Maya suddenly felt uneasy. She had once been so sure that coming back here would bring her memories back, but she felt strangely alien standing in the doorway of the the two bedroom apartment she and Caroline shared. Some things were exactly how she remembered them, but some weren't. She couldn't put her finger on it either, but things had changed.

"Maya!" Caroline called as she came out of her room. She was still wiping the sleep from her eyes, but skipped up to her roommate anyway. "It's so good to see you! How are you doing?"

"I'm ok. I still don't remember anything" Maya admitted.

"That's fine, you'll get it back soon. Maybe if you do some of the things you did before you lost your memory it'll come back" she suggested.

"Maybe, but I can't exactly do those things if I've forgotten them, now can I?" Maya snapped back.

"That's why you have me. I can get someone to cover me anyway, I'll take you on a tour" Caroline offered smoothly, disappearing into her room. "Just wait a moment, and then we'll get going!"

They spent hours wandering around Ikebukuro, Caroline showing off all the places the two of them had gone to together before a few days ago. A few of the places looked more familiar than others, but none brought anything back. It only frustrated Maya more. Maya somehow kept her frustration to herself until noon.

"None of this is helping at all. Where did I spend most of my time? Who else did I hang out with?"

"You spent a lot of time at your work. Maybe going there will bring something back?"

"I got a job?"

Maya stalked unhappily into the manga shop, ignoring the protests of her many cuts and bruises. Caroline had stayed outside, saying something about this not being her 'kind of thing'.

"Hey Maya!" the boy behind the register called. His name tag read 'Riku'. He really looked familiar… All she could dredge up from her clouded mind was the word 'clutz'.

"Hey… Riku-san. What's going on?" Maya asked.

"You tell me! Where have you been these past couple days? And have you seen Anni-san?" he rambled on cheerily. There were no other customers in the shop at the moment, so he seemed free to talk all he wanted.

"Anni-san?" Maya asked, feeling something stir.

"Don't go asking me now! She's your friend. Anyway, I haven't seen her on morning shift for days, I was wondering if you both got booted to graveyard shift data input or something." Riku the clutz, as she had dubbed him in her head. He was always on the shift before her. He was a really sweet kid, and great with customers, but he never failed to make some mess just before Maya got in. Just recently, he'd toppled an entire table on his way out the door at 12:30 for her and Anni to clean up. "Hey, are you doing alright?" he asked, coming around the counter. "Where did all those bruises come from?" Maya pulled out her phone. The kidnapper. She'd been kidnapped, and he'd called Anni with HER phone.

"N-no, I'm not" Maya answered shakily, quickly pulling up her contacts list. Annibel Hael. She hit call and pressed the phone against the side of her face.

"The number you have dialed is no longer in servi-" a mechanical female voice reported before being cut off.

"NO!" Maya shouted at her phone before ending the call and trying again. He can't have gotten her.

"What's going-" Riku started.

"The number-" Maya shut her phone and started running out the door.

"May-" Caroline called after her as she zipped past. Her body protested at every movement, but she didn't care. She'd been the perfect bait. That shady asshole won! He had Anni! No Maya stopped that train of thought. Anni's just at home, resting up from beating his ass so hard! she insisted to herself as she sprinted to her friend's house. It all ran through her head. Leaving to meet up with Kaneki. Waking up in that ratty-smelling place. Her kidnapper's voice taunting her as he cut and hit her. Maya choked a sob as she ran. He'd claimed it was all just for the dramatic effect. He'd said he was saving the real fun for Anni. And then he'd called Anni, and then nothing. Maya had woken up in the hospital.

She finally reached the little complex. The air seemed too thick to breathe as she hauled herself up the stairs. Everything blurred before her, and she had to stumble by memory to Anni's door.

"Anni!" she yelled as she started banging on the door. "You stupid twerp! Get your ass out here!"

Silence.

"If you're just ignoring me, I swear I'm going to tell everyone all your stupid little secrets!" she shouted.

No answer.

"Anni…!" she choked.

The door to her left opened, admitting Kaneki's roommate, who looked like he was enduring a hangover.

"She's not there anymore. 'neki said something 'bout our neighbor leaving, so shut it already, would ya?" he grumbled. His door slipped shut, leaving Maya alone.

It's all my fault.

Maya numbly lowered herself down the stairs.

That perverted asshole has her.

She stumbled down the street to who-knows-where.

The proud Annibel Hael.

Part of her registered the tears streaming down her face. That's probably what was getting her the odd looks.

What is he going to do to her? What has he done already?

Maya spotted Shizuo walking down the sidewalk opposite her, and everything just stopped. He was carrying a Mcdonalds bag, smoking and strolling along calmly like nothing had happened. He probably didn't even know yet.

I need to tell him Maya realized with horror. He would probably kill her when he found out what had happened to his girlfriend.

All because of me.

Maya's legs moved without instruction. A car honked at her as she crossed the street without looking.

She sacrificed herself for me.

"Heiwajima-san!" she called as she reached the sidewalk. He turned at the sound of his name.

She sacrificed herself for me.

She stopped in front of him, shaking. "Maya? What are you doing-"

"I'm sorry!" she shouted, bowing.

He's going to kill me.

"It's all my fault!" she started.

"What are you talking about?" He was clearly irritated.

He really has no clue.

"That bastard took Anni, and it's all my fault!"

"What-"

"It's all my fault because I was stupid, and arrogant, and careless, and that twisted kidnapper got me-"

"-Maya-"

"-and he used me to catch Anni. She sacrificed herself for me, and now-"

"-would you listen-"

"-Anni's gone. She's gone and he's probably doing horrible-"

"-MAYA!" Shizuo boomed. Maya stopped dead and held onto her arms to try and stop the shaking. She didn't dare look up. "ANNI'S FINE!"

Maya's head snapped up, fearfully taking in the irritated man before her.

"She's in my apartment right now, setting up the replacement phone she bought this morning" he explained harshly, still fuming.

"But-"

"Just come with me. I'll show you" he grumbled, turning around. Maya followed silently, still in shock over the news. What happened? Shizuo lead her into an apartment complex and up the stairs, stopping before one of the doors. "Anni" he called as he unlocked the door. "You have company."

"Who?" came a reply from within. Maya wanted to shout for joy as she recognized Anni's voice. Shizuo slipped inside but left the door open. Maya couldn't move. She couldn't see much inside, but she could hear the rustling of a paper bag. Then Anni poked her head around the door, half of a fry hanging out of her mouth. It was so comical it made Maya want to cry. "Maya!" Anni cheered.

"You're really ok" she observed through a dry throat.

"I'm pretty ok. How are you? Do you remember-" Anni asked, slipping outside and closing the door behind herself. The remainder of her snack was quickly eaten.

"I remember everything" Maya said. "What else happened? After he called you?"

"Ah. Alright, hold on a moment" Anni instructed, darting back inside for a moment. She came back with a full container of fries. "Come on. We can find somewhere else to talk."

They ended up sitting on a railing on a nearby sidewalk, sharing the fries. "Please Anni, I need to know."

"Of course. Well… after I got the call, I stuffed my knife in my sock and headed straight over. When I got there, he patted me down but didn't find it. We exchanged some banter yadda yadda, then he lead me up to where he had you. I…. well…" Anni stuffed more fries in her face.

"Banter? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm dealing with it however I can! It's better than saying I nearly beat the bastard to death!" Anni refuted. Maya had no response to that. A biker rode past, breaking the silence. Anni only continued once he was gone. "When I saw what he'd done to you, I lost it and blacked out. I only came to after Shizuo had stopped me." She rolled up a sleeve to show off the finger-shaped bruises on her arm. "We took you to the nearest hospital and went home. That's it."

"And what about you dropping off the face of the planet?" Maya asked. She had intended for the remark to bite with venom, but she just couldn't find the energy.

"What?" Anni seemed genuinely confused.

"Your phone being out of service, not showing up to work, MOVING. Were you TRYING to run away from me?" Maya ranted, finding some anger she could draw on. She watched Anni's face twist with more horror at every word.

"Oh shit no! The phone I broke by accident, and I was rescheduled to deal with you not being able to come in. I only moved back in with Shizuo because I didn't want to have any more nightmares! I would never run away from you!" the little blonde asserted. Silence fell around them again. They made a strange pair, with Anni's bruised arm, and Maya's face streaked with drying tears. What was left of the fries sat in Anni's hand between them. Then Maya started giggling. "What…?" Anni asked in confusion, a smile ghosting across her face on reflex.

"It's just…" Maya started, only to be seized by hearty laughter. "...you… and the..." was all she could get out before she doubled over in breathless chuckles.

"It's stupid, isn't it?" Anni giggled. And she didn't stop. It kept getting worse until she and Maya were falling off the railing, clinging to each other for dear life as they laughed their lungs out. Tears ran from the corners of their eyes until they had to stop to breathe. Then they looked at each other and the hysterics started anew.

-A/N-

Edited by my dear friend Faded Phoenix