A/N: Here it is! The actual part II (shoutout to Cha0T1cPeace for catching that last chapter XD). Thanks to Cha0T1cPeace and ZainR for the reviews! I'm happy I'm finally able to read them (cough cough FFN! you and your glitches...). ZainR, you're correct that Hejjiguchi and Chitose were the ones lying in the road in Ch 57! The Shiruba thing should be made clear in this chapter. :)
Since this chapter is a long one, I'm just gonna cut things short and throw it out half an hour early. Enjoy!
[Chapter 66]: The Funeral (Part II)
If he had thought greeting everyone was surreal, the rest of the evening was even more so. The priest's chants droned in his ear like a bee flitting around his head. Or even an airplane, the way his head was in the clouds. Yuri's hand cresting over his own felt like the only thing that could drag him down to earth. He trudged up to the incense urn almost robotically at first, but sensed her presence behind him and something else took over. His mind traveled back to the Afterlife and he tried to carry himself like he did when he accepted his graduation diploma.
A blur of incense and chanting and prayers. Had it been like this for Hayato's ceremony? Ayato remembered only that it had been much more private than this. Kimito had wanted to honor his son's death but not draw too much attention to the fact that his legacy was bereft of his most promising heir, so the wake and funeral had been relatively small.
On the other hand, it seemed that people had come from far and wide to pay respects to Ayame. Long lines of guests performed the rituals as if they were subjects bidding their beloved queen farewell.
Ayato shivered at the thought, reminded of Queen Eva from the Snow White story, and subsequently of Cora.
Cora, who had killed Eva, and tricked Rumpelstiltskin. The latter of whom was still looking for his son regardless, and needed an ill-fated young man to help find him...
He scrunched his eyes closed at the thought, willing it away. As if he didn't have enough to deal with right now.
The priest eventually finished the sutra, and the ceremony was over. In theory. The mourners milled around the funeral hall, keeping it abuzz with conversation. Some departed soon after receiving their return gifts, while others stayed behind to catch up with one another and with him. There was still the first round of the post-service meal to attend to. The second okiyome was more private and would be spent with Yuri and the Endos during the cremation.
Ayato wondered if he would even have much of an appetite by then, or if he had one at all.
Iwasawa caught him during a lull, accompanied by Hisako this time. "Hey – how are you doing?" she asked. The question seemed friendly and sympathetic enough, but there was an undertone to it that suggested something was bothering her.
"As well as can be expected," he responded evenly, and nodded to Yuri. "We're going to round up the rest of Battlefront and head out for the meal soon."
"Is something wrong?" Yuri asked, folding her arms as she leaned closer to him, and accidentally knocking her elbow against his. (Ayato found this curious at first – Iwasawa knew they weren't married. Then he noted the various lingering mourners still within witnessing range and thought nothing of it.)
Iwasawa bunched her lips, as if chewing on a thought.
"I was thinking," she said at last. "The family mourning period is forty-nine days, right? So yours won't end until, what…"
Ayato did a swift mental calculation. "Mid, late July?"
Yuri's lips parted in a small "o" of comprehension, figuring out the issue mere seconds before Ayato did. "The concert," she said softly, and looked at him. "You're not supposed to participate in any celebration or entertainment until it's over."
She was well acquainted with the concept. Ten years ago, hers had been from mid-February to the dawn of April. She'd taken it seriously back then, missing Saki's birthday and obliterating her friendship with Hisakawa before the end. Though that was mainly out of guilt rather than duty.
"This might be a bad time to talk about this," Iwasawa admitted, brushing a lock of hair out of her face in embarrassment. "But since you're both here, I wanted to get your opinion on something. I thought I might…" She and Hisako exchanged an uncertain look. "Well, GlDeMo thought we could postpone Operation Songbird by a month? Just hold off on the concert until then. If we can. I don't know, Yusa might be able to pull some more strings, but even if she can't, it's not a problem…"
Ayato was dumbfounded by the suggestion. Put off a major Battlefront event for him?
"No," he cut in, mentally batting the concept away, and squared his shoulders. "No… the show must go on." Further humbled by how awkward that sounded, he looked away and rubbed at his wrist. "I don't know how easy it is to delay something like that. A month could end up being a year. But either way, it isn't necessary. Don't let it make a difference whether I'm there or not. I don't want to be any trouble."
A short scoff of laughter escaped Hisako's lips. "Trouble, huh? Don't worry, we've already got some of that," she responded, cocking an eyebrow.
"That phone call I got on Saturday was from the band that was supposed to open for us," said Iwasawa. "Turns out they're not going to do that anymore. Now they're bailing on us and we only have a month to replace them."
"Are you kidding me?" Yuri's irritation flared in sympathy. "Where did you even find those guys…"
Iwasawa shook her head. "I should have known when they said they didn't like Sad Machine," she said with a sigh.
As if she'd said the secret word, Ayato cast a sidelong glance toward Yuri, who caught his eye with a pensive spark in her own.
"Still, maybe it's an opportunity to find a band that's more compatible with GlDeMo's music style," Iwasawa continued. "But we're going to have to be pretty lucky to find and book another performance with better taste in time for the concert."
"And it's not looking good for the Battlefront right now. You know Yui's laptop bailed on her recently while she was making the promotional video?" Hisako laughed again to herself, one hand lightly kneading at her temple. "Apparently they sent it in for repairs and it should be ready by the weekend, but what is fate trying to tell us?"
Ayato barely registered Hisako's half of the rant. An idea had taken over and was thrumming restlessly through his mind. He looked back to Yuri, who gave a slight nod like she was thinking the same thing.
"Come with us," she told the girls.
He added, "We need to introduce you to someone."
They barely gave her any time to react. Yuri snatched up Iwasawa's wrist and started pulling her into the remaining crowd of people, Hisako quick to follow. Yuri and Ayato shepherded the two along, looking left and right until Ayato glimpsed the top of their target's head and started leading the group in his direction.
They found Nezumi closer to the door, chatting lazily with most of his friends. "—probably went to find his piano duet partner, apparently we just have to meet her…" he was telling them with a grin.
"Nezumi!" Yuri said, getting his attention. "Fujimoto. Takada. There's someone I'd like you to meet."
At first Nezumi barely gave Yuri a once-over, and he twisted his lips as if he had a joke he was trying to hold back (Ayato imagined it was something about introducing him to a woman at a funeral). Then solemnity won out and his eyes drifted to Iwasawa. He did a double take and blinked, his mouth falling open with a laugh.
"Sad Machine Girl?" he exclaimed, his features creasing with jovial recognition.
Iwasawa gasp-laughed too, while Hisako prickled warily beside her. "Wow! This is a small world," she said warmly.
"You two know each other?" Ayato and Hisako asked, to Nezumi and Iwasawa respectively.
"We met at a Sad Machine concert a few years back," Iwasawa explained, and turned to Hisako. "My first one, actually. He was the guy in the red leather jacket who found my rainbow guitar pick bracelet on the ground and ran it back to me."
"Right," Hisako said slowly, keeping her countenance expressionless (save for a subtle squint). "Drummer boy. With a side order of guitar. Iwasawa tells me you bonded over songwriting and daddy issues."
Nezumi gave an appreciative snort. "As one does," he said with a shrug. "I was sorry when we lost you in the crowd. Should've gotten your number."
Hisako bristled some more. Iwasawa seemed to notice this and added, "Yeah, I would've asked for yours sooner but I didn't wanna give the guy you were with the wrong idea." She flashed him a teasing grin. "So, did things work out with you and your crush?"
Nezumi blinked innocently. "My crush? I don't know what you're talking about," he said, feigning confusion.
"Oh, come on," Iwasawa prodded. "That cute friend you brought with you, it was his first concert too. It was so obvious you were into him—"
"Tch-tch-tch!" Nezumi moved to stop her, before searching all around the area in a haste. "Don't bring that up around my boyfriend, alright? He's the jealous type," he informed her, then looked again and flailed his arms a little. "Here he comes now – be cool!"
Sure enough, Shiruba came bounding up to the group with Kanade and Otonashi in tow, looking for all the world like a child about to present something super cool for show-and-tell.
"Guys, guys – Mirou, okay, listen!" Shiruba brightened as he coaxed Kanade into coming up beside him. "You know that one cousin my mom stopped talking to that she's had a huge inferiority complex about since forever? And she made me learn the piano because her cousin's daughter was so good at piano and I had to be better but I really liked violin so she let me learn that too as long as I made sure I was awesome at it? So my entire life I've had a forced musical rivalry with a second cousin I never even met?"
The rest of the group collectively blinked twice.
"This is her!" Shiruba said enthusiastically, after taking another breath. He squeezed her in a gentle but spirited side-hug. "This is Kanade! My amazing and talented second cousin. Also, we love her now." Then his eyes slid over to Iwasawa, and another surge of elated surprise flashed across his face. "Hey! Sad Machine Girl!"
"Hey," Iwasawa repeated with a chuckle, beaming at him. "You two haven't changed a bit."
"Who meets their long lost second cousin at a non-relative's funeral?" Nezumi snickered. But his eyebrows soon lifted in epiphany. "Wait, is that why Masuda texted you the other night wanting to know your mom's maiden name? I thought he was just trying to hack you."
"And you called me naïve for answering him," Shiruba scoffed.
"Yeah, 'cause you are."
"Whatever, dude, I'm the one with the shiny new cousin," Shiruba singsonged. He looked to Kanade with a smirk. "We're gonna flaunt this in front of our moms, right? With the whole piano/violin collab and all."
Kanade confirmed with a happy little hum and nod. "Maybe we can inspire them to make peace."
Shiruba stared at her in awe. "We have been raised very differently."
Recognizing that Yuri kept opening her mouth and looking antsy to get back on track, Ayato loudly cleared his throat. They quieted down and he nodded for Yuri to go on.
"Speaking of musical collaborations," Yuri said, turning to the rest of the guys. "Iwasawa and Hisako here – their rock band, Girls Dead Monster, actually has a concert coming up at the end of June. But the band that was supposed to open for them just quit on them."
Interest sparked in Nezumi's eyes as he crossed his arms. "Really," he said, with a lilt of heavy intrigue in his tone.
"So…" Fujimoto clicked his tongue, exchanging a brief glance with Takada. "Does that mean you're in the market for a replacement band?"
"We know where you can find one," Takada said shamelessly.
Iwasawa and Hisako shared a glance of their own, surprised but not at all averse to the idea. "You guys would do that?" Iwasawa asked. "At such short notice?"
"No sweat! Jungle Gym's got your back," Fujimoto replied, draping his arms around Nezumi's and Takada's shoulders. "I'm starved, but let's do business. Shall we walk and talk?"
Ayato, Yuri, Otonashi, and Kanade watched as the guys and the girls walked off together, Nezumi and Iwasawa leading the joined group as they discussed the situation.
"So, why Jungle Gym?" they heard Iwasawa asking.
"Why Girls Dead Monster?" Nezumi countered.
"It's a long story. And it requires some suspension of disbelief."
"Cool, I'm now literally dying of curiosity here."
"Funny you should phrase it that way."
The restaurant where the meal was being held wasn't that far away from the funeral hall itself, so many of the guests decided it was a nice enough evening for a walk. The temperature had cooled down to pleasantly warm with a mild breeze, and there was a sweet scent in the late spring air, a faint and distant hint of rain that was moving away from the town.
Ayato, Yuri, and the Otonashis managed to gather the rest of Battlefront and head out shortly afterward. Yui, as if seeing a GlDeMo signal in the night sky, had surged ahead and wiggled her way into the bands' conversation. There had been a fair amount of teasing from the guys at first, but after Yui roasted them a few times, they unanimously became enamored with her and soon Yui and Nezumi were comparing guitar photos on their phones.
Apparently talk of opening for GlDeMo was going well because Jungle Gym seemed pretty pumped by the time Hirohashi, Saki, Hisakawa, and Hejjiguchi caught up with them. Nezumi and Shiruba excitedly told them what was going on, slowing only when they spotted one of Yui's promotional posters taped up on the clock shop windows. Hisakawa seemed the most interested, raking her eyes over the poster and admiring the design.
"Girls Dead Monster," she said thoughtfully. "Never heard of it. You girls just starting out?"
"For the most part," Iwasawa told her. "We used to play together a… long time ago. But we only reunited and pulled the band back together a few months ago. We've been practicing like mad ever since."
Hisakawa smiled. "Well, asking Jungle Gym to open for you…" She propped herself on Nezumi's shoulder. "If you're as talented as you are smart, I might have to come see it."
"No…"
Puzzled by the soft interjection, almost everyone turned their heads in the direction of the voice. Saki was tracing her fingertips over the shadowy GlDeMo silhouettes, nervous ambivalence clouding her features. A sudden gentle but persistent breeze made her curls flutter.
"We shouldn't go to this," she said, a touch more firmly.
Hisakawa closed her eyes and unleashed a prolonged guttural groan, while a knowing Shiruba murmured, "Oh, come on now…"
"I'm serious!" Saki insisted, peeling off the poster and clenching it in her grip. "I'm getting major Final Destination vibes from this thing—"
"Oh, don't even mention those horrible movies to me!" Hisakawa cried. Abandoning her post at Nezumi's shoulder, she purposefully distanced herself a few steps and glared accusingly at him, and he giggled.
"What's wrong with the Final Destination movies?" Matsushita the Fifth spoke up, looking at Hisakawa. Next to him, Yuri made a face.
Hejjiguchi fielded this one for her. "Oh – back when the fifth one came out, Nezumi invited her over to watch it, to introduce her to the franchise?" he explained. "And she saw the part where the gymnast—"
Yuri and Hisakawa clapped their hands over their ears and started loudly tuning him out. "La-la-la-la-la-la-la—"
The guys of Jungle Gym laughed uproariously. If Ayato was seeing things right, Yuri and Hisakawa shared a fleeting glance before Yuri looked away. Hisakawa marched ahead of the group, presumably storming away from Nezumi, while still covering her ears and singing to herself.
"Why is everybody clairvoyant all of a sudden?" Yui grouched. She pointed a finger at Saki, devil tail twitching. "Listen here, Goldilocks! Nothing is going to go wrong at the GlDeMo concert next month – not on my watch!"
"Your watch?" Saki repeated, cocking her head to the side.
"Girls Dead Monster means so very much to me – to everyone in Battlefront!" Yui proclaimed, putting a fist to her heart. "It's going to be the cause of celebration, not devastation! If I see so much as a flaming comet heading towards that amphitheater, so help me I'll take my baseball bat and send it hurtling three galaxies away myself!" She swung an imaginary baseball bat for effect, so hard that she twirled twice in a circle.
Saki watched her spin, dizzied for a moment before looking back down at the poster and frowning anew. "But I…" she said, trailing off.
"It'll be fine, Saki," Hirohashi said, coming up to her and holding out his hand. She reluctantly gave him the poster, and he started putting it back up on the clock shop window, much to her chagrin. "Remember what you told me a long time ago? There are all sorts of possibilities." He turned back to her and held out his hands again expectantly. "Maybe you're picking up on just one of them."
She hesitated for a moment, taking his hands and clasping them in her own. "Maybe," she said, soothing herself by studying his palms.
While Kanade lingered in front of the poster herself, looking over it questioningly, Otonashi smiled at Saki and Hirohashi. "Kanade gets nervous about that kind of stuff, too," he said.
The group began moving forward again after that, Saki letting go of Hirohashi's hand after a minute to do something on her phone. "It's more than just Final Destination and bad omens and stuff," Hirohashi said to him, before looking back at Ayato and Yuri. "Saki used to think you guys were haunted."
"Haunted?" Ayato and Yuri repeated in unison, him with a scoff and her more questioning.
Hirohashi shrugged. "Whenever she was around you, sometimes out of nowhere she would feel like she was being watched," he explained. Ayato felt a distinct chill at those words, running up his spine, even in the warmth of the evening air. "I mean, I'm still a skeptic—"
"—and I've accepted that," Saki said, making Hirohashi grin briefly.
"—but as far as ghosts go, it would make sense for the two of you to be haunted," he continued. "Losing your siblings the way you did, I mean. But Saki says that's not it."
"It's not," Saki insisted, looking up abruptly from her screen. "Because I started feeling it right around or after graduation! And I thought maybe I was just feeling nervous and sad because I missed Chitose, but then I realized I only felt it on rare occasions when I was near one or both of you. After you left, I never felt it again."
"For the record, I have no idea what she's talking about," Hisakawa said, having fallen back again in front of Saki.
"Because you weren't around for it!" Saki retorted.
Ayato and Yuri shared an odd look. Normally he'd be unaffected by her theories, but her mention of it springing up around graduation creeped him out. "So do you feel it right now?" Yuri asked curiously.
Saki just shook her head. "Nothing. Not at all since you came back," she replied. "That's why I was so surprised to see you. Between spring of 2012 up to the month you two left, it used to be sometimes that I could pick up on the energy and know you guys were there even before I spotted you. But then, this past November…" She looked over to Hirohashi, as if prodding.
On instinct, he continued for her, "One night last November, Saki dragged me to the window of my workshop and made me poke my head out, swearing that something was closing over the entire town."
"And you went along with it?" Ayato asked, lifting an eyebrow at him.
Sweating, Hirohashi gave another shrug. "Hey, she'd been onto something earlier!" he said defensively. "I've learned that Saki's instincts can be pretty spot-on. She's saved me from a few explosions and traffic accidents in the past. I think she's going to win the lottery one day."
"Can I get in on that?" Hejjiguchi asked, raising a hand. Then he frowned thoughtfully. "But wait, then what about this concert thing?"
Hirohashi hesitated. "I don't know…" he said, glancing over at Saki, who had just gone back to whatever she was doing so intently on her phone. "Well, anyway, I'd gotten this creepy feeling a while back, not long before she told me that someone with very dark magic was visiting Akuma, so I was inclined to believe her. I stuck my head out, and I've got to say, I did feel blanketed by something."
"I thought at first it was a veil covering us up like some kind of secret," Saki chimed in. "But then Tomo-kun pointed out that it could be like some kind of protection spell. To keep unseen spies from watching us." She lifted her chin, gazing up at the sky. "When Yuri and Naoi came back and I still didn't feel anything, I knew you were right and it had worked."
Hisakawa laughed. "And then I moved back here at the end of the month and Saki was convinced I was behind it."
"Okay, but what kind of coincidence—"
"Saki, I do not have magic powers! If I did, I would save a lot more people—"
The two friends started arguing, albeit lightheartedly enough. Ayato's frown still deepened as he watched them bicker, one particular detail Hirohashi had mentioned still fluttering incessantly in his brain.
"Wait, Saki," he cut in. "What did you mean about someone with very dark magic visiting Akuma?"
Saki stopped and looked at him. "Oh, I'm not sure, actually," she admitted. "I felt a dark energy somewhere near your father's shop and the Naoi estate, so I think maybe I was just picking up on his negativity. But I thought there might be a presence with him. It could have been a ghost, like your grandfather, I think? He had a lot of power over your dad. But it didn't feel the same as when we all played with a Ouija board in those woods once and talked to him, so I doubt it, actually."
"You talked to my grandfather?" Ayato said dubiously.
"We were trying to talk to Hayato instead!" Saki exclaimed. "I missed him! But don't worry, we didn't release your grandfather's spirit or anything. He was so mean and boring. He just threatened us a lot and told us to get off his property. He had no sense of humor. That's why I don't think the presence was him. It seemed mischievous, more like a demon…"
"Maybe we shouldn't be talking about spirits and demons and dead people right now," Otonashi suggested.
Hisakawa scoffed in agreement and scanned their surroundings, staring doubtfully to her right down a dark alley before stepping closer to Hejjiguchi. "He's right. After just leaving a funeral, it seems like bad luck."
"That's the point of not going straight home," said Ami, coming up from behind them with Eisuke. "You're not supposed to let any spirits follow you back to your house. And here I find you talking about Ouija boards out in the open like this? Rookie mistake. We should be talking about anything else." She latched onto Yuri's arm. "Yuri, did you know that your friend Ryou is friends with the daughter of Akio Furukawa? Sayuki can't stop freaking out about it!"
"Uh-oh," said Yuri, grinning. "What does Kaori think about this?"
"Well, uh-oh is right. Sayuki says, as a drama club alumni…"
Eisuke acknowledged Ayato with a half-grin as their wives started chatting about that, a conversation that lasted the rest of the way to the restaurant. (As did Ayato's stumbling thoughts on the word wives, until it lost all meaning.)
Inside, Girls Dead Monster sat with Jungle Gym and company, while the Masudas elected to eat with the Battlefront. The Nakamuras showed up after a delay, but there was no room at the Battlefront's tables by then, so they joined the Endos and Banira Aoki and a few other people from their generation of Akuma citizens. After a while, Yuri went over to sit and talk with her parents, probably about the situation. The Nakamuras had been mercifully discreet and even close-mouthed about the divorce so far today. Ayato was grateful as he watched them with Yuri, noting that their occasional glances in his direction were quite subtle. He didn't think anyone suspected a thing…
"So, Yuri's been pretty supportive throughout all this, huh?" Eisuke said, interrupting his train of thought.
"Oh…" Ayato blinked a few times, turning his attention back to his own table. "Um, yeah. She's been great. And so have you guys."
"Yes, well, situations like this do have a way of bringing people back together," Eisuke noted, rather wisely. Next to him, Otonashi sent him a sideways glance, as if finding what he'd said vaguely curious. Eisuke ignored him and picked casually at his food. "Speaking of which, how long has it been?"
Ayato furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Huh? How long…?"
"Since the divorce."
Almost every Battlefront member within earshot made strangled sounds of surprise (Ayato, Otonashi, Hinata, Shiina, Ooyama, and Matsushita) or choked on their food trying not to snort or laugh (Fujimaki). Ami looked shocked, but not as much as she should've been, and it seemed directed more at her husband for saying it.
"You knew?" Ayato uttered in disbelief. "How…?"
"Well, perhaps it was the way she called you Naoi in the hospital, or even the lack of wedding rings," Eisuke pointed out. "I know they're not just getting cleaned, because the indentation and tan lines are basically gone for both of you, and that takes months." After a pause to enjoy Ayato's dismayed reaction, he finished, "…Or maybe it was the fact that when I saw your information in the system, it had your married status listed as divorced."
"Serves you right for trying to hide something like that from a detective," Ami said, when Ayato facepalmed at that last bit.
"I have to say, I could've been fooled," Eisuke admitted. "I was ready to believe it was a mistake when I found you two in the hospital room and saw the way you were looking at each other. But there was still a distance between you this past weekend that gave you away."
"If you knew we were divorced, then why did you put us both in the guestroom that night?" Ayato demanded.
Fujimaki perked up. "What? Oh, please tell me there was only one bed—"
"You shut up!" Ayato warned, leaning forward and pointing a finger down the conjoined tables at him. He could tell he was blushing, as Fujimaki took one look at him and promptly shared a perfectly delighted and scandalized grin with everyone close by.
"It was because I could tell you two needed each other that night," Eisuke said. "I don't know what could've split you two apart, but there was – there is – still a connection between you. Ami and I, we can both see it. It's different, but it's there."
"Why would you two break up?" said Ami. "I don't get it."
"There's nothing to get, really," Hinata chimed in. "His explanation is ridiculously convoluted."
Eisuke looked at him curiously, then at Ayato next to him. "I'm sure if you talked us through it, I could make some sense of it. Or at least help untie a few knots."
Ami nodded in agreement. "He unravels arguments like he untangles necklace chains," she said proudly. "Like a pro."
Frowning thoughtfully, Ayato looked down at his plate. "I don't know…"
"Maybe you should tell them," Ryou piped up, her voice reaching from farther down the tables. "After talking with Ami earlier, I believe she and her husband would understand just like I did, and it would certainly help a few of my slipups make sense to her."
Ayato lifted his gaze to the couple. It wasn't that he was sure they wouldn't believe him (far from it, actually), but they were the ones who had been there to watch him and Yuri fall in love. To tell the truth, sitting in front of them now, the truth of the separation had never felt so embarrassing. Not even when Otonashi, Hinata, and Kanade had first confronted him about it. They didn't know, not like Ami and Eisuke did.
But he told them anyway. He told them about Iwasawa's concert, about the song that refreshed their memories, about the way they looked into each other's eyes and remembered their Afterlife versions of themselves and it changed everything. He told them about the divorce, and Yuri moving, and them not seeing each other again until just this spring. Otonashi, Hinata, and even Kanade chimed in, filling in the blanks, explaining how they reunited again, how they'd been reuniting with more and more friends ever since.
"So let me see if I've got this straight," Eisuke said. "You guys are friends who met in a shared Afterlife, and now you're reincarnated versions of yourselves, and with your memories regained, you've been able to find each other."
"But some of you didn't even need memories – it was the red string of fate that brought you together!" Ami said excitedly, motioning to Ayato. "You and Yuri were reborn in the same town in the same year! And you still could've ignored each other, or just been acquaintances or something, but you fell in love! You two are even more romantic than I thought!"
"We broke up, Ami," Ayato reminded her.
"Oh, whatever! You've been stupid with her heart before, but you still made it right," Ami said dismissively. As Ayato scoffed, she looked to the rest of them at the table. "The funny thing is, I should've known it was like that. I saw that same connection between all of you," Ami commented. "You all seemed incredibly close."
"Just like you all seemed incredibly close with Chaa." Eisuke studied each of their faces. "Even though none of you had ever met him before. He told me that much, but you guys looked at him like you recognized him immediately. Is he one of you as well?"
"Oh yeah, he was one of the earliest additions to the Battlefront," Hinata confirmed. "He used to call Yurippe his wife, 'cause she looked so much like her. If that helps explain why Naoi got all bent out of shape over him at the beach on Sunday. Chaa and Yurippe go way back."
Eisuke laughed. "So I guess I stole Yuri and Miyake from him after all," he said, then furrowed his forehead thoughtfully. "But wait, you were all surprised to see him. Didn't Yuri make the connection that we were related?"
"We kind of… didn't really know his last name," Hinata confessed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Some of us had amnesia," Otonashi added. "Others were shrouded in mystery so they only had nicknames."
Eisuke nodded, still intrigued. "It's just as well. I suppose he would've had a different last name in his former life, anyway."
Making a small sound of realization, Ami quickly swallowed her drink. "Right! Is that the case for you guys too?" she asked. "How does that work, with reincarnation and the names and stuff? That must get confusing if you're used to calling each other by your old ones. Ooh, what was Yuri's name?"
The Battlefront members blinked at each other. "Actually, we were all reborn with the same names as our past lives," Kanade answered.
"Kind of convenient that Shiina's turned out to be the same as the nickname Yurippe gave her," Hinata added.
Ami looked surprised, setting down her glass. "Really?" she said, fascinated, and laughed a little. "But what happens when you google yourselves?"
"I tried that, once, after I got my memories back," Otonashi admitted. "I didn't find anything. Nothing on the train accident I'd died in, either. It's like we're in a timeline where that never even happened."
"Otonashi and I have talked about this before, actually," said Hinata. "Yui never became paralyzed, Shiina never became an assassin, I still had a difficult home life but not with my aunt and uncle as foster parents. Our names and our lives are basically the same, except some things are different."
"Come to think of it, Yuri was supposed to have three siblings, not two," Ayato agreed. "And they died in a car accident this time, instead of… what happened before." He decided to let Yuri share that part with Ami and Eisuke herself. "And my father trained both his sons in pottery at the same time, and he never got bedridden. And Yuri and I never lived in the same town before. It's strange what's changed about this life."
Eisuke leaned in, tenting his fingers contemplatively. "Maybe that means you were reincarnated into a parallel universe, where your reincarnations are your old lives but just a little bit to the right."
Hinata looked thoughtful. "In a weird way, that sort of makes sense…" he said, sharing a glance with Shiina.
"Where Yuzuru didn't die in the crash, and I never needed his heart," Kanade murmured.
"Because we were already connected." Otonashi regarded her fondly. "You have it again, anyway."
Ayato nicely did not retch at their sweetness. A couple of seats down from them, Ryou steered the conversation back on track. "My friend Kotomi would find that theory really interesting!" she marveled, peering down the table at Eisuke. "She's in America studying almost this exact thing! Other worlds, I mean. When she comes back to Japan in a few weeks, I'll ask her about it. I wonder what she'd have to say on the reincarnation aspect?"
For some reason, that made Eisuke cast a fleeting glance toward the band members' table, then back at Ryou. He rubbed his chin. "She's coming from America, you said?"
"Yes! Traveling with a couple of friends, I think—"
"What are we talking about?" asked Yuri, rounding the table and falling into her seat beside Ayato. She gave him and then the rest of their non-Akuma friends a tentative look. "I heard someone mention reincarnation." Without waiting for a reply, other than the Masudas' innocent expressions, she added to Ayato, "Oh, by the way, my parents want to talk to you later."
"Should I go over there?" Ayato asked. He already felt a little guilty having not gone with Yuri to sit with them like a proper fake husband. No wonder Eisuke had seen right through him.
"You'd better," Eisuke said solemnly. "I expect you haven't yet asked for their blessing to remarry their daughter."
Ayato blushed, bristling at the ripple of chuckles from the Battlefront. Yuri froze up as well, staring wide-eyed across the table at Eisuke. "Huh? Wh-what's that supposed to mean?"
"It means the jig is up, Yuri Nakamura, if that is your real name," Ami said. Then she scrunched up her brow and looked particularly pondering. "How many times do you think you have to reincarnate to get a different name? Do souls ever change names? Imagine having the same name for like a thousand years! I think after a couple centuries I'd want to be Emi, just to switch it up."
Yuri looked to Ayato and the others for help. "They know everything," Ayato told her.
"Everything?" Yuri asked. When he gave her a silent nod of confirmation, she turned to Eisuke. "Then you know about Chaa."
"Yes," he said, over a sip of his tea. "Though Chaa doesn't know about Chaa. I'm afraid he must not have seen the concert like the rest of you did."
"That's fine, he's not the only one we've found without his memories," Yuri told him matter-of-factly. "All that matters is that we make sure he goes to this next one in June and stays long enough to hear Iwasawa sing My Song. Can you help us do that?"
"Convince him to go to a cool rock concert? I'll do my best," Eisuke responded.
The Battlefront breathed a sigh of relief – one less amnesic Battlefront member to worry about. They changed the subject after that and happily shared memories of Yuri and Ayato and even Chaa, though not too loud on the Battlefront's end, lest any eavesdroppers listen in and get confused. Ami seemed captivated by the fact that the two started out as enemies, and unsurprisingly loved hearing about the time Yuri pelted him with a pillow. On the other hand, Eisuke was all too happy to tell the Battlefront about the time in Shiga Kogen where Yuri threw herself at him instead.
"She slipped on the stairs!" Ayato corrected, his entire face heating up at the memory.
"However it happened, you still have a knack for knocking him to the ground," Eisuke said, smirking at Yuri. "I'm sure he enjoyed it a lot better than the pillow. How long were you two like that before we happened by?"
Yuri stared at him, blushing but bemused. She muttered aside to Ayato, "I thought you said they knew everything."
"Actually, she has amnesia," Otonashi told Eisuke. "She lost all her memories of Naoi a few months ago."
"Are you serious?" Ami practically wailed, after a baffled silence from her husband. "You guys are better than a soap opera!"
"Don't make light of our issues!" Ayato scolded.
After the meal wrapped up, the Battlefront members were about to go their separate ways – much to the chagrin of Yui and Nezumi, who were apparently best friends now. Fujimaki went to unsnag her from the group, and succeeded after a while, but ended up being snagged by the group himself. A distressed Ooyama fretted and watched for a few minutes before going to fetch him, only for Nezumi and Shiruba to take a particular interest in them both, especially after Ooyama squeaked something about being his roommate.
Shiruba looked at Nezumi with a grin. "And they were roommates," he said knowingly.
"Oh my God, they were roommates," Nezumi intoned, beaming back at him. They both slung an arm around Ooyama and Fujimaki, respectively, and walked off with them in opposite directions. "Come on, Fujimaki, let's have a talk. I've got a few pearls of wisdom for you."
Matsushita smiled and patiently turned back to the rest of the Battlefront, knowing that was going to be a whole thing. Never mind the fact that they were his ride. Though Ayato supposed they would have to go by the Masudas' later and pick up Mitsuo anyway.
Remembering something, Ayato spoke up, "So, I don't suppose you guys are planning on doing the bet or anything?"
Most of the Battlefront looked surprised. "To tell you the truth, we weren't sure," Otonashi said, rubbing the back of his neck. "We didn't even know if we'd be meeting up this weekend."
"Not meet up?" Ayato frowned. What, at all?
"Would you be joining us if we did?" asked Shiina.
He faltered. That was a good question. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "I mean…"
"You need to rest," Yuri reminded him, putting her uninjured hand on his shoulder. "You've been through so much in the last week."
"We can pause for one Saturday," Otonashi said.
"Can you?" Ayato countered. "There's only a few left until the concert. Don't let me slow you down. My money's on, I don't know, TK or something. It's fine if I'm not there to see it—"
"Save your money for the funeral expenses," Hinata told him. "And Yui won't take a group picture if you're not in it."
"You didn't even get a group picture with Chaa," Ayato pointed out, and Yui gave a distraught little squeak of realization before muttering something about photoshop.
"Photoshop? You're better than that…"
"I know, I know, you're right," Yui said unhappily. "It's okay. He was just in the Guild anyway… We'll fit him in at the end."
"Oh, that's nice," said Yuri with a scoff. "We'll talk to Masuda about it. I'm sure we can figure something out."
"You're going to run out of luck getting strangers to pose with you anyway," Ayato argued. "The progression shot doesn't matter."
"That's not true!" Yui insisted. "TK and Takamatsu love posing!"
"There's no way they wouldn't show off for strangers," Hinata considered.
With Yuri's intervention, they eventually agreed that if the Battlefront did meet up in Mizuzaka on Saturday and Ayato felt like sitting it out, they'd make Ooyama's place their temporary base and call Ayato to see if he could meet them in the park at some point during the weekend for the photo. After that was settled, the group said their goodbyes and final condolences and then departed.
It was late by the time Ayato and Yuri returned to the Nakamuras' house. They beat her parents there by a few minutes, as the couple had gotten caught up in a conversation with some of the Endos. Ehana Nakamura's parents were the ones who were killed in the car crash that took Yuri's siblings, so Yuri theorized that her mother sometimes tried to fill the empty space in her heart with friendly elderly people. Apparently, his mother's twin cousins were a lot like Ehana's father.
"I like your mom's side of the family," Yuri said, nursing a cup of coffee. "Explains where you get it."
"Get what?" Ayato asked warily.
"Your good side." She shrugged, lowering her gaze to her drink. "You know, charming, with an actual sense of humor. You heard Saki – you didn't get it from your dad's genes."
Ayato frowned at the reminder of the creepy things Saki had mentioned, but then he doubled back – she thought he was charming?
Aren't you a regular Prince Charming, Snow said in his head.
He didn't want to think about that either. "I hope that's decaf," Ayato said after a moment, gesturing to the coffee cup.
"Doesn't matter," Yuri replied, taking another sip. "Neither of us will be getting any sleep tonight anyway."
"I hope not for the reason I'm thinking of," her father's voice interjected. At that moment, Kaishou and Ehana entered the kitchen with speculative expressions on their faces.
"You two are still divorced, right?" Ehana teased, raising an eyebrow.
Kaishou nodded. "You'll be sleeping in different rooms."
"We already have been, Dad," Yuri said, flushing with embarrassment. "That's not what I meant!"
Ayato reddened as well. He knew what she was trying to say – after what they'd been through just a few days ago, it was hard for their minds to shut off at night – but bizarrely enough, the concept of sleeping underneath the same roof as her parents made it harder not to think of such thoughts. It was like telling a person not to think of pink elephants – now Yuri's room was the pinkest elephant of them all.
When Yuri had retreated to said room, Ehana and Kaishou turned to him.
"So, our daughter tells us the two of you have been seeing a lot of each other lately," Ehana began, falling against the counter with crossed arms. "Not just since what happened with your parents. Since mid-April. Care to tell us what's going on?"
The light above Ayato's head suddenly felt a lot brighter, like he was sitting in the middle of an interrogation room. He gulped and cleared his throat. "She and I… and a few of our old friends, we… reconnected."
"Reconnected," Kaishou echoed, letting loose a slow puff of air before putting his fist beneath his chin. "I'm not going to lie to you, Ayato. Yuri leaving Mizuzaka so abruptly and telling us never to mention your name to her again was a bit of a red flag."
"I know," Ayato said with a sigh. "We hit a rough patch, there was an identity crisis… It's difficult to explain."
"You two did get married pretty young," said Kaishou.
"Then again, so did we," Ehana remarked. She looked at the clock on the microwave. "Well, we know you've had a lot to deal with these past few days. It sounds like a conversation best saved for a better time."
"But when that time comes," Kaishou said, looking almost knowingly at Ayato, "is there something else we'll have to talk about?"
Ayato paused, as understanding sank in. "Yeah," he said softly, glancing toward Yuri's room before meeting her father's eyes once more. "Yeah, I think there is."
Preview:
"Kurimu Aoki..."
"I think you know where to find her."
"When I was with them, they always reminded me of you."
"Don't make me feel old!"
"Maybe he is doing great on his own."
"You wanna hear something even worse?"
"It's more in her nature to be happy for you."
"That's what we're all really looking for, isn't it? Second chances?"
[Chapter 67]: A Graveyard Gathering.
