"What were all of you doing at my house?"
"Mother," Ace hastily said to his mother. "It's fine, these people aren't bad—!"
His mother gave him a stern look. "Eisu, how many times have I told you not to speak to any strangers? Let alone bring them home—"
"But they're really not bad people, they helped me get Kei-niichan home—!"
"That didn't mean anyth—" Mitsuko's eyes immediately widened. "What happened to your brother?" she asked as Ace quickly told him about Keiwa fainting at school.
That led to his mother completely dismissing their four unexpected house guests as Mitsuko rushed towards the boys' bedroom. Ace used that chance to tell Michinaga, Neon, Ziin and Tsumuri to take their leave for now.
It's a complicated situation... after all.
.
Ace quietly sat beside his mother on the bed as Mitsuko worriedly tended to her oldest twin son.
"Don't worry... mother," Ace started to say. "Big brother seemed to have a high fever earlier, but I managed to cool his body down a bit. And the school nurse did treat him a bit before we went home..."
Mitsume nodded her head slowly, noting the cooling forehead patch on Keisuke's forehead and the small water bowl left on the nearby small cupboard. And Keisuke didn't look like his life was in any danger, even though his face was still a bit pale. She turned her head towards Ace.
"So Eisuke... have you regained your past memories?" she asked suddenly as Ace let out a surprised cry. Mitsuko shrugged at him before smiling weakly. "Just now, you were about to take the Desire driver after all—"
!
"Mum! By any chance, did you—?"
Mitsuko didn't let him finish as she spoke again. "That aside, does your brother also recover the memory of his past life as well?"
xxx
Neon bit her lips as the four of them were about to get into the car and leave the neighbourhood.
"We should've left immediately after dropping off Keiwa and Ace at their house. Their mother must've been so alarmed to see all of us in the house without warning..."
Michinaga nodded. "Yeah, even if the stuff involving Tycoon didn't happen, it's still ridiculous to get a kid who's not even 14 yet to participate in the DesiGra—"
Ziin pouted miserably.
"But what other choices do we have? he said plainly. "Could we even afford to wait for those two to grow up normally while the games still continu—"
.
Michinaga grabbed Neon's arm suddenly and that prompted all of them to stop walking.
"But was that the real reason for Mrs Inugami to be so alarmed at our presence? It seemed to me that there's more to it than that—"
Ziin frowned immediately at that statement. "What did you mean?"
Michinaga shrugged. "I mean, I'm surprised that we actually even get to see their mother—"
"—And what's weird about that? Last time, even with the matter involving Mitsume-san, Ace still had his own parents who were related to 'Ukiyo Ace'. Shouldn't that be the same thing as right now?"
Neon nudged Michinaga with her elbow. "Yeah. Eisuke and Keisuke most definitely didn't come out from stone or anything so of course they should at least have their mother—"
Michinaga suddenly scratches his head in frustration. "Argh... that's not what I mean, don't you feel anything about the mother?" He turned his head towards Tsumuri.
"Tsumuri-san, don't you sense anything familiar about that person? Anything... at all?"
Tsumuri cocked her head at him as Neon stared at him oddly. Michinaga cursed silently.
"I could've sworn I've seen her face before. And it might just be me, but it felt like she was trying to stop Geats from touching the core ID—"
"Wait—!" Neon cried out as she gave him a look of disbelief. "You're not trying to say that—!"
.
"Well, that baby fox DID call her his mother..."
xxx
"Mo... ther?" Ace gasped in surprise as he realised the implication of his mother's inquiry. "H-how?"
Mitsuko sighed softly.
"I have no idea," she started to explain. "All I know was that I suddenly 'woke up' to find myself about to marry your father... and then later on being pregnant with the two of you. It felt as if I was being given a second chance at happiness. At least... until now."
.
He couldn't believe it, it was as if someone had somehow granted a wish he didn't know he could wish for! It's not just Keiwa... but he also got a second chance to be able to live as his mother's son. He thought that it was just a coincidence that his current mother looked and felt like his first mother Mitsume. It wasn't like in his past many incarnations. This current mother didn't feel like she was just a surrogate mother, existing only to give birth to him and raise him into adulthood. But to think that his real mother had actually come back to life after he lost her last time, it felt like a great miracle!
"Mum—!"
"But really, my dear child... what about your brother?"
Ace was suddenly hit by a wave of alarm as he recalled how Keiwa had collapsed on him without warning, moments after they picked up his golden Caesar coin. Keiwa's body had stiffened for a moment before a bout of nausea caused them to start vomiting and losing consciousness. For a brief moment, he thought he'd lose his brother...
He shook his head rapidly. "I don't know. I don't... know... for sure."
Certainly, what Keiwa experienced was something Ace had gone through so many times. It was never a pleasant experience, after all... having to recall numerous memories of one's life. Especially if one had gone through the cycle so many times. Ace lost count of how many times he fell ill every time the Caesar coin returned to his possession mysteriously. He'd experienced it so many times he'd grown numb to the sensation.
It wasn't quite like how the core ID worked whenever someone who had their memories about the DGP erased touched it and had their memories restored. Because what you end up recovering didn't just consist of a few pieces of sealed memories, but lifetimes' worth of them!
It was enough to break someone's mind; how could a single human mind deal with so much information?
It was something he never wanted anyone—much less Keiwa—to have ever experienced.
Ace looked down at his sleeping twin. Keiwa had been sleeping fitfully for a while now but as soon as he held Keiwa's hand, his older twin started to calm down. It was like during the time Sara-san was supposedly killed by Buffa. Keiwa was crying so much in the heavy rain back then... until the moment he went to take them home. Ace wondered what kind of nightmare Keiwa seemed to be having earlier, and whether or not it had something to do with the memories Keiwa may or may not have recovered this afternoon...
But was that what's happening to Keiwa right now? Ace couldn't tell for sure. The golden Caesar coin that he had, used to belong to his original father when they won their Desire Grand Prix tournament all those hundreds of years ago. The golden coin only ever had its significance to him and only affected him due to his wish of not wanting to forget his mother. Why would this coin have any effect on Keiwa? Was it because this time both of their lives had intertwined together and were reborn anew? Was that the only reason?
The doorbell suddenly rang and their mother went out to check what it was about. And not long after that Ace heard his mother's voice calling him out to greet their returning visitors...
xxx
"Are you really... Mitsume-san?"
Ace walked into the living room to see his former DGP allies (or was it more like friends?) sitting on one of their couches, facing his mother wearing serious looks. Didn't he tell them that he'd go find and talk to them later? Why did they come back?
"You're really... Mitsume-san, right?" Tsumuri spoke out as Ace stared at her in surprise. How did they figure out—
"If you're really Mitsume-san—" Ziin started to speak out as well, "—you should be able to understand our situation. We needed Ace's help with the new DGP—"
"No," his mother immediately interjected. "I won't let Ace involve himself with something like that anymore!"
.
The next moment he woke up, Keiwa found himself back on his bed and inside his room. Except—now he's confused. How long has he been sleeping? What happened to him before this? It was as if he had been sleeping for a very long time.
Keiwa placed a hand over his head. It hurt so much, so many thoughts and memories inside his head that it felt as if his head could burst at any moment.
He rolled out of bed as Keiwa landed briskly on the floor. He could've just called for Ace to come over...
Just as he was about to get up from the floor, he could hear Ace's voice and his mum's... along with some other familiar voices. They appeared to be arguing about something... which shouldn't be bothering him much. Until he heard his name being mentioned...
.
Ace placed a hand over his mother's and sighed. He thought about the moment he finally met his mother, in the midst of the completion of Suel's Grand End. His mother used to say that she cared more about his happiness and that all she wanted was to protect him. And that was why his mother had told him to forget about her, even if that meant they could no longer see each other again.
He could understand that... but as long as Suel was still around, would any of them ever be completely safe? Buffa and Na-Go would be taking part in the DesiGra again... as well as many other innocent players who may end up being sacrificed for the sake of 'entertainment'. Knowing that countless other lives might end up being sacrificed again, how could he not do anything about it? Not that he didn't have any faith in his... friends, but he didn't like the thought that he wouldn't be there to help in case some trouble happened. Not to mention... 'they' had sent a Desire driver to Keiwa. Knowing them, it shouldn't be hard for them to find out that he was Keiwa's twin in this current life. Yet, instead of him... they were targeting Keiwa.
For some reason, that just made him uneasy. There used to be that period of time when Keiwa was under Jitt's influence after all, and Jitt was part of Suel as well. After hearing that Suel was the one who killed Keiwa, he dreaded the thought of Suel setting their sights on Keiwa. He needed to protect Keiwa, first and foremost!
"Mum, let me do this. I can't let Kei-chan enter the DGP again. Last time, he ended up getting hurt so much because of the games. And half of those times, I was the reason why Kei-chan was hurt. I can't—"
"—And who gave you permission to make such a big decision for me, Ace?" Ace turned around to see Keiwa struggling to get on his feet while grasping on the doorsill for support. His twin smiled at him weakly.
"—shouldn't you ask me first before deciding to do anything?"