"Ne, Keiwa..."
"Hmm...?"
"About the stuff that PunkJack mentioned the other day... when he asked you about the flashes you get after hearing their side of the story about what happened before—Did you really cannot remember what those flashes were about? Those flashes of memories... that you said had something to do with me?"
"Oh... that? Actually, I DID remember something. But... I'm not really sure if that was really a memory or just something that I've made up. So I didn't tell the others about it."
"Can you tell me about it regardless—"
"..."
"...okay. But promise me that you wouldn't do anything rash once you hear about it, 'kay?"
"Alright..."
"..."
"...as I mentioned the other day, it was a memory from when you took me to the hospital. I had a few bits of those flashes much earlier... when I touched my Core ID and regained my memories of the DesiGra. But unlike that time, the second flashes of memories showed me a different memory."
"A different... memory?"
"The first one... was of you calling out for help before you suddenly fell down with me... and turned into a fox in front of my eyes. The second one... was the moment right before you started to become smaller and turn into a fox. You said something to me... but I couldn't hear what you say—"
"..."
"Ace... did you give me something before you turned into a fox?"
"Eh—?"
"That's what I felt. I didn't quite remember what you did... but it felt as if I received something from you. Something you gave me... to protect me."
"Keiwa... why didn't you tell me this before?"
"I didn't want you to leave. If you found out about this, you'd definitely try to leave to keep me safe, right? I don't want that."
"But Keiwa, if that was true—!"
"I don't want to give up. You said that before... right? As long as we don't give up, there should be a way to overturn a situation."
"Since everything happened because of me... because I died. I wanted to do something, to help you become human again—"
"Keiwa... that—! Did the others say something to you before?"
"No. They didn't say anything beyond them seeing you cradling my body. But that's not quite true... right? There must be something more to it. Something that all of you did not want me to know..."
"Am I right?"
"..."
"...Ace. Regardless of the situation, you'd always try your best to avoid killing someone, right? Even if it was someone like Daichi. Even more... if it was me. Regardless of the mistakes I have done in the past, you'd still try to save me... wouldn't you?"
"Keiwa, I—!"
"Because I was so desperate to get my sister back, I'd even be willing to sacrifice Tsumuri-san to get what I want. Even if it meant taking away her freedom and sense of self. If I had retained my conscience back then, I wouldn't have forgiven myself afterwards for the things that I have done to her—"
"That—Keiwa! My sister wouldn't—back then, that person was not the real you! If not because of the things that Nadge-Sparrow did—all of the manipulations that Kekera and Jitt did, you wouldn't have ended up doing those things that you've done!"
"Regardless, that 'person' was still me... right? Do I get to avoid taking responsibility for what I did, just because I wasn't quite myself that time?"
.
Ace leaned his body against Keiwa's legs as Keiwa continued to work on his computer. Because he was there to keep Keiwa in check, he was able to keep Keiwa awake and stayed alert to his surrounding much longer.
A random guy suddenly slapped Keiwa on the shoulder. "Hey, K-san... hard at work today, huh? Keep it up." The guy glanced down towards Ace.
"This is your service dog... huh? What a peculiar appearance—"
Keiwa laughed nervously. "Haha... well, Ace was pretty reliable for me. I didn't really pay attention when I got him before... but I heard he was a mixed breed."
The other man just nodded. "I see. It was the same dog you brought before, right? I seemed to remember seeing this guy before—"
"Err... yes. It's because it got hurt the other day, so I wanted to take him to the vet."
"I see, I see... well, keep up with the good work!"
And just like that, Keiwa's colleague left. Guess what he tried to do for himself had worked. Instead of just putting up an illusion to hide his extra tail, Ace had tried to put up a full illusion to make other people perceive him as a normal dog.
Suppose he really started getting a hang of this new ability of his.
xxx
"Ace... did you give me something before you turned into a fox?"
Ace thought back about the things Keiwa had told him. 'Something' that he had given to Keiwa to keep him safe. Could it be when he had made the last prayer to keep Keiwa alive he had unconsciously given Keiwa a part of his own remaining powers? Was that the reason why Keiwa had been able to recognise him... and remembered Buffa, Na-go and PunkJack... even his sister? Was that why he somehow was able to regain his other tail?
Because the night before his second tail came out... he had let go of all of his restraints, and let himself loose as he caressed Keiwa deeply and lovingly. Because he had missed Keiwa's touch so much... that he wanted to savour every single part of his beloved.
Guess he needed to be more careful when trying to show his affection to Keiwa next time.
A/N: Hahaha... no. I wasn't intentionally planning to reference Fate or Seikon no Qwaser. It just... cough... happens 😂😂 Because this felt very fitting. Since both kitsune and tanuki are considered lucky, yet... XD