"So, why did you two choose to come here, anyway?"

Ryuuga smacks himself in the forehead. "Son of a- we completely forgot about that, didn't we?"

Sighing, Sento rubs at his temples. "Your friend, Gaim, he somehow managed to travel to our earth, and we were – I was hoping to at least learn how he did that. I know we can't go back home. It's gone and I… that fact is hard enough to handle, and I don't think I could deal with myself if it actually does still exist.

"To be honest, half of the reason for wanting to know is really just curiosity. Bad habits die hard, I guess. I couldn't keep myself from designing nearly all of our weapons back home, even the ones that I knew were a terrible idea, even the ones that wound up destroying us-" His breath catches, and Ryuuga scoots down the bench to get closer, rubbing his hand on Sento's back.

"Aw, man…" Ryuuga sighs, and takes over the conversation. "Look, we weren't expecting to come into all of… this." He looks around the park. "Thought that we'd eventually find the guys from here, that'd it take time and we'd have to look. We didn't think we'd just – basically get delivered to you." He looks back down at the ground, one hand clenched and trembling at his side, the other still trying to help Sento level out. "But… man, neither of us is doin' that hot. Maybe this wasn't a great idea after all…"

"Hey, you know you can come back here later, right?" Shotaro looks over to Takatora, who nods in confirmation. "We can get you guys settled first. It'll help a lot to have somewhere to go back to when it gets too hard to talk about stuff.

Shotaro ponders their available options. "So, here's the deal. Philip and I were planning to spend one additional night here, but it might be a better idea to start back soon, so you guys can start settling in sooner… Although, it is a bit of a drive, so maybe going in fresh would be a better idea."

"Argh, we're really screwing with your plans, aren't we?" Ryuuga winces. "Just… whatever works best for you guys is fine by me."

"I really don't dese-" Sento catches himself. "I don't have the ri-" he grimaces. "…Thank you." he sighs. "Sorry…"

Micchy speaks up from the next table over. "It's a process. You'll get there."

There's a moment before Sento can bring himself to speak again. "…Right. Right, of course." Slowly he turns to his partner. "Hey, Banjou…"

"Yeah?"

"I've got a few things I want to run by that doctor group." Sento runs his hand nervously through his hair. "I- sorry, but it's important, I'll be right back, I promise-"

Ryuuga stays silent for a few moments, during which Sento grows visibly more anxious. He sighs, rolling his eyes. "You have all your dad's notes 'n stuff on the phone, don't you."

"…Yeah. And I… may have backed up everyone else's phones, too, just so that they'd still have everything if their own devices were destroyed. But my father's… er, pre-Sky Wall notes are, well, more relevant right now. So..."

Ryuuga waves his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. I get it. You're not wrong, it's… ugh, fine, they oughta know. Go, do the thing."

Sento nods, smiling apologetically as he walks off.


"So…" Nico starts, as she watches Sento head over to talk to Emu and Kiriya, while Ryuuga wanders over to the food table.

"I'll bite." Poppy responds. "What's up?"

"…D'ya think those two are a thing?"

Several people around the area cough. "What?!"

"I'm serious. Look at them. It's disgustingly sappy."

Akiko laughs. "Not a chance, not yet. They're clearly into each other, but they've got no clue how to go about it. I doubt they've even said anything to each other."

"Married woman's intuition?" Poppy giggles.

"Nope. This one's 'had to watch Shotaro and Philip dance around their feelings for two years' intuition."

Shotaro squawks. "That's uncalled for!"

"Two years, starting after Philip came back." She smirks.

Philip nods. "She's not wrong."

"Et tu, bruté?"

Philip responds by planting a kiss on Shotaro's temple.

"Oh god, see, that? Also sappy and gross. Public displays of affection are gross." Nico rolls her eyes. "Dunno how you guys get anything done at that agency, between the four of you. Terui melts the moment Akiko looks at him. Romance. UGH."


"There's a few things I want to – that I need to talk to you about."

Emu looks at Sento, who's fidgeting nervously, occasionally casting a glance back at Ryuuga. "If it's about last time, you really don't need to apologize."

"No, it's not about that. It's that." He screws up his face before forcing it back into a semblance of calm. "Banjou and I don't… well, we don't technically exist here, legally speaking. And honestly, we've both had enough of being on the run, or not being real, is there any chance you know whether there's anything we can do to, well, 'fix' that, or-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down." Emu puts out his hands to 'pause' Sento's runaway sentence. "Believe it or not, there are actually legal, binding forms for this sort of thing. We had to, er, basically create an identity wholesale for Parad, which led us down a whole rabbit hole of strange legal status forms."

"I wound up filling out the 'change of species' form, myself, once we found out that was a thing." Kiriya waves from across the table. "Not really sure why that's a thing the government's got in the first place, but. Ya know. I'll take it. There was one for 'inter-reality refugee' in the listing, wasn't there?"

Parad answers, not looking up from his game. "Yeah, I saw that in there. It's separate from the 'previously non-existent entity' forms me and Poppy filled out. They get weirdly specific, too, so you guys oughta prepare for some bizarre-ass questions."

Emu nods in agreement. "Some of the sections were very strange. We can send you the links to them." He looks at Sento seriously. "But that particular problem's not what has you so nervous, is it?"

"I-!" Grimacing, Sento glances backwards again, before focusing his attention on the ground. "Last night, what Banjou was trying to keep me from telling you… I don't want to betray his trust, but this is important, and I mean, you guys are doctors, so-"

Shaking his head, Emu smiles dryly. "So, let me guess, he's not completely human, then? Are we dealing with naturally different biology or changes from 'external influences'?"

"…naturally different. I do actually have a lot of the details about the, er, circumstances stored on my phone – I backed up all of my research onto it regularly – so I can get that to you. Maybe not soon, necessarily, but when I've got phone privileges back." Sento pauses, seeming to almost lose himself in thought. "And a functioning e-mail. My old one doesn't work here."

"Don't worry too much about it. As long as we know what problems might come up, we should be able to deal with any that actually do."

Cautiously looking back up, Sento manages a small smile. "Thank you."

It's at this point that Ryuuga walks up. "Hey, so, I just got sent out to tell you that we're headed out soon, so ya gotta wrap it up." He notices Sento's guilty expression. "Hey, come on…"

"Sorry…"

"Hmph." Ryuuga crosses his arms. "As long as this bullshit doesn't make common knowledge. Not yet, anyway." He scoffs. "Hell, bad enough I had the stupid 'half space asshole' news dropped on me… aaaand you hadn't gone inta any detail yet, had you."

The guilty expression morphs into one of fond exasperation. "You say that as though either of us has any form of tact whatsoever. …Oh!" Sento turns to Parad. "There's just one more question, I swear-"

Parad scoffs. "Sounds fake, but okay."

"Parad, when we met… you recognized Banjou's name, didn't you?"

Ryuuga pounds a fist into his hand. "Hey, yeah, and ya knew the 'other guy's' nickname last night, too!"

"Wait, really?" Sento stares. "I thought the 'devil's scientist' term was mostly just in the scientific community. Most people wouldn't have known about it, right?"

At that, Ryuuga laughs. "Dude, the little kids in your hometown knew about him screwing up. It musta spread while I was locked up."

Shrugging, Parad looks guiltily at them. "I had some context built up – two years, after all. And I hate to break it to you, but that whole… situation was all over the news for at least a few weeks. You-" he nods at Ryuuga "were a huge part of why it blew up the news, actually."

"Heh?!"

Wincing, he looks away. "I mean, news outlets love a scandal, after all, and this wasn't the first one you were involved in, apparently? I dunno what got you got kicked out of boxing, or when, because… well, sports suck." Parad ignores the indignant look on Ryuuga's face as he continues. "But it was well known enough to for you to make front page when everyone thought you snapped and killed a guy."

Sento and Ryuuga both stare.

"The articles were not flattering. At all."

"Aw, man, you thought I killed him too, didn't you..."

"Pft, like I'm in any position to judge. Besides, you breaking out of jail helped me track him down." Smirking, Parad jerks his head toward Sento. "I mean, the reports of an incredibly wanted fugitive teaming up with the Kamen Rider who hadn't been much more than a rumor? That was a great clue that I'd been in the wrong district entirely for almost two years. And when those videos started surfacing, those helped too." He looks in the middle distance. "The woman posting them was one of the ones in your base, right? Sa-"

""Don't use her name!""

"Don't… please don't." Ryuuga's fist trembles at his side, as he forces out the words. "We can't see our friends, any of them, so just. Please."

"We can't… they don't know us here. They're alive again, but they don't remember us – they can't," Sento's voice shakes. "By all rights, neither of us should even exist anymore-"

"Hey…" Emu takes on a warning tone, his stance stiffening.

"It's not the 'not deserving to' issue this time, this is just science! We shouldn't – not this way, as us. The – the plan was that people would merge with the versions of themselves that were in whatever universe we were going into or – or making, or whatever it is that happened, because I don't know anymore!"

Sento's starting to run out of breath, but keeps going anyway. "Except that I'm an anomaly, so I don't have a counterpart, so there shouldn't have been anyone for me to become. But – Banjou does have a counterpart, and frankly," he turns to Ryuuga "I know you don't agree, but I still – you'd have been better off not remembering any of that-"

"And, what, leave you here alone?" Ryuuga shakes his head, incredulous. "I get ya didn't think you were gonna make it here, but ya did. I told ya I'd find you again, and I did. So screw logic, just this once, okay?

"I gotta admit, though. I don't want everyone else to remember that shit either. If they had come through with us… then maybe." Wincing, he looks away. "But they're all happy here, and that's what you were fighting for, remember? Love and peace, and our friends have that now. Me? I was fighting for the people I believed in, and right now? That's you, Sento. So… please. Stop beating yourself up like this."

"I'm… trying." Sento gives Ryuuga a firm look. "You have to do the same, muscle-head."

"H-hey!"

Sento claps the flustered Ryuuga on the shoulder, a small smirk on his face that's only partially fake. "Oh, and-"

"Don't. No, don't say it, no-"

"Yeaaah, since you pulled in here." The smirk grows. "I'm going to show Shotaro how to unlock the phone, and get the bike running. See you in a bit." Sento walks off, while Ryuuga hurriedly turns away from everyone else.

"Son of a-" Ryuuga grumbles. "I swear, I checked- Ugh!" Turning back around, he chases after Sento. "Tell me sooner, you!"


"Hang on, wait a minute… Hey, Shotaro, pull over for a minute?"

"Hm? Okay…" Shotaro looks around for a moment to find a good location, before doing so.

Philip pulls up next to them on the Hardboiler, Ryuuga in tow. "What's going on?"

Sento takes off his helmet. "Banjou, does that tower look familiar? I could swear I've seen it recently…"

"Huh." Ryuuga scratches his head. "Yeah, we've been by here. This's one of the places we drove through when we were tryin' ta get to Zawame."

Shotaro gapes. "What- okay, how? You landed near Emu's team, right? Fuuto's in the complete opposite direction from there compared to Zawame!"

"I mean, we did say we were completely lost."

Sento nods in agreement. "I'm actually impressed that we managed to get as incredibly off track as we did."

"Now I just feel bad I didn't notice you guys coming through…" Shotaro leans on the Machine Builder. "I've failed my successors and my city…"

"Aw, come on, man, it's not that bad, we were kinda avoiding people, so-"

"Banjou's right, it's not your fault. …Also, you kind of phrased that like you're part of the mob?"

Shotaro doesn't answer, as Philip pats him on the shoulder. "There, there." Philip then turns to the others. "Don't worry, we're just very defensive of Fuuto. As for the mob part…" he frowns. "I… kind of was? At least, my family might have been. It's. Complicated."


Once they make it to the agency, Shotaro sighs. "So, with regards to sleeping arrangements. The agency is on the second floor. There used to be a pool hall on the first floor, but it closed down a few years after Akiko took over for her father as the boss here. We were able to get the space, and turned it into an apartment. Philip and I live there, and we've actually got two spare rooms, but neither of them are exactly… empty right now."

"By which he means we've used them to store the assorted paraphernalia from a number of my research projects." Philip at least has the decency to pretend to look embarrassed. "Until we can get that cleared out, I hope you two don't mind having to share the sleeping nook in the office. We don't use it much anymore. It was a necessity when I was technically in hiding, but we've kept it set up for when one of us crashes."

"Eh, I'm okay with it." Ryuuga looks at Sento. "You?"

"Mm. It might be a little tight, though…"

Philip considers this. "If we move the couch from the garage to up here, that would make it wider… Mind you, we'd have to move some cushions from the chairs over, as well, to even it out so neither of you fall off, since it's lower than the bed…"


Sento puts his hands on his hips. "Okay, the idea was sound in theory."

Shotaro looks at the spiral staircase, and then across the garage bay to the couch. Back to the stairs… and back over to the couch. "Philip… even if we get it up the stairs, can we actually get it through the door?"

"I may have skipped a few steps in my thought process."

"Hold up, how'd you get a couch down here if you didn't bring it through the door?"

""We brought it through the garage entrance.""

"Yeah, okay." Ryuuga cracks his knuckles. "Lemme take a crack at this." He crosses the area to get to the far landing. "Why is this place so huge, anyway?"

Shotaro grins. "It has to be, or the Revolgarry wouldn't fit. We have a tank."

"I hope you know that sounds even more implausible than the way you two transform." Sento gives the detectives a skeptical look. "Particularly because I see no signs of a tank in here."

"Oh, it's open right now." Philip shrugs. "We don't close it until we need it – the walkway has to retract for it to fit through."

Ignoring the way Sento stares at their new hosts incredulously, Ryuuga squats down next to the couch, grabbing it. "And here we go-" With a small grunt, he lifts it most of the way up, by one end. "'kay, if someone balances that other end so it's not dragging, that'll do, right?"

"Holy shit."

"Shotaro, language."

Sento bounces forward. "Oh! And if we use the handrail as a support to balance the sofa, instead of seeing it as blocking our way- Ah, will we be able to angle towards the door, though?"

"Won't know till we get there!"


~night~

-It's your fault the girl died-

-Ryuuga! Help me!-

-i'm sorry i'm so sorry i couldn't save you-

-And once again you'll have to watch-

-screams of agony muffled by an oxygen mask-

-doin' this for you man-

-You'll have to watch someone you care about die-

-what's the point anymore-

-We're the same being after all-

-we're not we can't be-

-Does it really matter? You've made this your own-

-Once again you'll have to watch the one you lo-

-everything is falling down everything is destroyed everything is burning-

Ryuuga bolts upright, panting, eyes darting around as they adjust to the dim light.

"Where – Right, okay, right, we've got a place to stay, hell, we've got people to help us out, even – wait, where's?"

His eyes land on Sento, asleep beside him on the makeshift bed that they and their hosts cobbled together.

"He's here, he's safe, he's okay, you're okay, we're both okay, it's fine, Evolt's gone he can't hurt us again everything's okay…"

Okay-ish. Everything is okay-ISH, because it's really warm in here. Except Sento's got a blanket pulled around him, and Ryuuga can definitely feel a breeze from the small window above Shotaro's desk, but he still feels really warm, which means he's what's warm, which means he needs to move, now, before something goes wrong again.

Biting his lip and frowning, he carefully works his way around his partner-in-arms to get out from the nook.

(He doesn't dare call him anything more, whatever it is that he might want to, because so far getting close to people has only gotten everyone Ryuuga loves hurt, and he is sick and tired of that happening.)

He goes over to the other window, the one further from where they were sleeping, and makes to open it - 'Just need some air, that's all, that'llbe good enough. I just need to cool down' - but before he can try and unlatch it, something bumps into his elbow.

Looking down, Ryuuga sees… 'That is a giant beetle. What the heck? Hey, wait, no. Isn't thatShotaro's phone?Y'know what? I've seen weirder'. He holds out his hand, and the beetle obediently lands on it, ejecting one of those usb thingys and unfolding into… yup, definitely a flip phone.

'Okay, so this is up there on the weird tech scale. Welp.' He holds it up to his ear.

"Don't bother with the window, we haven't been able to get it open for two months now."

"Uh, sorry 'bout that. Didn't know. Thanks for the heads up."

"Looking for some air? Out the door, stairs are to your left. It's about a half flight to get up to the roof."

"Thanks."

"See ya there. Hey, and lock the door behind you, I'll let you back in after."

Ryuuga closes the phone, and almost as an afterthought, grabs the usb doohickey to bring with him too. 'Dunno where this thing actually goes, I'll have to have him show me. Don't wanna break it or anything.'

On the roof, he sees a small area set up with two open lawn chairs and a small outdoor table. Two more adult sized chairs, and one kid-sized one, are folded up and set out of the way.

"Pull up a seat." Shotaro waves Ryuuga over to the other free chair.

"There, uh, there anywhere I can just lean?" He wrinkles his nose in thought. "Somewhere sturdier?"

Shotaro looks at him in mild surprise. "There's a raised section over here, should be kinda clean. So is this where you tell me what the whole 'day you were born' thing was about, or are you still dodging that one, and this issue is something else entirely?"

"Eh. It's kinda both. I was overheating myself and I didn't wanna get Sento hurt because of it. Just need to cool down…" Ryuuga growls. "It's so stupid but I can't let him know this happened, okay? He doesn't know about how bad it is."

"Have you been having nightmares? Because you wouldn't be the only one."

"Well, I mean, those're part of why I haven't been sleeping. Can't have nightmares if you're still awake, ya know?" He laughs hollowly. "Sento knows about those, he's been having 'em too. He knows about the heat problem, but not how bad it's getting."

Shotaro pinches the bridge of his nose. "Okay, I know I told you guys that secrets always come out around here, but playing twenty questions is actually really annoying when it's for people I like instead of for my job. So. Heat problem?"

"…Eh, to heck with it. He already started telling Emu and those guys, so might as well get it out to you." Ryuuga gives a short, sharp exhale. "I'm part alien. Actually, kinda part Evolt, 'cause part of his body tried to take over my mom while she was pregnant but I wound up happening instead."

"…I changed my mind. Let's go back to twenty questions."

"Nope." Ryuuga smirks. "You opened this box, you're gonna have ta deal with it.

"A crapton of what Evolt did was to get my hazard level to the point where he could move his mind into me, so that my body would be able to hold up to his driver's – nah, to HIS power.

"Stuff like killing my fianceé. The murder rap. Starting the whole damned war. Okay, that one was also to get Sento to keep improving the rider system, but still. …Eventually, he poisoned Sento. Gave 'im three days to live. Did it ta make me mad enough to get my level to where he could take over.

"And he made me stronger, yeah, and screwed up all our lives in the process, and. Look, even before we found out about the 'half alien' thing, I was bucking all the trends. Getting way too strong, way too fast. Not just as a rider, as Cross-Z, either."

Ryuuga goes silent for a minute, picking his words in advance, and Shotaro gives him that space.

"…One of the things Evolt could do was throw fire. I don't have that, but I run hot. Always have, even when I was a kid. Wasn't enough to be more'n a note on like, my charts and stuff. Y'know, the 'keep this in mind if he gets knocked out' type of thing, back when I was still a boxer. When I was still something like normal.

"But now it's more intense." He grips his forearms. "Now I'm constantly warmer than I should be, like, I get actually hot to the touch if I get too worked up. Half the time, I don't even notice, cause I'm so used to it. An' I don't always catch on, not until someone – Sento, now – wakes me up out of another damned nightmare, and he has to pull away because touching me hurts him." His grasp tightens.

"I'm… I'm scared." Ryuuga chokes back a sob. "I'm scared that someone's gonna get really hurt cause of this, because I'm too stupid to handle my own damn body, and now-" he squeezes his eyes shut against the budding tears. "Now we're getting a chance to get our lives together, but honestly, I'm the one who's prolly gonna ruin everything, 'cause I'm a freak, and-"

"Hey." Shotaro places a hand on Ryuuga's shoulder. It has to sting, even through the t-shirt he's borrowing, because Shotaro's wearing a jacket, but Ryuuga barely even notices the wind chill.

"Hey." Shotaro places a hand on Ryuuga's shoulder, cutting off the ramble. "It's okay. And if it isn't just yet, it will be, got it? Come on, sit down, already." He guides Ryuuga to the empty chair. "First, thank you for trusting me with this. It helps to get it out there, right?" Mutely, Ryuuga nods. "Listen, you're not the only one here who's thought they aren't good enough of a partner for their nerd. And by here, I don't mean out of the riders, I mean 'on this roof'." Shotaro sighs. "But for now… it's late. We both should be getting some sleep. You think you're ready to try that again?"

"…might as well."


~morning~

It takes a bit for Sento to will his eyes open. He's comfortable, damnit, and really doesn't want to get up. It's kind of weird for that to happen twice in a row now. Weird in a good way. He could do without the giant weight slung over his back though.

Forcing himself awake, Sento takes stock of what he can see. Most of his field of vision is taken up by the side of Ryuuga's head, with the office they bunked in visible behind him.

…Which is odd, since he could have sworn he'd been on the outside of their makeshift sleeping area when they turned in. The weight is Ryuuga's arm, which. Okay. Not the first time they've gotten tangled up when they've shared a sleeping area. Probably not the last, if this arrangement keeps up.

(It's kind of comforting, honestly, to be able to make sure he's still there. They've both had too many sleepless nights, both here and back home.)

But his arm is also really heavy, and Sento kinda has to use the restroom. "Hey, Banjou, are you up?"

"Don't. Move." Ryuuga mumbles into the pillow. "Don't move or we're both gonna get turned into pincushions. Also, uh, d'ya know if you're allergic to cats? Cuz if ya are we're gonna have to move in with someone else after all."

"What?" Sento looks up as much as he can from his rather trapped position. "Ah."

A large black cat is curled on Ryuuga's back, showing exactly zero signs of voluntarily leaving anytime soon.

Well then. If Ryuuga can't move, and he's blocking Sento from the side and the top…

Guess they're both stuck then.

"Not as far as I'm aware. You?"

"Nah, no allergies here. I've never even had a cold."

"Zephyr!" someone calls. "Come here, Zephie, leave the nice men alone!"

"Philip? Issat you?" Ryuuga's voice is muffled. "Send help."

"I'm so sorry about her, guys. Come here, girl." The cat – apparently named either Zephyr or Zephie – yawns, and curls up even more. "Drat. I'll try picking her up, but failing that, Shotaro should be in soon. She listens to him more than she does to me."

"Why's that?" Sento asks, attempting in vain to see around Ryuuga's head.

"He's an animal whisperer. There's a reason we get a lot of lost pet cases. Zephyr here followed him home one day, a few months after Mick – my first cat – passed. She was a kitten, didn't have an owner, and refused to leave.

"Kind of like right now." Philip has been trying to ease the stubborn ball of fur off of Banjou's back, to no avail.

Shotaro comes through the door. "Argh, I keep telling you, you have to be forceful with her!"

"I don't want to! That's mean!"

"She is made of solid muscle, you know you're not going to get anywhere being all delicate. C'mere, cat." Shotaro puts his hands beneath her shoulders and lifts. Reluctantly, she allows him to pick her up, making a 'mrp' noise as he does.

Straightening, Sento gets a better look at Zephyr – black, with a white patch on her nose, and bright green eyes. "She's so cute!"


"…Hey. Sento."

"Mmm?"

"I think this might be decaf, because I'm pretty sure I'm still dreaming."

"Banjou, what are you talking about?" Sento doesn't look up from nursing his own cup of coffee – made by Shotaro, because both Sento and Ryuuga refused to so much as step near the coffee pot.

"Think I'm hallucinating a tiny dinosaur chewing at my bag." Ryuuga takes another sip. "…Nope, still there."

Following Ryuuga's line of sight, Sento frowns. "If you're seeing things, then we both are. White and black, right?"

"Fang, no!" Akiko glares at the offending robot. "I will tell Philip on you!"

The robot – Fang, apparently – freezes at that, looks around it's shoulder at Akiko, and – for lack of a better term – sulks away.

"Sorry about him. Fang's the memory that Philip uses when he's Double's base, and the only one of their transformation memories to be… er, mobile."

"Oh, so like the phone?" Ryuuga asks.

"Yeah, he's a bit like most of Shotaro's assorted gear, but way more independent." She looks at Ryuuga. "The two of you are taking this in stride."

Sento gets off of the stool, and goes over to Ryuuga's bag to pull something out. "We've got experience. This little guy was our only robot, though." He holds up the Cross-Z Dragon, absently grabbing the two bottles along with it. "Unfortunately, he hasn't functioned since we got here."

"It's strange though…" He rests his hand on his chin as he sets the dragon on the table next to Ryuuga. "Of the things that came here with us… it makes sense that our drivers came along, because we were wearing them at the time, but 'he' came as well, and only the two bottles did."

Ryuuga snorts. "It's not even like they're the ones we actually made – if anything, the one I woke up holdin' oughta be the magma bottle. These two're from the box, and it 'n everything else from it are super gone."

He absently strokes the unresponsive dragon's head. "Even I know this doesn't make sense. And the other times that those bottles-" he points at the rabbit and dragon bottles in Sento's hand "-turned metal, they went back to their old colors after. The way they're supposed to, but now they're still gold and silver."

Shotaro blinks at that comment, from over at his desk. "How do you know that? You guys have been saying Sento's the expert…"

Stiffening, Ryuuga focuses his stare at the bottles. "Just do. Prolly the same way I could find the ones that worked best together."

"Banjou, we were never able to prove that… that was the reason."

"You weren't able to not prove it, either. 'sides, that whole 'best match' deal was like the one thing I could beat you at… and punching. Stupid space magic instincts, and punching. So, two things. Those're the two things ya needed me for that ya couldn't do yourself." He shrugs halfheartedly, before a green slipper connects with the back of his head. "Ow! Hey, what gives?!"

"Quit it!' Akiko glares at him, "You- don't you dare say you're useless! No one is!" She turns to Sento, and hits him with the slipper as well.

"Gah- what was that for?!"

"You were about to start getting down on yourself, too."

"I was not!"

"Please." She rolls her eyes. "I've worked with Shotaro for 9 years. You pick up a sixth sense for that sort of thing."

"Hey!" Shotaro protests from his desk. "I am not-" he hold up his hands in defense against the brandished slipper. "I have been better about the self-depreciation."

Akiko grins victoriously. "Ah, see? He can be taught."

"Well, when the other option was blunt force trauma by slipper..." Shotaro laughs nervously. "Besides, have to set a good example for Haruna, right? That thing doesn't get nearly as much use as it did before you became a mom."


"Hmm… have these catwalks always shaken this much when they withdraw, or is it just age?"

Philip looks at Sento. "No, they've always done that, at least for as long as we've worked here. We just try not to keep things that are too breakable down here."

"I wonder… given the right parts and equipment…" Sento goes to look at the underside of the catwalk. "Maybe I could make that at least a bit smoother? So it doesn't rattle the room to pieces." He begins to lapse into indecipherable muttering.

"…Yeah, we aren't gonna get anything else outta him for a while." Ryuuga shakes his head. "Just need to be careful he doesn't manage to blow anything up."

"Is that a recurring problem?" Shotaro looks at Sento nervously, who seems to be considering climbing one of the supports. "Also, nothing about the tank?"

"Compared to your fusion stuff, a folding tank is actually kinda normal." Ryuuga shrugs. "I'll try ta take the brunt of any explosions he makes. Though, in his defense, a lotta the stuff Sento was working on was really chemical-y type things."

Philip gives him an odd look. "Did you... do that a lot?"

"Do what?"

"Get hit by explosions."

Ryuuga makes a vague 'so-so' gesture. "I mean, I can't get burned, so. Still hurts like heck, and I can get knocked down by 'em, but that got a lot harder to do as things went on, so it's fine."

Sento freezes, halfway up one of the support braces. "I'm sorry… I didn't even consider how you felt about those experiments…"

"Eh, it's fine. Ya needed the help, and I could take the damage better'n you. Bullshit space instincts helped, too."

"So, you told-"

"Yeah. Last night." He chuckles. "And here I was the one against saying anything. But… I can't say it doesn't help to not keep it quiet. At least… at least among friends."


I return.:) I have been working on this for way too long. I'm SO glad to finally be able to get this out here!