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Parado was staring with wide eyes at where Emu just was seconds ago. He was back in the very spot they were before going into the game. Currently Parado was still on his knees, the tears were not stopping. His gaze went to Emu's Driver, that had now fallen with Mighty Action X and Mighty Novel X inside of it.
It was beginning to rain, the sprinkling slowly picking up. He let out a scream of anger—of agony—of heartache as he grabbed Emu's Driver with both hands and cried. He continued crying, even as the rain was now pouring, soaking his clothes. "Emu... my heart is aching... Emu... I'm sorry..! I'm so sorry..."
When he heard splashing footsteps, he lifted his gaze briefly to see Kiriya and Hiiro. Behind them were Taiga, Nico, and Poppy. They all were staring at Parado. Poppy's hands were gripping her skirt. Nico had a hand to her chest, tears obviously in her eyes. Kiriya was the one to kneel down in front of Parado. "...He's gone, isn't he?" The coroner asked softly.
Parado let his head hang low as he nodded, letting out broken sobs.
Hiiro was just staring at Parado, not even sure what to do or say. Poppy decided to walk over to them. She knelt down, too.
But then Parado leaned further, touching his forehead to the ground while he clutched Emu's driver against his chest. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Emu... I'm sorry..!" He continued crying, screaming as he spoke. His voice was seemingly going hoarse. "I'm sorry!"
Kiriya the one to put his hands on Parado's shoulders and force him to sit up. The bugster just stared at him with a broken expression—one Kiriya had never seen on Parado, ever. "Parado, it's not your fault. Come on, let's at least head back to CR." He was able to convince Parado to stand, with the help of Poppy.
The entire walk back to the hospital, Parado was silent. His steps were a bit staggered, but he didn't let go of Emu's Driver—not until they got back to CR and he placed it on the table. He remained silent.
Then the next day, while they were discussing further about what happened in the Novel, about how they should've been able to save him, Parado just collapsed again onto his hands and knees. He pressed his forehead against the floor of CR's office. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry that I killed Emu..! I did another unforgiveable thing..! I'm sorry..!" He continued sobbing as his fingers were scraping against the ground in his agonized state. The tears were dotting the ground below him.
Everyone knew how hard it was for Parado of all people, even if they were all just as upset.
They didn't directly ask why, because they all figured there was no other option—because Emu asked him to.
"Parado, its not your fault—" Poppy was about to kneel down, but Kiriya pulled her back a bit. "Kiriya?"
He didn't answer her. Instead, he just knelt in front of Parado. "Parado, no one is mad at you for that. But if you can't forgive yourself for it, then I'll at the very least forgive you in Emu's place."
Parado lifted his head up, staring with glossy and teary eyes. The tears weren't stopping. "I... I should've—"
"Parado," Kiriya put both hands on his shoulders, "you did what you had to do. There was no time or no other options, correct?"
A shy nod.
"Then there is nothing more you could've done. I know it will take a while for you, it will take a while for all of us. But Parado... at the very least, you were with him until the end. He didn't die alone."
The bugster continued staring at him until his gaze went back to the floor.
"What the coroner is saying... it's true, Parado. You... did what anyone else would've done. At least now the pediatrician can finally be put to rest. He's not suffering anymore."
"But he deserved to—"
"Parado." Taiga interrupted him, having been sitting on the couch. "You know him better than us by now. Even with what we saw in the novel... you are Emu. You know the darkness in his heart. You know he suffered his entire life because of his father and Genm—because of all of the other adults who failed him as a child. At the very least, you can carry on his will."
"Yeah!" Poppy agreed, trying to smile while tears were falling down her cheeks. "You... you can carry on for him."
. . . . .
After that, Parado was mostly silent. He'd spend most days in his and Emu's apartment, just staring at the TV, at the second controller.
One day—one month since—while he was out at the store, having been asked to come by Kiriya, he passed by a set of glow in the dark stickers. He stared at them and took hold of one of the packages. A tear dripped down his cheek. "Parado?"
"Emu... told me before he wanted glow in the dark stickers for his ceiling like these."
Kiriya had a soft smile. "Then get it, I'll buy them."
"What?" He turned his head to look at the human. "I..."
"Think of it as a way you can still have him with you."
Parado continued staring at him for a bit until his gaze went back to the package of glow in the dark stickers. He let out a soft sigh and grabbed it.
. . . . .
After Emu had been gone for nearly three months, Parado was sitting at the table in CR when he held a hand to his chest. "I... suddenly thought I felt Emu again—it felt like he was yearning for something... but he's..." his voice trailed off. A sad laugh. "I must be hallucinating."
"Emu—you felt Emu..?" Hiiro questioned, staring at him. He was sitting across from Parado. "Can bugsters even hallucinate..?" That part was mumbled to himself.
Parado only put his head down and held his hands over the back of his head. He was obviously crying. "Its cruel if so... my heart is aching..."
Then he stood up, about to walk off. "Parado."
He didn't turn to look at Hiiro because his gaze was on Emu's coat. His coat was still hanging up on the coatrack, where he had left it before leaving to attempt to finish the novel and save lives—because he was wearing his other jacket, the one with yellow on it. Parado stared at Emu's namebadge, his bottom lip quivering as the tears fell.
"Regardless of what you think, you did the right thing. You did what he had asked. You did what the patient wanted you to do. In the end, you were the one who saved Emu's heart and preserved his smile."
Parado only teleported away after that. He went back to the apartment, quickly sitting on the bed—on Emu's bed. Every now and then he'd just sleep in the bed, thinking about how he could've saved Emu—about how they could've avoided everything. He'd fall asleep and not even realize he did until he's waking up. Bugsters don't need sleep but Parado was usually very mentally exhausted after all of this.
He wasn't sure when he fell asleep, but he woke up to his phone going off. Glancing at the caller ID and seeing that it was Poppy, he answered it. "Poppy?"
'Parado, I need you to come to CR. There's something I need to show you. Kiriya and Hiiro are on their way. I'll be down there in a bit, I have to get something from Kyotaro.'
"...Okay." He hung up. Poppy would call him whenever they needed to use Emu's memories from Parado, but this sounded different. He took a deep breath, clenching his shirt. Why could he feel disappointment, boredom, and fear? It wasn't his own... it had to be Emu's. There was no other explanation. Then he glanced to the time on his phone; he had slept for at least 8 hours.
After teleporting there, he glanced to see Hiiro just walking in. Kiriya was already at the table. Hiiro took his seat and Parado took the one between them. "Wonder what Poppy’s got to tell us..." Kiriya was clearly thinking, his gaze going over to the small memorial for Emu. A soft sigh as he closed his eyes.
The memorial was on a stand, it had Mighty Action X, Mighty Novel X, and Mighty Brothers XX on top of it. Behind those gashats was a single photo of Emu—taken just weeks before the novel. It was framed. Next to it had been a pink but fake rose and two candles. They didn't burn the candles, but they kept them there. His Driver, Maximum Mighty X, and Hyper Muteki were put away in a briefcase for safer keeping. It was really Nico's idea for the memorial, stating it would be good for everyone to remember him in some way. Parado at first was hesitant on the idea, only because of how upset he had been over the situation. Part of him feels like Emu should still be alive—part of him feels like this memorial is only solidifying the fact that Emu was erased from reality in its entirety.
When Poppy finally came in, Parado stared at her. He recognized so many different emotions in one on her face. She knew he had been feeling Emu recently, he told her first.
When she delivered the news—that there was an 8 year old with the name of Hojo Emu—Parado knew. He had bolted out of the room without further explanation; Hiiro was following.
When they got to the room, his hand hesitated over the handle to slide the door open. Hiiro let him take his time. Parado took in a deep breath before he opened the door.
There in front of him, was a child who looked just like Emu did as a child. It was a child who turned to look at him, who said his name. But... that's impossible... isn't it..? It should be impossible.
He remained weary but his heart was full of hope.
The more he spoke to the child, the more he realized that it was indeed his host. His chest felt as if it would burst from all of the emotions in his heart: happiness, hope, joy, content, but also fear and heartache. There were just too many.
Before the child got too sleepy, Parado wanted to try something. His eyes went red and so did Emu's in response... and then the personality changed briefly. Where the kid was using boku, he was now using ore. Parado stared at him until he smiled. This was Emu.
There was no doubt about it.
. . . . .
Three days later, after Hiiro confirmed the adoption was in process, he went with him to shop for things for Emu's new room. Parado brought some things over from the apartment. Well, Emu really only had a few things to his name. Obviously he had his collection of video games and consoles—and brightly colored video game clothes. Furniture and otherwise, however, he only had one TV, a couch, a coffee table, a dining room table with only two chairs, his bed with bed frame, a small desk and chair, a bookshelf, and a nightstand.
That was all he had.
In terms of household items, he only had the basic necessities for himself and Parado. That was it.
But he did tell Parado once how he would decorate his room if he had a bigger place for himself.
"Brave, this." Parado pointed to a loft desk bunk bed. Hiiro turned to look at it, heading over. "Emu always wanted one of these but he never got one because he didn't have enough space in his apartment." It was a loft bunk bed where the desk was down below and the bed was on top with a ladder.
"Do you know which one and what color?"
Parado glanced to the different ones. His gaze went to a black metal one that had RGB lights on it. He pointed to it. "This particular one." When he saw the price, he sighed. It was expensive. "But it is a bit expensive, he'd be okay with a cheaper one."
Hiiro's expression changed into a soft smile. "I'm going to get the one he wants. I want him to be happy and feel at home. I don't care how much I have to spend, considering I have plenty of space and plenty of money saved."
Parado just stared at him before he smiled awkwardly. "That's kind of you. Hey, since his room is decent sized... can we also bring the couch from the apartment?"
"I'm fine with that. Now then..." his gaze went to the electronics section not too far. "I understand he has all of his games from his apartment and all, but wouldn't he like a bigger TV?"
"Yeah, honestly."
"What about a gaming computer and monitor?"
"To be honest—he's always wanted a good gaming PC but never wanted to spend the money on one. I know what he'd want to go for, though."
"Good. There's a reason I brought you here, you know. To make sure I get everything right for him. Afterall, if I am going to be his father for now, then I will make sure he is well taken care of."
Parado glanced away, tearing up a bit. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and nodded.
"Let's see... what else are we missing?" Hiiro asked, trying to think about how Emu was as a person.
"Uhhh..." he was also thinking. "Ah! He likes plushies and really soft blankets. We should probably also get him a phone, but—"
"If I get him a phone, I'm childproofing it for him since he most definitely is an 8 year old."
"That—" Parado laughed briefly. "That's fair. Yeah, he is a child right now, so. Though, if you do get one, get him a Mighty phone case."
"Is it because his phone case was Mighty as an adult?"
"Yep."
"I see." Hiiro then let out a soft sigh. "I'm going to get a shelf for all of his toys and plushies, too. At any rate, I should probably also start putting some things on the lower shelves in my house that he may need to reach for."
Parado couldn't help his grin at that. "Considering how small he is right now, yeah."
When they passed kitchenware, a specific set caught their attention. It was plastic Mighty plates and cups. Neither had to say anything before Hiiro picked the box up, deciding to get it.
After that, they got more minor things, like rugs and paint. Hiiro definitely wanted to make sure Emu felt at home in his new life. He didn't care how much he had to spend to do it.
. . . . .
On the fourth day, Parado was with Kiriya and Poppy. They were currently just buying some clothes and smaller things for Emu. "I have no clue what his size would be..." Poppy muttered to herself. "He wore a medium as an adult."
Parado just glanced to her. "I mean, I think he's a size 8—" his gaze went to one of the themed shirts. He pulled it up a bit from the rack. It was purple and had Mighty on it. He couldn't help his grin. "I think he'd like this one." Parado showed them it. Kiriya just briefly laughed and smiled.
"Yeah. He likes anything with Mighty still." Kiriya's gaze then went to a yellow shirt with a pixel looking pattern on it. "How about this, too?"
"I think he'd like it." Parado's grin turned into a soft smile. "Hmm... ah! We should get him light up shoes. He's always wanted light up shoes but his father..." his voice trailed off. Poppy and Kiriya pretty much got the memo.
"Let's go look at shoes then!" Poppy said rather excitedly as she held her hands together.
Kiriya just lightly pushed her shoulder playfully. "Calm down, Poppy. We're only meant to be buying a few things for him to wear for a couple days until Hiiro can take him shopping himself."
She pouted. "I'm just excited to be able to buy things for him!"
The coroner sighed before laughing briefly. "I think we all are, but it'd be better to let him pick his own things out eventually."
. . . . .
The only thing neither were prepared for was how broken Emu actually had been. Even if he was happy... he would cry and beg them not to leave him.
He'd have nightmares from his memories.
The first time he really had a nightmare, Hiiro was away at work, so it was just Parado and Emu. Emu was briefly thrashing in his sleep with tears streaming down his cheeks. He kept crying out about how he didn't want to die—about how he didn't want Parado to disappear. Parado had sat up in the bed, trying to comfort him. When Emu wasn't waking up, he then laid down and pulled him tightly into a hug. He began rubbing his head, consoling him. He was trying to wake Emu up, to talk to him.
Eventually the 8 year old woke up but gasped and was sobbing. He clinged to Parado, whining—he was apologizing about resetting, about ruining everything. All Parado could do was continue to hold him and rub his head, telling him it wasn't his fault, that he would be okay. Deep down, Parado felt responsible for this. He felt like it was his own fault. Watching Emu cry in his sleep, begging them not to leave... it broke Parado.
As he continued holding onto his human host, he couldn't help his own silent tears.
Even if this was a reset... Parado would do anything for him. He was going to make sure Emu had a good life this time—one that he'd enjoy living.