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"Phew, we're finally here," said Takumi, putting his hands on his knees. There was an unsettling atmosphere to the abandoned mansion they stood in, far on the western outskirts. The architecture seemed foreign and yet all too familiar at the same time. He must have seen it in another timeline at some point. At least, he'd chalk it up to that. The windows were broken in, and the way the wind whistled through the building made it feel haunted. Hiruko must have had some reason to come here.
Hiruko seemed distracted. It didn't seem like she wanted to look around, or explore it, more just catch her breath in the shade. The two of them hadn't talked much on the way here. Takumi was a bit disappointed. He'd teased Hiruko earlier that this had been a 'date'; perhaps that was coming on a bit strong for her. She liked to be in control of things, and putting a label on their outing was Takumi's doing. Still, there was a coldness to her that Takumi just couldn't quite place.
"Time to head back," said Hiruko, curtly. Takumi's jaw dropped open.
"Huh? We just got here…"
"Well, do you have something to do here?" asked Hiruko. Takumi scrunched up his nose.
"No, I just thought you did… Why did you even pick this place if you weren't going to do anything here?" asked Takumi. "I thought maybe this really was a…"
"Hm? Did you say something? Unless you want to hunt for zombies, or something, I'm heading back," said Hiruko. Takumi sighed and followed her out.
None of this made any sense. Hiruko had a habit of only partially involving him in plans. It made sense, to an extent. She had memories of many different timelines, and people were easy to predict if they didn't have unnecessary information. That's why she trusted him in the first place, when he kept his time travel a secret to the group. Takumi knew Hiruko was plotting something, so deep in thought that she didn't even want to make smalltalk banter with him. He could only wonder what it was and why he couldn't be told about it.
Maybe it was because he would oppose the plan.
Takumi's stomach twisted inside.
Perhaps there was something that was supposed to occur at the mansion, and it didn't happen. There were some differences between the timelines that could be attributed to quantum randomness, but any form of butterfly effect could have also altered things drastically. Maybe her plan just didn't work. Of course she wouldn't want to admit that to him, though he would have liked knowing. Takumi knew it was hard for Hiruko to rely on him, but he wished that sometimes she would have more faith in him than she did. He would just have to prove himself to her.
He did a little jog to catch up to her. The sun was hot above them, and Takumi really would have liked to have stayed under the shade in the mansion just a little while longer. Hiruko was walking briskly again, like she was on the way here, and if Takumi slowed even a second he'd have to jog to catch up. Curse her, and her really long legs!
Hiruko spoke up again.
"The whole point of today was just to go exploring. It didn't matter where we went, or what we did…"
Takumi furrowed his eyebrows. Again, with the cryptic responses.
"I'm not following," said Takumi.
"I'll explain it later," said Hiruko, chewing on her bottom lip. Takumi sighed. Just when he thought he was going to get something out of this… Nothing.
It was late by the time they got back. The sun had set, and the moon had risen high into the sky. Takumi was thankful to see the school again. He couldn't wait to take a shower and go to bed. Yesterday they'd had a battle, and the entirety of today was spent walking around. He'd hit his bed like a brick.
Hiruko stopped walking once they got to the outside of the school. She turned and faced Takumi.
"10 o'clock already… We can't afford to dawdle. We need to eat dinner and shower before we get out of here," she said, checking the time on her glasses.
Takumi turned his head up and groaned. She couldn't be serious!
"Wait, hold on! We're going somewhere else?" he asked. Today was already exhausting enough. All he wanted to do was sleep.
Hiruko tilted his head and looked at him as if he were stupid. She'd been doing that a lot recently, and sometimes if he divorced the expression from the meaning, it looked very cute. Though if he told her that, she'd never make the expression again. It'd be his little secret.
"Did you forget already? When is our next leap window, Takumi?" Hiruko asked sternly.
Takumi counted on his fingers. Yesterday, day 72 was a battle, so their exploration date was set for the day afterwards, day 73, and then the day after that was a leap day at midnight. Day 74… But that was tomorrow night. Why would Hiruko have something scheduled for-
Wait. 12 am meant it would be the first hour of the day. That was in just a few hours!
"From 12:05 to 12:35 am on Day 74… Oh, so we're going to the lab!"
Hiruko flicked his forehead with her fingers. It was if she could tell that the gears in Takumi's mind had blown the cobwebs away and actually started turning.
"Hey!"
"If I hadn't reminded you, you would have forgotten," said Hiruko. "You are my servant, though, so it's not as if you need to actually think about things."
Takumi's cheeks flushed red. He eventually understood! It wasn't fair. If Hiruko kept him more involved, he wouldn't have to piece everything together without any context.
Hiruko flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"We only have two hours before the window opens. No more pointless questions, if you don't mind," said Hiruko. That only opened more room for questions!
Hiruko started walking towards the school. Takumi watched for a second. He'd spent the whole day staring at Hiruko's back as she walked in front of him, seemingly speeding up every time he caught up to her. It felt like she was deliberately pushing him away. He grabbed Hiruko by the arm. She spun around sharply, and glared at him.
"But we only have 30 minutes… What can we possibly do in such a short time?" Takumi asked. Hiruko's gaze remained pointed, as if she was exploding him in her mind for asking such a stupid question. But her expression softened. She snatched her hand back, and crossed her arms.
"No matter which timeline we jump to, we still only get 30 minutes… You called the coin toss the night before last night, remember?" asked Hiruko. Takumi nodded.
"Yeah, I called heads, and I was right… so we went out exploring today," he stated. He didn't understand why she was asking this, but she did have a habit of letting Takumi put the pieces together himself. In a sense, it helped him understand how her mind worked. She was always many steps ahead, playing every loop as if it were a game of chess.
"But that means there's a timeline where you called tails. In other words, a timeline where you were wrong and we didn't go anywhere. That's where we're going tonight. To that timeline," explained Hiruko. Suddenly the coin flip made sense. She hadn't just wagered a date because she was embarrassed, no, it was to create another alternate timeline.
That mystery had been solved. Yet Takumi wasn't quite sure why it was needed.
"But… what for?" asked Takumi.
Hiruko's lips curled into a smile.
"I assume you haven't given up on using the Distress Signal Transmitter," said Hiruko.
The Distress Signal Transmitter… There were four missing livor mortis codes, though they only needed to figure out three for the transmitter to work. If he remembered correctly, they were Ima's and Takemaru's…
And theirs.
Takumi felt like a bus had just hit him in the chest. Oh no…
It all began to fit together. They were going to have to kill the versions of themselves from the wrong guess timeline. Takumi's breath began to shake, his head began to spin. And Hiruko stared at him as if she were a genius for coming up with such a twisted plan in the first place.
"Don't tell me…" Takumi's voice trailed off. He closed his eyes tightly. No, he didn't want this to be true!
"Oh, you'd better believe it," said Hiruko. "We've wasted quite a while talking, let's just grab a quick bite to eat and head over."
Takumi opened his eyes. The moonlight glinted off Hiruko's glasses. It all began to take form, why she didn't want to tell Takumi about the plan, why she was so quiet today. No one would want to kill an exact replica of themselves. It was just… wrong! Even fighting with the G'ie infected Takumis from another timeline felt wrong, and Takumi couldn't even really claim them as "him". Just looking like him was enough for it to be unsettling. He didn't know how Hiruko expected him to be so calm if she would have just sprung the news to him as soon as they went to the laboratory.
"Takumi? Are you coming to dinner? I won't have you passing out on the way to the lab. If you do, I won't carry you. As much as I would love to see you on your hands and knees, you'll slow me down," said Hiruko. Takumi snapped out of his thoughts.
He may have stored the thought of Hiruko princess carrying him while he was passed out into the deep parts of his mind, just for posterity.
"Hey! No, I'm coming," he said, catching up to her once again. He was silent as they walked into the building, and then the cafeteria. It was so late that no one else was eating. Part of him wanted someone to talk to, but he'd been so busy this timeline that he hadn't quite socialized with anyone else. Any small talk he made at this point would be painfully awkward, trying to rekindle a relationship that never existed in the first place. It was sad to think about, while every bond had been severed, their lives had been saved. His friends were going to be okay, yet were they really friends?
Takumi poked at his ramen. It really would have been nice to talk to someone other than Hiruko before their suicide mission.
… Was it really suicide? It wasn't him, consciously, but it was him because… Well, because they were the same up until just three days ago! He couldn't kill that guy! Maybe he should just tell Hiruko that he couldn't do it, that he chickened out, that it wasn't fair if they robbed wrong timeline Takumi and Hiruko of a chance at life, just because they were selfish.
"You look like you've seen a ghost. Come on, it won't be that weird," said Hiruko. "You've seen yourself from other timelines before. And this time it will be even better, because the timelines diverged so recently."
"That actually makes it worse," said Takumi. "That guy… he's me."
He was picking at the ramen, but his appetite wasn't helping. Takumi looked down at his lap. A lone noodle lay on the napkin. He didn't want to have any more of it.
Hiruko took a sip of water.
"And?" asked Hiruko. "I suppose it will be different, since we're aware of it this time."
Takumi dropped his spoon into his bowl. The hot broth splashed out, and hit him on the hand. Ouch.
"Did no one teach you how to eat? Do you need me to feed you?" teased Hiruko, slyly, grabbing the spoon from Takumi. For once, he ignored her teasing. He just wasn't in the mood for it.
"How can you be so casual about this? It's…" Takumi couldn't even bring up the words he wanted. This may be their only shot at living, and he was going to throw it all away because of his own discomfort. He knew Hiruko would do anything for them to live. Even… go to the extremes, apparently. Everything was starting to click together.
It was fresh in his mind, the conversation they had together on the night of day 71. He knew it meant something because Hiruko was seldom vulnerable with him. So he took her words to heart.
They were on the rooftop. Takumi had heard her crying. Though Hiruko may have appreciated the privacy, he couldn't help but check up on her. Everyone had emotional moments, even Hiruko, who always seemed to have everything in control.
She didn't shoo him away. In her hand she had the calico cat he'd given her. Takumi sat down next to her, and dangled his legs over the edge. They sat in silent for a moment, before Hiruko finally spoke up.
"It was Day 101. Everybody was there… Everyone except me… I must have died somehow." Hiruko didn't look at Takumi as she spoke. He sensed some shame, in putting so much faith in a dream. "I saw you there, Takumi. You were in my dream. So I'm positive you managed to break free from the loop. Or perhaps I should say… You will manage to break free. But I… I'm going to be… Trapped here, forever."
Takumi let the gravity of her words sink in, and didn't respond immediately. She did get memories from other loops, so it could have been something she witnessed. Except it didn't make sense. If she wasn't present, how would she have witnessed it? If she saw something on day 101, she had to have been there. It must have been just a dream.
"It's just a dream. It doesn't mean that really happened… or will happen," said Takumi. He grabbed onto her hand. Hiruko didn't pull it away. He could see the tears on her cheeks glisten softly in the moonlight. "You're not going to die, okay? Because I'm going to protect you. That's a promise, okay?"
A promise. He promised Hiruko that he'd protect her. And protecting, in this case, meant killing his other self, and her other self, so they could live on together. It was morbid, it was brutal… He didn't know if he'd be able to do it. Maybe if it was self defense, but if the others were unaware…
Wait. Would they be unaware?
Takumi paled.
Hiruko waved her hand in front of Takumi's face. He snapped back into reality.
"Takumi? What's going on?" asked Hiruko.
"Oh no…" said Takumi, grabbing at the sides of his face. "Hiruko, the plan isn't going to work. The other us, the wrong guess timeline us, they're us. So any plan you made, they'll know about it."
Hiruko tilted her head.
"Yes, of course, that's why I made the plan before I flipped the coin," said Hiruko. That seemed even more cruel!
"So they know we're coming to kill them!" exclaimed Takumi. "Even if you just resigned to it before the decision was made… I don't think the other me would accept being sacrificed-"
"What?!" Hiruko said.
"To get the Livor Mortis codes we need?!" Takumi added, in case she needed more context for why he was so freaked out.
Hiruko stared at him, aghast at first, before her face turned to panic. "Oh no… Takumi, you idiot!"
"What did I do? You're the one who made the plan!" Takumi could not believe Hiruko was blaming this on him right now. He felt himself getting angry as she continued to look at him in disbelief. This was so not his his fault.
Hiruko tapped her nails against the table and looked left, then right, probably to see if they were alone right now. Takumi waited impatiently for her response.
"Takumi… The plan was to meet up with Hiruko V and Takumi V and split up to find the Livor Mortis codes. Two heads are better than one, and four are even better," said Hiruko.
Takumi breathed out a sigh of relief. So the timeline split wasn't to sacrifice one of the choices. That did seem to make a lot more sense. Especially since Hiruko liked preventing deaths in other timelines, it didn't make sense for her to purposefully invite them.
"Oh, that makes more sense to me," said Takumi. He wiped the back of his hand on his forehead, then smiled. Everything had been a simple misunderstanding. He could almost laugh about it. "For a second, I was convinced you were going to make us murder the others in cold blood."
Hiruko's face went dark.
This couldn't be good. Takumi felt his stomach twist as Hiruko grimaced.
"Hiruko?"
It was as if the floodgates had opened.
"You came to the conclusion that we had to kill our alternate selves on your own, correct? We can't rule out the possibility that Takumi V is thinking the exact same thing right now," hissed Hiruko. "In fact, he may have even told Hiruko V earlier, since we were sitting around doing nothing all day in that timeline."
"Okay?"
"That means Hiruko V is aware that you have thought of this plan, and likely told me. My first instinct is to kill Hiruko V, because her first instinct is to kill me. Our fates are sealed now, Takumi," said Hiruko, visibly frazzled. She quickly threw away her plate and began to pace around.
"Why can't we just explain that we don't want to kill them-"
"Because that's exactly what I would do if I wanted to gain the upper hand on killing another version of myself," said Hiruko.
"All of this hinges on you not trusting yourself! We could just call it off-"
"Decisions can be led by logic, or emotion, or sometimes a mix of both. We will never be able to guess the circumstances in which Hiruko V learned the news, so I'm preparing us for the worst outcome. It's never a good idea to assume your opponents are stupid, or weak," explained Hiruko. "Face it, Takumi, you royally fucked us over with this one."
Takumi facepalmed. So now it was his fault again? Just for having an idea? Hiruko just loved tossing the blame onto him, didn't she? It was easier than admitting she messed up, and man, what a mess they were in right now.
"This wouldn't have happened if you just told me everything in the first place!" exclaimed Takumi. "You're always keeping me in the dark, of course I'm going to make assumptions! It's not fair, Hiruko."
For a second, Takumi could see a softness in her eyes, one of regret. At least, that's how he'd choose to interpret it.
"Quiet, I'm thinking," said Hiruko, tapping her foot. The sound echoed in the quiet cafeteria. Takumi rolled his eyes at this one.
"Can you think out loud?" asked Takumi. "So that I don't come up with any more lethal ideas?"
Hiruko stood still in her spot.
"The way I see it, we have three options. We can assume that Hiruko V also came up with the options," said Hiruko.
A light bulb went off in his head. Hiruko vs Hiruko was a battle that seemed nigh impossible. There were so many options to root through, so many counters and layers upon layers to predict. They would go nuts trying to figure out the exact path of action.
"Hear me out," prefaced Takumi. Hiruko looked at him, unimpressed. "What if I pick what we're going to do?"
"You?" asked Hiruko with a malicious amount of snark.
"Hey! Think about it. You're driving yourself nuts trying to predict how you would act so you can outsmart yourself, while Hiruko V is doing the same thing on her side."
"I am not driving myself nuts, I am simply figuring out the best course of action for your mistake," snapped Hiruko. Takumi ignored the sass.
"We can remove that entirely if we go with a plan I come up with," said Takumi.
"And you think you could come up with a better plan than me? Cute," said Hiruko. Takumi's cheeks flushed red.
"Better isn't really the word I'd use, but it would certainly be different. And different is what we want right now," said Takumi. Hiruko raised her eyebrows. It seemed she was seriously considering what he had to say.
"Go on."
Takumi smiled.
"Alright… So we're supposed to go to the 'wrong guess' timeline when the clock strikes midnight. That's what Hiruko V knows. But we can't kill them if we don't jump," said Takumi. "We'd sit here in this timeline. What do you think Hiruko and Takumi V would do if their visitors never showed up?"
"They wouldn't jump, but they'd still wait at the laboratory. Whoever jumps would just be a sitting duck to get murdered while they materialized in," said Hiruko.
"Exactly," said Takumi. "I've just stopped the murders from happening. I'll be accepting a very sincere thank you from you right n-"
Hiruko smacked him on the head again.
"You idiot. We can't just assume they won't be jumping," said Hiruko. "They might jump at the very end of the window."
"Why would they do that?" asked Takumi. For someone who was making a lot of assumptions, Hiruko seemed unreasonably sure of herself.
"It's simply because your choice is to hold off on jumping. Think about it, Takumi. There's a timeline right now where we're going to do whatever I say," explained Hiruko.
"Maybe Hiruko V is nice?"
"She's not. She's me."
Takumi didn't say anything further on the situation. Hiruko was… Hiruko. He'd leave it at that.
"Why can't we just leave a note in the laboratory explaining that we have no intent to kill them?" asked Takumi.
"Because I wouldn't trust it," said Hiruko. "I'm not sure Takumi V would, either."
"Can't we put a little faith in Takumi V?"
"No."
Takumi groaned. Hiruko may distrust her wrong guess counterpart, but Takumi V was still him. He'd like to think he had an ally on the other side, even if they did both come to the same stupid conclusion.
There had to be a simpler solution that he was overlooking… At the core of the issue was the two teams crossing paths. If he could prevent that from happening, both timelines could continue to live.
"What if we lock the PLM? Then we won't risk the others jumping here," said Takumi. He let out a deep breath after saying this, and looked over to Hiruko for approval now that he actually had a good idea for once.
Hiruko was unamused.
"If I wanted to listen to shit, I'd stand outside the bathroom. Locking the PLM means it'd be locked for us too. We wouldn't be able to find the Livor Mortis codes," said Hiruko. She pinched the bridge of her nose.
"What if we just locked it for one day? So the wrong guess timeline gets the hint," said Takumi. "It'd tell them to stay away, but let them know that we're not coming over either."
"It's a waste of time," scoffed Hiruko. Takumi let out an unruly sigh of frustration.
"It feels like you're just rejecting all of my ideas because I'm the one who came up with them," he said, with a snide attitude.
"Your lack of future foresight is more of the disqualifier. Takumi. We have three codes we need to find, and we don't know when the next chance to jump will be. I'm not sure how to lock the PLM; I am sure that your dim-witted brain would be no help in figuring out the mechanism in the few critical minutes we have before the window opens," Hiruko retorted. Takumi felt the urge to ball his fists up and defend himself, but it felt like anything else he could say on the matter would be nothing but pointless banter. What really mattered right now, was figuring out a solution to the problem, not Hiruko's abuse of his ego.
"Hiruko… Please listen to me for once! Neither timeline wants to kill each other. I'd like to believe that Takumi V would understand as well. He's still… me," said Takumi. He grabbed Hiruko's hands. The more he thought about the situation and came up with plans to prevent a poor outcome, the more certain he became that he needed to trust himself. He hoped Hiruko would trust him too.
Her face displayed a story of its own, from irritation to compassion. She pulled her hands out from Takumi's, only after letting them linger. They were warm; Takumi felt cold without them.
She didn't need to say anything for Takumi to tell he had gotten through. Hiruko's confidence could be a prison, solitary and withdrawn.
"Let's head to the laboratory. The more time we waste here, the leas time we have to prepare. We can sit there and wait in case the others materialize in," said Takumi. "In our class armor, just in case. You can't jump while hemoanima is activated, so we'll have an advantage."
Hiruko crossed her arms, deep in thought as if she were analyzing some of the possible outcomes before responding. She began to speak after calculating the worst case scenario wasn't as terrible as she had expected.
"It's not exactly a plan, and it's not well thought out, but it's better than nothing," said Hiruko. "Worst case scenario, we can take them out while they materialize. They'll be vulnerable then. Let's head over. And fast, we can't waste any time!"
A big grin spread across Takumi's face. With his plan, and Hiruko's cooperation, the chances of them surviving the encounter skyrocketed.
As if he wasn't tired enough, Takumi forced himself to jog to the laboratory. Today's hike took a beating on his ankles and thighs, and the jogging only made it worse. The air was cold, causing each labored breath to tighten his chest.
Hiruko's words stained his brain. They would be vulnerable when they materialized in… So she was expecting to kill their counterparts. Takumi didn't know if he had it in him. Maybe if Takumi V had a knife to his neck, and had pinned him down, and there was no other way to escape. But even then… It still felt wrong.
Before long, the two of them arrived at the laboratory. Hiruko ran over to the control panel to analyze it. She pressed buttons and dials so fast it reminded Takumi of a synth board. The lights reflected in her glasses as she to find the information she needed.
"Aha! I found it… We did actually create a rift in the timeline," she said.
Takumi groaned in annoyance.
"Was there a chance we got all worked up over nothing?" asked Takumi.
"Yes, but now I know with certainty that the timeline diverged. I've never tested that out before. Really, I'm quite impressed," said Hiruko. She looked way too proud of herself given the stakes.
"Can you be impressed later?! We just confirmed that our homicidal counterparts exist!"
There wasn't time for small talk and banter. The minutes passed, and Takumi's eyes were fixated on the pad. The window opened, and nothing happened. There was a chance they would sit here and watch the pad for the entire duration of the window without anything happening, and Takumi was fine with that. No leap meant no drama, and he could calm himself down knowing he didn't fear for bis life.
And then it happened.
A single figure began to materialize on the pad. Takumi felt his palms begin to sweat. He palmed the hilt of his sword, ready to grab it at any moment. He knew Hiruko would snap at him for hesitating, but the thought of plunging his sword deep into the chest of his own likeness made him want to vomit.
Killing Hiruko would be even worse.
He couldn't do that to her. Even if she wanted him to, he wouldn't be strong enough. He'd like to think she wouldn't either, but in his heart he wouldn't let himself ask too many questions.
The figure materialized with their hands in the air, almost indicative of a surrender. Takumi's hand slipped away from his sword. These suits had posed a serious identity issue in other timelines. They were a faceless killer, a weird figure chasing others around. Not now. The person materialized before them was either Takumi himself, or the girl he loved.
"Grab them!" Hiruko shouted. Her sudden change of heart shocked Takumi, and though he couldn't see it, made him blush. He couldn't afford to dawdle on it, not when the situation was so imminent. Takumi bolted towards the figure and grabbed their arm. Hiruko took the other. Seeing all three of them together spoiled the mystery of who was in the suit, especially how Hiruko practically towered over the figure. He pushed Takumi V against the wall, and took his helmet off.
"I surrender!" Takumi V shouted. "Please, I come in peace!"
"Is that so? What did she put you up to…" Hiruko's voice trailed off. Her eyes were narrow, glaring down at Takumi's counterpart with a cold analytical stare.
"Where's Hiruko?" asked Takumi, throat dry. Hiruko V would have never let Takumi V come here alone. Had she already died in some sort of freak accident? His heart was racing, trying to beat its way out of his chest. He didn't even know her, not really, but he felt the urge to protect her.
"She's fine, I broke her glasses so she couldn't come," Takumi V squeaked out. Hiruko put her knee between his legs, threatening him with a swift kick to the jewels. "Please just kill me and take my code, but leave her out of this!"
Huh?
"Wait, you're just giving up?" asked Takumi. "Did Hiruko V put you to this?"
"N-no, she's in line with the original plan. I figured it out myself when she looked so mournful after the coin toss. That's when I knew the purpose of the split was to be a sacrifice. So you two can live," said Takumi V, tears welling up in his eyes. "I couldn't let her do that, I just… Maybe I'm selfish. But I want to protect her. I can't let her just die! She's a person!"
Seeing himself get so emotional made Takumi want to cry himself. His heart melted at the realization of Takumi V's sacrifice. He loved Hiruko so much, he was willing to die for her.
Hiruko was equally moved. She let go of Takumi V, and moved her leg away. She looked down at the ground and smiled involuntarily. Her cheeks blushed a red so intense it reached her ears.
"All this time I was sure I'd be facing off against myself, it's why we went with Takumi's plan… But at the end of the day, it was up to you," she said softly. She sighed. "I assume you never told Hiruko V about your plan."
Takumi V shook his head.
"I knew she would stop me once I figured everything out, so I had to keep it from her," he said confidently. Hiruko let out a laugh. She looked over at Takumi.
"This Takumi made the same stupid assumption. We thought you would have told your Hiruko too," said Hiruko. She leaned against the wall, and put her hand to her forehead. "You should have seen the mind games we went through. I was trying to play chess against myself, when really, it was checkers all along. Takumi, we're not here to kill you. That was never part of the plan."
Takumi V's eyes lit up. His hands begun to shake.
"What?! Oh… Oh no, what have I done…" he dropped to the ground on his knees. Takumi bent down next to him and rubbed his back between his upper shoulders, right in his favorite spot.
"It's alright, buddy… I'm just as glad as you are that you weren't coming to kill me," said Takumi. "How about we call it even?"
"You're over it this easily?! Why would I be the one killing you, anyway! I lost the coin flip," snapped Takumi V.
"Huh? I thought you'd be grateful to know we were just as freaked out as you were!" Takumi shouted back.
"At least you could talk about it to someone, I had to protect my Hiruko! You brought yours into danger!"
"Huh?! It's not my fault you couldn't be open with her. And she's got my back here, a 2 v 1 fight would have no chance of survival! It's practical!"
Takumi was silenced by a sharp tug on the back of his collar, causing him to lurch. Takumi V stopped responding as well, looking like the wind got knocked out of him from his tug.
"Settle down boys," said Hiruko with a wicked grin on her face. "I'd love to see what we can channel this steamy competitive energy into, but right now we're on a time limit."
"Oh, right… Why did you want to jump then?" asked Takumi V.
"We were going to collaborate on where to jump next. We have 3 codes to find, and with two teams we can split up," explained Takumi.
"Wow! And we came up with that? Nice!" exclaimed Takumi V. Hiruko hit him lightly on the back of the head.
"No, idiot, that was my— our original plan," she said, a bit irritated. "You and Hiruko V should find Takemaru's livor mortis code. He should be dead by now in the serial killer timeline. Takumi and I will find mine, and Ima's, in the zombie timeline."
"Makes sense to me! Wow. I wish I knew about that," said Takumi V, with a nervous chuckle.
"Tell me about it," said Takumi, crossing his arms and glancing over at Hiruko. "She should really learn to trust us more."
"I take it back. I dislike that there are two of you," said Hiruko, helping Takumi V back onto the pad to leave the timeline. She turned back towards Takumi. "Weren't you the one that said a 2 v 1 would be unfair? Takumi V has got to go."
Takumi smirked at Hiruko's inability to deal with him and Takumi V at the same time. It was endearing.
"Hey! I just got here!" Takumi V exclaimed.
"The window will close soon. Now go back and tell your Hiruko that she's an idiot for not letting you know her plan," said Hiruko. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "You certainly made a mess of things!"
Takumi V bit down on his lip, then looked up at Hiruko. He took a step closer to her, and then did the unthinkable.
He leaned in, and gave Hiruko a kiss on the cheek.
"An apology, for all the trouble I've caused," said Takumi V.
That bastard! Even though they were the same person, he wanted to punch Takumi V for stealing their first kiss from him. Takumi took back everything he said about not wanting to kill the guy. He understood it now. Takumi V had got to go.
Hiruko was speechless for a moment. When she finally spoke, Takumi felt like he was an intruder on their intimate moment.
"You're an idiot… Save that for your Hiruko…" She held her hand up to her face to cover her blush but ended up drawing more attention to it.
"You think she'll want it?" teased Takumi V.
"Just… Get out of here! Before the window closes!" exclaimed Hiruko. She pushed Takumi V onto the pad, and took the helmet from out of Takumi's hands. She fastened it onto Takumi V's suit.
"Good luck!" shouted Takumi V. Takumi set the PLM settings to blast this guy back into the timeline he belonged in. He was getting sick of looking at his stupid face and was glad Hiruko put his helmet back on.
Takumi V began to dematerialize right before their eyes. Hiruko smiled fondly at him. Maybe he was being a little too hard on her, he wasn't sure how he'd behave with the Hirukos of other timelines.
"I like that Takumi," said Hiruko smugly. Takumi rolled his eyes.
"No way! That guy sucks!"
"He was willing to die for me. How utterly stupid and romantic," said Hiruko. She walked over to where Takumi was standing by the control panel. She leaned on the side of it, and looked at Takumi with her eyelids half closed.
"And if he was right about our intentions, he'd be dead," said Takumi, defensively. He crossed his arms again. "I'm not totally useless, I'm the one who suggested we go through with my plan, and not yours."
"I didn't say you were useless. Am I detecting jealousy? Are you jealous of your own self?"
Hiruko was having way too much fun with this one.
"That's it. When I see Hiruko V, I'm kissing her. With tongue," snapped Takumi.
"Is that supposed to make me jealous?" asked Hiruko. "Because you think I want to kiss you?"
"You don't?" asked Takumi, completely flabbergasted. His sudden reaction caused Hiruko to go beet red. She looked up at him in shock.
"Huh? Wait, I didn't say—"
Oh.
She totally wanted to kiss him. Takumi pushed his lips into a pout.
"I won't kiss Hiruko V, on one condition," said Takumi. "You have to start letting me in to your head. I want to know what you're thinking. I'm not as smart as you are, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't know things!"
"I don't negotiate with servants," said Hiruko, though her authority had low viability now that she was crushing like the teenage girl she was. "Although it may be in my best interest to explain my plans to you sooner, so your little pea brain can process them."
However she wanted to justify it worked for Takumi. He grinned at her.
"Let's get out of here. I need some fresh air," said Takumi. Hiruko nodded. The two of them left the laboratory and began on the walk back to the school. The night air was cool, and a lot calmer than it felt when they had rushed over. Most of their day had been spent outside, but right now it felt refreshing.
Hiruko walked right besides him. Maybe it was because they were both tired, or maybe it was planned, but her shoulder brushed his a few times. Takumi reached for her hand twice, but chickened out before grabbing it both times.
They were silent for a few minutes, before Takumi spoke up.
"I'm really glad everything worked out," said Takumi. He felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "I was really starting to panic."
"I may have considered a few too many worst case scenarios myself," said Hiruko. She brushed the back of her hand against Takumi's. He wrapped his fingers around, interlocking them with hers.
"I depend on you a lot, Hiruko," said Takumi. He squeezed her hand. "I'd like to think you could depend on me too."
Hiruko didn't respond. She didn't pull her hand away either, and instead squeezed back. Takumi had no idea what she was thinking right now. He thought at least she would come up with some snarky deferral, but maybe she just wasn't in the mood.
They found themselves in front of the school. Takumi felt so exhausted he almost wanted to sleep in one of the classrooms downstairs just so he didn't have to climb three flights of stairs to get to his dorm room.
But there was something he had to do first.
"Can I have a good night kiss?" teased Takumi, testing his luck.
"No. You have to earn it. I don't just give kisses away freely," said Hiruko. Well, if Hiruko wasn't going to kiss him…
Takumi leaned on his tip toes and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. It wasn't the first time he kissed her, that was stolen by Takumi V, but it was a first for himself. He wanted to make Hiruko feel special too.
"Goodnight, Hiruko!"
She turned around quickly, but Takumi could see the hand she brought up to her cheek, feeling the spot where his lips had touched.
Takumi smiled, the butterflies in his stomach fluttering around pleasantly. They could make a pretty good team— when they listened to each other.