TIMELINE: Post-canon (immediately after Episode 45); pre-relationship.

"Don't worry about me."

"Probation?"

Emu looks to Parad sitting beside him by the table then, to an apologetic Hinata Kyoutarou on the screen. There's a flurry of emotions in him and he has to swallow down the anger because considering previous circumstances, Emu understands that it's necessary.

Doesn't mean he has to like it.

"Which means...?"

Kyoutarou-sensei nods. "Parad has to stay in CR for the time being, yes."

"But I'm a CR doctor!" Emu protests, shooting up from his seat and tries to keep his voice level. "If we fuse, Parad will be with me at all times and—"

Kyoutarou-sensei shakes his head and immediately Emu stutters off. "The Ministry finds that because of your connection to Parad, you'll be biased in your monitoring of him, Emu."

Fingers curling into fists, Emu grits his teeth in hopes to stave off the simmering anger and indignation that are threatening to burst. Losing his temper and railing against the Ministry won't help anyone; especially if it'll cause him to be separated from Parad even more than they already are.

A hand takes one of his fists to gently unfurl it from the white knuckled grip; startling him out of his thoughts. Emu blinks and turns to find Parad smiling up at him; soft and sad.

"It's okay, Emu," Parad murmurs, squeezing his fingers.

No. No, it's not okay. This is far from okay.

They've just gotten back from an operation; the first one together after weeks of thinking that Parad was dead and gone from his life. For goodness sake, Emu's only reunited with Parad just hours ago and was hoping that he can have his partner with him instead of being told that Parad is basically on locked down.

He wants to rage against the Ministry for not allowing him to be the one to keep an eye on Parad— because Parad is his as Emu is Parad's, so it only makes sense that...No. If he thinks about it, he gets it. Emu is quite bias when it comes to Parad despite the fact that they only spent a month together as partners and allies before Parad's death. And considering how horribly effected he was when Parad died, it's only logical to have Parad in CR instead with Emu since Parad is literally the only person that Emu would willingly compromised himself for.

Emu still doesn't like it though.

"...I understand, Kyoutarou-sensei," he relents eventually with a sigh, sitting heavily back down onto his seat.

Eyes softening, Kyoutarou-sensei leans forward and addresses both him and Parad. "For what it's worth, I am sorry you two."

Trading a glance with Parad, they nod at Kyoutarou-sensei and watches as the screen goes black.

Groaning, he face plants onto the table and ruffles his hair in frustration. "Bad enough you have to wear a power dampener on your ankle and now this?"

"It could be worse," Parad comments idly and Emu turns to his bugster when Parad mirrors him. "I could be stuck in a cell like Genm." Parad gives him a sardonic smile, eyes full of sadness and guilt. "And you know very well that it should be worse considering my sins."

Frowning, he tucks a stray curl behind Parad's ear. "And you've done a lot to make up for those sins. I mean, I couldn't have stopped Cronus without your powers and not to mentioned that you stopped Gamedeus when no one else could. You—" A lump forms in his throat as he remembers his hand closing in on an empty space where Parad used to be. That moment still haunts him and it takes him awhile until he can breathe properly again, reassuring himself that Parad is alive and with him. "You died stopping him, Parad."

"Even so." Parad leans into his touch, placing his hand over Emu's when he lingers on Parad's ear. "Don't worry about me, Emu. I promise I'll be fine here."

Sighing, he nods and absentmindedly brushes his thumb against a cheekbone. "I know. It's, well...I just got you back, Parad."

"Then...do you mind if you stay for a bit longer? Maybe play some games?" Parad offers, smile wide and hopeful.

Emu doesn't even need to think about his answer; words tumbling out with relaxing ease.

"I'll do you one better." Emu grins, leaning close as if he's about to tell a secret that he only wants Parad to hear. "I'm staying tonight."

Eyes widening, Parad shuffles closer until their noses are touching. "Wha— seriously!?"

"Yeah!" Raising a hand, he jerks a thumb to somewhere on his left with a conspiring grin. "The on call room is right over there after all so we can rest or well, I can rest in there to sleep for the night since you're nocturnal more often than not."

"You'd do that?" Parad asks, voice nothing more than a whisper and for a moment, the bugster looks painfully vulnerable as he curls into himself. "For me?"

Heart clenching, Emu feels like smacking his past self for ignoring and rejecting Parad as he did. They could've been allies far sooner if he reached out to Parad as he did with Kuroto. So, so much pain could've been prevented if he hadn't been so stubborn.

"Of course." Emu leans their foreheads together, sending a wave of remorse to the bugster through the bond they share. "I really regret that I forgot how important you are to me. A lot of hurt could've been avoided if I handled things better between us."

"Emu..." Fingers brush away his bangs as Parad frowns. "A lot of it was my fault."

He shakes his head at that, adamant. "We both share the same amount of blame."

"You're not gonna budge on this, huh?" Parad comments with an exasperated huff as he folds his hands on the table to rest his chin on top of them.

Poking his tongue out, Emu mirrors Parad with a snicker. "Nope!"

They've had the same argument many times before in the early stages of their truce. Thinking back, they've had to go through a lot of their issues in the month before that final battle against Cronus. Honestly, Emu lost count on how many times they've had a screaming match or how much tears they've shed to get to the relationship they have now. While it was a necessary process, it was still quite a painful ordeal to go through.

"You were born out of my wish for a Player 2; a best friend— a partner and best match." Emu offers his fist to Parad with a tentative grin. "I want us to be better, Parad."

The beaming smile Parad gives him in answer eases the tension knotting his shoulders.

"Then better is what we'll be, Emu," Parad promises, knocking their fists together. "After all, we're invincible together, right?"

Hand shifting, he catches Parad's fist before he can pull back to intertwine their fingers. "Absolutely."

Watching as a smile blooming across Parad's face; sincere and breathtaking in its simplicity, Emu finds himself genuinely believing that as long as the both of them are together, they truly are invincible.