They took the bus back to Akise's apartment complex. As Akise fished his keys from his pocket, Chiaki braced him with a reassuring arm around his waist.

Once inside, he fell somewhat ungracefully onto his couch, grateful for the reprise from movement but dizzied by the way the room suddenly spun to accommodate his change in viewpoint.

Chiaki headed straight into the kitchen; Akise registered the sound of his kettle being switched on. "You do not need to stay, but I thank you for your help," He called.

"You're welcome. Though that comment did resemble a backhanded attempt to throw me out," She replied, chuckling.

Akise's eyes widened. "N-no, please do not be offended -"

"Akise, I was joking!"

"...Oh." He attempted a laugh, but it sounded incredibly forced and almost sarcastic. Not that Decim had ever grasped the concept of sarcasm. Much to Akise's relief, Chiaki decided to ignore the laugh. "Tea or coffee?" He would have asked for water, but reasoned that it would be rude not to accept a hot beverage as she had already boiled the kettle.

But he was not drinking coffee ever again. "Tea, please."

Facing him, Chiaki's brows drew together. "You really must be feeling ill," She commented, "you almost never drink tea."

"I...I suppose my taste has changed slightly." Considering that at Quindecim most of what he drank was alcoholic, he assumed that tea could not possibly be worse than coffee.

"Sugar? Milk?" Akise had no idea how to respond, so he shrugged in the hope that conveying a nonchalance towards preference would be sufficient.

"You're...very different today." Chiaki came over and sat near him, setting two mugs on the small coffee table beside them.

Picking up his mug, Akise nodded once. "I do recall you saying that before." He met her eyes again. Her diagonally-cut fringe made the irises seem a darker colour. She looked angry.

"Miss Kozuma, what is -"

"Just speak normally!" She blurted, making Akise flinch and spill some hot tea on his leg.

Pain was not so much an emotion but a neurological response in this context, Akise concluded, as he gripped the burned area on reflex, lips pulled back in a grimace. This pain was indeed very different from sorrow. More physical. He still did not like it.

"Oh, I - I'm sorry, I…" Forgetting her apology, Chiaki rushed to fetch a towel. Akise noted that she seemed to know his home rather well. Perhaps she had visited before.

He set his mug down.

"Here." Handing him a cloth damp with cold water, Chiaki observed as he tenderly dabbed his inner thigh where the scalding was. Akise felt a blissful sense of numbness as he dabbed, but could not help but wonder if Chiaki had timed that outburst. Did she...intend to hurt me?

Looking up at her, unsuccessful in meeting her gaze, Akise was at a loss. "Chiaki…" When she heard him use her first name, her expression softened.

"I should go." As she moved, Akise gently took her wrist. "Please tell me how I have upset you," He implored. He needed her to mould him into the character she was comfortable with, if only so he could spend more time with her.

Licking her lips, Chiaki's shoulders slumped. She did not speak.

"Sit with me," Akise said, though he tried to infuse the imperative with a tone of non-compulsion. She did, moving further from him and crossing her legs away from him.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, tension hanging tangibly between them. Akise wanted to speak again, but something told him Chiaki would respond when she was ready.

Eventually, she spoke up. "I know it's only one day, and I know that everyone has bad days, but...It's hard to phrase. You speak too formally, you react to situations differently and you even move differently. You're more refined, and reserved. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but it's so sudden. People don't...change that quickly. At most you would have had a weekend to change - you seemed fine last Friday. But I feel like I…" Warily, she faced him again. "I don't know you."

Akise gulped.

Could he talk himself out of this, without telling her the truth? Without telling her what had previously happened to her, and who he really was?

No. I cannot ever tell her the truth. It would ruin her chance of a normal life.

Hurriedly trying to think of a plan, Decim deduced that he needed more time to study any memories of Akise in order to moderate his behaviour with him. That way, Chiaki would not begin to avoid him.

He was just about to speak when Chiaki's steel-tinted voice meet his ears softly. "Is it because of what happened between us."

Though phrased as a question, she said it as a statement. Frowning, Akise hesitated. Was she talking about...Did she remember Quindecim? Had she somehow recognised Decim's mannerisms?

Before he could answer, a collection of new memories hit him like a sledgehammer.

Night. Summer. Alcohol. The warmth of another hand in his. The image of Chiaki, dancing with him to loud music in a club -

"I…"

Laughter. Smiles. Touches lingering. An invitation to have coffee which was not coffee. Stumbling together -

"...No…"

Home. Hallway. Thuds of bodies embracing against walls. The intense wetness of another mouth on his. The entwining of limbs and removal of clothes. Bedsheets. Smooth skin, beneath his fingers -

Standing, both hands clutching his head, Akise was barely aware of Chiaki's distress as he shuffled into the kitchen, dizzy and mortified.

Heat. Moans. Rapid movements, the cold evaporation of perspiration. Paralysing pleasure. Clutching a hand that wasn't his in the darkness. Breathy chuckles and whispered conversations.

"Oh no," He breathed, shoulders feeling heavier as he set both palms on the dinner table, trying to calm his quickening breaths. How could he have done that, how could Akise have done that -

"Akise, Akise what's going on?" Chiaki had followed him to the kitchen, her voice quaking with anxiety.

He could not answer.

"Do you need me to call the hosp -"

"Please leave," He managed to utter as his eyes began to moisten.

"...What?"

I do not want to repeat it, I do not… "P-please leave." He knew how incredibly insulting this behaviour was, but he could not bring himself to look at her.

Seconds passed, in which he could feel her glare on his back, before the sound of hastened footsteps and the slamming of his front door told him she had made her departure.

He locked the door. Had a shower. Got ready for bed. He was not hungry and he poured the leftover drinks down the sink.

Climbing into bed, he lay there in the darkness.

Akise was no longer comfortable in his body. More tears welled up before he could control them; they cascaded down his cheeks, soaking his pillow. They stung his eyes and he tasted bitterness when they rolled between his parted lips. His nose became blocked with mucus. He felt as if there were a ball lodged in his throat.

He, Decim, loved Chiyuki. She had been the first friend he had ever made. He loved Chiaki, because she was her reincarnation. But he could not, would not ever initiate a romantic relationship with her. He did not love her romantically, or sexually. But apparently, someone else did.

This unexpected turn of events made him reconsider his entire situation. Those memories were not his, even though the retrieval of them had led to a vague feeling of experiencing that scenario himself. So if he was here now, and he had not always been here, that meant that Akise Nakamori really was an entirely different person.

So, if Decim was here now….where was Akise?

"How would that even be possible?" Oculus spluttered, shocked, his frail hands gripping the edge of the billiards table for support.

Nona allowed herself a condescending smirk whilst the old man looked away. "It's just a theory," She reminded him, "but it has merit, don't you think? Decim should have ceased his existence, but for some reason he hasn't."

"Con...contact Castra," Oculus ordered, composing himself. "Have her send me that man's memories. It must be verified."

Clavis, having shaken himself from his disbelieving stupor, eventually spoke up. "But, if it's true, what will happen then?"

The old man's alienated eyes narrowed in anger. He glanced to Nona. "If this theory is correct, there will be nothing any of us can do. We will not even be able to tell him what's happened."

Nona bit her lip, folding her arms tighter over her chest. He has a point. "Decim isn't stupid. There's a good chance he will figure it out."

Clavis looked down, still cradling the hollow mannequin in his arms as he added, softly, "I hope he doesn't. The truth will destroy him."

A/N: Apologies for the short chapter, but I felt it was the best place to pause.