook his head.

                "Sorry we've wasted your time," Hina said.

                "No, it's okay," Morisawa insisted. "Just come back when he remembers a little more, okay?"

                No, this couldn't end like this. Ankh couldn't have just taken a detour that led nowhere. There had to be something, some little bit of trivia in either his or this body's memory that could give him something to work with. What was it Eiji had said when they first met? That he would defend him even though they barely knew each other? That it was enough that Eiji had only just met him that morning, both him and...

                The detective's memory was harder to access than normal, but Ankh fought, latching onto something he knew they'd both seen—the art museum destroyed by the Greeed, two security guards being carried to the ambulance, and a third man...

                "Wait," Ankh interrupted, catching both Morisawa and Hina by surprise. "The museum explosion."

                Morisawa's eyes went wide, and he watched Ankh intently, fully believing that this was his former partner, remembering something through amnesia. "That was the case we were working on the same day of the accident. Do you remember it?"

                Hina watched Ankh carefully, silently praying that he wouldn't say anything that would stray too far from the cover story, nor misrepresent himself as Shingo more than they already had done. She shouldn't have worried, though. Ankh just asked, "Where are the notes from that case?"

                Morisawa sighed and rubbed the bald top of his head. Realizing what this meant, Hina asked, "Is it logged into evidence?"

                He nodded. "We arrested the two security guards—there was enough evidence to suggest that they were trying to rob the museum before the explosion. But the trial's still going on."

                "Then just copy the notes," Ankh said dismissively.

                "I have to get permission," Morisawa complained. "You know that."

                "Then get it to me by the end of the day," he replied, getting up. Hina reached for his arm automatically to drag him back down, but he was quick to dodge her, walking away without her manhandling him again.

                "He was never this pushy before," Morisawa sighed. "That accident really affected him badly."

                "I'm so sorry," Hina apologized, bowing toward him.

                Morisawa waved a hand. "Don't worry about it, Hina. At least I know he's still in there." She forced a smile, nodding to the lie. "Take care of him, okay?"

                "I will," she promised before following Ankh out. He was standing outside the station, looking around. Unable to hold her tongue any longer, Hina snapped, "Can you not be rude for even a minute? That was my brother's partner!"

                "Quiet," Ankh argued back. Hina flushed with anger, ready to yell at him again, but he warned, "I still sense the Yummy."

                She stepped closer to him, both for her own protection and his. She didn't want either of them to have to deal with that frightening thing again, and certainly not separated. "Is it nearby?"

                That was the strange thing. It felt close, close enough that he probably should have seen it by now. But it wasn't attacking—probably too injured from its encounter with his impostor, though Ankh didn't want to take that chance. He tensed, ready to fight just in case, but then the presence became less urgent, distance dulling the sensation.

                "Moving away," he said.

                It was a relief, even though he hated to admit it to himself. That Yummy had done something to Eiji, and the quickest way to find him would be to find it. But whatever it was that had happened that had erased their memories left too much of an impression on him. He'd gotten this far by listening to his instincts, especially as far as his own self-preservation went.

                But Eiji, on the other hand...

                He reached out once more with the vague hope that he might sense Eiji. But again, he came up with nothing. Eiji's presence was just as elusive as the memory of his appearance.

                There was that smile again—why here, why now? Was this what he wanted all along? Ankh couldn't accept it.

                He felt himself stumble and fall to the ground on one knee. Hina pulled him up again while he waited for his head to clear. It took a minute, but he looked right at her again, then turned away and started to walk off again.

                "That keeps happening to you," she pointed out. He tried to ignore her and keep walking, but she ran up to his side. "You can't pretend you don't notice it. What's doing this to you? Is it the Yummy? Or the...your impostor?"

                Ankh pointedly refused to look at her, instead arguing, "Let's get back to the restaurant before either of them shows up."

                He didn't give her time to argue or to pity him again. He walked faster, forcing her to nearly run to keep up. He couldn't waste that time. He had to figure things out.

~~~

                Cous Coussier was as busy as it ever got the moment they returned. Hina barely had time to slip into her embroidered white blouse and blue-and-yellow skirt before she had to rush out to serve glasses of hibiscus tea and horchata. Goto was already in full mariachi garb, serving tacos al pastor and chiles rellenos to another table. He caught her eye, looking as if he wanted to ask what had happened, but she only gave him an apologetic glance before hurrying over to help Chiyoko balance a tray full of sugar skulls.

                "Thank you, Hina," she said, letting Hina finish setting them up on the dessert display. She was arrayed in more marigold chains and a large, ornate hat, dressed similar to a traditional catrina, but with what was clearly no time to apply skeletal make-up or a mask.

                "Sorry I'm so late," Hina replied.

                "Oh, no, it's okay," Chiyoko answered. "Did you and Ankh finish what you needed to?"

                "I think so," she said.

                "Good," Chiyoko said, taking the empty tray back to the kitchen. "I hope he's okay. Between whatever happened to his room and that outburst this morning, I'm worried about him."

                Hina nodded a little awkwardly as Chiyoko left. Nice as it was that she worried about Ankh, especially when sometimes it was hard to remember he was worth worrying about, she complicated things with her wild misunderstanding about his origins. And that was not something Hina needed to worry about herself right now.

                With Chiyoko now in the kitchen, Goto made his way over to Hina and quietly asked her, "What happened? Why were you gone so long?"

                "I'll tell you as soon as we get a break," she promised.

                He sighed, resigned to having to wait. The door opened, and they both turned to greet the next guest, only to be surprised by a familiar face.

                "Satonaka?" Goto asked.

                "There you are," she said, making a beeline toward him. "Did you forget you don't work here anymore?"

                That wasn't exactly news—Hina knew that Goto had returned to the Kougami Foundation. But the fact that Satonaka was hunting him down was confusing.

                "He's here to help protect Ankh," she interrupted. "Otherwise, there's no one here to watch him, in case his impostor shows up."

                "We should have talked about this," Goto insisted, but Satonaka was already shoving a schedule into his hands.

                "See? It says right here that you were supposed to be retrieving the staff birthday list for the President at nine. I got in at eleven, and nothing had been done."

                "That's impossible," Goto whispered, looking over the schedule. "I wouldn't have just taken off like that!"

                "Are you sure this is accurate?" Hina asked. "It's already a risk to leave Ankh here by himself overnight. You had to have come up with some kind of schedule so he wouldn't be alone for long."

                Satonaka looked at Hina now before gazing out over the crowded restaurant, seeing Chiyoko go from table to table with orders. Now, she looked a little puzzled as she focused on Hina again, asking, "What happened to the other employee?"

                Hina felt something crash inside of her, like a dropped pane of glass. From Ankh, it was a strange enough reaction, but hearing it from Satonaka made it feel like maybe there was truth to it. A third person, someone who'd been part of their lives, just vanished without a trace, with no one noticing or recalling that he existed.

                It wasn't exactly like losing her brother, or losing her parents. But in this sudden, horrible moment, she felt like maybe she could understand how Ankh felt and maybe it was worth believing him.        "What are you talking about?" Goto asked, his voice a little shaken. "It's only been Hina and Chiyoko, until I started here."

                Satonaka shook her head. "There was someone else. How else did Ankh stay here so long, without Birth guarding him?"

                "That's..." Goto started, but he didn't have a chance to finish before Hina ran upstairs.

                Ankh was sitting on one of the trunks when Hina burst through the door. She then grabbed his wrist and pulled him to his feet.

                "Again?" he complained.

                "We need to see Mr. Kougami," she insisted. "Just you and me."

                "What?" he asked, staring at her in confusion.

                "You're right," she admitted. "Something's wrong, and I think we might find some answers there."

Chapter Text

                Part of Ankh hoped that when they returned to Cous Coussier, Eiji would be there—maybe wondering why Chiyoko and Goto were acting so strange, maybe looking at the mess in the attic, or maybe even lost and confused, having just gone to the only place he could seem to remember.

                Ankh knew better than to hope, but the feeling remained. He stood at the window, reaching out with all of his senses again. The Yummy felt farther away, as did his impostor, and he did his best not to attract either's attention. But he still couldn't feel Eiji, and he couldn't have gotten that far out of the city on his own, especially without his memories. So either Ankh couldn't sense the Medals inside him, or he just wasn't there.

                So where had he gone? Or rather, where had he disappeared to?

                Ankh sat on a trunk, glaring at his crumpled sheet on Eiji's bed, as if it had betrayed them both by laying there. That was another thing. How had he ended up in Eiji's bed the other night, especially right after Eiji disappeared? Had he gone looking for him, only to have to give up for the night and collapse in the easiest nest to get into? Why didn't he remember? And why did it hurt, trying to remember?

                His memories were fading away. That was the scary part, and Ankh didn't know how to handle it. He couldn't even remember what Eiji looked like, just a vague image, as if seen through his own senses as a Greeed—out of focus, lacking color, obscured.

                He had to concentrate through the pain. There had to be something in his memories that could help—the Yummy's creation, its attack, something. He stared at the bed, trying to picture Eiji lying there, trying to come up with some kind of visual image of what had happened, ignoring the splitting pain in his head.

                He grabbed Eiji and leapt in a whirl, gently bringing him to the ground.

                But before he could get much more than that, a hand grabbed his wrist and roughly yanked him up.

                "Again?" he growled as he recognized Hina interrupting him.

                She wasn't interested in listening. Instead, she argued, "We need to see Mr. Kougami. Just you and me."

                Of all the things she could have said, that was probably the last thing he could have expected, and he couldn't help but ask, "What?"

                Her grip loosened, almost apologetically, and he could see a worried look settle in her eyes as she glanced down briefly, admitting, "You're right. Something's wrong, and I think we might find some answers there."

                It was better than sitting around and doing nothing.

                Satonaka was still outside when they came downstairs, and Hina fearlessly walked up to her and asked, "Can you please take us to see your boss?"

                Satonaka was still giving them weird looks, but finally she just said, "Fine," and walked them to her car.

                Ankh didn't have the patience to deal with any other humans on the way to Kougami's office, so he climbed into the backseat, scowling on principle while Hina took the front. As Satonaka drove off, Hina asked, "You said there were three people at Cous Coussier, right?"

                Satonaka nodded. "As long as you've been there. Someone's always been watching Ankh."

                "You wouldn't happen to know the name, would you?" Hina asked.

                "Eiji," Ankh answered automatically, rolling his eyes. Really, what did Hina think she was going to prove this way?

                But Satonaka's expression never changed, even as she admitted, "I can't say the name sounds familiar. I just know that someone's missing who should be there."

                Ankh let out a huff. It wasn't like he expected Satonaka to be helpful, so why should have Hina?

              They had just pulled up to the Kougami Foundation offices when Satonaka's phone rang. She answered with a brisk, "Yes?" before pausing for a moment, her expression as unreadable as ever as she answered, "All right," and hung up. She then turned toward them and stated, "President Kougami has asked me to escort you to the basement archive."

                "The archive?" Hina asked. "I thought he would be in his office..."

                "Apparently, he's been expecting you," Satonaka explained.

                "Forget it," Ankh warned Hina. "You're never going to make sense of him."

                He stalked out of the car and followed after Satonaka, Hina quietly behind him. Her mind was still racing through the inconsistencies as the elevator carried them down. Ankh said that the Yummy they'd faced must have erased their memories, but she didn't even remember running into it, or Ankh coming with her to the festival. If she really did have amnesia that was somehow that targeted, how could it be affecting everyone else? There was no way Chiyoko had run into the Yummy, or Goto and Satonaka both.

                Ankh tried not to make it obvious that he was watching Hina closely. She was thinking—that much was good news. At least she realized that the way she remembered things didn't make sense. But at the same time, she wasn't an idiot—or at the very least, not nearly as stupid as Eiji. Without hard evidence, she wasn't going to just accept what he told her as fact. On any other day, he'd appreciate it. But right now, he would prefer a trusting moron. Specifically, his trusting moron.

                When the elevator stopped, Satonaka walked them up to a pair of large doors bearing the Kougami Foundation logo. She pulled open the doors, revealing what looked less like an archive and more like a private museum, filled with artifacts that Ankh barely gave a passing glance. Hina walked past them cautiously, taking care not to bump into anything, extremely nervous around all of the breakable objects. She tried not to breathe a sigh of relief when Satonaka stopped in front of a red curtain and said, "The President is just past here."

                Ankh snorted, "Of course he is," then tore open the curtain, Hina hurrying to stay right behind him.

                The new room had even more artifacts hidden in display cases. Hina mustered up the courage to peer at a book safely kept under glass, then gasped and backed directly into Ankh when she realized there were two skeletal hands displayed beside it.

                "Sorry!" she cried, taking a quick step forward to get off of him. "It's just...the hands..."

                She pointed at the book, but Ankh's eyes went to the next case over, full of fragments of parchment. On each fragment were writings or drawings in elegant penmanship. Ankh stepped past her and walked toward the case. It was something he hadn't seen in a very long time, something nearly as hard to place as Eiji's appearance but hurt twice as much to think about.

                "What's wrong?" she asked.

                "I know this writing," he said.

                "And so you should," Kougami announced, stepping out from behind another red curtain. "Do you remember, Ankh, what happened eight-hundred years ago?"

                Ankh whirled on Kougami with a glare, one that only intensified as he watched him run his fingers along a familiar throne.

                "How could I forget?" he spat. "That's when I was sealed and lost my body—a body that's walking around and trying to absorb me, thanks to you."

                Of course, now he could place it and understand why he didn't want to remember. That was the original OOO's handwriting. Ankh moved his hands away in disgust.

                "Ah," Kougami replied. "So you do remember most of the details. Please, refresh my memory. What led to you turning against your fellow Greeed?"

                Hina looked at Ankh curiously, even though she'd already heard this story before. Maybe, just because of the way Kougami had asked the question, she thought she would get new insights into Ankh's mind. He didn't plan on giving her the satisfaction.

                "OOO was stronger," he explained. "It was easier to work with him instead of against him. We made a deal—I would help him defeat the others, so he could take their Medals, and I could keep my own."

                He wasn't too surprised when Kougami asked, "Oh? Is that all a Greeed could want?"

                He was surprised when he looked away and saw an expression on Hina's face that he couldn't quite name. It wasn't pity or sympathy, otherwise he would have shut down even further. Curiosity, he could have ignored. No, this was the same look Eiji always had—the one that said he was genuinely interested in knowing what it was, so that he could help, the one that always made Ankh go against his better judgment and trust him, and it tore open a fresh new wound inside him.

                "Ankh?" Hina asked softly.

                He took a breath to steel himself, then summoned all the false confidence he'd ever had and replied, "He said he could give me something that would make me even more complete. Given all of his alchemists, I figured he meant a new Medal, or something that could lead to more power."

                Hina was watching him with a strange little sadness all over her face that made him very glad he hadn't brought up the King's betrayal of not just him, but the alchemists as well. He could only hope that she wouldn't ask just what it was that made him feel incomplete, even with all nine Medals.

                Naturally, with a touchy subject Ankh didn't want anyone to approach, Kougami had to trample all over his boundaries and insist, "Brought into the world as a set of ten Medals, only to have one ripped away. No wonder such a creature would be called Greeed."

                Ankh huffed, his patience running thinner. "Your point?"

                "It must have been difficult for you to trust another human again, after the King betrayed you as he did," he replied, and Ankh clenched his fist and his teeth together so tightly he was starting to wonder how long Shingo's body would hold under the stress of him trying not to explode. "So what could possibly have made you want to take that chance again?"

                He was done playing this game, and he spat, "There's nothing to it. Eiji was an idiot and easy to manipulate, or so I thought. And the fact that he didn't have a core desire to corrupt him made him perfect to become OOO without going mad. And if he ever did become a threat, by then, we'd have collected enough Medals that I could get rid of him."

                "I see," Kougami answered, nodding. Then he gestured toward Hina. "Miss Izumi, there's a question you've been wanting to ask, now, isn't there?"

                Ankh glanced over at Hina again, but this time he saw hesitation and fear in her eyes, just seconds before she asked, "You said OOO, right?"

                Again, he felt a horrible, sinking feeling in his body, and he desperately replied, "Don't tell me." She looked at the floor in response, and he started laughing.

                "Of course. You forgot everything else about Eiji, so why not forget OOO too?" he asked. "It's not like that wasn't the only thing he was ever good at!"

                It was a harsh insult, unfair and untrue, and he knew it. But how the hell had this idiot left so little impact on everyone that he could be erased so easily?

                But it was more than that. Somehow or another, it wasn't just memories of Eiji that had disappeared, but memories connected to him as well. So why did they remember Ankh? And why did Ankh have to be the one to keep their flames burning?

                "How strange it is, to lose something and not remember," Kougami mused. He gestured toward a large TaToBa crest that hung on a wall behind the throne. "When I woke up this morning and came down to the archive, I found myself wondering what these symbols meant. Obviously, they had meant something to me, or I wouldn't have kept them. But the knowledge of that meaning is gone. Had all of this been taken, I might not have ever known or felt the loss. So, can you have lost something you don't remember having?"

                The question was referring to Hina, and Ankh couldn't bear to look at her. But at the same time, he couldn't make himself look directly at Kougami either. Instead, he focused his gaze on a table full of Cell Medals, where the skull of some long-dead alchemist, noble, or peasant rested. A Medal had been placed in one of its eye sockets, like some macabre joke.

                Ankh told himself that it would have pissed Eiji off. That had to be why he was ready to rip out Kougami's eyes right now.

                "Ankh?" Hina called out, her voice beginning to tremble. "I'm sorry."

                He didn't listen, keeping his attention on that skull. It was funny, the one person whose body parts he might not have minded seeing desecrated like this was the King, but he'd turned himself into a stone sarcophagus and had his name obliterated from history. For all his grand ambitions and aspirations, he'd disappeared as thoroughly as Eiji had, someone with no ambition or drive beyond what he felt he had to do.

                "You came here looking for answers," Kougami continued. "And I'm sorry to say that this time, I cannot give you what you want. However, I can leave you with this one last piece of advice."

                He paused, and Ankh knew it was to allow him a chance to ask. He refused, managing a cool stare instead.

                Nonplussed, Kougami replied, "Think hard. Are you asking the right questions?"

                Ankh took a step forward, still glaring at Kougami. He could hear Hina moving, unsure what he was going to do but knowing it couldn't be good, especially as he manifested his true hand.

                There was no need to stop him, though. All he did was dig his talons into the Medals on the table and absorb them, then throw the skull off the table.

                Hina shrank back as the skull clattered to the floor and Ankh stalked off out of the room. Kougami watched him silently until he disappeared from sight, and finally turned his attention back to Hina.

                "Miss Izumi, why are you crying?"

                Hina reached up to wipe her eyes, confessing, "I just wanted to help Ankh."

                Kougami nodded. "That's why you brought him here, is it not?"

                "I thought..." she started, trying to justify her actions. But in the end, hadn't she caused more harm than good?

                "You hoped you would find answers," he repeated. "Instead, you have more questions. That is no reason to cry."

                Hina felt someone place a tissue in her hands—Satonaka. Hina hadn't even realized she'd entered. She blotted at her tears and took a few shaky breaths.

                When Hina had finally gotten control of herself again, Satonaka pursed her lips and said, "Goto didn't remember being scheduled to work today. And you didn't remember anything about a being called OOO. So whatever this weird memory loss around this Eiji person isn't just about him, but anything having to do with him."

                Kougami nodded. "There's one answer, now. But in turn, another question: why?"

                Hina lowered her eyes again. "I don't know."

                "There is no shame in admitting that," Kougami insisted. "The desire to learn more grows from that. You have already begun breaking this down into a process, correct?" She nodded. "What is it that you wanted to find out?"

                "We went to the police first," she explained. "I wanted to see if they could help find Eiji, but Ankh couldn't remember anything other than his first name. He remembered that my brother met him while investigating the museum explosion."

                "That's when the Greeed escaped their seal," Satonaka remembered.

                "Yes," Kougami replied. "It was the same day two security guards attempted to steal artifacts from the exhibit. But something about that case seems strange now."

                Hina looked at him curiously, but it was Satonaka who spoke, explaining, "There should have been three guards on shift that night."

                "Three?" she repeated.

                "You see, Miss Izumi, whenever possible, I try to do all of my hires in threes," Kougami explained. "Consider it a superstition, though one with a practical purpose. The original team for Birth was intended to be Date, with Goto as support and Dr. Maki as supervisor, however that never came to be. Ride Vendor units are staffed in multiples of three. And security, always, must be staffed in a team of three: two to investigate a breach, one to call for police."

                "So..." Hina realized, "there's a missing security guard."

                "Perhaps your trip to the police had more meaning than you thought," Kougami suggested. "Whatever archived footage we may have taken from our candroids and security cameras was destroyed when Dr. Maki blew up portions of his lab. Undoubtedly, he was trying to destroy video evidence of the resources he had taken, and how many of them had already gone to the Greeed. Whatever evidence the police gathered from the day of the Greeed's attack may be the only proof as to the third security guard's identity."

                "And that's probably Eiji," Hina said. "So, I just need to prove that he exists."

                "And that, Miss Izumi, is why you came here."

                She looked down at her hands for a moment. They were calmer than she'd been before, but they still shook a bit. She balled them up into fists for a moment and tried to will them to stay still. After all, wasn't Ankh always complaining about how strong her grip was? Wasn't that something she'd need right now to help him? A strong hand to reach out for him?

                ...Just where had that thought come from?

                "Satonaka, please escort Miss Izumi back to work," Kougami requested. "I'm sure that she will have much to do."

                "Yes, sir," Satonaka replied. "Right this way, please."

                Hina followed, once again trying to figure out what she was supposed to do next. It was one thing to know what her goals were, but breaking them down into something she could actually do was another story entirely.

~~~

                Goto had no idea what had gotten into everyone today, but he hoped they got whatever it was out of their systems soon. Hina still hadn't explained what had taken her so long to bring Ankh back, or what had made him storm off in the first place. Not that that part was a particular surprise, given the Greeed's volatile mood swings. And now they'd run off again, leaving him to handle the lunch rush with Chiyoko.

                "What could be going on that they keep running out?" Chiyoko asked as she hurried to clear another table.

                "I don't know," Goto admitted, refilling glasses. It had finally started to slow down, but it didn't mean they could—there was always a second rush within the next hour.

                The door opened, and he immediately straightened, automatically greeting the newcomer with a "Welcome," before his voice died in his throat.

                "Goto, what is it?" Chiyoko asked.

                Standing at the door was Detective Morisawa. Goto didn't quite know how to explain himself, whether to Chiyoko or the detective. After all, Goto had left his mentor on bad terms, frustrated with the day-to-day bureaucracy of the police and the lack of exciting heroism he'd imagined when he was younger. Morisawa had been reassigned to another young officer soon after, but Goto hadn't cared to find out who it was. After all, he was going to save the world, even if he had to burn every bridge behind him to do so.

                They stared at one another in silence for a moment, with Chiyoko giving confused glances between them.

                Morisawa was the first to speak, asking, "How's that world-saving going?"

                Goto couldn't meet his eyes, only replying, "Just helping out my friends."

                Morisawa nodded. "Is Hina around? I need to deliver something."

                Miraculously, that was when Hina walked in. She blinked in surprise and asked, "Detective Morisawa?"

                He turned toward her, clearly just as grateful for the interruption as Goto was. He then produced a thick manila envelope and said, "I had to pull a few strings in order to get it done, but here are all the copies from your brother's casebook."

                Another flood of emotion came over Hina again, and she could barely keep herself from crying again. She reached out and took the envelope, holding it gently before cradling it close to her body, whispering, "Thank you."

                "I hope it helps him out," he replied, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder for a moment before turning to look at Goto. "Take care of her, understand?"

                "Yes, sir," he answered automatically.

                Morisawa nodded, then made his way out. Hina still clutched the notes against her, so Chiyoko walked up to her and softly asked, "Is everything okay with your brother? I thought he was on a case."

                "It's okay," Hina insisted, quickly putting her lie back into place. "There's something in his past notes that will help him with his case right now, and since it's not safe for him to contact the police directly, he asked me to get them for him."

                Chiyoko looked a little confused, but she nodded, admitting, "Undercover officers must have to worry about a lot. But I'm glad you were able to talk to him for a little bit, right?"

                Hina couldn't bring herself to nod. Not with a lie that personal. Instead, she managed a more evasive, "I just hope I'm able to help."

                "Me too," she answered. "Oh, and look at it this way—if he's asking for help now, then he must be closer to closing his case, which means he'll be able to come back home sooner."

                Hina was beginning to shake. She didn't know how much more of this she could take. She wasn't a dishonest person by nature, and the more she lied, the more it came back to hurt her.

                Goto saw before Chiyoko did and hurriedly stepped in, saying, "Hey, Hina, can you help me get the trash out before the next rush comes in?"

                "Sure," she replied, tucking the envelope under her arm as she followed him over.

                As soon as they were bent over the trash cans, Goto asked, "So what was all that about? Where did you go?"

                "We asked my brother's partner to get us copies of his case notes from the Greeed's escape," she explained.

                Goto blinked, surprised. "You think there might be something we overlooked?"

                "Kind of," she admitted, tying up a bag. "Mr. Kougami said that all of your surveillance records were destroyed. I was hoping that maybe, my brother might have known if there was another person there."

                "Wait," he said. "Does this have to do with that 'Eiji' thing Ankh brought up this morning?" When Hina ducked her head and hefted up the heaviest bag, he asked, "Do you really think that there's someone that nobody else but him seems to remember?"

                For a little while, Hina couldn't answer. Goto seemed to be willing to let the matter go so they could take the garbage outside to dump, but when they were finally away from any listening ears, she said, "I told everyone at the station that Ankh is my brother."

                Goto hesitated before admitting, "I know. It's hard to deal with, but it's the easiest answer for why they look alike."

                "But at the same time, Chiyoko thinks that Ankh is from overseas and that he had such a bad past that he doesn't want to talk about it," she added. "Don't you think that's strange?"

                "It is," he admitted. "And to tell the truth, I don't know why she'd believe that."

                "I'm no good at lying," she insisted. "I have to say something small, and consistent, with as few details as possible. Why would I come up with something so wild and unbelievable?"

                "I don't know..."

                "Someone had to come up with it! Someone who's better at lying, or at least someone who lets themselves get more imaginative with their lies, or is charming enough that they know they can be creative and no one will second-guess them. Or at least can read people well enough to know what they want to hear."

                "Okay, you have a point," he conceded. "I'm not saying I believe you, but let's say you're both right. If there was an Eiji, what happened to him? And why don't we remember him?"

                She paused for a moment, thinking over Kougami's advice to Ankh—ask the right questions.

                "I think...we have to work our way up, before we can get to that question," she admitted, looking at the envelope. "First, Ankh and I need to go through this, as soon as I have a break."

                "Where is he now?" Goto asked.

                "The attic," she said. "He didn't want to deal with anyone."

                He sighed and shook his head. "Why am I not surprised?"

                They were ready to head back in when they saw Ankh on the rooftop, ready to leap. Hina was ready to yell at him when she realized that his expression was frantic, and he was gathering fire in his right hand.

                "Get down!" he shouted.

                She dropped flat, pulling Goto down as fast as she could, and she could hear all of the breath going out of him in a gasp as he hit the ground. She dared to raise her head up enough to see Ankh landing just feet away, racing past them. As she turned, she saw the velociraptor Yummy, its sickle claw still burning with white fire.

Chapter Text

                Ankh only put up with Satonaka driving him back to Cous Coussier because he knew he couldn't risk going out on his own again. Not with his impostor and that Yummy. As soon as the car stopped, he leapt out of the backseat and climbed up to the roof, so he could get in through the attic window. Hina didn't even try to stop him.

                He couldn't help but hesitate for a moment as he stepped through the window, looking to his right to see if maybe, Eiji had finally come home and was lying in bed. But it was as empty as before, his red sheet lying where it had no place being.

                What had happened to him?

                Now, here, alone, he could admit he was worried. Worse, there was an aching feeling in his chest telling him that this wasn't some ordinary disappearance, even discounting how unusual it already was. There was a reason he'd been in Eiji's bed that morning, and the fact that he didn't know was just as troubling.

                He sat across from the bed and pulled out his phone, fighting the sense of hopelessness rising within him. Somehow, he couldn't help but feel that even without a memory, Eiji would have found some way to be found. There had to be some social media post about a young man in nothing but his underwear, found sleeping in the park. Or some disaster where a total idiot ran in without considering the danger to himself. Or a report of someone hurt and needing identification. Or an unknown body lying around somewhere...

                Ankh gripped the phone so hard that his talons left scratch marks on it. He refused to let that thought enter his mind. The idiot was many things, but Eiji was not someone who died easily.

                And yet...

                There was that smile again—why here, why now? Was this what he wanted all along? Ankh couldn't accept it.

                And then it was gone—a sudden lightness in his hands, and the white flames passed by like petals in the wind.

                Tears pricked his eyes, and rage bubbled in his throat until it came out in a scream of anguish:

                "EIJI!"

                The sensation of the Yummy hit Ankh so hard that he almost fell over. He had to grab hold of the wall to keep his balance, his heart pounding and his face sweating. It took a moment for him to realize what he was sensing, but once he recognized it, he went to the window. Goto and Hina were outside, talking as they threw away the trash. The Yummy was close. He climbed out, seeing Hina glare his way.

                She didn't see the Yummy behind her.

                A sudden thought entered his head, with blinding fury: he was not letting that Yummy take anyone else away.

                "Get down!"

                Hina had the good sense to listen, pulling Goto down with her as she dropped to the ground, the fireball narrowly missing them, but thankfully closer than the Yummy had been. Ankh leapt down and started running at it, trying to call more fire. But with as few Medals as he had, he could only manage a brief flare.

                Hina saw the Yummy sweep the ground with its burning sickle claw, then leap at Ankh, and she knew the risk she'd have to take on saving him. She grabbed his ankle, and just as he froze in confusion, she yanked him to the side.

                "What are you doing?" he shouted as he fell to the ground.

                "Trust me!" she yelled.

                The Yummy had missed, digging its claw into the ground. Hina swung Ankh around, and in the split-second between going airborne and impact, he realized what she was doing. He forced himself to relax his body, to lessen the pain as she let go and threw him into the Yummy, then grabbed hold of its head. He forced the head into the ground, making sure to keep the claw firmly buried in the earth, then pounded on the Yummy's head with his right fist.

                "Where is he?" he demanded. "Whatever you did to Eiji, undo it now, and tell me where he is!"

                As she righted herself, Hina stopped to watch Ankh hit the Yummy harder and harder. This wasn't what she'd planned—he wasn't supposed to destroy it. She couldn't be sure that he'd do enough damage for that, but she couldn't bear to watch him potentially lose his next best lead.

                "Ankh, stop!" she cried.

                For a moment, she thought he wouldn't—he slammed his fist into the Yummy's head once more, but it was the last time. His fist remained against the white feathers and bones, shaking.

                "Ankh," she reasoned, "if you destroy it, we might not be able to find him."

                She was right. But that horrid feeling was choking him, freezing him in place. She took a cautious step forward, now holding the envelope.

                "Detective Morisawa brought my brother's notes," she said. "We can prove that Eiji existed. And then..."

                "And then what?" he challenged. "Is that going to tell us where he went?"

                Now, it was her turn to hesitate, and she blinked back tears. Behind her, Goto had retrieved his Birth Buster, and he was training it on the Yummy.

                "It won't," she admitted. "But Mr. Kougami was right—we can't find an answer unless we ask the right questions. Maybe this isn't the right question. But at the very least, if we learn more about Eiji, it might tell us what happened to him."

                There was a gap in Ankh's memory of him—he knew that, even if he didn't know why. He couldn't recall his full name. But he knew very well that if he had that, he could at least look into records that would give him more information.

                He knew the Yummy had done something to take him away. He knew that it had something to do with the Obon festival. But why?

                Hina was reaching out her hand toward him, and for the briefest moment, he saw Eiji in her place, doing the same. He had always reached out for Ankh, for everyone. Always tried to help anyone he saw was hurting.

                He...he'd done it then too. Tried to help. And then...

                It happened so fast that Ankh didn't even have a chance to register his actions.

                In a single movement, he blasted a fireball at the Yummy, forcing it back while he grabbed Eiji and leapt in a whirl, creating more distance before gently bringing him to the ground.

                He was shaking. Eiji felt so light.

                "Move!"

                Ankh didn't hear Goto's voice in time, and he felt the Yummy rear up and throw him off. For a moment, his vision went entirely white, and all he could think of were the white flames he saw surrounding Eiji the last time he saw him.

                Goto at least had kept his wits about him and opened fire on the Yummy as soon as it rose. The blasts held it off for a bit, but he knew he only had so many Cell Medals in his clip. When he needed to recharge, it would attack.

                "Hina, you need to start taking cover now," he warned.

                She nodded, realizing what was about to happen, and made her way to the pillars supporting the restaurant. But inside, she could hear Chiyoko's voice.

                "Hina? Goto? What's going on out there?"

                Her heart skipped. In seconds, Chiyoko would come outside and see everything they'd been hiding from her. Worse, she'd be walking straight into danger without any clue.

                She had no choice. She had to abandon her hiding place and use all her strength to force the doors to stay shut, even as the last Cell Medal in Goto's clip fired.

                The next few seconds were a blur. The Yummy charged, just at the same time that Ankh recovered and saw Hina at the door, her back to the Yummy. He screamed for her, Goto doing the same, but all she could do was turn and see the white claw coming at her. Some part of her wanted to scream as well, but she couldn't seem to get her voice to work.

                But there was an ear-splitting screech in that moment—just not from her.

                The Yummy backed off as the Ptera candroid returned, unleashing sonic attacks on it. Hina found herself turning to look for whoever sent it, only to see Maki's doll sitting on the edge of the wall, some kind of handle right next to it.

                Suddenly, the world started again. Goto reloaded the Birth Buster and once again started firing on the Yummy, and Ankh found the strength to get up and run for Hina, just as she was running to the doll.

                "Maki again?" he asked.

                She barely heard him, instead reaching for the handle she'd seen—not a handle, but a hilt, attached to a black, blue, and silver blade. Ankh stared at in shock for a second before slowly reaching for it, while Goto watched across from them, dumbfounded at the obvious Kougami Foundation handiwork.

                The Yummy chose that time to leap over Goto's next attack and charge at Hina and Ankh. She didn't have time to think, only react, and she whipped the sword around, slicing one of the Yummy's feet off.

                As the foot disappeared into purple smoke, Ankh pushed Hina behind him, calling fire into his fist again while Goto leveled the Birth Buster at the Yummy from behind. Realizing that it was now at a disadvantage, the injured Yummy hopped up on its remaining foot, leapt over their heads, and disappeared behind the garden wall.

                Ankh let the fire dissipate, numbness slowly filling him as Hina started shaking beside him, the full realization of what had just happened starting to sink in. Goto lowered the Birth Buster, slowly making his way over to them, when the door burst open again.

                "What is going on out here?" Chiyoko asked.

                Goto shoved the Birth Buster toward Ankh, who didn't even see it, his face blank as he started to walk away. When he failed to take it, Goto handed it to Hina, who was already panicking and holding the sword.

                Ankh, fortunately, took up most of Chiyoko's attention as he stalked forward, pushing his way past her to get inside.

                "Ankh?" she asked. But he wasn't up to answering anyone, so she turned toward Goto and Hina again. "What was all that noise?"

                "Just some kids playing with firecrackers," Goto said, stepping forward and obscuring Hina, who only just thought to hide the weapons behind her back. "We had to scare them off."

                "Oh!" Chiyoko sighed in relief. "I thought you guys were fighting or something. I know Ankh's been acting strange, so I wasn't sure..."

                "He'll be all right," Goto insisted, walking Chiyoko back inside. "A couple got too close to him and Hina. They just need a chance to catch their breath."

                "Of course," Chiyoko agreed. Turning her head toward Hina, she insisted, "Goto and I will take care of things here. You come in when you're ready, okay?"

                Hina managed to nod, and Goto flashed her an apologetic look as he ushered Chiyoko through the door. She had to find some way of hiding the weapons, while also ensuring they were close enough to grab in case the Yummy returned, but her eyes fell on the forgotten packet of her brother's notes, and nothing else seemed important anymore. She walked over and picked it up, glancing upwards toward the attic for a moment before opening the envelope and starting to read.

                Up in the attic, once again alone, Ankh began destroying what little he hadn't already broken. He knew now why his banner was on Eiji's bed. He knew how his nest had been torn apart, and why he'd done it, with his own hands, in rage and grief. It was the same reason he was doing it again now.

                It happened so fast that Ankh didn't even have a chance to register his actions. Eiji was a blur as he ran forward, putting himself between Ankh and the Yummy. Just colors—brightly colored fabric and more purple than Ankh felt comfortable seeing on him. It didn't feel real.

                It was Eiji's gasp that woke Ankh out of his trance—not a scream, not a cry, just the breath suddenly forced out of his lungs, almost catching in his throat.

                In a single movement, he blasted a fireball at the Yummy, forcing it back while he grabbed Eiji and leapt in a whirl, creating more distance before gently bringing him to the ground. The Yummy's claw had caught him right in the heart, leaving a shining, white wound that seemed to have flames flickering out of it, slowly eating him alive.

                He was shaking. Eiji felt so light.

                He tried to focus on Eiji's face, though whether it was to console him as he looked at Eiji's tearing eyes or to offer himself hope that maybe everything would be okay, he wasn't sure. Either way, it didn't help. There was that smile again—why here, why now? Was this what he wanted all along? Ankh couldn't accept it.

                And then it was gone, everything—a sudden lightness in his hands, and the white flames passed by like petals in the wind.

                Now, here, alone, he let the painful sensation in his chest surge as he finally relented to sit on the bed.

                "Idiot."

~~~

                Ankh didn't come down for the rest of the afternoon. Hina couldn't help but worry about him, but there was still so much she had to do at the restaurant. At the same time, though, she knew she was just in denial. Chiyoko knew something was wrong and was encouraging her to take it easy. Hina was throwing herself into her work because it kept her mind off everything for a bit.

                She was even lying to herself now.

                When they finally closed for their lunch break and got everything cleaned up, she went behind the bar and pulled out the envelope and started looking through it again. Chiyoko was in the kitchen, getting some of the leftovers put together for lunch and taking stock of what they'd need to start preparing before dinner. With her out of earshot, Goto leaned over the counter and asked, "What did you find?"

                "I don't know yet," she admitted, spreading out the notes. Even though they were in the order they'd been copied from Shingo's book, she didn't know where to start. Her emotions were too overwhelming to cope with. It was hard even looking at her brother's handwriting.

                Goto watched her struggle to focus, her hands trembling again, and then asked, "May I?" Relieved, she nodded and handed him the first page. "Date of incident: September 5, 2010. Time—this page is just the basic facts of the case."

                She nodded, catching her breath. "Do you see anything about witnesses?"

                "Let's see," he replied, scanning through the next few pages. "Two security guards, injured in the explosion—will interview after they are treated."

                "There has to be a third," Hina insisted. "Ms. Satonaka said that there are always three."

                "It's standard protocol," he admitted. "Best practices for safety. But I don't see..."

                "Is that the envelope the detective dropped off?"

                Chiyoko's voice came so suddenly that they both jumped. Of course she was going to come out of the kitchen when they weren't looking. Before either of them had the chance to recover and hide their papers, Chiyoko carefully picked one up and glanced at it.

                "This is the case your brother was working on before he left, right?" she asked Hina.

                Another horrible pit opened in her stomach. She hated lying to Chiyoko, when she was like a second mother to her. But while she struggled to answer, Chiyoko read off a name from the paper: "Hino Eiji?"

                Now, the both of them stared at her in shock, and Goto asked, "What did you say?"

                "Oh, it's right here," she explained, holding out the paper. Sure enough, written phonetically rather than in kanji, with a note of "no ID" scribbled next to it, was the name. It stood out among Shingo's normally impeccable handwriting and strict attention to detail, as if he was just as frustrated in the past as they were today.

                "Hino Eiji," Goto read. "Age: 18? 19? No known address."

                Hina gingerly took the paper from Chiyoko with shaking hands, continuing, "Mr. Hino states that he is a traveler and often out of the country. He was working as a temporary security guard on the night shift but reports that he fell asleep during the time of the explosion and only woke just before the wall collapsed. His only possessions include loose change and a damaged pair of boxer shorts. He declined medical treatment and will be difficult to follow-up with for further interviews."

                "This isn't the same Eiji that Ankh's been talking about, is it?" Chiyoko asked. "How would he know someone that your brother interviewed?"

                Goto looked at Hina, unsure what she wanted to do. She didn't know herself anymore.

                "Of course, it's not any of my business," Chiyoko said, picking up on their reluctance. "But I'm sure Ankh would like to know you found something."

                "Wait," Hina said, surprising even herself. She glanced over at Goto, shaking her head. She couldn't do this anymore. "Chiyoko...there's something I have to tell you."

                "Are you sure?" he asked quietly. She nodded, and he said, "Okay. I'm going to take this information to Ankh."

                She was grateful as he left, charging up the stairs toward the attic. Chiyoko gave him a puzzled look before turning back to Hina, asking, "What was all that about?"

                There was so much to cover that Hina wasn't sure where to start. Finally, she settled on "Do you remember who told you that Ankh is an orphan from another country?"

                Chiyoko frowned, thinking hard. "Let me see. It wasn't you, and Goto hadn't started working here yet. It couldn't have been Ankh, he's so shy..."

                That was the weirdest possible word she could have chosen, and Hina couldn't help a laugh as she shook her head. "I don't think that's it, no."

                "Well, he's been through so much that of course he would be," Chiyoko reasoned. "Right?"

                She seemed to be searching Hina's face—for what, though, Hina wasn't sure. She took a shaky breath and shook her head.

                "I don't know who told you," she admitted. "But we think it might be the Eiji he's been looking for."

                She balled up her hands into fists. Seeing this, Chiyoko ushered her over to sit at the bar.

                "There's a connection between Ankh and your brother, isn't there?" she asked.

                Hina nodded. "They share the same body, but they're not the same person. Ankh...isn't even human. He's something called a Greeed. During my brother's last case, he got into a car accident. In order to save his life, Ankh possessed him." It suddenly occurred to her that this sounded too generous, and she shook her head with another laugh, even as tears started rolling down her face. "He had his own, selfish reason for it, though. He had been sealed away separate from his body, so he needed some way to protect himself. My brother was there, and he was so close to death that Ankh didn't have to fight with him for control."

                "I see," Chiyoko answered. "So this Eiji person, he's the one who found them?"

                She nodded again. "I think he must have sent me a text message pretending to be my brother, saying he was going undercover. But then I met Ankh and found out the truth for myself. But I couldn't tell anyone who he really was. No one would believe it. And even if they did, part of me was scared that they'd force Ankh to separate from my brother, and his condition was so delicate back then that he would have died."

                Chiyoko nodded. Her expression hadn't changed at all from the moment she sat Hina down, and it was clear she was thinking deeply about this.

                "I'm sorry," Hina said. "I didn't mean to keep lying like this."

                "Oh, no," Chiyoko replied, giving her a small smile. "I have to admit, it's all pretty hard to believe. You must have been so scared." Hina nodded, wiping her eyes. "But there's still one thing I don't understand. What happened to Eiji after he sent you that message, and why is Ankh so worried about him now?"

                "I don't know," Hina answered. "I must have met him, but I don't remember him at all. And Ms. Satonaka, Goto's boss, says that someone else used to work here with us. She doesn't know why Goto's still here, since he was supposed to have left so he could work for the Kougami Foundation."

                "That's right," Chiyoko realized. "I remember him turning in a letter of resignation and promising to help out whenever we needed it."

                "For some reason, we've all lost our memories around this person," Hina explained. "Even Ankh doesn't remember everything. He knows Eiji's given name, but he couldn't remember that his family name is Hino. He just knew it sounded like my name. Because it's a letter off."

                "And those notes are proof of Eiji's existence," Chiyoko said. "So, wait. If Eiji was here all of this time, that means some part of us still remembers him, right? After all, Goto remembered that we were going to be one person short."

                "Well, yes," Hina admitted. "But I don't have any memories of him."

                "You must," Chiyoko insisted. "You just don't realize it yet. I think Ankh depends on you for that."

                "But how?" she asked. "If I don't even know..."

                "He's counting on your strength to help him," she said. "It must be so lonely for him right now, when he's the only one who remembers everything. He doesn't have anyone to help him remember. But he's reached out to you—or maybe it's that you reached out to him."

                Hina sat for a moment, letting her words sink in. Finally, she nodded and said, "I'm going to go check on Ankh and Goto now."

                Chiyoko nodded. "I'll be down here if you need me."

                With renewed energy, Hina raced upstairs, only to find Goto shut out of the room. He gave her an apologetic look and admitted, "I didn't want to interrupt you guys."

                "He won't open the door?" she asked. When Goto shook his head, she stepped forward and knocked. "Ankh?"

                There was no answer, so she gave the door a solid shove. She had seen a little of the mess that Chiyoko and Ankh had found that morning, but it was nothing compared to this. The boxes, trunks, and couch that had once comprised Ankh's nest were scattered all over the room, some shoved to block the door by additional furniture that had been thrown, others in splinters. The old cameras that had once been on a shelf above the bed had been hurled into the wall, the desk by the window overturned, the antique sewing machine barely held off the floor by a toppled rocking chair, and the curtains had been torn off the window. As for Ankh, he sat on the lone bed on the side of the room, his talons digging into the fabric of his red sheet so tightly that Hina was sure he would rip that too. He looked as though he hadn't moved in hours.

                "Ankh?" Hina asked, cautiously making her way over toward him and holding out the first page of the notes. "We found it. You were right. Eiji's name was in my brother's notes. Hino Eiji."

                Ankh made no attempt to move, so she got closer, insisting, "I know it's not much, but it's a start."

                "For what?" he asked, glaring up at her.

                "We know who to look for now," she said. "We can put in a missing person's report now. We can post signs in the city. Between the police and Mr. Kougami, we'll be able to find..."

                "We're not finding anyone," he replied, smacking her hand away.

                It didn't hurt, but she drew her hand back sharply, emotionally hurt. Seeing this, Goto yelled, "What do you mean 'we're not finding anyone'? Do you realize how hard Hina's been working just to help you out? Or are you just too caught up feeling sorry for yourself to notice?"

                "Shut up!" Ankh shouted, jumping to his feet and grabbing the collar of Goto's shirt. "You don't get to act self-righteous. Where were you that night when Eiji needed you, huh? Waiting for your so-called 'back up' to show her face?"

                "I don't even know what you're talking about," Goto answered flatly, pulling Ankh's hand away. "And even if I did, what does that have to do with anything?"

                And suddenly, it all made sense. Ankh's catatonia, the destroyed room, his reactive anger. Without a word, Hina stepped in closer and took Ankh's wrist as gently as she could manage. Ankh glared at her, ready to turn his pain and rage on her again, but the second he saw the knowing sympathy in her eyes, the energy drained out of him.

                It wasn't fair. Hina had cared about Eiji, had always been kind to him. Goto had come to care, worrying about him without end. But neither of them had to remember him. It was as if he'd been erased from their lives entirely, the moment he'd passed. There was no pain, no helplessness. Ankh had to feel all of it, even though he'd always said he didn't care what happened to Eiji, as long as he got the job done. Eiji was just another tool, stupid but useful, someone he could exploit and throw away once he got what he wanted.

                So why did Ankh have to be the one who remembered? Why was losing Eiji the thing that made him appreciate him the most?

                But something still didn't make sense to Goto, and he asked, "Maki was the one who sent that candroid to help us, right?" Hina glanced back at him and nodded, looking puzzled. "Didn't he help you before too?"

                "When Ankh's impostor attacked us," she said. "This time, he sent the sword. But before..."

                Before, he'd sought Ankh out. He'd wanted Ankh to find him. He'd told him something, and now Hina turned back to Ankh and asked, "What did he say to you, when he was leaving? Something about you wasting time?"

                The same thought hit Ankh, and he stood up. "Not just that. I was running out of time."

                Goto couldn't help but stare at them in confusion for a moment, asking, "What's the difference?"

                "Think about it," Hina challenged. "If Ankh's wasting time, that just means that he's doing nothing. But if he's running out of time, that means there's something that he can do to change things. He just has to do it before it's too late."

                "But why would he care?" Goto asked. "Maki's obsessed with things ending. Why does he care that a single person dies? He's got the purple Medals. He's going to make sure everyone dies."

                "He doesn't have all of them," Ankh said. "He only has half. The other half are in Eiji."

                That was it—that was what had happened. Maki had attacked them at the festival, creating the Yummy from the blank lantern that Eiji had floated down the river, trying to coerce him into giving up the purple Medals. But what neither of them had predicted was that Eiji would give up his life instead.

                "Maki needs all of them," Ankh remembered. "He's trying to become a Greeed who can destroy the world. But he's not strong enough with just five Medals. He needs the rest."

                "So he wouldn't have gotten rid of Eiji for good," Goto reasoned.

                Ankh gave him a distasteful look. It was weird hearing Eiji's given name come out of Goto's mouth like that. He didn't think he liked it.

                Hina refocused everything by pointing out, "Maki must know how to bring Eiji back. If we just go talk to him, maybe we can..."

                At once, Ankh and Goto found something they agreed on, chorusing, "No."

                Hina took a shocked step back, blinking until Goto explained, "It's too dangerous. You've already been attacked twice now. If anyone's going with Ankh, it's me."

                The magic had broken, and Ankh snarled, "Like hell you will."

                But Goto immediately argued, "You know that it's probably a trap, even if it's a risk we have to take. Better if there's someone who can transform and fight."

                Ankh sneered. "And if we're wrong, and it's just a trap to lure us away so they can attack here?"

                "Then at least I have the sword," Hina pointed out. Ankh scowled at her, annoyed she'd argued, but she insisted, "I think Goto's right. This is an important lead. And then we can figure everything out from there."

                From her tone, there was no arguing with her. It was decided. Ankh clicked his tongue and said, "Fine. Let's get going."

Chapter Text

                They sent a candroid to Maki with a message of where to meet and when. On Goto's insistence, it had to be somewhere open enough that they could see any attack coming, and away from anyone who could wander into danger.

                Those stipulations brought them to an open training field just outside of town, on Kougami Foundation property. All personnel had been evacuated, and a perimeter of candroids monitored the area, watching for Greeed and Yummy activity.

                Ankh had grabbed a popsicle before they arrived and now sucked on what remained of the ice. It had fallen off the stick and was slowly melting in his mouth while he perched on a shooting target, one leg lazily trailing over the bulls-eye. The whole thing served two purposes: first, to hide how anxious he was about waiting for Maki to show up; and second, to annoy Goto.

                And Goto was suitably annoyed, glaring up at Ankh and stating, "I can't believe you made me stop so you could get ice cream."

                Ankh snorted in response before swallowing the last of the cold juice. A sudden chill went through his Cores, and he jumped to his feet as he heard Maki say, "One who enjoys the full experience of all six senses would not understand the fixation a Greeed would have. Isn't that right, Ankh?"

                "Bastard," he swore as they turned to face him. Regardless of what happened earlier, Maki was still just human enough to keep his presence masked until he'd snuck up on Ankh.

                Eiji had to have been so sensitive to the feeling, thanks to the Medals shared between them. If there really was a way to bring him back, Ankh's next priority would be removing the purple Medals. Eiji didn't deserve any of what they'd been doing to him.

                Goto wasn't about to let Maki ruffle him, instead saying, "You told Ankh that he was running out of time. You have to know how to save Hino Eiji."

                Maki focused his eyes on his doll, refusing to betray any emotion as he admitted, "Hino Eiji—so that is the full name I had forgotten. I suppose that Ankh now remembers the full details of last night?"

                Ankh dug his talons into his hand. He remembered—the blank lantern Eiji had floated in honor of the war victims he'd known, names lost in the haze of trauma and grief. The genuine smile on his face as he watched it travel down the river, although Ankh could no longer place what it was that made this smile so much more special and real than all of his other ones. And then...

                Ankh took a few steps away from Eiji as he summoned fire into his hand, ready to lure the Yummy or at least Maki away from him. He threw a small blast of fire, but the Yummy leapt over it easily, its foot coming toward him. Instinctively, Ankh dodged and released another burst of fire, throwing off the Yummy's aim and sending it careening into a tree. Given its small size, Ankh thought this might be enough to destroy it, but at the last second, the Yummy kicked out at the tree, engulfing it in a blaze of white fire.

                Ankh watched as the Yummy rose within the flames, feeling horror in every Medal and bone in him. Not far away, he could see Eiji wide-eyed with terror. He could tell they had come to the same conclusion—because this Yummy was far more lethal than any of the others, there was no way Maki had intended for Eiji to fight it. It was meant for Ankh all along. They'd been set up.

                "I did not want for it to come to this," Maki insisted, "but it has become more apparent to me that your will to resist comes from your connection to Ankh. Therefore, I must ask you to make a choice. Will you give up your Medals to me, or will you allow this Yummy to destroy him?"

                Ankh didn't want to look and see what was in Eiji's eyes. The idiot always chose what was best for everybody else. If it meant preventing the end of the world, then what was one Greeed's life? He resigned himself to oblivion as the Yummy leapt at him again.

                "Your Yummy killed him," Ankh said, rage bubbling up inside him once more. "You told him it was either the Medals or me. You knew he wouldn't take that choice!"

                "That was never my intention," Maki insisted. "I was just as surprised as you were. My belief was that he was far too attached to you to allow the Yummy to destroy you, therefore, he would surrender his Medals. And if he did not, losing you would cause him to lose control of the Medals so that I would be able to take them."

                Ankh stepped forward, ready to throttle him again, but Goto stepped in the way, holding out his arm to stop him.

                "But that's not the end, is it?" Goto challenged. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have met with us."

                "It is not," Maki admitted. "Perhaps because Hino Eiji still had the Medals within his body when the Yummy attacked him, it was not able to fully erase him, or the Medals, from existence. I can still sense them, albeit faint."

                "Then Eiji's still alive," Ankh pointed out. "So bring him back. Call out to the Medals like you did before."

                "I have tried," Maki said. "But from whatever state of limbo he is in, Hino Eiji is not responding to the Medals."

                "That's not a surprise," Goto insisted. "Why should he have any reason to trust you? Why should either of us trust you?"

                Ankh was torn between wanting to hit Goto and having to admit he had a good point. Literally every part of this felt like a trap.

                "That Yummy is the reason nobody remembers Eiji," he pointed out. "But you remember him because of the Medals between you. What makes me so special, then?"

                "He sacrificed himself for you," Maki answered. "Your own sense of guilt is probably what preserved your memories. For now."

                This time, Goto looked to Ankh, asking, "What does he mean 'for now'?"

                "Have you ever heard the practice of damnatio memoriae?" Maki asked. When Goto shook his head, he replied, "I thought not. Thousands of years ago, a man named Herostratus set fire to the Temple of Artemis. As punishment, he was not just executed, but his name stricken from record. Anyone who spoke his name in public was to be put to death as well."

                "Doesn't sound like that worked out too well," Goto pointed out, "if his name is remembered today."

                "Indeed," Maki agreed. "Hino's case is the same. Because of Ankh's lingering memories, he is still tethered to existence. However, the more time passes, the more these memories will fade. And should anything happen to Ankh, there will no longer be anyone left to act as Hino's anchor."

                "So that's it, then?" Ankh realized. "Eiji won't respond to you, but he will to me."

                "In short, yes," Maki replied. "However, we will still need to counteract the Yummy's power and create a rip in reality that we can reach Hino through. I had hoped that the sword's own space-time warping effects might be adjusted to allow for that tear, but it was not enough. I will need to modify the Birth armor in order to do so."

                They'd reached a point where neither Ankh nor Goto wanted to compromise. Ankh shouted, "Bullshit!" while Goto said, "There's no way we're handing that over to you."

                "It will be necessary," Maki insisted. "Only a sustained blast from the Breast Cannon will provide enough power to tear through reality long enough to recover Hino. Otherwise, he will remain as he is, until he completely fades from memory."

                "And how exactly are we supposed to fight back when that Yummy attacks?" Ankh challenged. "Or the Greeed?"

                "I have already instructed Kazari and the others to refrain from attacking you for now, until this matter has been resolved."

                As if specifically to prove Maki wrong, Ankh felt the dreadful familiarity of his own Cores nearby, calling to him, trying to pull him in. Goto noticed his reaction and immediately pulled the Birth Buster and fired off several shots.

                "Looks like someone forgot to tell him that," he said as the Lost Ankh appeared in the skies, destroying the candroids meant as their warning system.

                Lost Ankh dodged the shots, returning fire with short bursts of flame toward Goto, who scrambled to get out of the way and equip the Birth Driver. It cost him a few seconds, during which Lost Ankh let out a stream of fire toward him, only just held off by the power of Goto's transformation. The moment it completed, Goto was sent flying back.

                Lost Ankh landed directly in front of Ankh and Maki. Right next to his impostor, it was unbearable—Ankh felt heady, his Medals desperate to return to a state of completion. They didn't belong attached to this human body; they were supposed to be a strong, powerful Greeed, and there was one ready to take them back.

                Maki barely reacted to the danger in front of him, instead warning, "I believe I told you to stand down. You will have the opportunity to retake Ankh after the purple Medals are recovered."

                Lost Ankh, in turn, swatted him aside with a backhand, growling, "You don't tell me what to do. I'm taking me back now."

                Goto had been able to recover by this point and equipped Crane Arm, wrapping it around Lost Ankh and hurling him away from Ankh. With new distance between them, Ankh felt the fog leaving his mind.

                "Get out of here!" Goto shouted.

                Ankh didn't argue as he turned and started running. He couldn't do this with just three Medals. He let his hand retreat within his human body, as if the thin skin would offer some kind of protection from the inescapable desire to be whole. He wanted to be alive more, and he wanted Eiji back even more than that somehow. He just had to hope that it would be enough.

                There weren't going to be a lot of places for Ankh to hide on this training field, and Goto regretted insisting on this location in the first place. Lost Ankh was already breaking free, snapping the cable on the Crane Arm, so Goto let it drop and began firing the Birth Buster again.

                Lost Ankh charged through the hail of Cell Medal fire, but not quickly enough that Goto didn't have enough time to activate Shovel Arm, blocking an oncoming punch and firing the Birth Buster with his left hand. It took Lost Ankh by surprise, and Goto followed it up with a blow to the face with the Shovel Arm before increasing the distance between them and adding on the Caterpillar Legs.

                He raised a heavy leg to kick, but this time Lost Ankh saw through his strategy. The point wasn't to beat him—just buy time for Ankh to escape and provide cover fire. He rose into the air, over Goto's panicked shots with the Birth Buster. Ankh was still far from safety.

                Ankh sensed the danger and knew there was nothing he could do about it as his impostor landed in front of him. For a moment, he thought he could see a smug expression on the Greeed's motionless face as he grabbed Ankh's right arm and held it up, digging talons into his skin.

                "I'm coming back," Lost Ankh whispered.

                Ankh fought to hold himself together as rainbow-colored light surrounded them both. He could feel his mind melding, seeing himself from two perspectives. His arm kept shifting between Greeed and human form as he struggled to remain attached to that human body—after all, Eiji had been able to keep his Medals inside himself all this time, right?

                "I don't belong in two," Lost Ankh said.

                "You're right, we don't," Ankh admitted through gritted teeth. "But you're not going to be the one who wins."

                The nails went in deeper, and Ankh gasped in pain as blood and Cell Medals dripped out from himself and were drawn into his impostor. Shit—was he going to take him human body and all?

                "I will win," Lost Ankh insisted. "I'm still stronger than you."                  

                Great. He'd finally learned another pronoun and formed a separation between themselves in his mind. Not that Ankh was going to have much longer to appreciate it. He could see his fingers merging into his double's, feel Cell Medals and human cells crashing against each other, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Their minds were becoming one—his fear was being eclipsed by wild, sadistic glee at becoming a single, whole Greeed, and he was terrified that if he tried to scream now, he'd hear the wrong voice coming from his throat. The Medal that held his personality core was being assailed by the energy of eight others—fragments of a new identity circling through the other Cores, engulfing and eradicating him. This truly was what it was like for Eiji, wasn't it? Skin, Medal, energy, nothingness. No anchor to keep him there, no one to pull him back. He'd failed him.

                A trace of confusion brushed across his mind—his twin, unsure why a sudden burst of selfless concern for another being had suddenly entered their consciousness. Why OOO was so important to them, when he was the natural enemy of all Greeed?

                "Stop it," one of them was saying. Maybe it was both—neither of them felt like an individual being anymore. "Why am I feeling this?"

                It was painful. They could feel tears running down their face as the memories blazed.

                "So, it seems that you're still resisting, Hino," Maki said.                               

                His eyes flashed violet, and Eiji shouted in pain, his knees buckling. They struggled to keep him standing, feeling their borrowed heart pound in their chest. How much more of this would Eiji be able to take?

                "Just let him have the Medals," they whispered in-between Eiji's gasps for breath. "You're not going to be able to protect anything anyway if he kills you!"

                "You should listen to Ankh," Maki advised. "You gain nothing by continuing as you are."

                Eiji was only more defiant, forcing himself to stand as he argued, "If it stops you from destroying the world, then it's something."

                "It does not matter," Maki said. "Just as you burn candles for the dead, this world too will burn, with what beauty remains as its last, fleeting memory. In the end, we all will be forgotten."

                He produced a Cell Medal, and Eiji stepped forward, trying to stop him. But it was too late. From the lantern came a Yummy, a small, skeletal velociraptor with a sickle-shaped claw on its foot, burning with a white flame. At the same time, Maki called out to Eiji's Medals once again, nearly dropping him to the ground.

                They knew there was nothing Eiji could do. It would have to be up to them. They took a few steps away from Eiji as they summoned fire into their hand, ready to lure the Yummy or at least Maki away from him. They threw a small blast of fire. Given its small size, they thought this might be enough to destroy it, but at the last second, the Yummy kicked out at the tree, engulfing it in a blaze of white fire.

                They watched as the Yummy rose within the flames, feeling horror in every Medal and bone in them.

                "I did not want for it to come to this," Maki insisted, "but it has become more apparent to me that your will to resist comes from your connection to Ankh. Therefore, I must ask you to make a choice. Will you give up your Medals to me, or will you allow this Yummy to destroy him?"

                They didn't want to look and see what was in Eiji's eyes. The idiot always chose what was best for everybody else. If it meant preventing the end of the world, then what was one Greeed's life? They resigned themself to oblivion as the Yummy leapt at them again.

                A blinding pain tore through them—not the shock of memory, but the sensation of claws digging into their body. Something was cracking, and for a moment, Ankh wondered if he'd broken a bone before he remembered that he was a separate being and not yet joined to his double's body. He was dazed as he felt horror rise from his impostor's mind, not quite understanding why he joined him in asking, "My Cores?"

                A shattering sensation erupted through their minds, and suddenly, Ankh felt his Core freed from the energy trying to drown him out. He took his chance, seizing what Medals he could and tearing himself away from his impostor, staggering back several feet. He watched cautiously, waiting for Lost Ankh to attack him again.

                A blank, purple right hand reached out. Ankh took another step back, manifesting his hand and preparing to launch an attack at him. But there was no sensation of his Medals being called this time—just energy crackling through his impostor's body.

                "My..." he stammered, his voice small and terrified. He sounded like he was crying.

                And then he exploded, in a massive blast of fire and Cell Medals. Ankh shielded his face until the flames died down, trying to sense for the remaining three Medals he hadn't been able to grab.

                There was nothing. And as the smoke cleared, he could see why—dark purple claws were still reaching out where the impostor had stood. Claws that Ankh knew belonged to Maki. Claws that were attached to a dark purple dinosaur Greeed.

                "Impossible..." Ankh could hear Goto whisper behind him.

                He might have made the same type of denial, if he had it in him to do so. But his mind was still muddled from both his and his impostor's voices speaking together in his memories, then feeling the pain of the Medals cracking as if it had happened within him and not the other. The sudden, dead loss of the destroyed Medals was just as traumatic as the realization of what had happened to Eiji, and following so soon after, it was overwhelming.

                Red shards of Core Medal remained in Maki's hand, and he flicked them to the ground in disgust, remarking, "I have no patience for a Greeed who will not follow simple directions. Good riddance."

                "You destroyed his Medals?" Goto asked in horror.

                A car drove up, and Satonaka stepped out, even later than usual. She stared in uncharacteristic shock at Maki's new form as she held a steel briefcase, clearly wondering if she should pull her weapon or if it wouldn't do any good anyway. But her presence snapped Goto out of it, and he walked over to accept the briefcase, swapping it for his damaged belt.

                "Even without that other Ankh, it's still too dangerous to turn over the Birth system," he said. "And now, we need to repair it anyway. So I'm offering a compromise."

                He opened the case, revealing what to Ankh's eye looked like an identical belt. But Maki recognized the differences, remarking, "The Birth prototype?"

                "Yes," Goto confirmed, walking up to him. "You know that this system doesn't have as many weapons equipped. The Breast Cannon upgrade will be more useful here."

                Maki reached out to take the briefcase, but Goto held it fast, warning, "I still don't trust you. I'm coming with you, just to make sure you don't put in any nasty surprises like you left for Date."

                "Very well," Maki replied, shapeshifting back to his human form. As they started to walk away, he stopped and glanced at his doll, making his gaze almost reach behind himself to where Ankh was as he said, "Ankh, consider those Medals a peace offering between us. For a successful operation."

                Ankh clenched a fist, and noticing it, Goto called to Satonaka, "Take him home, please."

                "You owe me," she pointed out, her earlier wariness now forgotten. "But all right."

                She looked to Ankh, who made his way to the car without a word. The shock was setting in, fading away to numbness. The price to pay to get Eiji back was just too high, but now that he was this far in, there was no turning back.

~~~

                It was finally closing time, and Ankh and Goto still hadn't come back. Hina tried not to look too frequently out the windows, hoping she'd see them walking back as she swept the floor. Chiyoko was going back and forth between the kitchen and the dining area, bringing the next loads of dishes over to wash. When she saw Hina slow her pace and glance outside again, she smiled and said, "Don't worry. I'm sure if they were really in trouble, they'd find a way to let you know."

                It wasn't much, but it was reassuring, and it was something Hina wouldn't have gotten if she'd continued to keep this secret. She smiled softly back and nodded.

                "So have you thought about it yet?" Chiyoko asked. "What you remember about Eiji?"

                Hina shook her head. "I still don't remember anything. I don't know how I can help, beyond what I've already done."

                Chiyoko pulled up a chair and sat down, cueing Hina to do the same. "There has to be something. You've proven he existed. You're sure he was here. What else?"

                She thought carefully for a moment, then admitted, "I know Ankh said he was a warrior called OOO..." When Chiyoko nodded, she continued, "So if we don't remember that, then he must have been fighting or trying to fight before he was erased. After all, Ankh doesn't seem to be missing any more Medals. And we think there's still a way to bring him back, but..."

                The door opened suddenly, and they looked up. Ankh staggered in, a dead look on his face, with Satonaka right behind him.

                Hina sprang to her feet and went up to him, asking, "What happened?" but he pushed past her.

                "You're hurt," Chiyoko noticed.

                Hina looked again, seeing dried blood and cuts all over his right arm. When she looked over at Satonaka, all she cautiously explained was, "His impostor."

                "I'll take care of this," Chiyoko insisted, sitting Ankh down at the bar and starting to clean his wounds.

                Satonaka seemed to be waiting for Chiyoko to completely leave, but Hina said, "It's okay. I told her everything."

                She didn't change her expression, seeming not to care one way or the other how much Chiyoko knew. Either way, she said outright, "His impostor was destroyed, but so were three of his Medals." Hina gasped, and Satonaka continued, "It doesn't look like he'll be able to leave your brother for right now."

                Ankh was clenching his fist as Chiyoko bandaged him. Hina watched his reaction and knew he didn't need to be worrying about this on top of everything else.

                "It's fine," she promised. "We'll figure that out later."

                "There's one more thing," Satonaka said, handing over a thick manual. "Goto asked me to give this to you. He wants you to learn it by morning."

                She glanced down at the cover. The words "Kamen Rider Birth Prototype" were printed in plain typeface. She looked up in surprise, but Satonaka replied, "He's got a good point, though. You're the most logical person for the job. Almost nothing would have to be adjusted because of your strength. I don't know why he never thought of it before."

                "Eiji was against it."

                It was the first thing Ankh had said since his Cores had been shattered, and everyone looked at him in surprise. He pulled himself away from Chiyoko and walked over to the photos across the room, repeating, "Eiji was against putting you in danger. That's why."

                Hina looked down, feeling somehow like she was disrespecting Ankh's memories. But another part of her was also mad. How could someone she didn't even remember just decide whether or not she got to help?

                Satonaka took that as her cue to go, insisting, "I have to bring the Birth Driver in for repairs. I'll make sure Goto knows I delivered the manual to you."

                As Satonaka left, Chiyoko turned to Hina and said, "Don't worry about cleaning the rest. I'll keep the restaurant closed tomorrow. That way, none of you have to worry."

                "But..." Hina protested, but Chiyoko shook her head.

                "Goto wants you to study that carefully. Be sure to do that."

                Hina took a breath and nodded before glancing at Ankh. Then she walked to the kitchen.

                Ankh was still staring at the pictures, trying to pick out Eiji's face, but try as he might, he couldn't find a familiar face in the crowd. Hina came up beside him, holding one of the blue ice pops. He accepted it, sucking on it for a moment before finally explaining himself.

                "There's a picture of Eiji in here somewhere."

                "Really?" Hina asked, a note of false hope in her voice.

                "Apparently, it was an accident," he said. "He wandered into the shot."

                He'd never bothered to figure out which one. It hadn't seemed to matter at the time—after all, Eiji was here. What was the point of a photograph if you had the person with you?

                "I can't remember what he looks like," he admitted. "It's like my senses are just the way they used to be."

                She looked at him curiously. "Your senses?"

                "Greeed can't see much in the way of color," he explained. "We can't hear clearly, can only feel what our Cell Medals shape around, and scent and taste..." He held out the popsicle. "When I took this body, it was the first time I'd tasted anything."

                It was a lot all at once—both for him and for her. The loss of Eiji. The loss of his Medals. The need for Shingo's body. The loss of memory and the threat of loss of sensation.

                Hina reached out for the photos. "Hino Eiji is a Japanese name. So we can cross out anyone who doesn't look like they came from Japan." She then turned down the faces of most of the photos as Ankh watched in surprise. Next, Hina said, "My brother's notes said he was about eighteen or nineteen. So if this is a past picture, it can't be anyone older than that." Several more went down, and she hesitated at the last few, looking at Ankh first. "And you said that he walked into the shot, so he has to be somewhere in the background. That leaves just this one."

                She handed him a photo that looked like it had been taken in the Middle East. Behind the smiling faces of Chiyoko's friends was a young man with a walking stick who looked as though he was asking for directions. He stared off into the distance, a vague expression of confusion on his face. He wore a long shirt with a shawl over it, and it occurred to Ankh that even this looked a little conservative for him. His hair was dark brown and looked like it hadn't seen a brush in days.

                Even with the distance, Ankh knew Eiji. It really was like seeing him through the hazy vision of a Greeed, now becoming clearer. He stared at the picture, trying to memorize every detail so he would never lose it again.

                Hina watched with a soft smile and finally admitted, "You really care about him. You say his name all the time, like you like the sound of it. You never call any of us by name. It makes me kind of jealous."

                He said nothing. She didn't expect him to. Silently, she walked over to her chair and opened the manual.

                They had a big day ahead of them.

Chapter Text

                When Goto arrived at Cous Coussier the next morning, he never would have known that Hina had pulled an all-nighter. She was wide awake, dressed in a pale tank top and grey workout leggings, her hair tied back, ready to go. Chiyoko whisked away her coffee cup as Goto laid out an unmarked diagram of Proto-Birth and said, "Show me."

                Hina took a breath and pointed at the dial. "Activation. Full twist for transformation. Half a twist beyond that for Crane Arm, another full twist for Breast Cannon.  Each requires only one Cell Medal to activate, but if the Breast Cannon needs more power, you can add more Cell Medals. The weapons equip from the Receptacle Orbs here and here." She pointed at the chest and the right arm. "The armor has three and a half tons of punching power, eight tons of kicking power. Maximum jump height is forty-five meters, and maximum speed is twenty meters per second." She turned the diagram over, revealing a diagram of the helmet's interior. "HUD display inside helmet. Targeting focuses on left eye by default, but can be switched depending on operator's dominant eye. AR systems are always enabled, allowing for emergency messages to flash on HUD in case operator is in danger."

                "What about the self-destruct mechanism?" Goto asked.

                Hina hesitated, then flipped the diagram over again, pointing out the Receptacle Orb on the chest. "Receiver located here. Automatically sends an overload of power to Breast Cannon, causing weaponry to explode. It's a last resort tactic, in case the wrong person ends up in the suit."

                "But it's disabled," Goto promised. "I made sure of it." Hina breathed a sigh of relief. "You did a good job. Here."

                Her hands shook as she took the briefcase with the Proto-Birth Driver. "How much has changed now that it's been adjusted?"

                "Functionality seems the same," he said. "But the power output is greater—up to 120% instead of 70% of Birth's. The Breast Cannon runs on the same type of reality warping system as the sword now."

                "That's in theory," Ankh pointed out from across the room. "In practice will be different."

                Goto nodded reluctantly. "I've got to say, I don't like the idea of trusting Maki on this. But I suppose neither of us has a choice."

                He glanced at Ankh, who was careful not to react. Trusting Maki this far had cost him three Medals. No one wanted to consider what else they might have to pay.

                Hina double-checked the belt one more time, just to be sure she hadn't missed anything. Goto was running his own equipment through tests. That left Ankh alone to think about what was at stake. He glanced down at the accidental photo of Eiji, looking lost and confused. Only yesterday, Ankh had believed that Eiji might be just like this somewhere in the city. If their plan worked and they did bring him back, would he be the same as he was, or would the Yummy have affected him some other way?

                "So, this is it, huh?" Chiyoko asked. "You're all ready to save Eiji?"

                Hina smiled, and Goto nodded before spotting something wrong with the way she was wearing the belt and hurried to correct it. Ankh just kept looking at the photo.

                "This is nice, isn't it?" she asked him. "Everyone working together. No matter what's happened, we all want to see Eiji come home safe."

                Ankh made a noncommittal noise, still lost in his own thoughts. Chiyoko took this to mean a response, and then said, "Of course, you don't have to come home if you don't want to."

                Now, he was listening, glancing over at her in confusion. "Huh?"

                "Well, when you bring Eiji back, were you planning on coming back here to stay? I'd still love to have you, but it's up to you."

                It felt like a loaded question, even though it wasn't. He had six Cores now, and that was all he was ever going to have. Whether or not Eiji was going to remember anything, this simple fact meant that the answer was a lot more complicated than Chiyoko had thought.

                "Who knows? That might not be up to me," he answered, setting the picture down. "Eiji will probably want me to give back this body, as soon as possible, since there's no chance of making me complete again."

                Hina and Goto stopped what they were doing and stared at him. Finally, Hina insisted, "He can't."

                "We made a deal," Ankh argued. "If he ever stopped being useful to me, I'd abandon him, especially if my Medals were at stake. And if he ever found my weakness..."

                He hesitated. This was hurting more than it should have. How had Eiji wound up being his weakness?

                But Hina shook her head. "I don't think he's that kind of person. I can't believe it."

                "What would you know? You don't even remember him," Ankh pointed out.

                "That doesn't matter!" Hina cried. "Eiji let you stay in my brother's body for all this time. He went with us to the Obon festival. He bought you ice cream—how can someone like that just tell you to leave, knowing you can't keep up your strength and you'd lose your senses?"

                Ankh stared at Hina for a long moment, not sure how much he believed her. Finally, Goto spoke, offering, "There might be something the Kougami Foundation could do." When Ankh gave him a raised eyebrow, Goto explained, "Years ago, the biological research lab was looking into experimentation with human DNA and Cell Medals—creating a homunculus. Maki shut it down, but the notes are still available. If Detective Izumi's DNA could bond to Cell Medals, it could create a humanoid body that could support Ankh's Cores."

                That wasn't the kind of answer Ankh was expecting, least of all from Goto. Just how had this happened, that they were all suddenly on his side? Was it just because they were working together to bring Eiji back, or was it because Eiji was no longer here to push them away?

                "The first thing we have to do, though, is save Eiji," Chiyoko said, bringing them all back to reality. "When that happens, I want us all to sit down and have a long talk about everything. Shingo too, when that happens."

                Ankh couldn't help the small, almost-smile that came to his lips. Eiji was going to hate explaining things. It was only fair, after everything he'd put Ankh through.

                Hina took the sword out from under the table and held it out to Ankh. He took it with a smirk, while Goto nodded. It was time to go

~~~

                Ankh and Goto met Maki at the riverwalk. If given the choice, Ankh would have preferred to avoid the place where Eiji had been taken away from him, but Maki insisted that the location was necessary. The Yummy had erased memories of Eiji; it would hate this spot just as much as Ankh did.

                What they did get a choice on, however, was having Hina wait in the shadows, rather than revealing herself at once. None of them trusted Maki, and the longer they could keep it secret that Hina was equipping Proto-Birth, the better. For the time being, they would just pretend that it was the Yummy they were trying to deceive, that Goto wasn't revealing their hand by using Proto-Birth now, instead using Birth only until it was time to switch.

                Ankh was tired of waiting. He leaned against the sword, groaning, "When's this thing going to show itself already?" Glaring at Maki, he asked, "What the hell kind of desire is it looking for anyway?"

                Maki glanced at his doll and explained, "It was created to destroy any trace of its victim, down to the memories others had of him."

                "That part we know," Goto added. "But why did it attack before and not now?"

                "Perhaps it responded to Ankh's desire to remember," Maki suggested. "Such efforts would be in direct conflict with its objective, and it would be driven to eliminate the threat at all costs."

                Goto looked at Ankh, as if to ask him to try to remember something. Ankh gave him an annoyed look in return. He remembered everything that had happened that night. What else was there that he had to remember?

                But Eiji was waiting for him. Ankh had almost completely forgotten what he looked like and might have if Hina hadn't found that picture. But it was still so hard to clearly see his face in his mind. Ankh knew Eiji had smiled as he disappeared—the same dumb smile that he'd had while watching the lanterns float by. There was something about that smile that made it different from all the other times he'd smiled. What was it? Why did Ankh know that this was a moment of Eiji letting his guard down and being truly happy?

                He sensed the Yummy all of a sudden, responding to his thoughts. Quickly, he raised the sword, managing to block the velociraptor as it leapt down on him. It connected with the blade, then leapt off, flipping in midair before landing on the ground in front of them, snarling.

                Its foot had regenerated, although its hind claw was barely a spike, unable to summon fire. It hissed at the sword that had severed its foot before and leapt at Ankh again, only for Goto to shoot at it with the Birth Buster.

                "Hit it now?" he asked Maki.

                Maki glanced over from the doll to the Yummy. For a moment, his eyes widened, and he let slip, "Impossible..."

                "What now?" Ankh growled.

                "Its claw is destroyed," he explained, looking back at the doll as if nothing had ever happened. "The modified Birth Prototype will not work if there's no opposing attack."

                Ankh clicked his tongue. It figured.

                "Eiji better appreciate this when it's all over," he muttered before charging at the Yummy.

                The Yummy snarled and leapt at him again. Again, Ankh blocked with the flat side of the sword. He couldn't afford to do any more damage, but if he could just injure it enough to anger it, maybe it would regenerate further. Assuming, of course, that it didn't kill him in the process.

                Goto caught on to his strategy and started shooting rounds with the Birth Buster, taking care to only just miss. The Yummy turned, sweeping its wounded foot across the ground in warning. Instead of backing off, Goto fired again, prompting the Yummy to leap and flip over his shots, trailing faint embers as it tried to launch another attack at him.

                Ankh released a fireball—stronger than what he'd been able to manage before, even with only six Medals. The Yummy was thrown feet away, hit in the side, struggling to get up.

                There was something annoyingly familiar about the way it stubbornly tried to rise, despite its injuries. Suspicious, Ankh trained the sword on it again, making sure it saw as he made a quick feint forward. The Yummy jumped up, keeping in its usual low stance as it held its arms out, flaring out its feathers behind it in a threat. Ankh clicked his tongue and charged. The Yummy leapt right onto the sword, running along the blade to try to kick at Ankh with its nub of a claw.

                Ankh threw the sword down, knocking the Yummy off-balance. In just as quick a movement, he grabbed its skull and smashed it into the ground.

                "You were born from Eiji's lantern," he growled. "There's a reason it was blank, and it wasn't so you could just erase everything that you don't want to deal with!"

                The Yummy snapped its jaws at him, forcing him to pull his hand back. It then whipped its tail at him, and as he raised his arm to block, he felt razor-sharp feathers meeting his own. He backed away, but as the Yummy started to swing again, Goto snared it with Crane Arm.

                "It's getting stronger," he pointed out, straining to hold the Yummy down. "Whatever you're doing, hurry!"

                Ankh blasted fire around it, just as Goto had before, being sure to graze the Yummy. It fought to free itself from the cable wrapped around it, kicking at the loose end as hard as it could, but the claw just wouldn't heal itself.

                "Idiot!" Ankh screamed. "The whole point behind that lantern was memory! There were no names on it because the damn trauma made it too hard to remember anyone clearly!"

                He grabbed that loose end, pulling the Yummy close to him. He could hear Goto trying to warn him to stop and figured Hina was probably frozen in shock herself right now. Even the Yummy itself was in disbelief. But he wasn't afraid of it anymore. He couldn't be.

                He flicked the cable and flung the Yummy across the riverbank, right on the edge of the water. It was much shakier now as it tried to rise, and Ankh blasted a line of fire right at it, forcing it to back closer to the water.

                "What the hell is wrong with you?" Ankh demanded. "Are you trying to be forgotten? Is that it? Because so much shit happened and you can't remember it, so you feel so damn guilty that you have to make yourself the same?"

                "Ankh?" Goto asked, a tone of warning and worry in his voice.

                "Ankh," Maki interrupted. "This is getting us nowhere. We must find another way to retrieve Hino Eiji and his Medals from the Yummy..."

                "Shut up!" Ankh screamed, whirling around to hurl a fireball his way.

                For a moment, everyone was silent and still. And then Ankh started laughing, his voice high-pitched and breathless. The Yummy stopped fighting, staring up at Ankh like it didn't know what to do. Goto kept his guard up, not sure who he should be defending against or if he should call Hina in now or tell her to run.

                "It all makes sense now," Ankh admitted. "Ask the right questions. All this time, I thought I needed to remember, and that's when you attack. But never when I'm alone. It's only when I've got someone else here trying to help. Because you never ask for help. You don't want people to help you, even if you keep depending on me. That thing's so messed up it's got you attacking anyone else who gives a damn about what happened to you!"

                "To you?" Goto repeated, looking over at the Yummy now. "You don't mean..."

                "You've been part of that thing all along, haven't you?" Ankh asked. "That's why Maki couldn't control it—because you sure as hell can't even control yourself, can you, Eiji?"

                The Yummy was still frozen, and now, Ankh could clearly see Eiji in its body language—the way its arms were spread out and its legs wide, in the skittish, threatening stance of the out-of-control PuToTyra. That was his voice growling back and breathing quickly. Somehow or another, it was just as much Eiji as it was Yummy.

                And then it fell as Maki stepped forward, eyes flashing as he called out to the missing Medals.

                "Impressive," he stated. "So the Medals allowed the Yummy to assimilate Hino instead of destroying him. Excellent work, Ankh. Unfortunately, now there is no need to uphold our bargain."

                "Bastard," Ankh swore, calling fire to his hand as he turned his back to the Yummy, ready to protect it, to protect Eiji.

                Maki shifted to his full Greeed form and thrust his arm out at Ankh, as if to destroy the rest of his Cores the way he had the impostor's. But before he could, a blast from the modified Breast Cannon came from out of nowhere, throwing him back several feet.

                "Ankh! Goto!" Hina cried, running out in full armor to their side.

                "The girl?" Maki realized, with a glance toward Goto. "Now I see why you insisted on the Prototype."

                "Yeah, well, we figured we couldn't trust you," he answered. "We were right."

                Maki, assuming that Hina would be easier to take down because she wasn't trained, attacked her first. He was wrong. The moment she saw him trying to strike her, she grabbed his wrist with one hand and slammed down on his arm with the other. On anyone else, it would be bone-shattering force. For them, it was evenly matched.

                "I underestimated you," he admitted, summoning cold, dark, null energy into his hands, piercing through Hina's armor. "I will not make that mistake again."

                She was forced to let go and hold up her arms to cover her head as Maki struck again, sending shockwaves of pain through the armor. But this time, Goto had a chance to run in with Drill Arm and strike Maki from behind, forcing him to turn away from her.

                "Remember your equipment!" Goto shouted, alternating between strikes with Drill Arm and blocks with Shovel Arm. "Birth wasn't built to handle Greeed, and Proto-Birth wasn't meant to be used in real battle at all! Use what you have!"

                "Right," Hina remembered, equipping Crane Arm.

                "Don't forget," Ankh warned, "we need you to bring back Eiji."

                "I won't forget," she promised. "You just try to get him under control."

                Ankh looked back at the Yummy, which now seemed to have remembered that everyone there was its enemy, regardless of whose friend it had absorbed.

                "Sure, make me do the hard part," he muttered as he ran over.

                The hard part about it was that the Yummy both was and wasn't Eiji. If it were simply the case of an out-of-control Eiji, like with PuToTyra, Ankh could just fight him until he was exhausted or knock him out and be done with it. But no, the Yummy was something separate that had taken in and replaced both Eiji and the purple Cores.

                Eiji owed him two years' worth of popsicles now, he decided.

                It tried to leap over him as it had before, but this time, Ankh grabbed its tail and flung it into the water. The water covered its head immediately once it landed, and it took a moment to rise above the surface. But as soon as it did, Ankh grabbed it.

                "I don't know how much of you is still there, Eiji," he said. "But I am not letting you disappear that easily, do you understand me?"

                It started to kick at him, trying desperately to summon enough flame to erase him. But Ankh caught its foot and screamed back, "Is this really what you want? Is this why you smiled when you died? Do you just want to not exist?"

                The Yummy didn't, couldn't, answer, and it was honestly a relief. Ankh wasn't sure he wanted one. He called heat and flame into his hand, and the Yummy started channeling as much of its own fire as it could to keep his at bay.

                "Maki's wrong," he insisted. "It's not guilt that kept me from forgetting you. It's something different."

                Something he couldn't explain. Something that made him want Eiji alive above Eiji's own death wish. Some stupid, human emotion that he would probably never understand, but he didn't care.

                A burst of white flame forced him to let go, and he backed away as the Yummy dropped back into the river. Furious light shone beneath the water as it started to heat up and boil.

                "Hina!" Ankh shouted as he backed up onto land, reaching for the discarded sword. "Get ready!"

                Hina whirled away from her battle with Maki and activated the Breast Cannon once more. Cell Medal energy gathered, heating up and crackling like lightning. "Ready!"

                The water exploded like a geyser, and the Yummy leapt out at Ankh, its foot engulfed in flames. Ankh met the kick with the broad side of the sword, watching it too disappear in the fire as he screamed, "Now!"

                Hina fired, and an enormous, powerful beam of energy came toward Ankh and the Yummy. He dove out of the way, and the beam connected to the Yummy and its flames. Where the sword seemed to cut the world in half, the beam seemed to strip it away layer by layer. Ankh could see the Yummy flickering between itself and Eiji, over and over, caught between both existences.

                "Eiji!" he screamed, reaching into the blast. He tried to close his hand around Eiji's wrist, but he kept flickering in and out of reality. Meanwhile, the beam itself was starting to flicker as well.

                "Ankh, hurry!" Hina shouted. "I'm running out of power!"

                "Damn it, Eiji!" Ankh yelled. "I can't save you by myself. You have to want this too. And I did not come all this way just to lose you all over again! If anything we've been through means anything to you, then just reach out and take my hand!"

                He reached in again, trying to take hold of Eiji before he flickered out again or the beam shut down. But this time, he saw Eiji's fingers twitch, like he was trying to reach out himself.

                "Yes, just like that," he insisted. "Eiji!"

                Eiji's fingers caught his, and his form stabilized. Ankh tightened his grip and pulled as hard as he could, yanking Eiji out of the void before it could close. Eiji collapsed on top of him, Ankh supporting all of his weight as he slowly opened his eyes.

                "Ankh?" he asked, a puzzled look on his face.

                He was soaked, and there were bruises on his face that hadn't been there the night of the festival. Ankh had a feeling that if he looked at Eiji's foot, it would be bleeding. Just as the Yummy had replaced Eiji and absorbed everything about him, including the purple Medals, Eiji now had replaced it and absorbed all of its injuries.

                "What happened?" he asked, looking around as he tried to stand on his own. Sure enough, he couldn't put his weight on one foot, and Ankh had to grab his arm before he could fall again. "I remember...the Yummy, and then there were flames. It's all a blur after that. But then...I could hear your voice." Ankh tried to keep his expression neutral, but he'd clearly let some of his concern slip out because Eiji looked at him with his eyes widening in realization. "Ankh, did I die?"

                Ankh grabbed his face, squeezing his cheeks together. Eiji's expression changed to the usual stupid look he had whenever Ankh did this. It made it harder for him to speak while also getting his attention in a hurry, and he never seemed to figure out that this was exactly why Ankh did it all the time.

                "Hey," Ankh warned. "Don't ask stupid questions, all right?"

                Eiji nodded, his squished face still confused. Ankh hadn't realized how much he'd missed it. He leaned in suddenly and kissed him—an impulsive move that he couldn't help. Even if it turned out to be a mistake, it was something he needed to do.

                Eiji froze up during the kiss, and when Ankh let him go, he started blushing. Flustered, he asked, "What was that for?"

                It wasn't the worst reaction Ankh could have gotten, even if it still wasn't the best. He snorted and replied, "I thought I told you not to ask stupid questions."

                Somehow, that broke the tension between them. Eiji softly laughed, and when he looked back up at Ankh, there were dimples in his cheeks from smiling.

                Dimples—that was it, that was what made these smiles different from the rest. Eiji's dimples didn't show when he was giving a fake or polite smile. Suddenly, Ankh didn't mind if it meant he didn't have to share this with the rest of the world.

                Across the way, Hina was trying to catch her breath. It had worked. Eiji was back, and hopefully soon, everyone's memories of him would be too.

                But with her back turned, she never saw Maki overpowering Goto and now coming her way. A sudden blow from behind threw her to the ground, and she screamed.

                Eiji turned at the sound of her voice, his eyes wide again as he frantically asked, "Hina? What's she doing here?"

                "No time to explain," Ankh warned.

                Maki was looking right at them. Eiji fumbled for the OOO Driver, but he didn't have a chance to put it on. Maki started calling to the Medals in his body, and Eiji dropped to the ground and began screaming as his eyes turned purple.

                Ankh knelt beside Eiji as he continued to scream, his eyes filling with tears. He kept his hands clasped over his chest and started thrashing around, as if trying desperately to keep the Medals from bursting out of him.

                "Just let go," Ankh insisted. "You don't want to become what he is."

                Eiji didn't seem to hear him. His voice was going hoarse, and he was losing the energy to stay upright. His head dropped to the ground as he started curling up into a ball, the screams now coming out as choked sobs. Maki refused to let up, and Ankh screamed, "Are you trying to kill him?"

                Eiji reached out his hand suddenly and tightly gripped Ankh's. Ankh looked back at him and saw that within the tight ball he'd made of himself, he was digging his fingers into the earth, trying to conceal the cracks in the ground and the faint purple glow underneath him. His pained expression said that he had an idea, but he just needed Ankh to buy him some time.

                Ankh blasted a stream of fire at Maki. It didn't do anything to stop him, but it gave Ankh a chance to get up and run toward him, aiming a punch. But Maki caught his arm and squeezed right where his impostor had cut into, and Ankh couldn't help but shout in pain.

                "Again we find ourselves in the same situation," Maki stated. "But perhaps Hino Eiji will lose all resistance if I destroy the rest of your Medals."

                He pulled back his hand to strike again, and Ankh felt a chill run through him. But before the hand could come any closer, a hook and cable wrapped around it, and Ankh could hear Hina let out a cry of exertion as she pulled as hard as she could.

                "Just like that, Hina!" Goto encouraged as his Crane Arm wrapped around Maki's other arm, jerking it enough that he had to let Ankh go.

                Ankh drew back and saw both Goto and Hina using their free hands to charge up their Drivers again. Summoning fire, he agreed, "Together, then."

                He released the fireball at the same time the two Births fired their Breast Cannons. In the explosion that followed, Ankh thought maybe they wouldn't need Eiji's plan, but then a wave of nullifying energy knocked all three of them off of their feet.

                Maki stalked past them toward Eiji. Ankh wanted to run back to Eiji's side, but he couldn't get up. He had to watch as Eiji, still curled in on himself, started crying out again as Maki got closer.

                "And now, I wish a fine end to you," Maki said as he thrust his hand at Eiji's exposed back.

                Just when it looked like it really was all over, and even Ankh was sure Eiji had failed, Eiji's pained scream became a defiant shout. He opened up, PuToTyra's axe in hand, swinging it out in front of him and slicing Maki's  arm off.

                Ankh heard himself let out a thrilled yell as he watched Eiji kneel there, exhausted but elated at his victory. Maki looked at the smoking stump where his forearm had been and remarked, "Impressive." But then his arm regenerated as if nothing after happened, and Eiji's face fell and Ankh's heart sank at the exact same time. It was all the warning they got before Maki plunged his hand into Eiji's chest.

                Once again, Ankh found himself in a blur. He remembered the shocked look on Eiji's face and the way he slumped forward. He didn't remember standing, or shifting into his full Greeed form, or flying forward and ripping Maki away from Eiji and punching him over and over while Hina and Goto rushed to Eiji's side. He knew Maki hit him hard enough to toss him aside, and that Goto charged in when he fell.

                But the first thing he clearly remembered, though, was hearing Eiji's voice weakly call out, "Ankh!"

                Ankh turned his head. In his true form, his vision wasn't clear enough to see Eiji's face. Shifting back, he pulled himself over, watching Hina cautiously hold him. His face was pale and grimaced, and his breathing was labored as he clutched his chest.

                "Eiji?" he asked carefully.

                Eiji opened his eyes, then flashed a confident smile—not the same one he'd had when the Yummy had gotten him, no. This one left Ankh puzzled until Eiji pulled his hand away from his chest to reveal what he'd managed to conceal at the last minute—a purple Pteranodon Core. Shocked, Ankh pulled Eiji's shirt away from his chest. It was red from the attack, and would bruise, but there were no other signs of the devastating wound that should have been there.

                He looked at Eiji for an explanation, and Eiji breathlessly answered, "I guess enough of me changed that it didn't..." He struggled to finish the thought, then shook his head, bringing up the axe. "I managed to save this one, but he'll figure it out soon."

                His hands were shaking as he tried to fit the Medal into the blade's slot. Seeing he was going to cut himself, Ankh stopped him.

                "This thing is made for Cell Medals," he warned.

                "Is this going to be safe?" Hina asked.

                Eiji got his tremors under control, then inserted the Medal. A long burping sound came from the axe.

                "I guess it can handle both," he admitted.

                Ankh moved over to the side, to help Hina support Eiji as he switched the weapon to blaster mode. Purple energy spiraled around it, crackling like lightning.

                "Goto!" Hina yelled.

                He glanced over to see what they were doing, then quickly dove for cover. Eiji pulled the trigger, and the recoil pushed all of them back toward the water again. A sphere of violet energy, backed by a swirling stream in the same power, tore through Maki, forming a warp in space.

                The warp acted like a black hole, sucking everything toward it. Hina grabbed Eiji and Ankh by their wrists and pushed them against the ground as much as she could, trying to keep them safe. Goto quickly fired off his Crane Arm again, anchoring himself to one of the trees before slowly reeling himself in.

                "Close it!" he ordered.

                "I can't!" Eiji shouted back, clutching the blaster. "It's overloading!"

                "Overloading?" Goto asked, a mystified tone in his voice that said he'd just realized something.

                Ankh reached the same conclusion at the same time and ripped the weapon out of Eiji's hands, throwing it at the void. It was drawn over, but not sucked in; rather, it seemed to orbit it.

                "Remember what you said about the self-destruct?" Ankh asked Hina. "Can you shoot that and finish overloading it?"

                "I'd have to let go of you!" she warned. "I can't do both."

                "It'll be okay," Eiji insisted, glancing at Ankh and nodding. "We'll make it."

                Hina was still hesitant, but Eiji started wiggling his hand free of hers. When she gasped and tried to hold him tighter, Ankh warned, "I'll worry about Eiji. You just make sure you can hit that thing before we're sucked in."

                Goto made his way behind the tree, where it was safe, and aimed his Crane Arm toward Hina, offering, "I'll anchor you!"

                "Okay," she agreed finally. "On three. One!"

                "Two," Eiji added.

                "Three!" Ankh cried as she let go of their hands.

                The warp grabbed them immediately, nearly taking Hina too if not for Goto's anchor. Ankh spread out his wings and felt a sudden stop, the force of his own flight acting as a buffer. But Eiji was still being drawn in, reaching his hands out for Ankh's. Ankh grabbed hold, then flapped his wings as hard as he could, trying to fly upwards, away from Hina's line of fire.

                Eiji was still blocking her shot, however, and he looked up at Ankh, warning, "I'm still in the way!"

                "Hold on," Ankh insisted. "I'm pulling you up."

                "Just let me go!" Eiji argued.

                "Not a chance!" Ankh snapped. "You really think that after all of this, I'm just going to let you die? When are you going to get it through your head that we care about you! That I care about you!"

                He watched his words settle in for Eiji—the stunned mix of hope and hurt, his lack of desire clashing with those words and emotions, and him trying to understand how any of it went together.

                "Do you love me?" he asked suddenly.

                "What does it matter?" Ankh shouted back, suddenly defensive as he kept pulling. But Eiji was still staring, so he admitted, "Fine—yes! Yes, I do. That's why I remembered you, that's why I did all this, that's why I'm not letting you go!"

                For a moment, he thought his Core might break just from the look of disbelief on Eiji's face. But finally, a soft smile reappeared, and he began trying to climb, trying to help Ankh pull him up.

                His feet finally cleared Hina's range, allowing her to fire the Breast Cannon. Ankh held Eiji as tightly as he could and kept flying as the blast finally hit the overloading blaster. Light began to erupt out of it, along with shockwaves of energy before it finally exploded. Ankh had to turn his head away and saw Eiji squeezing his eyes shut at the explosion—that was right, he remembered. Eiji hated explosions, even though he was responsible for quite a few of them as OOO.

                And finally, it faded. Having canceled one another out, the explosion and the warp disappeared, leaving a peaceful riverside below them. Slowly, Ankh descended, and when they touched the ground again, it took a few seconds longer than it probably should have for them to let go.

                By the time they did, Goto and Hina had removed their Drivers and ran up. Eiji grinned and gave Hina a quick hug and shook Goto's hand.

                "Good to see you're okay," Goto said.

                "Thanks to you guys," Eiji answered.

                "Not really," Hina insisted. "It's Ankh you should be thanking. He's the one who wouldn't give up on finding you."

                Eiji turned to Ankh, that look of shock from before, and Ankh realized all of a sudden that Eiji was touched. Feeling suddenly self-conscious, he muttered, "What was I supposed to do? You picked a terrible time to get yourself killed."

                "Ankh," Hina warned.

                But Eiji shook his head, laughing. "It's okay. I know what you mean. Thank you."

                It was the first time he had ever thanked Ankh for anything, in all the time they had been together. Ankh didn't know what to do.

                Somehow, that seemed to make Eiji smile even harder as he took Ankh's hand.

                "All right," Goto answered, trying his hardest not to look while Hina grinned. "We should get you checked out at the hospital after all that."

                They started off, and Ankh pretended to be annoyed as he changed his grip to take hold of Eiji's arm and support him as they followed. The stupid smile on Eiji's face never changed.

~~~

                Ankh woke up.

                The ceiling was farther away than he preferred it, but there wasn't much he could do about it right now. Not until they could rearrange the attic and replace the furniture he'd broken.

                He turned over. Beside him, Eiji was fast asleep, his wounds cleaned and treated. Ankh reached out to brush some of the hair out of Eiji's face, pausing at one of the bruises he'd absorbed from the Yummy. He supposed, if they were suddenly in a mood to start thanking people out of the blue, he should probably pass along some acknowledgment to Hina for stopping him from destroying the Yummy when he'd had the chance, or hurting it more. After all, Eiji had had enough of a minor panic attack when he'd had to get his foot stitched up.

                The gesture—whether from the motion or brushing up against one of his injuries, woke Eiji up. He fixed his bleary gaze on Ankh and asked, "Ankh, what is it? Another Yummy?"

                Ankh almost wanted to laugh. After all this, he was reacting as if everything was back to normal? But then, maybe it was a relief. Too much had happened, and he wasn't sure how they were supposed to deal with it all.

                "Idiot," he whispered, brushing Eiji's hair out of the way again. "Go back to sleep."

                Eiji raised an eyebrow. "You really think you can call me an idiot after all this?"

                Ankh rolled his eyes. "It's because of all this I can call you an idiot. Stop making me worry about you."

                Eiji grinned. "I don't know. It's kind of nice knowing you actually can worry about something other than ice cream and Medals."

                "And you owe me twice the amount for that stunt you pulled," Ankh reminded him.

                It was Eiji's turn to roll his eyes, and Ankh turned away. "Fine."

                He got quiet for a moment, and Ankh thought he'd fallen back to sleep. But then he felt Eiji cautiously moving closer to him and looked over in surprise. He looked just as self-conscious as Ankh was, his cheeks beginning to turn red as he mumbled, "Thanks again. For everything."

                "Huh?" Ankh asked.

                "It's not just saving me," Eiji admitted. "When you chose me to be OOO, it was the first time that I felt like I could do something about everything happening around me. Like I really could reach out and take anyone's hand if they needed it. And I guess...I've needed someone to do the same to me. And that's what you've been doing. So...thank you."

                Then, as if he was about run out of courage, Eiji leaned in and kissed Ankh. Ankh imagined he probably had the same look of surprise on his face that Eiji had when he'd done it earlier, especially based on the way Eiji seemed to be trying to bury his face in embarrassment.

                Finally, Ankh smirked and asked, "You think that's all I'm letting you get away with?" and kissed him again, this time aggressively, bringing himself on top of Eiji and cupping his face with his Greeed hand.

                When he finally stopped and let Eiji catch his breath, he saw shock and elation pass on his face for a moment before he pushed him off and complained, "You told me to go back to bed. How am I supposed to sleep now?"

                Ankh gave him a playful scowl before remarking, "And that's something I should worry about why?"

                Eiji got up and kissed him back, pushing him against the wall this time. Ankh countered by pushing him back onto the bed, only remembering to take care with Eiji's injuries when his eyes widened at the sudden force against his chest.

                Ankh clicked his tongue, trying to cover his concern and sense of guilt. He was not going to apologize when Eiji started it. "Well, guess we'll just have to pick up where we left off later, then."

                Eiji gave him an annoyed look, but when Ankh settled in next to him and put an arm around him, he answered, "Fine. But don't blame me when I can't get up in the morning."

                Ankh had already closed his eyes, so he didn't see Eiji's expression when he said, "I thought you said you couldn't sleep after this." He did hear his groan, though, and he smirked. Maybe things weren't back to normal, but he could put up with how they were today, as long as he had Eiji there to figure it out with him.