"Kei-niichan—!"
Within moments, Ace had bounded towards his side like a lithe fox to help him move towards the middle of the room. Neon had also rushed over as the three of them reoccupied one of the couches inside the living room. Keiwa let out a groan as his head started to hurt again.
No... stop thinking too much! Focus on just this moment for now!
If only it was that simple; but the more he told himself to not do something, the more he was doing it. The more he wanted to stop thinking too much, the more he'd be doing it.
.
"Kei—!"
Are you... all right?
Should he call his 'twin'... Keisuke or Keiwa? Did his old coin really restore Keiwa's memory—wait! Just now Keiwa told him off about making decisions in their place—so doesn't that mean that Keiwa at least remembered about the Desire Grand Prix?
"—either is fine," said Keiwa softly, as if they could hear Ace's thoughts just now.
Keiwa raised his head and turned towards Tsumuri. "I didn't quite catch everything that everyone was arguing over before this, but what Ace said earlier—!"
"There's no need for you to worry about that, Keisuke."
Both Keiwa and Ace glanced up towards their mother as Mitsume started telling Ziin and Tsumuri to forget about convincing him to rejoin the DGP again. And then Ace was reminded of something else as well. He turned back to look at Keiwa.
Keiwa was staring at 'their' mother... with an expression that he couldn't quite read.
Keiwa used to hate his mother... because Mitsume was the DGP's Goddess of Creation. Because of the Desire Grand Prix, Keiwa lost his parents from a very young age. After seeing so many lives being sacrificed due to the DGP, which includes Keiwa's sister, the resentment Keiwa felt was deep enough to turn Keiwa against him and allow the management to manipulate them as a pawns. What would Keiwa think of Mother... now that he was reborn again as her son?
.
"Is it really you, Keiwa?" Neon suddenly spoke out, dragging Ace out of his deep thoughts. And it seemed, he wasn't the only one being too deep in their own thoughts as Keiwa glanced sideways at Neon, acting as if he'd also just remembered that Neon was sitting next to him.
"I guess... so?" said Keiwa softly as Ace noted that his twin had been gripping his arm really tight.
Keiwa must still be struggling right now...
"What kinda answer was that—?" Ace instantly turned his head towards the speaker, as Michinaga cluelessly spoke aloud out of the blue. "In the end, you're still Tycoon... right?"
Ace continued to scowl at the buffalo. That guy was still so tactless, huh? Would it be too excessive for him to beat the guy into a pulp now? Can't the guy wait a bit before starting to ask even more questions to Keiwa?
"Regardless—" Ace turned his head back to his mother. "—there's no way I'll allow any of my children to go back and fight in the Desire Grand Prix again. Not Eisuke... and especially not Keisuke!"
"But Mother—!"
Ace stopped himself as he realised that he wasn't the only one who had spoken up. Keiwa did... too.
Keiwa called 'his' mother—Mitsume—as their mother too!
xxx
"—even if we stayed away from the DesiGra, will we really be free of it as long as it was still around?"
Keiwa's face twisted in pain as if recalling the painful memories of the past. "Whether I like it or not, I'd always ended up dragged into it one way or another. Just like... before. If my fate with the DGP was truly something I couldn't escape, I rather have the ability to fight against them—"
"But that was because of Kekera!" Ace exclaimed right away. "If back then the two of us had never met, you would never have gotten involved with the DesiGra!"
"As for fighting them, Mother was right... you shouldn't get involved in this, let me just—!"
"—but why does it have to be just YOU?" snapped Keiwa back. "Last time—didn't you say that we'd protect this world together? But back then, you just—!"
.
Neon blinked in surprise as she watched Ace and Keiwa argue with each other. As far as she could remember, Ace and Keiwa had always gotten along very well with each other. Aside from the constant jibe from Michinaga, she rarely saw Ace argue with anyone like this... especially with Keiwa. While Ace and Keiwa did use to clash with each other occasionally—whenever Ace tricked Keiwa during a game and led Keiwa to get hurt—those arguments rarely escalated so badly like this. Not even during the last Desire Royale.
The only other time she saw the two fight so intensely, was that time when Ace confronted Keiwa about trying to sacrifice Tsumuri to grant their wish.
"I hate to say this—" Neon turned towards Michinaga. "—but without Geats, do the rest of us have any chance to fight against the DesiGra? Let alone Suel... since that guy had that formidable kamen rider form."
Michinaga frowned. "Tycoon had a point too. He always seemed to end up getting involved with the DGP, and his sister too. It started with him being inside the final round and later on joining the DGP as a player. Then there was that incident during the Labyrinth game... and there's also that time during the Desire Royale—!"
"It was as if there was some hidden hand that kept making sure that Tycoon would always appear inside the DesiGra!'
"—wasn't that just Kekera's doing, like Ace said just now?" Neon started to say as Ziin shook his head.
"I don't know about the Desire Royale but I was sure about the incident during the Labyrinth game. Kekera used to say that he had nothing to do with that," Ziin explained. "Kekera used to complain how Buffa always received another 'invite' despite his constant losses, to the point he once accused the management rigged the player applicant system. I mean... unlike Ace who became the Desaity, Buffa didn't win anything that could've guaranteed his entry to the DGP every time so it didn't make any sense that he kept becoming a recurring rival player! If the incident during the Labyrinth mission was truly Kekera's doing, that frog would've gloated about it."
"As much as supporters can influence the game by sending secret missions or special buckles to our preferred players, we had no power in things like choosing out the NPCs. Wasn't that up to the GM to decide?"
Neon gritted her teeth. Now that she thought of it, what Ziin said made sense. Only the Game Master would be able to influence the things that occurred during the game rounds. But the matters involving Keiwa... was it really intentional? Back then Girori was the GM, but even Girori wouldn't have anticipated that the Labyrinth game could be a chance for Keiwa to rejoin the game. It was only by chance that Keiwa was assigned to Tanba-ojiisan as their civilian to protect."
"There's another thing as well..." Suddenly Ziin appeared oddly serious.
"Back then I used to do a bit of game analysis... since I was a big fan of Ace." Neon frowned, what was Ziin trying to say? Ziin took in a long breath. "I couldn't help noticing a lot of peculiarities in the past few games whenever Keiwa-san was present. Like how there's that unexplained incident when the treasure-hunting round ended in a rush. There's also the incident where the final boss Jyamato somehow was able to extend the round by expanding the Jyama field. Those two incidents happened when Keiwa-san was a player for the DGP."
"And the time when Keiwa-san ended up being one of the civilian hostages for the Labyrinth game, the Jyamato butlers back then gained the ability to use the Desire Drivers." Ziin sighed. "Those were just a few of the incidents that I took note of, who knows what other things that I've missed."
xxx
Ace kept staring at Keiwa as Na-Go, Michinaga and Ziin continued talking about the things that used to happen to Keiwa during the previous games. His twin had remained silent throughout the discussion that erupted around them... and even their mother was oddly silent as well. It was as if Keiwa was using Na-Go, Michinaga and Ziin as 'mouthpieces' when he said that he didn't think it was possible for them to avoid getting involved with the DGP or escape the management's clutches. The trio did end up saying aloud the things that might explain why the DGP might've sent a Desire Driver to Keiwa.
And if he had to be honest with himself, he hadn't thought that any of the things mentioned just now had any connections with each other, though he did take notes of them. But he had to admit that when listed together, all of those things did seem to be connected. Though he never thought any of those things happen because of Keiwa.
Was the reason why Keiwa said that they might not be able to escape their fate with the DGP... because of all those things mentioned earlier? Keiwa did say the same thoughts he had about the management, earlier. Did Keiwa realise something... after regaining their past memories? Or had Keiwa been thinking about these things even from back then?
.
"You would know the reason for all of the things that happened to me before... wouldn't you, Mother?"
Keiwa finally spoke as Ace turned to look at their mother. Mitsume straightened herself before nodding her head.
"Yes, you're right... my dear. It's because, like Ace, you're also my son. And it's not just in this life."
xxx
"..."
Ace turned his eyes towards Keiwa. For some reason, his older twin didn't seem too surprised by their mum's revelation. Did that mean... when Keiwa had touched the Caesar coin, like him... Keiwa also recovered the memories of the other incarnations they could've had, other than the last one? So all these times, it was not only him who continued to be trapped inside this cycle of life and death?
But if Keiwa was never aware of all this before they touched the coin—Ace stared at his older twin again.
Keiwa didn't look as if he was in pain... but he could still tell that Keiwa was unwell. It must've been overwhelming to suddenly unlock so much memories from numerous lifetimes one never expected to have and to have this serious conversation as soon as they've awakened. He couldn't imagine—!
Ace frowned. Wait!
If Keiwa was really Mother's child just like him—does that mean... instead of being born as his mother's miraculous child, was he and Keiwa originally... miraculously born from their mother as twins? Just like those Creation myths he used to hear during several of his lifetimes?
But if that was true, why didn't Win say anything about this before? Hadn't the man gone into the DGP archives to find out the truth behind his mother and why the Desire Grand Prix had turned into a tournament that relied on her creation powers? And Suel... had Suel been aware of this truth when that person went after Keiwa to kill them? That said, before his mother's soul disappeared last time... why didn't she say anything about this to him?
Something so important... especially since it concerns him and Keiwa.
"I didn't think it mattered since neither of you recognised each other before..."
.
Tsumuri spared a glance towards Mitsume as she tried to figure out what her predecessor was thinking, but she couldn't read anything from the former DGP Game Navigator and Goddess. Was what Mitsume said about Keiwa-sama... true? But if it was, then how—?
Last time she and Win went through the DGP's archives to look into the records kept about Mitsume. But all that they did find were the things that Win later told the Ace and the others sometime near the end of the last Desire Royale. That Mitsume fell in love with a Desaity... and from an earnest wish of wanting to bear a child with her lover, a miracle happened to the couple as Mitsume awakened her Creation powers. Because of that, a new ruling was created to prevent a similar incident from occurring again. Every information about the Desaity whom Mitsume was in love with was also erased completely.
Suddenly she wondered if everything they had learnt so far was actually true. Could it be possible that the records they found from the archives be tampered with somehow?
.
"Can we... put aside the rest of this discussion for later? It's late... and I think all of us should take a break from this."
His mother had spoken again after a while, though now she sounded even more worn out. In the end, their talk didn't even reach any conclusion at all. Instead of deciding what to do about the Desire Driver that Tsumuri had brought over, they ended up uncovering an unexpected secret about their family. And there were still... so many things remaining unresolved!
"B-but... what about the DesiGra—?"
Ace turned to look at Keiwa again as his older twin looked even more sickly and pale. To his alarm, he could feel Keiwa's body burning up again.
"K-Kei-chan! I think we should get you back to bed—!"
Keiwa shook their head weakly as tears started to fall freely from their eyes. Even when it's clear now that Keiwa was in great pain, they still... stubbornly stood their ground. Keiwa gripped Ace's hand tightly before looking up at him.
"Even if I said no, Ace... you'd still join the DesiGra again, won't you?"
Ace bit his lips. Suppose he could understand Keiwa's concern. Their mother's objection aside, Keiwa would've worried about him fighting 'alone' without them. Even if there were still Buffa and Na-Go... if it was possible, Keiwa would've wanted to also fight together with the rest of them. He'd like that too—it'd be reassuring for the two of them to be able to fight side by side again. But the problem was, they still only had one—!
"Kei-chan, I understand your feelings but—!"
Without warning, Keiwa started to have difficulties breathing before collapsing in Ace's arms again...