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There’s not much of Ikki left.
Vice never meant for this to happen, how could they know a one time deal would cost so much? How could they know about Revice?
…well, it doesn’t matter. They also figured they’d spend the rest of their life a weird voice in Ikki’s head. Not… partners.
Ikki’s their partner.
Ikki wraps an arm around Vice’s shoulders.
“Vice~” she says. “What’s got you looking so serious?”
A lot of things, but Vice can’t say them. They’ve got a character to keep.
“Oh, nothing much,” they say. They don’t say how Ikki’s smile is tight all the time, now. They don’t mention how much time Ikki spends in their room, or just… away from people. They don’t mention the way Ikki sacrificed the things that made Ikki, just to save the world, and their friends and family. Soccer. The bathhouse. The family. She even forgot her own gender.
Vice’s fault. Should have changed the deal, made it so Ikki could never remember specifically that night. How could they have known?
“Oh,” Ikki says. “You sure?”
And then there’s the way she stays close to them, now. Trusting their version of events more than her own. But never really… getting it. Never able to pick up the pieces of memory.
It probably doesn’t help that Ikki is surrounded by people she doesn’t know, but who do know her.
Vice wishes they knew a solution, but unfortunately, they’re just… stuck.
“Let’s go on a date!”
“W-What?”
“A date!”
“But Vice, we aren’t dating,” Ikki says, blinking confusedly. “And we’re men.”
“No, we’re not,” Vice replies even if, in secret, they want it, want Ikki and Hiromi and maybe, if he‘s doing better, George, and then, because they’re not on camera. “But no, we’re not, and I want to have fun. Come on!”
It’s a work day. Ikki shouldn’t agree.
She shrugs.
“Just give me a few minutes,” Ikki says.
Vice hides their sadness. They’re good at that.
“Okay, but if we were dating,” Vice says as Ikki swirls her drink in its cup. “I wonder what our ship name would be? VaIkki?”
“IkkiVice, obviously,” Ikki replies, with a small smile. “I clearly come first.”
“What— hey!”
Ikki laughs, and Vice gives an exaggerated sigh. She’s right, but it’s mean. Not their fault they have the worst voice actor. Even kids don’t like them!
“How about Revice?” Ikki asks.
“But that’s already our Rider name!” Vice says. “And you come first that way, too!”
Ikki’s face then falls. Vice wants to hold her. But that would be out of character. Their touches are loose and friendly, not close. Not even when Ikki is the only one their spines bend for, instead of staying sharp.
“Hey, Ikki,” they say. “Don’t be mad, I was just joking—”
“Hey, Vice?” Ikki interrupts. “Am I still… me?”
“What?” Vice asks. “Of course you are! Ikki is Ikki.”
Ikki looks down.
“I don’t remember my family, or what I did for fun,” she says. “Apparently, I was a girl, and I don’t even remember that . Am I even Igarashi Ikki anymore?”
Vice sighs, a real one.
“Ikki… you’re still you. We’re all here for you.”
“That’s just the thing,” Ikki replies. “They’re all here, and, okay, I remember George and Hiromi, in vague details, but not… not my own family. All I can remember now is Revice. And you.”
“Ikki, you don’t—”
Ikki waves her hands awkwardly, smiling the same uncomfortable grin she gives her forgotten family, these days.
“I don’t blame you, of course,” she says. “I trust you. I don’t know why I didn’t, at first.”
“I pretended to eat your mom.”
“Oh.” Ikki pauses. “…Um. Why?”
“Well, you try being stuck as a ghost for over fifteen years and try to be sane,” Vice says, pouting. Ikki returns to her real smile. It’s softer now, though Vice doesn’t mention it. Less confidence.
(Their fault. Their fault. Their fault.)
“That’s fair,” Ikki says. She sighs. “So I’m still me?”
(She’s different in inumerous ways.)
“Ikki is Ikki,” Vice says simply. “And I’ll stay with you until the end.”
(They just wish they could fix this.)