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Perched on the end of his bed, Ima stared straight at the large poster of Kako on the wall. There were pictures of her all over the place, and they had already been there when he moved into the room that was assigned to him. It should have seemed strange, a room tailored for him so specifically, but he'd just been delighted to find it like this. Nothing made him happy like the sight of his adorable little sister's face. However, at the moment, it didn't seem to be doing much for him. Now that the initial shock and excitement had worn off, he had been overcome by this hollow feeling, thinking about how crazy it really all was, how the memories of his life were nothing more than a fabrication. He could clearly remember all the messed up things that he'd had to do, the things that had been done to him, things he should not have had to experience by the tender age of fifteen.
He'd always talked about all that crazy stuff with a smile on his face, played it off for laughs, thinking nothing of the horrified reactions and pitying looks that were thrown his way. Yeah, it had all been pretty messed up, but as far as he was concerned, he'd had to do it for his little sister, for Kako. He had put her on a pedestal and worshipped her very existence, done everything for her. Kako was his reason to live.
In the end, it turned out that all those crazy memories and all that trauma he and Kako had suffered through were mere fabrications. They were nothing more than tools of war, raised in a pod, given false backstories to motivate them into fighting for humanity's sake. Just what was he meant to think about it all, that the past was fake? Grabbing hold of his hair, he made a frustrated noise. It really was doing no good, just sitting here and staring at the pictures on the wall. All they did was remind him of the harsh reality and keep his thoughts in a constant spiral.
Leaving the cabin, Ima breathed in deeply, inhaling the fresh air, turning his gaze to the sprinkling of stars across the night sky. Jamming his hands into his pockets, he walked past the cabins and went round to the fence. There, he saw a silhouette, long hair flapping in the breeze, tied into twin tails. She didn't even seem to hear his footsteps as he approached her. "Kako."
"Hm?" Kako jumped slightly at the sound of his voice. Briefly, her troubled expression was captured in the light, eyes meeting with her brother's for a mere second before they were drawn back to the wall of Undying Flames that flickered and burned relentlessly, casting a purple hue over their surroundings. Seconds ticked by, a thick silence hanging over them, before she spoke again. "I can't stop thinking about it."
"Yeah, well, I suppose that makes two of us, doesn't it?" Ima threaded his fingers around the wire of the fence, studying her silhouette with a gentle smile. "You can talk to me about it, you know. I'm always happy to listen to you."
Kako kept quiet while the wind gusted past her, teasing her long, pink locks. Lowering her head slightly, a soft sigh passed through her lips. "It's such a shock, isn't it? That Mother and Father existed only in our memories."
Ima's brow furrowed. He recalled those distant memories, of a time when he and Kako lived in a comfortable home, sleeping in warm beds with a roof over their head, happy and content, seeing the smiling faces of their parents every day, before being thrust into a world where they struggled to survive. Except none of that ever happened. They had been safe and sound, sleeping in their capsules, all along. No sleeping on the streets, no pickpocketing and escorting, no going for days without food, nothing like that happened to them at all. Even those warm and happy memories of their family, nothing more than a lie. "Yeah."
"It was all because of them dying in suspicious circumstances that I even had the dream to become a detective in the first place."
"Right. You've wanted to be one for a very long time, haven't you? You always loved mysteries and case solving and things like that." Ima cocked his head. "Do you still want to be one?"
"It was my dream for so long." Kako turned toward Ima, placing a fist on her chest, "Ever since our mother and father died, I wanted to become a detective. I believed there was a reason I was given the gift of visions." Lowering her head, her face twisted. "Did they put that in me? I don't know. But, I can't imagine just throwing it away. Honestly, I don't know what to think right now, but I don't think I'm ready to give up on that dream."
"It's nice to have a dream. I've always fully supported you, you know. It's fun, being your assistant, and I love to see you get excited when you get into that kind of thing. You clearly enjoy it. So keep working toward your dream, okay? I'll support you no matter what." Ima held his thumb up.
"Yeah!" Kako held up her fists, eyes sparkling. Lowering her hands, she studied her brother's face, her features softening. "So, how about you? How are you holding up?"
"Ahh. Well, I wonder." Ima crossed his arms, tearing away his gaze. "Hey, Kako. Just what was I like in your memories anyway?"
"Huh?" The look of surprise registering on Kako's face was quickly replaced by a contemplative expression. "Hmm. Well." Her eyes shifted sideways as she lapsed into thought. "Well, er, not too different from how you are now. You have always been a doting older brother, looking out for me and protecting me."
"A typical protective older brother, right? Yeah, that sounds about right." Ima nodded. "The Kako in my memories isn't so different to you either. I guess we managed to line up with the fake memories well enough."
"What are you saying, Dearest Brother?" Kako frowned. "Even if the memories aren't real, we're still brother and sister, right?"
"Of course we are. We're all family, right? Every single one of us. Haha. There was a time when I might have been furious if anyone else dared to try and claim you as their little sister. It would still be weird, but it's not like I can argue with it now, huh?" Ima cast her a side glance, smirking.
"Even so, you are my dear twin brother. We still have the same birthday and everything." Kako cast her gaze downward. "I don't understand what you're even trying to say."
"Ahh. Don't get me wrong. You are the most important person in my life, my dear, precious little sister. Still, I guess I've been quite rude, haven't I? Just acting as your guardian right away, expecting you to do everything as I say and even thinking that you changed, when really, we were nothing more than newborn babes. We met for the first time in that classroom. That little sister I had chained to myself, worked so hard to protect, expected to follow my every order, she'd been nothing more than a manifestation. Why should I have expected you to do the same? Of course, I didn't know, but still." He flashed a grin at her. "Sorry, Kako."
"Stop talking like that!" Kako exclaimed. Her face was flushed red and tears welled up in her eyes. "I don't care if our memories are fake! To me, the brother in them is real. That's you, Ima! You are my dearest brother, so don't talk like we were strangers. Maybe our parents weren't real, but to me, what we had was, so don't act like we only knew each other for less than a hundred days!" She sniffled and the tears spilled out, rolling down her cheeks.
"Ah. Kako... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry." Ima moved in closer, holding out his arms. "Come here."
Kako pressed herself to him, allowing him to enfold her in his arms, sniffling and burying her face in his chest. "Even if they are fake, they are still precious memories. The Ima in my memories is dear to me, as are you. You are one and the same. So, please, don't talk as if the memories we had don't matter. It makes me sad."
"Aww, I wasn't saying that. Of course the memories I had... well, there are plenty of memories I would happily get rid of now that I know they aren't real." Ima swallowed. So many unpleasant experiences he'd been through, and in the end, it was all a facade. Why did he even need them? "But my memories of my dearest sister are so very important to me. You are my precious little sister, Kako. Nothing has changed, I promise you. You're still the most important person in my life."
Once she'd composed herself, Kako stepped back and took a deep breath, rubbing her red and swollen eyes. Putting a fist against her chest, she gave Ima a tearful smile. "You'll always be my dearest brother, Ima. No matter what we might have learned, even if our parents weren't real, you're still important to me, as are my memories of you. That hasn't changed at all."
"Glad to hear it." Ima turned to face the fence, his gaze drawn to the satellite hanging in the sky. "I have no idea how the next few days are going to go. Whether we will continue to fight this terrible war or give up, but we're so close now, aren't we?"
"Hmm." Kako's lips pressed together. "I don't know about fighting. I don't feel ready to, knowing what we are, what we were sent down here to do. It's horrible."
"Yeah. But, at the end of it all, if we make it back to the satellite, we could start over and make new memories together. How about it, Kako?"
"My head is a mess right now and I can't possibly imagine what the future holds for us, but that would be nice, wouldn't it? After all this, if we could go back together with everyone, I would like that, yes."
Ima reached out for Kako's hand and they held on firmly, continuing to gaze at the satellite. Right now, the future was uncertain, but the two would keep walking toward it, side by side, just as they had been their whole lives.