It was late, the sun just beginning to set as Yami, dressed in her school uniform despite it being hours after the doors had closed, looked forward, watching Tearju's back as the scientist turned teacher clicked her shoes on the floor. "Tear. You haven't said anything, I already told you that I-"
She was cut off by her biological progenitor turning her head, smiling at the girl as she adjusted her glasses. "Don't worry, I'm not here to blame you or punish you for your actions. I can't pretend that I know you better than anyone, but you're still my daughter. I'm sure you had some reasoning for it, and you didn't mean for things to go as far as they did." She glanced at the ceiling, tapping her chin with a finger as she slowed her pace to match her shorter clone. "But, I'm surprised it took you so long to get here. I heard you met with the police at the hospital, but isn't it only a few minutes' flight from here?"
The girl frowned, narrowing her eyes briefly at the question. "I walked. As I told you, I don't intend to use Trance anymore, even for something like flight."
The woman blinked, before a small smile formed on her face, reaching her arm to wrap around Yami's shoulder and bring her closer. "I should be the one apologizing for not talking, I know it's not like me to leave you in the dark. We're visiting Ryouko-shi, she contacted me and said to take you along."
"Ryou-" Yami blinked as she recalled the name, pushing Tearju's side to right herself to a standing position. "Mikado-sensei. The doctor taking care of Rito told me she was involved."
"Well, of course she is, she's the chief doctor for extraterrestials across Japan. That's how Nana-san's medical fees were paid even though she isn't a citizen."
Yami flinched at the mention of the princess, and she went quiet, listening to the woman talk as they made their way to the infirmary, where Tearju knocked on the door, earning a near-instant reply from inside.
As the teacher entered, followed by the Trans, Mikado waved, motioning them to sit at the temporary table she'd set out in front of a bed, the doctor herself sitting backwards in her usual chair at one end. "Sorry for the conditions, I don't have anywhere with any other space to sit. It's good to see you, Tear, Yami-san. Neither of you visit me very much."
The two greeted her, filing in to sit on the bed and face her across the table. While Yami simply sat uncomfortably, staring down at the table, Tearju smiled, moving her hands to lace her fingers together in front of her. "It's been busy, and normally I would be at home writing the test next week, but when you told me this was about the second Darkness Incident, I had to get involved."
Mikado nodded, sighing as she leaned back, holding her hands onto the chair's headrest to keep her balance. "Yes, I'm sure you do feel some responsibility, though I don't think this is your fault at all. All of this is just another result of Eden's lack of foresight. Those people...Long after they're all gone, the effects still remain." She smiled, turning her attention to Yami. "Don't be so anxious, I'm not blaming you either. Given the event five weeks ago, this too can be assumed to be caused by someone else manipulating you and your Darkness."
"Darkness…" The girl looked up to meet the doctor's eyes, her frown remaining in full force. "If this is about Mea, I can't help you with locating her. She has the ability to mask her presence, and I haven't seen her since then."
"I'm not asking you to track her down, only to be aware of how the political community sees her now." Mikado stated, and she blinked, confused by the statement, while Tearju hummed in response.
"So they've already made their decision on what happened? That doesn't seem right, Eve has only been contacted by police officers, not the PSIA or any alien representatives. How could they make a decision so quickly?"
"The previous Darkness Incident is well recorded and has been thoroughly investigated already, and Yami-san's character has been significantly tested and deemed not to be a threat if left alone. However, that same incident also made it clear that she has a weakness to being lead on, and Devilukean intel on Eden alongside your own testimony showed that Darkness doesn't seem to activate willingly." She nodded towards the subject of the conversation, her smile widening. "If anything, because you went Darkness then, it proved your own innocence."
Yami looked down, not wanting to maintain eye contact. "So, you want to make her out to be entirely at fault, while making me appear to be the victim, even though she was seen fighting me as well."
"The fact that you retain your memory when you leave Darkness is helpful to you in coming up with details like that." Mikado replied, before leaning forward over the chair again and nodding as she raised a finger to enunciate her speech. "I don't know if you're happy with hearing this, but based on the evidence we have before Nemesis can give her own testimony, all signs point to Mea for the mastermind behind this. Whatever her motives may be, whether she is out for malice or to protect Yuuki-san from something only she was aware of, the fact remains that the Lunatique has made contact with the surveillance ship we seized recently, which is known to be Mea's Pareidolia, and that afterwards, your behavior suddenly changed from passive to actively hunting Nana-san. As she is so important to galactic politics, while there isn't much evidence knowing Mea's past actions, it seems she was targeting her specifically. Whether that was because of her role or not, to politicians who neither know nor care about their personal relationships, it can be deemed as an act of war against Deviluke if it comes into Lord Gid's knowledge. I convinced Japan's PSIA to keep this under wraps for now, but in exchange, they asked me to discuss this with you...And this also involved Yuuki-san."
"Rito is-" Yami couldn't say much before Tearju interrupted, causing the girl to close her mouth in surprise at the serious tone in the normally absentminded woman's voice.
"Yuuki Rito is regarded as an informal emissary for interspecies relations by Deviluke." the scientist stated. "With his memory gone, that's almost two years of information lost along with it, alongside a potentially significant part of his development. If he's fundamentally changed as a person because of this, then that's another point against Mea as being anything but a menace now." She glanced sidelong at Yami, before turning back to her old friend. "But, Eve has been through quite a lot in the last few months, and I don't understand why you wanted her to be aware of all this, Ryouko. She isn't tied to Japan's government, isn't a citizen, and rarely comes to school."
The magenta-haired alien nodded, humming for a moment before her smile returned, glancing knowingly at the Trans. "The reason is because, while she's not involved with this political quagmire, she and Yuuki-san have an unusually deep personal relationship. I'm sorry for bringing this up so soon, but you confessed to him recently, didn't you, Yami-san?"
The girl jolted, staring forward as her face went red. "Y-You knew about that?" she asked. "I...I didn't intend anything by it, I knew he wouldn't accept! It was just…" She looked down, her voice going quiet. "I just wanted to say something before...I don't even know what I was rushing for."
A wry smile played on the woman's face, resting her cheek on her palm. "Young love, how cute. Anyway, that's why I wanted you to be informed of this. You've already met him, I'm sure you're aware that he has severe retrograde amnesia, to the extent that the parts of his brain connected to memory don't even register on MRI."
Yami hesitated, before nodding. "...Yes, he...didn't recognize me. I told him about my real name, then left…" Her voice was still small, not daring to speak up. "I hope Mikan delivered the taiyaki I made him, though he'll probably think it's bad…"
Tearju frowned, patting her back and speaking for her. "I saw the results of the scan, it's as if that part of his brain was completely shut down. There wasn't any activity at all, it's as if his memory was…" She stopped, blinking. "...Stolen. You don't think that Mea…"
"...Took his memories? It's possible. After the last Darkness Incident, he informed investigators that she has the ability to read minds and share memories. Knowing that, it isn't too far off to think she can also remove them." She sighed, shaking her head. "Unfortunately, without knowing her location or where her allegiance lies, there is no way to get them back, if it's even possible. That's why I wanted to ask you about it, since you were a part of Eden."
"I had nothing to do with Mea's development, I was kicked out and all my permissions revoked when they took Eve and made her into an assassin. The idea that they could take her information and make something as dangerous as Mea is was unthinkable when I was with the project."
Yami's shoulders tensed, and she suddenly planted her hands on the table, standing up to the surprise of the two. "I'm sorry, I...I don't want to listen to this anymore. You want me to find her, right? I can do that. I don't know how, but I'll-" She choked up, her eyes going wide as Tearju's hand met her shoulder, gently pushing her back to a sitting position.
"Eve, that's not what we want. Instead, you should do as you wanted anyway...Stay around him, be his friend and help him when he needs it. If you can, ask Nemesis what she knows, but more importantly, Yuuki-san will be confused and disoriented, and at school, there aren't as many people who can help him deal with the memories he's lost. Admittedly, this is partly a ploy as your mother to get you to come to school, but this is also to help him, as well as for your own sake."
She looked at her daughter with concern, noting the trembling she felt under her hand as Yami slowly nodded. "Right...I won't use Trance anymore, but I can still protect him normally, and...there isn't much anymore that can scare me enough to trigger Darkness again. I can...play human now, right, Tear?"
As she looked up at the woman, Tearju frowned, noticing the tears in the girl's eyes, before she wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close and setting her chin on her scalp. "Eve, neither of us knows what sort of species we are. I have no idea where I was born, or what race I am, and you have all sorts of genes inside you. But, because of that, you didn't have an identity from birth. You are what you want to be...If you don't want to be a Trans, then you can be human instead."
Yami sat stiffly for a moment, before allowing the embrace to happen, and Mikado watched with a smile on her face before they finally broke apart. "Well, I think we're done here. I've given you a lot to think about, but Yami-san...This is all voluntary on your part. You're a victim too, and I'll make sure you aren't punished for actions you couldn't control. You may leave, I still have more to discuss in private with Tear."
The girl nodded, and this time, Tearju didn't stop her as she stood up, wobbling slightly as she regained her balance before walking out of the door.
As soon as it closed, Mikado's smile fell, turning to her colleague and nodding. "Now, then. I'm sure you realized, but that MRI…"
"It wasn't quite what you'd expect from someone with neural trauma." Tearju stated, crossing her arms and humming to herself. "I'm sure you won't agree with me without evidence, but the fact that there was still a bundle of neurons still connected to the rest of his brain...My gut feeling is that his memories aren't gone, but sealed away somehow, and that whatever that access point is triggered by may restore what the scans couldn't detect. Mea's abilities are still shrouded in mystery, so even though such high level control over the brain like that is very difficult even with Deviluke's technology, she may be able to pull it off."
"Locking away memory in a catatonic state, while still having precise enough control to give it an access point…" Mikado looked up at the ceiling, shaking her head, though this time it wasn't in disbelief, but rather thoughtfulness. "If that's really the case, then Mea's motivations are even more complicated...If she was simply after removing his memories, then why bother giving him a way to gain them back?"
"I don't like the idea of him staying ignorant of the bonds he's formed." Tearju stated. "It's just another gut instinct, but I'm hoping that Mea's respect for her predecessor is legitimate, and that Eve can somehow find that trigger."
"The chances of that are low at best. If you're right in assuming that there is some way to unlock those lost memories, then it's more likely that Mea knows of a single specific memory that he still has which can lead to the rest. Something like meeting Lala-san, or first becoming aware of Sairenji-san beyond simply being a classmate. But, if those didn't activate his recollection already, then I have to hypothesize that it's only a red herring placed there to trick investigators into looking elsewhere."
~~~In the hallway~~~
Yami frowned, leaning on the wall as she listened in on the conversation. So, that was the actual truth behind it...She'd thought Tear was acting strange, she never remembered her speaking with such grimness before, and the fact she hadn't tripped on her own feet or fallen over while trying to sit down meant that she'd been abnormally focused on the situation at hand. That would have been a good way to lessen the tension, but she had simply acted like a normal teacher.
So, she thought Mea had given Rito some form of out for his situation. If that was the case...No, she shouldn't get hopeful. Realistically, there was no way Mea would make her the key, not when the point of that fight had in the first place been to get rid of his false personalities.
She would simply do as she was asked and defend him. That was all she knew she could do for certain, and though she dearly wanted to take advantage of his amnesia, Tearju was right. This was what was best for him, so she couldn't just do as she pleased. She would be his guardian angel, keeping him safe while hiding her true feelings.
She no longer wished to access Trance, and so this was what she could do not as Yami the assassin, but as Eve the human.