Yuyu

School today… Supposed to be. Hidaka called, saying I was sick. Not true. Can't get sick. Real reason: questions would be raised about lack of arm.

Problem being resolved.

Toto and Nyunyu here too, all 'sick'. No school for them either. Had things to work on.

"You guys really went to Pure Illusion wearing these?" Hidaka asked, indicating armour. Heavily damaged from past adventures. Self-repaired.

"Can withstand gunshots. Temperature regulation," Toto listed good qualities.

"Well, yes, but aren't they getting a little old now? You two have worn them for years, after all, correct?" Both nodded. "And Nyunyu's… doesn't look very suitable for combat at all."

"Yayaka's needs repairs," stated. "Should be priority." Being regular human. Unable to withstand temperatures like Toto and I. Can sweat. Lots of experience, but not made for combat. Made for running. Speed booster faulty. Most likely to go to Pure Illusion… Lots of reasons.

"All of your stuff needs repairs!" Slammed hand down on table. Screws hopped off desk onto floor. Shower of 'clinks'. Hidaka appeared annoyed. But face became grin. Glasses flashed. "Which is exactly why I've called all off you of school this week…"

Most of day spent designing new armour. Hidaka left three of us alone to design. No time for construction. Details important, need everything we can get. Could take part with one arm. Sketched designs. Toto made notes. Pointed out things forgotten (breathing masks for all). Nyunyu watched. Came up with suggestions, but mostly illogical. Armour made of guns. Toto said why not useful ("dangerous for allies"). Stretchy robot arms ("Possible, but cumbersome"). Dimensional pocket for cicadas and bug nets ("Waste of pockets". Thankful he said no to that one. Dislike insects...) Backpack containing decoy of false zombie.

"Unlikely to help," Toto getting annoyed with Nyunyu now. Voice has hints of harshness.

"But the enemy might aim for that instead of us!"

"Bigger target. Heavy. Difficult to carry,"

"I wanna add it!"

Toto accidentally nudged piece of Illusion Bronze. Was resting my arm against other. CLANG! Nyunyu covered ears. Felt, more than heard sound. Toto also immune. Spoke. "Not needed! Want pocket for keychain from Ruri-chan, but unnecessary! Keychain not needed for combat!"

Looked at him. Tilted head to side. "Unusual request."

Toto looked down, face blank. Cheeks slightly pink. Not intended to mention? Likely, but heard request. Added pocket to Toto's armour sketch, listed as 'weapons pouch'. Looked at him and nodded.

"What did nyu do?!" Nyunyu speaking. "That was loud! Nyu two weren't effected at all!"

Accidental discovery: Illusion Bronze could deafen enemies. Anyone in contact with metal unaffected.

Tested various combinations of people in contact with Bronze and without. Confirmation.

"Noise grenades!" Nyunyu said, hand high in air.

"Useful idea," Toto said. Smile twitched at his mouth. Noted suggestion.

Day carried on like that. Armour designs almost finalised. Hidaka wanted to check over. See available supplies, and make adjustments accordingly. Toto and Nyunyu sent away. He spoke to me.

"I was working on your new arm while you guys were designing your armour. I'm needing to use parts from your old gauntlet though, to put it together, so you won't be able to use it anymore."

Little sad to hear that. Liked gauntlet. Suddenly, curious: "Why did you request biological arm, as part of trade?"

"It's not every day, you get the chance to study and experiment on living tissue of an amorphous-made human." Glasses flashed as spoke. Little wary of Hidaka, after Yayaka's outburst. Hidaka continued, "Besides, I can't exactly give you a new arm, if you still have the old one hanging there, useless. This way, I can have an example right in front of me, what to build and replicate—well, improve upon, not replicate entirely, I don't think Yayaka would forgive me if I gave you a new arm, and it didn't work…" Voice trailed off as he spoke.

"Upset about Yayaka?"

"I feel bad… I'm not one of the scientists who did any of those things to her, but I feel I should make it up to her somehow, to show not all of us scientists are bad guys."

"Giving me new arm."

"Yeah, I know I'm doing that, but I don't think she's going to be too happy if she finds out I still have your old one hidden away somewhere to experiment on. I'm a scientist, I'm curious by nature…"

'Make it up to her somehow'. Hidaka kept talking, but mind stuck on that line.

"Yayaka likes explosives and wires."

"Explosives and wires, huh...?" Smile crept along his face. Starting to understand why Yayaka is cautious of him. But will be working with him. Can make sure he won't go out of line. He picked up designs and had a look at them. "So, this is what you've come up with… It looks like a cross between riot police armour and something people in an American school marching band would wear…" Continued to mumble to self like that for a while. Eventually…

"I think we can work with these designs, Yuyu. We'll start building them tomorrow!"


Yayaka

Sayuri asked me if I wanted to go to school this week, or if I might have found it too stressful with everything I've been dealing with lately. Honestly, I hadn't even thought about school, even though the only clothes I really had on me was my uniform. If I go to school, I'll probably have to deal with mock exams again, think about schools to move on to, and also see Cocona and Papika. Seeing Papika might be fine, but Cocona... ((Switch with me)) I'm not sure I really trust myself around at the moment... Heck, I'm not even sure seeing Papika would be too good of an idea. It might all be fine, but she'd make a fuss of me if I went there... Same for Cocona actually, now I think about it, but Cocona would be a lot more subdued, whereas I think I'd have to pry Papika off of me with a crowbar for a little peace and quiet.

"Can you call in sick for me?" I asked her. It felt really weird to be asking someone to do that for me. Normally I just plain ditched class. Sometimes Asclepius called in, posing as a parent or a few, but most of the time they didn't bother. I guess because Sayuri actually seems friendly, or maybe because this'd be a more normal thing to do in this situation.

She seemed pretty relaxed about it, saying it was no problem, and introduced herself as my aunt... Which, again, was pretty weird.

"Thanks," I said after she finished the call.

"Not a problem. How are you doing?"

"I'm... not sure. Better I guess?"

"That's good" Sayuri said, smiling. I wished I had more of an answer for her, but I really didn't know how I was feeling. Well, I still found it pretty odd to have woken up in a real house, after having fallen asleep in a real house. I mean, I don't think Sayuri would have somehow tried to sneak me back to Flip Flap overnight (I wouldn't have put it past Hidaka to send Buu to come and fly me back to base though), but still, I'm not in some stupid lab or research facility. I don't have to worry about any experiments on me, or being sent off to Pure Illusion…

People live like this? The idea just seemed so… weird to me.

Once again, most of the time spent here was watching films with Sayuri, although towards the end of one of them, Sayuri jumped up, as if she had been struck by inspiration. I asked her what that was all about, but all she said was 'I'll be back in a minute' so I sat there and watched the credits roll for the film we just watched. It was called 'TRON' and it was about some kid who ended up stuck in a computer game or something and he had to go up against an evil computer… Or something. Honestly, I found it a little hard to pay attention because all I could think when I was watching it was how much it looked like Pop's world in Pure Illusion. If you told me he had a hand in designing the movie set, or took any part in creation of the film otherwise, I'd have no trouble believing you.

Sayuri eventually returned, holding a grey box and a couple of things that made me think of the controllers for the Playstation me and Cocona had played on, but they had less buttons to them…

Actually, it was pretty similar to a Playstation in a lot of ways now I looked at it. Controllers connected to a grey box by black cables, a slot for games, coloured buttons…

"I forgot I had this!" Sayuri exclaimed, excited. "It's been so long since I've played it. Have you ever played a Super Famicom, Yayaka-chan?"

I'd guess a 'Super Famicom' was the name of the grey box Sayuri was carrying, and I replied, "No. I've never even heard of it."

Sayuri looked at me as if I'd just thrown a brick at her laptop. "You've never heard of a Super Famicom before?" She didn't even give me time to answer, as she went into a little geeky rant about how it was a really popular home video game console, and its predecessor supposedly saved the whole video game market in the West, by being that revolutionary.

When Sayuri got it hooked up to the TV and showed me one of the game cartridges she had, I didn't really understand what the fuss was about. I mean, the games looked nice enough, but they were so… pixelated. I know that was probably due to the console's age, but still, compared to everything we played at the arcade, it was a little difficult to see why this was so popular at the time…

Apparently Super Mario World was a classic and… It was fine, I guess? I didn't quite understand what the big deal was. The colours were nice, and the game looked appealing enough, but… I don't think it was my sort of thing.

I told this to Sayuri, who seemed a little startled at my reaction, but suggested trying another game instead. She turned the console off and pressed the eject button, causing the cartridge to pop out of the slot, a little like a toaster. She put another one in, which I believe was called 'Akumajo: Dracula' (Or Super Castlevania 4 as it's known by in the West).

This one was still kinda pixelated, but graphically? It was a little limited, sure, but it seemed a lot more epic than Mario was. You played a guy with a whip, which reminded me a little of my grappling wire, and you were basically going through Dracula's castle to kill him, while fighting ghouls and monsters along the way. This one was a lot more frustrating than Mario, but the design of the game, and the castle backgrounds… I found it easier to lose myself in this than I did in any of Sayuri's films. I'm guessing because it was a lot more interactive than them. Here, I'd press a button and my character would strike a monster with his whip, it felt like I was lashing out with my grappling wire. While I was playing, I started to wonder why I'd never thought to use my wire like that at all. Okay, it might just be in the game that it's that powerful, but still, it's another way to use your equipment, and it'd be handy for future reference…

If I go back to Pure Illusion at all.

I kinda became less enthusiastic about the game with that thought, and I think Sayuri must have thought I wanted to try another one, so she changed the game again, this time to one I vaguely recognised.

"I think I've played this one before…" I said, as I watched a demo of red, yellow, green, and blue blobs fall down across the screen. They came in groups of two, three, or sometimes in a great blob of four, and if you connected four or more of the same colours together, you'd clear a part of your screen, and fill up the opponents with black garbage blobs. If you were good and you got a combo or a few, you could completely devastate your opponent and screw them over before they have the chance to save themselves, or even blink.

"You recognise Puyo Puyo?" Sayuri asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, Cocona borrowed a Playstation once, and we played this game. Or one a lot like it." I felt a little smile sneak on my face as I remembered it. "I wasn't very good at it at all, but Cocona played, and she managed to get pretty far."

"Oh?" Sayuri smiled, interested to hear more. I didn't really have anything else to say, so I ended up just standing around and feeling a bit awkward… At least until Sayuri spoke again. "Have you ever played against each other?"

"No, we just took turns. Cocona would thrash me if we played against each other."

"Hmmm…" Sayuri sat down in front of the console and picked up the controller for player 2. "Do you reckon you can beat me?"

"Probably not, it's been a long time since I've played."

"Me too, so we'll be even."

I wasn't too fond of Puyo Puyo from what I remember playing of it back in the day, but it's been a few years since then, so maybe I'll like it a bit more this time around. I admit I'm a little curious to know what it's like trying to play this game against someone instead of taking turns with them.

"Okay then," I said.

"Winner chooses what's for dinner!" Sayuri declared, before we started up our game…


Yuyu

Armour construction started after some adjustments to notes made. Apart from looks, armour has similar features to old Asclepius gear. Toto got to work right away. Nyunyu observed for first hour before taking part. Hidaka was away, making new arm.

Heard speech and noise as Toto and Nyunyu worked.

"Nyunyu, request assistance."

"Okay!"

Annoyed. Could take part if had arm. No arm. Could only sit and watch. Useless.

"Hold this still while sewing."

"Can do!"

Would be able to help with arm. Am better at sewing.

"Switch with me"

Would like to be able to. Can participate then.

Voices drowned out after that point. Enough to lose understanding of speech. Not enough to dismiss completely. Admit Nyunyu is helpful in situation, but… Wish I could work. Sat reading a book. Trying not to think about activities. Difficult to ignore. Presence required in room. Made notes and designed armour after all, important everything is remembered. Can't participate otherwise without arm.

Wonder how Yayaka is. Hopefully better. Would like to give her a painting, but no access to art room yet. Still need arm. Turned page in book, annoyed. Toto glanced at me. Maybe picked up on feelings. Concern is nice, but also irritating. Forget I'm here. Looking at me reminds me I'm here. Reminds me of uselessness.

Defective.

Slammed book shut, and left on desk. Grabbed nearby paper and pens. Can't paint… But can draw and write. Focus on activity. Focus…

Focus and forget…


Yayaka

We ended up getting pretty caught up playing Puyo Puyo. Sayuri might not have played for a long time, like I have, but she must've played this game an awful lot back in the day, because she beat me 95% of the time. It went pretty much how I'd expect most of it would have went if I was playing against Cocona, although if I was playing against Cocona, I'd be playing with her to keep her happy, rather than because I kept getting my ass kicked and wanted revenge, and was stubborn enough to play for an hour before I finally won. Even then, I think Sayuri decided to go easy on me when I finally got my victory, but I didn't care, "I finally beat you!" and I was so happy about that.

"You must be pretty determined to choose what to have for dinner then," She chuckled.

"What?" I asked, genuinely confused. It took a few seconds to remember why the hell we started playing this game in the first place, or at least what Sayuri was talking about, and was about to say something when a sudden loud noise, which made me think a little of the alarms in the Asclepius building, echoed through the house.

I leapt to my feet and put my hands to my hips, even though I didn't have my rocket belt, and glared around, trying to find out where the hell the noise had come from.

Sayuri seemed pretty puzzled by my reaction. "It's just the doorbell, Yayaka-chan," she said, calmingly, as she got up to answer it.

Just a doorbell. Of course… I relaxed, feeling a little silly for my over-reaction. I've only heard a doorbell a few times in my life (believe it or not, crazy cultists don't often get people knocking on the door for deliveries) and those only times were at Cocona's house, so I've never had to deal with anyone there. Thank frick for that, because I'd have no idea what the hell to say—

"It's for you!" Sayuri said, peering around the doorframe.

"What the…" Maybe it's because I was still alert from a sudden noise, I hadn't heard in friggin' years, but my heart was pounding. Who could it be? Has Cocona come to check up on me? That thought made me a little more nervous. I shouldn't be thinking like this still… Cocona's chosen Papika… But she can still visit me as just a friend, right?

It was a little surreal in a way, to see only Toto standing at the door, partly because he was alone, Yuyu wasn't with him. Also, because like I said, being part of a cultist organisation before, having a house guest was pretty odd.

"What're you doing here, Toto?" My voice came out grouchier than it should have, but that's probably because if one of the twins was around, normally that would mean I'd be off to Pure Illusion, and I had no plans to be going back so soon when I'd finally gotten a break from everything. Flip Flap have more than enough people to go there anyway, they don't need me right now.

"Message from Cocona and Papika: Noticed you haven't been at school. Hoped you were okay." His head tipped to the side. "Are you?"

It took me a second to respond because I wasn't used to Toto asking me that sort of thing. "Yeah, Toto, I'm fine. You can tell them there's no need to worry about me." I smiled, and hoping I sounded convincing.

I'm not so sure I succeeded, as he didn't nod at me, and instead righted his head, his stare becoming a little more intense. "Am also concerned. Anything you want to talk about?"

"What?" Toto's concerned about me too? I really should stop being so surprised by everything the amorphous kids say and do by now, but I couldn't help being thrown off by Toto's statement. "I said I'm fine, Toto!" although, like before, my voice was more aggressive than I meant it to be. I took a deep breath and repeated the sentence in a calmer tone. "I'm fine, Toto. Really, I am. Sayuri's taking good care of me here. It's… a little strange actually."

I wondered why I even said that last part out loud, but finally I said something that seemed to be enough for Toto to nod, satisfied. "Also, here with a report," he said. "New gear for Pure Illusion under construction. Should be ready by the time you're back." Before I could ask any more about that, he held out his hand, which had a neatly folded piece of paper in it. "Finally, message from Yuyu."

I blinked, as I reached out for the paper and took it from him. It was folded almost perfectly, and only had my name on the front of it. I frowned. Why is Yuyu sending me a message by paper, when she could just tell Toto and get him to tell me?

"Didn't look. Don't know what it's about," Toto said, answering a question I was about to ask. He turned away then, about to leave, and looked at me over his shoulder. "Any messages for Flip Flap?"

I couldn't think of anything, so I just shook my head. Toto nodded, confirming he'd seen me, and spoke again. "Will be at Flip Flap. Contact if assistance is needed."

I watched for a while as he turned a corner and left, and even then, I stared at the place I saw him last, trying to work out what had just happened…


Yuyu

Gave Toto note to give to Yayaka. Says he delivered it yesterday when he visited. Asked if Yayaka had read it.

"No." He said. Disappointing… A reply would have been nice. Can't be helped.

Spent most of today sitting around again. New armour was coming along well. Nyunyu was eager to learn, and became better at sewing than Toto. Useful. Good. Sooner armour is ready, sooner can test in Pure Illusion.

While designing armour, came up with an idea. If Toto's reaction to Pure Illusion was struggling to breathe, then a special mask with an air filter would be a permanent addition to his outfit. For me, an improved a temperature regulator. Promised Papika would wear the amorphous necklace, but if necklace was lost or taken away, then only source of heat would be armour. Armour harder to remove than necklace.

Solutions have been thought of, but success not certain. May only provide temporary relief from symptoms. Toto gave all of us a number of Hole devices. Showed us how to operate them in case of emergency. Little difficult for me with one arm, but managed…

Was about all I could do while there. Play with device. Didn't activate, but rolled it around when got bored of writing or drawing. Provided little entertainment, but was better than thinking. Useless without arm. Defective. Can't help…

((" …ith me..."))

Thought I heard a voice, not belonging to anyone at Flip Flap again. Odd. Happened in Pure Illusion. Was nothing…

THUMP!

Metal parts landed in front of me on the table. Various parts. Could see… shapes of parts. Thin segmented rods attached to a larger segmented slab. Wires threaded through brackets, as if tendons… A hand?

"I figure you can help me build this," came voice from above. Looked up. Magenta hair. Glasses. Smile. Hidaka. "You're going to be the one wearing it after all. Come on, assistant, I'm sure those two will be fine without you."

'Would be fine without you' Correct... But not what wanted to hear. Fed up with defectiveness...

But Hidaka requests help.

Can help Hidaka.

Ushered me out of room, along with parts. Went to another room in Flip Flap. Another workshop. Hidaka has many. Has many ideas for projects and ideas, keeps various things required for experiments in different rooms. Makes sense. Also handy, as it keeps his messes in rooms rather than around the base. Sayuri said that when me and Toto joined…


Nyunyu was first. Joined Flip Flap immediately after Asclepius' destruction. Toto and I joined soon after. Thought Salt would dislike idea of Asclepius workers in his base, but didn't seem to mind.

Found him and Sayuri near a machine in Asclepius base. 'Elpis'. Abandoned project. Supposed to allow single humans to enter Pure Illusion without need of amorphous… That was the hope. Originally failed. Corrupted mind of person using it.

Toto and I first created by the head priest as companions for Yayaka upon her initial return from Pure Illusion. Needed biological samples from Yayaka to attune to her easily. Our mission: to collect the rest of the amorphous for ultimate power. Didn't care what for or why. Made for amorphous collecting. Only reason to exist.

Spent years with Yayaka searching Pure Illusion, and finding nothing. Main mission was still to find amorphous, but spending time with Yayaka… She expressed an interest in more than just amorphous. Found wonders in the many worlds we went to. Didn't understand at first. Pure Illusion and Asclepius base all I knew. Various worlds and mysterious dimensions were normal.

Eventually Asclepius enrolled Toto and I in school. Wondered if lack of amorphous found was due to poor bond with Yayaka. At school, could learn what normal human life was like. Some things there were normal for me: Tests, exams, scientific experiments… Teachers praised our knowledge in the latter subject. Didn't think anything of it. Other things at school were unusual activities, not a part of life at Asclepius.

Art was interesting. Making pencil or paint records of real-life objects and details onto paper and other materials. Have an eye for detecting weak points in enemies. When applied to art… so much detail revealed. Tiny beauty and uniqueness in every object you looked at. Fascinating. Pure Illusion after doing art... Began to understand Yayaka's interest in Pure Illusion... and became curious about Yayaka herself.

Home Ec. Sewing and cooking… Craft projects were interesting, but difficult with one arm. With assistance, showed skill. Cooking... Didn't eat, but food creations were always praised. When made cream bread, took some back to base. Head priest took it and ate it himself. When Yayaka encountered later that day (she was smaller then. Younger), had crumbs on her face, and licked her fingers. Asclepius rations never left her face covered in crumbs. Yayaka hid her hands behind her back, face angry. Demanded what I was looking at. Walked on and left her behind. Sight of her was amusing. I smiled.

And music...

Music was wonderful.

Familiar with hums of machinery and natural sounds of Pure Illusion… Music was very different to most of those. Could take sounds from different eras of Earth's history, and play it today. Centuries of ancient voices and instruments… Sounds and melodies from hundreds of years past, and new ones I've never heard before. A world I was never fully aware of, but one I could experience and become a part of. How things have changed… and how listening could make you feel… alive.

Am alive, but never felt alive. Not until hearing music.

Yayaka and Toto differed from me in that respect. Toto enjoyed biology and science. Logical with working at Asclepius. Yayaka had very different interests to him, being a regular human.

She liked playing sports.

Sports were… similar to Pure Illusion in a way. Lots of running. In Pure Illusion, to quicken search for amorphous, and escape deadly monsters and traps. In school? Things like baseball and soccer. Didn't understand what the purpose was until Yayaka was the same age as me and Toto.

Ended up all in the same school at one point, only for a short while. Asclepius was upset at Yayaka's failure to recruit Cocona. Sent Toto and I to her school to aid her. Didn't directly interfere. Mostly stayed out of sight.

Was only for a few days. Played soccer with Yayaka one day. Three of us on the same team. Yayaka was good, showed skill, and was fast. Pure Illusion skills must have translated well to sports. Soccer was only sport I could really play. Wasn't goalie, so didn't need arms. Teachers didn't like me playing soccer. Yayaka persuaded them to let me play.

Yayaka gave commands to her team. Directed them. Moved swiftly, agile. Hopped around opponents in feints, misleading them. Showed talent. Teams under her leadership often won games. Other team showed no such direction or knowledge of available players…

In Pure Illusion next, when up against a tough enemy, began to recognise traits of this in combat. Realised importance of sports: communication and teamwork. Admired Yayaka for her talents.

Yayaka didn't talk to me or Toto much then. Gave orders. Sometimes commented or asked questions… But more recently, started to talk more. Thanked us for saving her in Pure Illusion against the horde of Iron Boys and spider monster. She seemed… different then.

Was never thanked by Yayaka before. Behaviour seemed odd. Could only ask... "Why?" in response... But she expressed gratitude. Most interaction with people, other than Toto, was limited. Often only spoken to when given an order, or being told about school activities. Other students in class tended to leave me alone. Didn't bother me... But now someone spoke to me. Expressed sincere emotion towards me. Yayaka became defensive at my question, but I wasn't upset.

"Strange. Are you Yayaka?" Toto asked, as a joke. He seemed better at understanding humans than I did. No trouble making friends at school, despite similar traits to me. Yayaka seemed taken aback by his question. Her reaction amused me. ANot just because of Toto's comment... Began to see Yayaka differently then. Originally, saw her as a leader. A commander. Notghing more. Even when younger, in Pure Illusion, she gave orders. Made descisions. Toto and I followed her and did as she bid in search for amorphous... But seeing her now... Thought about time I caught her after stealing head priest's cream bread. Saw that same Yayaka standing in front of me.

More to her than just a commander.

Maybe there's more to life than amorphous, too.

Began to think differently from that point. Next adventure in Pure Illusion was world of floating stone blocks. Yayaka almost fell into void upon arrival. Felt panic. Sudden. Never felt that before. Would have died if I hadn't grabbed her. Thought terrified me. …But didn't know why. Have fought monsters. Came back in bad condition before, on brink of death, but lost to a void? Didn't want to lose Yayaka to a void.

Realised didn't want to lose Yayaka at all.

Next adventure was a school, like ones in real world. All-girls school. Toto was out of place. Yayaka seemed to notice that. She took my hand on the first day. It was warm. Firm grip…

Felt something.

We were physically connected then. Never felt that before. Physical contact, yes, but… holding hands… Heart beat quickly. Nervous. Didn't know what to do. Her hair was gold in old dusty corridors. Shining beacon of colour. Eyes a rich purple, full of light. Wanted to look at her. Also hard to look at her. Heartrate increased whenever I did so…

Especially when hair was braided. Like ropes of golden sunshine.

Yayaka assisted with sewing and other activities there. Let me listen to music when we passed by the room and I asked to stay. Asclepius would have dismissed a comment like that. Yayaka didn't.

But later, at the clock tower… Yayaka trapped at the bottom. Wanted to help, but could feel pull from amorphous… like a magnet. Would move away, could feel tug, trying to bring me closer. Wanted to help. Couldn't help…

Other adventures too. Wandering replica of home with Toto. Encountered different Yayaka's then… Similar, but not my Yayaka. Toto tried to contact her phone, plan a meeting spot. Eventually, found her again... but with another me.

Another Yuyu.

Hated that Yuyu...

Hate.

Ended up trapped beneath ice. Under water, drowning in a frozen lake. Toto tried to rescue me. No success. Yayaka watched at the side... I left her at clock tower... Left her to die. Wanted to save her then, but amorphous pull was strong. If not for Cocona and Papika, Yayaka would have died.

She must have hated me. Wanted to leave me there...

But she didn't. She used amorphous and saved me.

She cares.

But had to turn against her. Or pretend to.

Toto and I overheard head priest. Nyunyu's creation was complete. Could kill Yayaka now. Couldn't risk her telling world about amorphous or Pure Illusion. Couldn't risk her going to Flip Flap or disrupting Asclepius' plans. Suspicious of her for a while. Last chance was given…

Had to save Yayaka…

Had to hurt Yayaka to save her. Cocona and Papika took her to Flip Flap. She was safe. Relief…

Asclepius wanted Cocona. Yayaka was taken to Flip Flap. Two trackers in their base. Could finally locate accurately. Found them. Felt pull of amorphous from Papika. Wanted to chase after. Magnetic pull. Really wanted to chase…

But Yayaka had caught me. Wire from a robot's head. Was kept still.

Thankful for that. More than she knows.

Eventually, had to go separate ways, due to Toto's head injury. Ended up at Asclepius base. Only place he could recover. Flip Flap didn't have equipment, and Toto didn't have data.

Watched the head priest die. Demanded to aid him over aiding Toto. Told him "Shut up." Was what Yayaka would say. Yayaka cared about us. Head priest didn't. He was overcome by Mimi's white clovers.

Good.

Eventually, Toto recovered. Went to leave… But found two people at base. Not Asclepius workers. A man and a woman. Heard talk of Asclepius worker who abandoned base and created Flip Flap. Doctor Salt. The man matched Doctor Salt's description. He knew about Elpis and how it worked. Woman must have been an assistant of his.

Looked at Toto. Wasn't sure what to do.

"Asclepius is dead. Nothing here for us anymore. Could join Flip Flap."

Idea seemed strange. Wasn't sure Toto's decision was wise, but followed him. Spoke to Salt.

"Request: Join Flip Flap."

Expected resistance. Expected hostility.

"That's fine. We need more people for our research anyway."

Was shocked with his response. Asked why he said yes.

"Asclepius is gone, and you're both familiar with Pure Illusion. I'd have no concerns for your loyalty to Flip Flap. You would have no one here to report anything back to."

"But we attacked your base."

He shrugged. "You did, but your base is destroyed now. Flip Flap can research Pure Illusion in peace."

"Why study Pure Illusion?" Was curious. Wasn't expecting an answer.

Got one. Salt looked down at ground. Voice weary, sounding older than he was. "Because I lost someone very important to me in there… And I've just discovered she's still alive."

"Mimi?" I asked. Salt nodded. "Wish to meet her again?"

He looked up. "Yes."—


"Hey, Asclepius kid, swap this part for me, would you?"

Blinked. Momentarily confused. Where am I? Then remembered: at Flip Flap. Working with Hidaka on my new arm.

"Assistant! I said swap this part with me!" He yelled. Snapped to attention. Saw item he was talking about, and switched for other object. Arm looked half-complete. Inner skeleton mostly constructed, but still work to do. Wasn't sure how could assist, but would find a way.

Sooner arm is complete, sooner can see Yayaka again...


Yayaka

Time went kinda quickly after those first two days as I got used to things at Sayuri's house. Despite the fact she said she was taking time off work, she called Flip Flap a few times while we were away, maybe to give some kind of report as to how we were over here. I know one time she contacted them at least, she must have requested something from the main base, because I thought I saw Buu hovering around Sayuri's front door, carrying a brown box that was pretty heavily taped up. I'd guess some sort of secret project Hidaka was working on, going by his paranoia about everything else. I had no clue what was inside, and I never found out.

Actually, now I think about it that was the only other time the doorbell rang…

Until just now at least.

Had Buu had a delivery for Sayuri, I at least saw him flying outside the window, so I had a warning the doorbell was going to be set off (I covered my ears in time to block out some of the sound), but this time, the noise scared me so much, I ended up diving behind the chair at Sayuri's laptop desk to take cover. Damn thing kept freaking me out.

"Yayaka, it's for you!" Sayuri called, having answered. She entered the room, and looked around, confused, before seeing me hunched up on the ground. It took a little while for her to calm me down enough so I could go and see my visitors this time. If it was a fire alarm that went off, I probably wouldn't have even blinked, hell, I'd probably be getting my gloves on right now, getting ready to head off into whatever Pure Illusion I'd normally be going to next, but the friggin' doorbell? Let me tell you, not many people come knocking on the door of secret cultist bases. If I end up having my own place, first thing I'm doing is getting rid of any damn doorbells it has…

Feeling embarrassed, I stood up as quickly as I could, and dusted myself off, before darting away to see who the heck it was this time.

I still felt pretty shaky from earlier, but a smile broke out on my face when I saw a familiar pink-and-blue haired pair of people… And then I had to try and stifle a laugh. Seeing Papika drenched in what looked like every colour on the planet didn't faze me at all, but seeing nice, neat, and organised, Cocona looking like she'd fallen into a swamp of paint…

"What happened to you guys?" The two girls could probably hear the laughter I was trying to hold back in my voice.

"We went to the art room!" Papika, the living rainbow, announced proudly. I was about to ask another question, when thought I caught a flash of silver hair bob behind Cocona. "Who's that with-?"

Before I could finish my question, Cocona and Papika stepped aside, leaving Yuyu in plain view of me. It was difficult not to burst out laughing (a snort may have escaped) when I saw that her school uniform was absolutely coated in paint, as if she was wearing clothes made out of tropical fish, rather than just plain grey cloth. I have no idea what the hell happened to her, maybe she walked into someone else's artwork, or maybe Papika hugged her (the more likely of the two scenarios. Actually, that would explain there being so much paint on Cocona, Papika probably hugged the poor girl before the paint dried), either way, it took a deep breath for me to calm down and not to hoot with laughter.

Whether the fact she was covered in colour bothered Yuyu or not, I don't know. Her face didn't really betray anything. She was looking down though, not quite wanting to meet my eyes. It was then that I noticed she was clutching a canvas to her chest with her good arm.

"What've you got there?" I asked, interested. I mean, it was a painting, clearly, but much like almost everything else about the twins and Nyunyu showed an interest in, it made me curious. They never really had a chance to express themselves being at Asclepius, and now they have freedom to do so, and I'm learning a lot about these people, and it's fascinating to me.

Yuyu's red eyes flicked up to me once, quickly, before going back down. Her arm wavered a little as she slowly held the painting out to me. I could only see the back of it, so I reached a hand out to grab it and turn it over so I could get a better look and…

"Crapping hell…" My eyes widened when I gazed upon it. I've thought on occasion that Pure Illusion looked like famous artists had either designed parts of it, or gotten their inspiration from there, but looking at this…

My fingers hovered above the scene Yuyu had captured. A shining silver and gold forest, made of living metal… The exact land the metal leaf sitting on Sayuri's desk had come from. It looked like it could have been a photo with the sheer amount of detail on the canvas… Hell, honestly, I felt like if I watched it closely enough, I'd see everything moving. Every palm tree, and giant mushroom, all swaying together in shimmering waves of light…

I hesitated touching it before, because I didn't want to damage it, but temptation got the better of me. I could feel slightly rough bumps beneath my fingers, some of which belonged to the canvas itself, and others which belonged to the more pronounced brush strokes of Yuyu's, leaving trenches of colours and shadows for rough metallic bark, and smooth little blobs for leaves dotted along branches…

It was a perfect replica. If Asclepius' portal showed the places we'd be going to before it fired up, I seriously believe this would be the exact image it'd show for the land of metal leaves. It feels wrong of me to say I'd disappointed in the painting, but there's one thing that felt out of place to me: it wasn't cold to touch. It looked so damn real I thought that it might even have the same sort of coolness all the plant surfaces had in that world.

I know Yuyu had some talent for art, as when we were in the yuri-hell-school, Yuyu had managed to sew an exact replica of the outside of the school on our first day there when we did embroidery, despite only having seen the outside of it for maybe a minute or two at best, before we had to take shelter from the acid rain, but… this still blew me away.

…I almost wondered how long I spent staring at it. It could have only been seconds, but it felt like I've been standing here for a full day, taking in all the detail.

"You painted this, Yuyu?" I asked, my voice coming out a lot quieter than I would have expected. Yuyu's head dipped a fraction in a tiny nod I almost completely missed.

"This is… incredible." I know I'd just complimented her by saying that, but that single word didn't seem like enough to cover what I really thought about the painting, and I felt kinda dumb only being able to say that. I held it out to her to return it, only for her to raise her arm and push it back to me.

"…Yours."

I stared. It took me a little while to work out what the hell she'd just said, and when I did, my heart skipped a beat.

"You're… giving this to me?" The disbelief was clear in my voice.

I'm not entirely sure what happened next, but I think what I said came out harsher than I meant it to, as Yuyu glanced up at me quickly again, before letting go of the painting and running away.

I scrambled for the painting, and caught it just before it hit the ground.

"Hey, Yuyu!" "Yuyu!" Papika and Cocona called her name, Papika rushing off right away, and Cocona bowing and giving me a quick apology before chasing after the two of them.

Did I upset her?

I looked down at the painting in my hands, once again, stunned.

Yuyu painted this for me…


Yuyu

Scared. Nervous. Had new arm. Completely robotic. Obvious. Did Yayaka see? Would know Hidaka had part in arm creation. Hates Hidaka… Could hate arm…

Could hate me…

"Yuyu!" Heard Papika call my name. Footsteps, fast, approaching. Didn't stop. Don't want Yayaka to hate me… But wanted to give her painting. Wanted to show I cared… Wrote note too, but not sure Yayaka saw. Scared.

Scared, scared, scared…

Saw new arm as I ran. Looked down at it. White with red accents. Shiny and new… Barely functional. My fault. Wanted to paint for Yayaka as soon as able. Should have waited. Will need arm for Pure Illusion. Can fight with one hand at least. Have been trained…

Arm new… But still defective… Irritation. But can be fixed. Will be fixed…

((Defective… Forever defective…))

"Yuyu, hold up!" Papika caught up to me. Grabbed my wrist. Tugged lightly. Stopped running. Turned to face her. Cocona-onee-chan caught up too.

Blue eyes. Brown eyes. Both concerned.

"Yuyu… Are you crying?" Cocona asked, softly. Crying? Put real hand to face. Felt thin trail of wetness.

"Yuyu…" Papika whispered name. Both girls came closer. Put their arms around me.

Felt connection with them both. Small spark. Warm…

Sad and scared… Don't hate me, Yayaka.

Please, don't hate…


Authors note: This one took a while to sort out, and even then, I feel it ended up pretty darn messy, sorry about that. As much as I wanted to give Yayaka a break from everything, I'm kinda cursing myself for having the break set mostly in the real world, as I realised that there wasn't too much I could type about without repeating myself. Annoyingly, I wanted Yayaka to have a talk with Sayuri about something, but every time I tried to write the scene (or copy/paste from scraps I'd already written), it just... didn't work. I'm not entirely sure it's a scene I can really add in the fic later either, it's just bad luck on my part that I had an IDEA! but just couldn't get it to work/fit in. Same for Yuyu, I kinda wanted to write a scene of her at the art room and her, Cocona, and Papika talking to Irodori, but... yeah, trouble writing. I feel I Could have written more things from Yuyu's POV, like more of armour creation, or added more details about that, but I was also kinda stuck for writing that too so I've made the descision to just try and move the fic along, because being stuck on this same part forever is starting to drive me nuts. I'm hoping to get the characters back into Pure Illusion, and get the story moving properly soon. I know it's been a pretty slow start, but at least now I can begin putting some more plans into place…