A/N: Alright, I need to turn in a poetry portfolio by the 13th and return books by the 18th but after that, I may or may not be home free. I just need to decide if I should start working on TPS first or HC... For now, though, I'm not gonna lie, this is a pretty substantial chapter. Kage and Zain, you were wise to be suspicious. ;) Good or bad, you'll soon find out! ( Kage: oh yes, GirlDeMo is definitely in this fic's future! Yui will make sure of that. Glad you updated Filling in the Dark Beats, by the way!) Moedernaaier, you're asking the right questions - I have a time and place for TK, but his dialogue may be the bane of my writer existence. Thanks for the reviews, it means a lot!

I'm pumped for this chapter. Read on and enjoy!


[Chapter 24]: Connection Breaks


The group stopped at the house to laze around for a bit. Kanade hogged the couch this time, her head resting peacefully in Otonashi's lap. Hinata, the traitor that he was, told Fujimaki where to find the box of marriage mementos and now the latter was nosing through it with Yui and Shiina peeking over his shoulders. Ayato had sighed heavily at them but resigned himself to having invasive friends.

In fact, he was not surprised in the least when his phone rang and almost all seven heads swiveled in his direction – save for Shiina, who'd just excused herself from the room.

What did startle him was the number on the caller ID. A number he recognized after a second, but still wasn't accustomed to.

Mindful of his prying audience, he gave them a warning frown. "It's my mother."

"Tell her I said hello," Shiina said as she passed him.

Ayato squinted over his shoulder, the phone still ringing in his hands. He didn't think he understood her sense of humor. But he didn't want to leave his mother hanging, so he gave his friends one last "behave" look and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hi there, Ayato," his mother said fondly. She didn't sound worried. "Your father's just gone back to the shop after his lunch break, so I wanted to see how you were doing."

"Well, I—"

Yui popped up right next to his ear and shouted, "HI, MRS. NAOI!" making Ayato jump into the air and nearly drop the phone. Hinata, Fujimaki, and Otonashi howled with laughter, something he was sure his mother had also overheard.

"Are those your friends?" She sounded pleased, and especially curious.

"Hey, put her on speaker phone!" Yuri urged, nudging him. He turned to her, uncertain, but she stared back at him bright-eyed and determined.

He gave in. Why was he letting his friends turn him into a softie?

"Yes, my friends are here." He rolled his eyes, but grinned despite himself. "They want me to put you on speaker."

"Go ahead!" His mother was audibly beaming on the other end. "I know I just heard Yuri."

Mentally calculating a dozen saves in case of amnesia confusion, he pressed the speaker button and raised his eyebrows sternly at the others. "You're on now."

"Hello, Mrs. Naoi!" Yuri sang mischievously, obviously already having too good a time with this.

"Yuri, I've missed your voice." She sighed on the other end in wistful happiness. "You know you can still call me Ayame if you'd like. Hasn't my son begged you to take him back yet?"

"Well, of course. He gave me the ring and everything." Yuri winked at him, then procured the engagement ring from her pocket and rotated it between her fingers.

Ayato stared at her in astonishment, wondering if he should feel robbed. That vixen! She'd been snooping in the shoebox as well!

"He better have," his mother hummed. "I had hoped to see both of you when I came by. And perhaps a grandchild." Ayato choked on air so hard that Yuri had to rescue the falling phone with fumbling hands while Hinata alternated between cackling and hitting him on the back. "I must say, it pained me greatly to learn that you two had fallen apart. I don't think Ayato will ever find me a better daughter-in-law."

Yuri's eyes softened.

"Sorry I broke your heart like that," she said, gazing down at the phone as if it were a magic mirror of maternal affection. "We didn't mean for you to get caught in the crossfire."

"It's just good to hear from you again, Yuri. Ayato's father has been in a foul mood lately..."

"It's my pleasure, Ayame. You know I haven't talked to my mother in months?"

"Well, like mother like daughter, I suppose. I haven't seen her in months!" His mother tried to sound stern with her, but she failed and let her voice give a lilt of a smile. "I used to be able to sneak some information from them when they came by the shop while I was the only one there, but your parents are always so busy! Your mother says—"

Ayato watched in disbelief as Yuri paced around the room and into the kitchen with full control of the phone. How was she doing this so masterfully? He should never have doubted her charisma. But also he'd like to talk to his mother too. He wasn't happy about Kimito making her help out around the shop sometimes now that he didn't have his son to do it anymore.

"—and they stopped buying from you?!"

"Back in November. Barely heard from them since. Kimito went ballistic."

Ayato scowled deeply, rubbing the phantom bruises on his arm. He knew what "ballistic" was code for.

"—around the same time I called them for help in house hunting," Yuri noted with a frown. "I'm sorry — they must be upset about the divorce. They throw themselves into work when they're upset."

"That's what I think too, and of course Kimito wasn't helpful when he started badgering them again—"

More to herself, Yuri mused quietly, "Must be why they never mentioned him."

"—and Yuri, it makes me feel terrible sometimes," his mother said breathlessly on the other end. "You left Akuma for our son, and it didn't even work out. But you won't come back because of his father. I admire your loyalty, I do, but your parents must feel so much resentment towards our family."

"They don't have time to love or resent anything," said Yuri, sitting down on the couch next to an upright Kanade. "But I don't resent your son, and I'll never have a reason to resent you."

"Yuri Nakamura, I will never understand what my son was thinking."

Hinata chuckled at the phone from his perch on the armrest. "You sound smart. And nice. Are you sure you're Naoi's mother?" Ayato snarled, glowing his eyes at him and ready to march over there; Fujimaki held him back.

To Ayato's horror, giggles emanated from the phone. "Unfortunately I was only able to pass on my good looks."

Hinata opened his mouth to say something, but a knowing Kanade reached over and covered his mouth without even looking at him. "It's his mother," she said.

"Mmmphmm," Hinata said, resigned.

"Thank you for the apology, Hinata, I do agree that I'm far better looking than you."

Hinata rolled his eyes to the ceiling. Otonashi and Yuri laughed wildly. Fujimaki lifted his eyebrows towards the phone in Yuri's hand. "Are you looking for a younger man, Mrs. Naoi? Because I would be glad to be your son's new—"

"Shut up!" Ayato roared, tackling him into submission. Or at least knocking into him and making him double over (he was not paying for any new furniture).

More shrieks of laughter. Kanade took the phone from Yuri while the latter was trying to hold her sides.

"As you can hear, your son is being well cared for," she said kindly.

There was silence, save for a few ragged breaths, and then a light sniffle that Ayato didn't like the sound of. "You don't know how much I appreciate that. To know he has wonderful friends who love him enough to embarrass him during a phone call with his mother."

Otonashi beamed, and all the others looked rather pleased with themselves. "Just doing our job, ma'am."

"Mizuzaka really was his best chance, and I'm so glad he took it." She gave a watery chuckle. Ayato turned away to hide his face. "Even if it meant being apart for so long. I'm grateful to talk to all of you."

There was a slight inhale; from the corner of his eye, he saw Yuri open her mouth to respond, but then they all heard noises on the other end – a door opening downstairs, maybe. Ayato spun back around, a nervous tremor in his chest.

"I have to go," his mother said quickly. "Please give him a hard time for me."

The phone clicked. Call ended.

Silence.

Everyone looked around the room at each other; Ayato chewed the inside of his mouth, wary as he attempted to read their expressions. Pity? Judgment? Discomfort? Did they think—

"Did you hear that?" Hinata crowed. "Straight from his mother's mouth!"

Yui pumped a fist into the air. "Certified permission to be a huge pain in the butt!"

"And she never did say no," Fujimaki said, stroking his chin.

Ayato face-palmed. Of course… what else could he expect from a group of imbeciles? But also, he refused to give them the satisfaction of a smile.


The bright side was, fuming while his friends had giggled and jeered and prattled on about the phone call had given him some time to think.

About why she was so relieved to hear him surrounded by friends. About when she'd last seen him, and where she'd found him – lying under the bridge like a dead drunk – and why he'd been there in the first place.

He picked himself up off the couch, where he'd been waiting patiently, arms crossed next to Otonashi and Kanade, for everyone to get ahold of themselves. Unfortunately his broodiness had taken them even longer, and then they'd had to let Shiina in on the joke.

Luckily she'd been unimpressed, so Hinata and Yui let the humor die down, and the latter turned the conversation towards whether or not Yukine knew a charm for her devil tail to make it twitch when she was excited.

"Surgery," Otonashi had quipped, and the group started losing it again.

Now, they were cool and collected, chatting idly amongst themselves and lazing about again, so Ayato took advantage of a lull.

"Does anyone feel like going on a walk?" he asked, leaning against the wall closest to the foyer's hallway. "There's a place somewhere in the park you haven't seen yet."

"I don't know." Otonashi looked at Kanade thoughtfully; she was resting her head on his shoulder. "Kanade's still worn out from lunch."

"It's not very far," Ayato reasoned. Hell, he could get there in five minutes if he ran fast. "Not to mention I'm sure she'd enjoy the scenery. Besides, it would probably help us all to walk it off."

Yuri took in his words with a thoughtful head tilt, then looked expectantly at Kanade.

"It would give us a chance to shed off the calories from that cake," she pointed out, and Ayato struggled not to choke on air again. Apparently déjà vu still had a stronger effect on him than he thought. "Kanade, what do you say?"

Kanade popped up from the couch with renewed energy and sent Ayato a wispy smile. "I say we still haven't taken our group photo yet."

He sensed there was more to it than that, her willing consent, but it got everyone out the door and that was what mattered. They stopped by the entrance to the park again, where they'd first posed, and got a helpful stranger to snap the picture. Their stances were more or less the same, only Yui had her tail back and had Hinata in a headlock this time, while Fujimaki stood between her and Shiina with his hands in his pockets.

Leading the group farther along, Ayato couldn't help but feel hopeful as he made the turn he hadn't dared to last Sunday. Clouds were beginning to roll in, yet it was pleasantly warm and breezy – a perfect close to the month of April and a timely afternoon for a walk. There was a soothing familiarity to this… strolling down the path with Yuri at his side as the area turned more and more into forest. Breathing it into his lungs felt positively therapeutic.

He almost forgot to worry whether or not it would work.

The photographs didn't. The bookstore, park, and café didn't. With the ring, she felt only admiration. But this…

There it was, uncovered but masterfully crafted, curving delicately above the river. The sun peeked in through the canopy of tree branches and shone down on it, giving the scene an enchanting glow. Water trickled downstream, a gentle sound adding to the tranquil ambience of the forest. He wondered, in great awe, why he had ever wanted to avoid this place.

He heard a feminine murmur of admiration and turned around. It was Yui – and Kanade too, starry-eyed as they exclaimed softly over the sight before them. Even Fujimaki and Hinata looked impressed, but it wasn't their reaction he was after.

Yuri stood a few steps back from the others, staring ahead and taking it all in. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, then settled on pursing her lips in deep reflection. A light in her eyes dimmed and glowed as if struggling with a thought, or perhaps a memory.

"The bridge," she said softly.

His heart thumped so loud he suspected Otonashi could hear it as he passed him. He stepped toward her, hopeful. "Do you remember this place?"

The question seemed to snap her out of a trance.

"Of course I remember this place," she said, with an edge of suspicion in her tone. "I used to come here whenever I needed a place to think, or… or be alone."

You were never alone, he wanted to tell her, but he left it unspoken.

She walked over to the bridge, finally choosing to follow after everyone. Their friends were already exploring the far end of it, with Otonashi, Kanade, and Fujimaki leaning against one siding and Hinata, Yui, and Shiina peeking over the other. Yui was trading her concert camera back and forth between the others, and once every few seconds Ayato would hear a click followed by a flash that lit up the bridge.

Yuri gave him a careful look as she passed. "So, how was it important to us?"

He faltered. It wasn't enough…

But that look. That glow in her eyes. He refused to be disheartened when he'd seen something like that. Maybe she just needed a little nudge.

Resolute, he followed her onto the bridge. And he opened his mouth.

"No."

She'd turned on her heel, and was facing him now. She held up a hand signaling for him to stop. He closed his mouth, dumbfounded – hadn't she asked him a question?

"No," she repeated, staring straight into his eyes. "Don't tell. Show."

Ayato furrowed his eyebrows at her, more confused than ever. What the hell did she mean by that? Did she… want him to reenact the proposal? He thought he'd seen her drop the engagement ring back in the shoebox on the coffee table before they left, but now he lowered his gaze to her ring finger skeptically.

Yuri lifted his chin with a finger, compelling him to meet her eyes again.

"I've been thinking it over ever since you helped Shiina," she said, "and I've decided that I want you to use your hypnosis to bring back my memories."

He barely heard the commotion from the eavesdroppers behind them in the cascade of emotions that consumed him. He felt as if the opposite of a shadow creature had taken over him, burrowed itself into his chest, into his very core, and combusted into pure inescapable joy. As if he'd soaked in all the sugars and caffeine of Yui's stupid sodas and would be forever reeling from that high.

She wanted… her memories. Their memories.

He wanted to scream. He could have screamed. He could have catapulted himself into the cold river water below. But he needed to be cool, so he decided to let words come out of his open mouth like a normal person.

"You—" His voice cracked, coming out in a prepubescent squeak. He heard Hinata laugh. Hinata was the worst – he would hypnotize him next.

But that didn't matter right now. What mattered was that Yuri wanted to know him. She thought he was worth remembering. And she trusted him. Life was incredible. He could probably give her his mother's number after this—

Yuri cleared her throat.

"Right… right!" He cleared his throat too. She was smiling. Her smile was also beautiful...

No! He had to snap out of it, and do what needed to be done. He could feel himself still shaking with unrestrained joy – was this what it was like to be Yui all the time? Trying to regain his composure, he cleared his throat once more, then nodded seriously at her.

"Alright, please sit down."

Yuri took a seat on the bench of the bridge, positioning herself slightly sideways when he joined her so that they were facing each other. This would take all his concentration, so he took a couple of breaths to calm himself. She was grinning at him, probably because of his happy fidgeting, which only exacerbated things. He had to treat this like business or he'd just be bringing them both down.

Enter serious mode. "I'm going to start now."

She nodded, further affirming her consent, and he began to focus his mind.

This wasn't like with Otonashi, and it was a little different than Shiina; he had to put pieces of the Afterlife and this current life back into her head. He knit his brows together, calling forth from the back of his mind the telltale sound — like ringing in his ears — that died to a dull but steady hum, until the sea-green of her eyes reflected red.

Her mind welcomed him, submitting to his hypnosis like clay to a potter's hands, making his task that much easier. Yet her lack of resistance didn't change the fact that the task at hand involved bringing back her memories of a single person. Would that make it simpler, or more complex? Perhaps that was for Yuri's mind to decide. He could only bend, sculpt, unearth, unlock.

All he knew was, beneath the spell was an entire lifetime they'd had together. And an afterlife in which they'd fought alongside each other. The good memories and the bad. And he'd be damned if he couldn't uncover them.

The effort of his concentration seared at the back of his brain, but he pressed on. A headache would be a small price to pay.

How long had it taken Otonashi to remember, again? Considering the circumstances, he wasn't sure when to stop this time. He'd known when Otonashi abruptly bowed his head in shame. He'd known when Shiina blinked, backed away, and glanced at Hinata and Yui in disbelief.

They'd both broken eye contact. Yuri wasn't breaking eye contact.

It was getting harder to focus. The muted buzz rose once again into a shrill ringing sound. How long had they been doing this for? There was probably such a thing as going too far back, probing too deep. Besides, she'd offered such little resistance. He had too strong of a hold on her. He had to let go first, before he gave them both a migraine.

Ayato broke first. Blinking twice and shaking his head to retract the trance, he withdrew from her with a sigh. Then he searched her face for clues.

The burgundy tint faded into soft green. She stared back at him, dazed, the sheen of hypnotism like a veil over her eyes. Silence fell over them, until she blinked twice and furrowed her eyebrows as if it had finally hit her that he was finished. She looked lost.

Otonashi noticed it too, a mix of curiosity and concern on his face as he touched her shoulder. "How do you feel, Yuri?" he asked, his voice gentle.

Yuri glanced up at him, then back at Ayato, her features pinched into a frown like she'd expected something more.

"I don't…" She hesitated. "I don't think it worked."

"What do you mean?" Ayato asked, feeling his heart sink to his stomach.

She worried her lip, and he could see an apology in her eyes instead of her life flashing across them.

"Naoi, I… I still don't remember you."

Ayato's breath hitched, in pain and in the outrage of it all. How could he have failed? In all his hypnotic acts, afterlife or living world, without an outsider's intervention he had only ever failed once before. And that failure had lost him his consciousness and his watch, but this… the consequences of this were far worse.

She didn't know him. The memories they'd made together were hopelessly lost to her, and there wasn't anything else he could do. This had been his last chance.

How could he have failed?!

"You're going to have to do more than that, dearie!"

Ayato jumped to his feet, instantly recognizing the voice, and spun towards the source. Perched on the opposite ledge in front of him and Yuri was none other than the leather-vested thief with crocodile skin and a perpetual irritating smile. On Yuri's left, the other Battlefront members yelped and got into defensive or fighting stances, despite their lack of weapons.

Where had he come from? How in the world had he climbed up there without anyone noticing?

"You!" he snarled, jabbing a finger in his direction. "What are you doing here?"

"You know this guy?" Hinata asked, glancing suspiciously between the two. Yuri looked just as confused, slowly getting up from the bench with her eyes locked on the crocodile man.

Ayato's jaw clenched as he lowered his hand and balled both into fists. "He's the one who choked and robbed me."

"The one you couldn't hypnotize," Kanade said softly.

There was no need for Kanade to remind him how the man had added insult to injury. Ayato remembered it all too well. And here he was, returning to the scene of the crime, no less! Lounging on the ledge, legs crossed, in a pose like he was waiting for a damn photoshoot. His arrogance knew no bounds.

As if reading his mind, the man hoisted himself off the barrier and onto the deck in a quick, nimble movement. He bowed grandly before the rest of the group, giving a mock flourish of his hand. An open-mouthed Yui began to raise her camera, but Shiina silently nudged it back down.

"Rumpelstiltskin," he said, with an overly friendly grin that revealed all his yellowed teeth. "For those of you who haven't had the honor." His swampy eyes were focused directly on Yuri.

Ayato scowled at him, edging a little closer to his ex-wife. Was he threatening her?

"The honor?!" he repeated, a snarl scratching his throat. "You assaulted me and took my watch!"

"After you tried to play mind games on me," the man said coolly, still smiling.

Gritting his teeth, Ayato glared at him in return. Unbelievable. This… this Rumpelstiltskin was parading around in broad daylight at the scene of the crime like he had no shame at all. The smile on his face suggested very strongly that he likely even had the watch on his person at this very moment. And none of the officers in this town had caught him yet? How incompetent were police?!

Rumpelstiltskin let out a high-pitched giggle that grated at his nerves, then snapped and pointed a finger at him.

"The watch was payment for my troubles," he said. "The assault was a warning! Your hypnotism will never work on my magic." Gesturing to Yuri, he added dryly, "Exhibit B."

Realization set in; Ayato's eyes widened with fury. "You wretch. What did you do to her?"

"Now, now…" The magic man beamed. "I gave her what she asked for."

"What she asked for?!"

Ayato looked to Yuri for answers, though he knew it was futile. Going by the twist of her features, she was just as confounded as he was. Why on earth would she ever ask for this?

Bristling, Rumpelstiltskin stabbed a finger at Yuri. "She came to me," he spat, "in need of a cure for the pain you caused her."

The accusation sent a chill through his spine. "I didn't touch her!"

He would never…

He backed away, towards Otonashi and the rest of the group. For a moment, the way the man looked at him, he was terrified that he had, and that the magic had wiped his memory of it as well. But he refused to accept it. He'd vowed not to, and that vow still stood.

In no lifetime, afterlife, or mindset — in no existence — would he ever hurt Yuri the way his father hurt his mother.

Rumpelstiltskin's eyes narrowed at him, and darkened to match his frown.

"There is more than one way to inflict pain," he said.

He approached Yuri, the Battlefront silently watching his each and every movements, and leaned in so close Ayato could see her grimace at his breath. At the same time, she couldn't look away from his reptilian eyes.

"Would you like to know why you don't remember this man?" Rumpelstiltskin cooed. He curled a lock of her hair around his finger with one hand, and swept the other towards Ayato, who was now struggling under the restraints of Otonashi's arms. How dare he lay a hand on her!

Yuri, on the other hand, wasn't fighting. She was searching the man's face, as if… as if wondering where she'd seen him before.

"Because you drank a potion to forget him. Because he broke your heart." Rumpelstiltskin's voice grew cold and merciless, dipped in impish glee. "He tossed your love aside and told you that everything you had together meant nothing to him."

Lowering her eyes, Yuri broke free of his intense stare and glanced towards Ayato – but the look on her face turned his blood to ice. He faintly felt Otonashi loosen his hold on his shoulder. Rumpelstiltskin smiled broadly.

"You had to protect your heart," the man sneered, "by taking him out of it."


Preview:

"I don't believe you."

"There has to be a way."

"An act of true love can break any curse."

"You're just a chip off the old block, aren't you?"

"Read between the lines!"

"I can't believe I thought you'd ever be on my side."

"We just didn't want anyone else to get hurt."

"Do you love her?"

[Chapter 25]: Pain.