Maya was used to bingeing anime. She refused to watch most as they aired, if only so she could rush through them without waiting weeks at a time. The evenings after work she usually spent with her 'Neki were replaced with frozen dinners and hours upon hours curled around her empowered laptop, with a notepad and the almighty trans-dimensional phone hooked up.
Sixty episodes, five OVA specials, and eight days later, she was ready to meet up with her best friend and start scheming. This is what she'd been wanting to do for months and months, since she learned of the story. Maya desperately wanted Anni to lean on and confide in her. She had been waiting oh so patiently for a chance to watch this anime, not only to learn about the mysterious happenings of her city, but also for the novelty of watching an anime from another world, something she should never see. There was only one thing that had kept her from hounding poor Anni about sharing her secret this way until now. It was the fear the blonde had shown the first time they talked about it. Maya could convince her to joke about just about anything, but Anni never took her secret lightly. So Maya had waited. She worked to get the stubborn blonde to open up, she worked to hold her tongue, all for this day. All so she could prove herself, and work her butt off to be the one at Anni's side when shit went down. It might not have amounted to much payout for anyone else, but for Maya, both preserving her best friend's interests and getting in on the secret world of adventure in her own city was the ultimate reward.
Her extra duties, namely keeping Alex in the loop on his sister's condition, went smoothly. Kaneki had taken up visiting the hospital almost daily, not that Maya understood why Anni allowed him to stay around so much, and reported any details or changes he could. It made repeating the reports to Alex faster and easier for her. It meant that much less time on the phone. That left more time for watching the anime, or dreaming about the anime. Maya took one extra day of rest, a day filled with the same dreams she'd been having all week, and prepared her notebook to take to Anni.
-!DRRR!-
"What, you again? Get your skinny ass out of here! I'm tired of looking at your face."
"What if I told you… I brought cake?" the Skink bribed, producing a bag from behind his back on cue.
"Then… I suppose I can tolerate you for a time" Anni muttered as Kaneki laughed at her. He set the present down on a nearby table. "Wait! What kind of cake is it? I swear I'll start removing limbs if there are nuts involved."
"Maya said you liked carrot cake!" he defended.
"So you bought the kind with NUTS in it!? You really are just a useless lizard" she asserted, crossing her arms and pouting.
"I'm not nearly as cold blooded as you, now stop complaining" he ordered.
"Only if you learn how to bring proper peace offerings, I mean seriously" Anni returned, but her retort was tainted with laughter.
"What? What is that I'm hearing? I thought you would be taking off my arms about now, but you're laughing! Could it be that you're all empty threats? Gasp! Could you just be a tsundere who's had a crush on me all this time?! Ow." Kaneki's rant and chuckles were cut off as the pain in his arm started to throb. A sealed, half-full water bottle crinkled and sloshed as it bounced off the floor and came to a rolling stop.
"I wonder how much of you would be left were I to let slip that you said that. To most it might not mean much, but maybe if my boyfriend heard about it…" Anni growled back.
"I would be more curious about what would happen to the person who threatened the life of MY boyfriend" a voice broke in as the door squeaked open. "I might be able to make an exception for you though" Maya teased.
"Hey!" Kaneki protested, though it was drowned out by Anni's greeting.
"Maya! You're still alive!"
"I am, and I brought contraband too" his girlfriend gloated, holding up a thin, red covered notebook.
"Then we can have our cake and eat it too!" the blonde proclaimed.
"...What?" Maya asked, confused. Kaneki snickered to himself.
"I… your boy thing brought cake, I was making a bad joke, now get over here" she called from the bed, her cheeks showing a bit of color.
"Am I a 'boy thing' now? I don't know if that's an upgrade or not" Kaneki muttered to himself.
Maya was kind enough to sneak a peck on his cheek as she walked by. "If she's calling you human now, I would count it as a major improvement."
"Ewwww affection! Go get a room that isn't mine already!" Anni complained.
"Annibel…" Maya drew out in a sigh. "I've never been the one asking you to be serious, I know, don't make this a first. We have work to do."
"Yes ma'am" the bedridden one answered promptly. One look from Maya, and Kaneki took his leave. His job there was done anyway. If he left Tweetie in such a state that she went overboard with her snarky banter, he'd done everything he'd set out to do and more. It hadn't been easy work, but Kaneki felt accomplished. He would make her pay for the bruise he knew graced his arm, but that could wait.
-!DRRR!-
"... might impact the meeting there the night before. Not to mention, if we end up in the apartment around that time, we'll be seen as we leave, if not when we arrive. I don't want to put you in that kind of danger again" a very familiar voice explained from behind the door. Shizuo knew immediately what his Anni was talking about, if not the details, so he opened to door and announced his presence. Both females turned at the sound. Maya and his girlfriend were leaning over a little notebook Anni was holding, looking serious. His little blonde's face lit up as she recognized him. "Shizuo" she sang.
"Hello Heiwajima-san" Maya greeted softly.
"Yo Anni. How are you feeling?" he asked, a smile pulling at his lips.
"I'm doing well. Maya and I were just working out some plans. Top secret, you know" his girlfriend replied. Maya added a nod to confirm.
"I'm sorry to interrupt then-"
"Don't apologize, I think we needed a break anyway." The notebook snapped shut in Anni's hands, hiding whatever secrets they'd been discussing. "Sit with us, while you still can. The doctors have been threatening to discharge me soon" she explained.
"Threatening? You've been itching to get out of here for-" Maya started, only to be cut off by a playful shush from Anni.
"How soon?" Shizuo asked intently, eager to have his girlfriend back home.
"Only a few days now."
-!DRRR!-
By the time Maya left, they still hadn't come to any sort of conclusion on how to stop Adabashi Kinosuke from assaulting Shinra, much less how to do so without impacting the later events much. Anni paced barefoot through the grass on the hospital grounds the next day, still mulling over different strategies. She almost didn't notice the squeak of terror as she trudged past. The blonde had to stop and turn around to see where it came from. A grown man she didn't recognize was leaning against a tree, with one hand digging his nails into the bark, and the other arm thrown out in front of himself protectively. A hospital gown just like hers hung from his skinny shoulders. He was shaking slightly, staring at her like she was a reincarnation of the devil himself.
"Can I help-" she started, confused. Does he belong to the mental ward? What kind of meds is he on?
"P-please, I haven't done anything since then, I swear. L-look, I've just been working o-on recovering and earning a decent living. I'm not even in debt anymore, ok? Just please…" the man explained, stumbling over his words. Anni managed to put together who he was, though it was odd seeing the slime without any bandages covering his face.
"It's you" she breathed, watching him cringe back and gulp. "You're the bastard who attacked me and Maya those months ago!" Anni accused, feeling her anger flare. As the slime fell to his hands and knees to bow to her, she was forcefully reminded that she had very nearly killed this man last time they'd met.
"Please forgive me! I'm a changed man. I've cleaned myself up, I learned after that night, I swear to you!" he begged, his face pressed into the grass. The blonde had to stop and consider. While she would have loved to beat the crap out of him again, simply for existing, there was no way she could bring herself to raise a hand to him now.
"...Name" she said simply.
"Wh-what?" he asked, looking up.
"What's your name?" Anni clarified.
"Kenjirou Yasuda" came his hesitant answer.
"Alright then, Kenjirou-san. Keep working on improving yourself, and I will be more than happy to never see your face again. Bye-bye" she waved as she walked away, still simmering. She would never be able to forgive him, but she could at least restrain herself from trying to kill him.
-!DRRR!-
It felt strange, standing outside in her usual attire again, instead of a hospital gown. Her bag hung on Shizuo's shoulder, who seemed all too happy to not allow her to carry her own things. He at least let her walk on her own, despite commenting on how skinny she still looked, so Anni wasn't up for complaining much. Just as they started walking home, Maya and the Skink came running up.
"Great! We didn't miss you!" Maya chimed.
"Even if it is your fault we're late-" Kaneki corrected, but was cut off and ignored.
"I have an idea for avoiding the next event! Anni, you have to see this one, I really think it'll work" Maya gushed, waving the little red notebook around.
"Be quiet would you?!" Anni scolded, swiping the book from her grasp. "At least not here."
"I'm serious though, this one might work!" Maya asserted in hushed tones.
Shizuo sighed and ruffled Anni's hair. "I'll see you at home. Don't stay out too long" he advised, starting the trek home by himself.
"Look what you've done, you chased off my boyfriend" Anni admonished.
"Oh come on, it's not that bad. Just come see what I came up with, hopefully it's good enough for your absurd standards" Maya retorted, dragging Anni along by her arm. Kaneki followed after them with his hands in his pockets, looking both amused and annoyed.
-!DRRR!-
"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Anni asked hesitantly, going over the plan in her head again.
"Of course. We still have a week and a half to prepare, which gives me plenty of time to get all the special makeup I need, and pick out any kind of wig I want" Maya explained.
"That's not what I meant. I'm certainly willing to put my own neck on the line here, but you'll still be in the line of fire if we go through with this. Even if he can't connect your name and face to find you later, he could still attack while you're there and put you in the hospital too" the blonde refuted.
"That's what you're for" Maya replied, smiling.
"Even at my best, there's no way I can stand up to this guy" Anni sighed, leaning back against her tree. They'd taken up an otherwise quiet corner of a park, where they could argue without fear of bothering anyone else. Kaneki looked to be falling asleep in the grass, though Anni knew better than to assume that of him. Through all of his time spent annoying her in her hospital bed these past weeks, she'd gotten to see through his scheming a bit more. He resembled the informant she hated in a few ways, though she couldn't consider him a psychopath, thankfully. He would always be an adorable little lizard that she could never fully trust, but he seemed perfectly happy with that kind of relationship.
"You don't have to! That's the beauty. Just having three people around with phones should be enough."
"'Should be enough' isn't good enough for me, not with people I care about and myself in danger. We have time to work this out, so I want to get it right" Anni clarified.
"I'll second that" the Skink added, confirming her suspicions. "I'm sorry sweetie, but at the very least I'd like to be there for a plan like this."
"Since when are you on my planning team?" Anni questioned sharply, not bothering to cover her frustration.
"Since Maya's safety came into question. Don't take your impatience out on me, pretty please" he added, his tone reaching a fake light heartedness near the end. "I still don't know exactly what's going on, but I'll trust that this needs to happen. Make sure my little goddess stays mostly safe and I won't pry" he offered, never bothering to open his eyes. Both Anni and Maya were too surprised by his additions to respond immediately, though for differing reasons. Anni had never seen him quite this honest and blunt, while Maya couldn't believe he would call her his 'little goddess' in public and in perfect seriousness.
"Well…" Maya restarted, clearing her throat. "I don't think four people in a room with working cellphones would hurt" she offered as compromise.
"You know what, fine. We can work on the details to make it better later, this is the best plan we can work anyway. Satisfied, Skink?" Anni asked.
"Hm?" Kaneki asked drowsily, sitting up and blinking at her in confusion. "Satisfied with what?" He even added a drawn out yawn at the end. Anni forcefully stifled the urge to punch him.
-!DRRR!-
Home again. Anni wanted to cheer and shout. She settled for slipping out of her shoes, falling into her startled roommates lap, and softly cheering "yaaay."
"It's good to have you back" Shizuo chuckled in response, resting a hand on her head and she flopped the rest of herself onto the couch.
"It's good to be back. I never thought I would miss an apartment this much" she confided, adjusting so she could be actually comfortable.
"Did you just miss the apartment?" her boyfriend asked in surprise.
"Of course not! I missed you the most. Just seeing you once a day is never enough" she replied, setting him at ease and making him smile. He seemed to be content to leave it there, so Anni decided to change the subject. "Maya, the Skink and I finally came up with a plan. There are still a lot of details to work on, but I think it might work out…"
"Will you be needing me?" he asked curtly, though his eyes betrayed his worry.
"Not if things go right. I'll still let you know when and where things are going down when it happens though, just in case" she explained.
"Good" Shizuo said, seeming pleased with just that much.
-A/N-
It has been forever and a day since my last update, and I'm terribly sorry. You've probably heard the "life gets in the way" explanation a hundred times, so I'll spare you that much. I really hope you enjoy this early Christmas present, feel free to let me know what you think, as I'm still having trouble deciding exactly how to go about finishing this thing. Thank you all so much for reading, and your support. Happy holidays