Hello again, a little sooner than expected! As it turned out, this chapter really didn't need that much editing before it was ready to go! Thank you oddvector as always, and also thank you Darkblaw for joining in this time as well! I really appreciate you both!

Scale 6: Trial Without Error

Fret...Fret wasn't here holding him anymore. Where was Fret?

Rindo didn't know how long it had been before he finally snapped out of his daze. Here he was, in the void again...Cold, icy cold, without the blaze of singing shimmering in the chest. He zipped up his jacket and stuffed his arms into his sleeves.

So... He had felt sick almost immediately after jumping back last time. He had only lasted until about…Actually he hadn't been keeping track of the time at all that loop, but it had to have been sometime before 12:00. Even when he had almost turned Boss Noise, he had barely lasted past 13:00.

And whenever Rindo's needy Soul got ahold of Fret's, Fret fell harder for Rindo. To the point where Fret had seemed almost disappointed that, instead of singing with him, Rindo had chosen…

Taboo. But apparently Rindo couldn't even handle getting his Soul read. His body still shuddered at the impossible memory of unwinding muscles, even though he couldn't quite remember what the actual feeling was. And Minamimoto had said the Taboo process would cause chronic pain. So would Rindo have to go through those kinds of horrible sensations all the time if he went all the way with the Taboo? Did he really want to live like that for the rest of his life? Especially if it would hamper his time with Fret and make him worry about Rindo constantly?

So...

So there was only one option left, wasn't there? The very thing he had been trying to prevent this whole time: singing. Because it would probably happen within the hour once he returned. And honestly, at this point, he wanted to just get it over with. Just so he could have Fret with him forever. But…But was that really how it worked? What if he just lost Fret forever instead?

Rindo lingered in the void. But he was freezing without the scorch of singing in his heart and limbs. His heart ached with frigid pins and needles.

He missed Fret. He missed Fret. So much. And maybe that's all that really mattered.

Rindo jumped back to 10:02 once again.

He felt time flow for him as his senses were briefly overwhelmed by all the sudden ruckus and colors. He waited for the unbearable, wonderful heat to flood his chest again.

"Rindude? Hey Riiiindude."

But that heat never came. If anything, Rindo only felt colder. "What?"

"Kweh? Something wrong, buddy?"

"No?" But why? Why did Rindo feel almost...normal? "I feel…fine?"

And then that Susukichi guy suddenly barged in out of nowhere, went on about giving them points if they helped some random dude, and then left.

Meanwhile, a certain someone else was due to show up right about—

"Zeptogram No. 2!" Minamimoto barged past Fret, glowering down at Rindo. After studying Rindo for a second, Minamimoto grabbed Rindo's wrist.

"Hey!" exclaimed Rindo. "What're you—"

The sealing sigil flashed across Rindo's skin, before disappearing again.

"Whoa, what was that?" asked Fret.

Rindo stared at his hand. Holy shit, the sealing sigil had made it through the time jump? No wonder he felt strangely stable. Still, he supposed that it made sense: if the seal was linked directly to the Soul, and his Soul kept all changes through time travel...

"This is my set of calculations written here," Minamimoto said. "Zeptogram, explain. And show your work!"

No point in hiding it. "...Time travel. This is my sixth, uh, iteration of today."

Minamimoto's eyes bored into Rindo, before suddenly bursting into one of his not-quite-right laughs. "So my hypothesis was correct after all! I knew the numbers weren't adding up. But I never miscalculate!" His manic mirth soon faded into something more serious. "This sigil…So I was preparing to add Taboo to your equation. Yet here you are, minus the Taboo." He crossed his arms. "Write the proof."

"Haha...Yeah...You got me..." said Rindo. "I, um, ended up jumping back before it started. Because the Soul reading or whatever, made me panic." He grimaced. "Sorry."

But maybe this wasn't a total lost cause. If the seal was still on Rindo, even after the time jump, then maybe they could try that Taboo thing again? Though he still wasn't sure if he wanted to live with that kind of constant pain…

"Wait wait wait, are you serious?" asked Fret, staring at Rindo slack-jawed. "Time travel? Really? Since when?"

That question was harder to answer than it should have been. Should Rindo count each loop as a new day, or the same day? "Yeah, it's been a thing for...a while. Since the start of the Game actually." Rindo chuckled nervously. Why was Fret believing him so easily? "I…I thought you'd just laugh at me if I told you? So I just...didn't say anything."

"C'mon, I'd believe ya!" said Fret, winking. "I mean, if you were lying, you'd come up with a way better lie, so it's gotta be true, right? And we're already dead people fighting weird tattoos monsters with the psychic power of Imaginaaaaaaation, so reality's already a lot stranger than I thought it was. And Mr. Minami believes it, and Mr. Minami already knows waaaay more than we do."

Rindo managed a small, uncertain smile. "I…guess you got a point?"

"So where'd you go?" Fret rambled on, leg quivering with excited energy. "Are samurai as cool as they are in the movies? Did robots take over the world in the future? Do we become famous? C'mon, tell me!"

...Rindo loved Fret so much. "Nothing that fancy, sorry. I can only jump back, like, a day." He took a deep breath. "And I keep repeating this day, since, well..."

Rindo told them a summarized version of his singing struggles. A very summarized struggle. He left out how infatuated Fret had become each time, because...Well, if Fret was harboring a crush on him, even before the sync, he might just die of embarrassment if he learned that he had cuddled Rindo like a beloved teddy bear last loop. And if he didn't have a crush on Rindo, it would be even worse…

And it...didn't matter. Not really. How much Rindo had enjoyed that attention. Not when he could still do something about the singing. He had honestly expected his Inner Noise to hijack him immediately upon re-entering the timeline, but thanks to the sigil, maybe he still had a chance?

Rindo let Minamimoto go over the other details of the singing specifically because Fret wouldn't fully understand it. Being 'integrated by Zeptogram No. 2's eigenvector' sounded a lot less scary then 'yeah, my inner Noise's been draining your Soul like a goddamn vampire'. And this time Fret would never need to experience what that actually entailed, if Rindo could actually stick around for the Taboo instead of instinctively flying the coop.

"Hmph, if you couldn't handle the pain of a trivial Soul calibration, then your odds of being able to integrate the chronic pain of Taboo are even more miniscule," said Minamimoto condescendingly.

Trivial pain, he said. Rindo didn't even want to know how bad Taboo pain was.

"Especially if you temporally displace yourself whenever you panic."

Rindo's heart sank further. Right. He couldn't control when he jumped back. Except…Except for that loop at TOKYU HANDS, where he had chosen to go back because…because he hadn't wanted Fret to be sad?

…It wouldn't matter. He needed to avoid jumping back. Because he could only do one more jump at most, and that would leave him with a loop of less than an hour.

"The sigil…" Minamimoto peered at Rindo's hand like he could still see the pattern there. "Hmph, not an ideal solution. But, for a zeptogram like you, that seal should be enough."

Rindo's wide-eyed gaze snapped to Minamimoto. "Wait, r-really?"

"That sigil only suppresses the eigenvector and prevents its intrinsic enharmonic progression. It won't break the brackets and let you shape your own eigenvector or destroy its 4-2-1 programming. But if you have enough willpower, Zeptogram No. 2, the eigenvector won't be able to emerge on its own."

Oh right, Minamimoto had said something similar before.

"And if you can hold it back until the end of the week...Heh. You might just return to the RG, where the eigenvector will never be able to emerge at all." He put on his usual cocky smirk. "So with this, you won't go 4-2-1 unless you want to. Don't listen to your garbage eigenvector, and it's Q.E.D.!"

"It...won't happen, unless I want it to..." Rindo repeated almost numbly. "And I definitely don't want that, so I should be good!" Well, he kinda did, but Fret's safety and happiness came before his own, simple as that. "Will it be safe for me and Fret to sync then?"

"No," said Minamimoto. "A sync links Souls directly. Your Soul is still in 4-2-1. If Zeptogram No. 1 connects with you, your eigenvector will still feed on that connection and could even agitate his own eigenvector into 4-2-1 as well. Zeptogram No. 2, you've seen XOR sigils in your past iterations—am I right?"

"You got me there," Rindo answered quietly, holding out his hand.

"Kweh? What's a—Hey, why're you drawing on my hand? Oh, is that the XOR thing?"

"Correct," said Minamimoto, before he slashed a matching sigil onto Rindo's other hand.

"Got it..." Rindo said, looking down at the fresh symbol glistening on his hand. He had really hoped that he could soak in Fret's feelings safely. But he couldn't risk making Fret sing, too, on top of all the personality changes. He just wanted...Fret. Good, ordinary Fret. "So we still gotta be really careful and avoid fighting in battles, Fret. We won't be as strong if we can't sync."

"But what'll we do if we have to fight something?" asked Fret. "I mean, we gotta win if we wanna go back to the RG, right?"

"Irrelevant," said Minamimoto with a grin. "Like I said, this Game is 142857! And with this new data you've given me...Heh. I'm finally finding the right variables to plug into my algorithm. The algorithm that will crunch this parasitic-cyclic Game once and for all!"

"So you know how to win this Game?" asked Rindo.

"Precisely!"

"Sweet!" said Fret. "If anyone can do it, it's my Mina-man!"

"So...is there anything else we need to do to make this work?" asked Rindo.

"Only the absolute minimum, once the right ?-variables arrive," said Minamimoto. He slammed his fist into his palm. "Leave the remainder to my calculations! Just keep your numbers in normal ranges!"

"W-Will do!" said Rindo.

"Yeah, we got this Rindude!" said Fret with a wink. "So, now that we've literally got all day to do whatever we want, whatcha wanna do buddy?"

"You pick," said Rindo, even though he knew exactly what Fret would say.

"Then let's check out all the shops!" declared Fret, already marching on without Rindo.

"Sure," said Rindo with a small smile, whether Fret could hear him or not. Rindo was more than content to let Fret come up with his own schemes. As long as those schemes kept them both safe.

Rindo checked his phone. 10:16.

Rindo let Fret lead the way, including all the expected detours into shops. It was so nice seeing him happy. Even when Fret went on a rant about some stuff still using those annoying old-fashioned label tags that stuck out of the inner collar instead of the labels simply printed on the fabric itself, Rindo could tell it was the kind of stuff Fret enjoyed complaining about.

Their range of shops was limited, since they couldn't get past Center Street without fighting three reductions of Noise. Well they could, with Minamimoto's help, but honestly was there even a point? And even if Minamimoto had redrawn the XOR sigils, Rindo didn't feel like doing an experiment right now. Better to stay away from fights entirely. Especially since they weren't trying to do the mission today anyway. There were still a decent amount of stores to visit though: HOG FANG and Shepherd House on Center Street, and TOKYU HANDS on Tipsy Tose Hall. Though honestly Rindo wasn't sure if he wanted to go back to TOKYU HANDS ever after that one cycle…

They even had several restaurants to choose from: Donburi Town, Glutton 4 Gluten, and SBY BBQ. Though if they weren't doing any Noise fights, they would probably only have room for one meal. It was amazing how fast they burned through food when battling swarms of Noise.

But they didn't have to worry about that. They didn't have to worry about anything.

10:33. Rindo still felt fine. The seal really was working.

They didn't even need to worry about the stats or abilities of the clothes they looked at. Though many things were beyond their budget and probably still would have been even if they erased hordes upon hordes of Noise.

It felt...normal. It had been so long since Rindo had felt normal. Just Rindo and Fret, hunting for the best and worst fashions in Shibuya together.

While at HOG FANG, Fret babbled about how the difference between a flat-brim snapback and a baseball cap was the titular snapback band in the back, which allowed for size adjustment. Rindo, who had no interest in hats whatsoever, nodded along. It amused Rindo that Fret knew so much about caps when he never wore anything on his head ever, not even that old black cap that always hung from his belt-loop. Probably didn't want to mess up his gelled-up hair, Rindo guessed.

Then the shopkeeper stopped by to see if Rindo or Fret needed help with anything, and Fret cheerfully chatted with him while the shopkeeper stammered through his responses as usual. Right, Fret was friends with him—this Yudai Miki guy—too. Fret had so many friends.

Fret jumped when Rindo took his hand. He looked back, confused. "Rindude?"

"Oh, c-congrats Fret," Yudai said, glancing between them.

"Huh? Uh, no! Hold on! Rindo and I aren't...y'know," said Fret. He didn't pull away, but his hand didn't squeeze back either. "Something wrong, buddy?" Not angry, not embarrassed, but also not...

Rindo swiftly withdrew his hand and stuffed it in his pocket. "S-Sorry. I'm good!"

Fret studied Rindo, still looking concerned, but then he turned away and kept chatting with Yudai.

Rindo tried to take a deep breath as discreetly as possible. This...was normal. This was good. He was good. Fret was normal, and this was good.

Rindo felt cold.

Whatever. Rindo always got easily cold anyway. That's why he wore a long jacket and a hoodie even in summer weather. He'd just buy a scarf and gloves somewhere if he really needed to.

After Fret bought the snapback and hung it alongside his old cap, they headed on out. The time read 11:56.

And then they ran into Shoka.

"What are you losers doing?" asked Shoka, arms folded. If her hoodie was alive, the tail would have been twitching back and forth irritably. "You morons still haven't cleared the first wall Reaper? Really? Are you trying to get into last place?"

"Well, we don't hafta care about your Game anymore, so there!" Fret winked.

"Don't hafta…" Shoka glared. "You do realize what's gonna happen to you if you get last place, right?"

...Actually, what did happen to the guys in last place? They couldn't exactly die if everyone was already dead, right?

"We won't be in last place as long as we've got the Mina-man on our side!" Fret declared brightly.

"The what?" asked Shoka.

Oh yeah, Shoka had never actually met Minamimoto, had she? He had a way of vanishing whenever Reapers or other Players approached.

"Just what are you morons up to?" asked Shoka, sounding angry but also...something else? "I swear, if you idiots lose this Game because you're not even trying—"

"What do you care? This is just your job, right?" asked Rindo. All his previous encounters in previous encounters skimmed across his mind. One cycle she was eager to tear him apart, the next eager to get Rindo outside so he could tear Fret apart? "Actually, yeah, what's with you, Shoka? Sometimes...A lot of the time you're just a bitch."

Shoka pursed her lips indignantly,

"But then other times you're..." Nice wasn't the right way to describe her trying to sing with him, or even when she helped him and Fret at the elevator. "You act like you care? For some reason?"

For a moment, Rindo caught a glimpse of sheer panic that he hadn't seen since loop 3 or 4 or whatever, but it was soon replaced by her usual snarky smile. "Pssh. That's some wishful thinking right there. Are you lonely, Rindykins? You need a hug, bitch?"

"No," Rindo growled through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, Rindude doesn't even like hugs," Fret chimed in. "Or, being touched at all, really."

That...hurt more to hear than expected. But it was true...wasn't it? The craving he felt now...That was just his Inner Noise shivering in the deep freeze of his Soul. He needed to remember that. He did not want to be touched.

"Oh?" She grinned. "So if I did this..." Shoka's pointer finger slowly inched toward Rindo's shoulder.

Swatting her hand away, Rindo squinted irritably at her. "Screw you."

"My, somebody's sure cranky today," said Shoka, smirk still in place. "Well, whenever you morons stop acting like babies, you might actually have fun with this Game. Or at least you'll be more entertaining to watch. Later, losers." She walked off.

"That girl..." Rindo grumbled.

"Hey, don't let her get under your skin," said Fret with his own grin. "That's probably part of her job too. Now let's hit up Shepherd House!"

Rindo nodded. "Sounds good."

They arrived at Shepherd House at 12:09. Shepherd House was certainly a brand that existed. Fret seemed to like it, but Rindo couldn't get why. Granted, they weren't horrible or anything, but not anything that stood out either. Nothing shiny. That automatically made it a 0 out of 10 in Rindo's shiny-starved eyes. Well at least he could stare at the gleaming pins in the displays. Maybe take one or three or five and stuff them into his pocket for later.

Rindo jumped when Fret's hand clapped his shoulder surprisingly hard. "Hey, want me to get those for you, buddy?" The words he used weren't threatening at all, but his tone sure was. His grin was just as unfriendly.

Oh. Right. He needed to pay for these first. How had he forgotten such a simple step in the shopping process? "Don't worry, I got it."

Fret however kept studying Rindo with that almost-sincere smile. "Y'know what, I owe you for getting me that whatchamacallit a couple weeks back, so I'll treat you to this today!"

Before Rindo could even remember what 'whatchamacallit' he was talking about, Fret had already snagged the pins from Rindo's jacket, adding them to the pile of clothes he was about to try on.

What the hell? Rindo wouldn't have shoplifted normally, but he wouldn't have flipped out over some minor pin-lifting like Fret had, either. He hadn't seen Fret give him a glare like that in, like, ever. Did Fret hate shoplifting that much? Did Fret distrust him so much after that slipup that he didn't even want to give Rindo a chance to pay for it himself?

Rindo…didn't like that. At all.

While Rindo waited as Fret changed clothes, Rindo's phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen: 12:33. And Swallow.

"hey, you doing good, rindragon?"

Weird. Rindo had never gotten that text from Swallow in any other timeline. Actually, Swallow's texts had been just as erratic as almost everything else these past few loops. Mostly nice as usual, but then there had been other times…Swallow had seemed downright unhinged in one loop, and then last time they had been awfully rude to Fret…Even making fun of Fret for his galaxy—

Wait.

Rindo gazed down at the message. How should he…check this? Maybe he could pretend to be Fret for a minute. "hiiiiii rindude's friend i love my rindude sooooo much and you can't have him he's all mine ;)" He stared at that text for a long, long while before he finally sent it.

Another ding. "shut tf up loser. where's rindragon?"

"hmmmmm i wonder…lemme just pick at my brain for a sec"

"you mean your galaxy brain doesn't already know everything? shocking."

There it was again. Swallow referring to Fret's galaxy brain. Even though Rindo had never mentioned Fret's 'galaxy brain' to Swallow ever. It was a long-running joke of theirs that Fret was 'that one friend who really likes chocobos'. So why would Swallow know about Fret's consistent use of the 'galaxy brain' meme?

And what else did Swallow know?

"yeah, i dunno where he went," Rindo continued to text. "i just found his phone lying here when u started texting"

Another ding almost immediately. "wait you don't know where he is? and he left his phone? he never does that ever YOU BETTER FIND HIM!"

"relax he cant b far. im sure hell b back once he knows he doesnt have his phone."

"WHAT KIND OF TEAMMATE ARE YOU? TAKE THINGS SERIOUSLY FOR ONCE!"

Teammate? Wait, did Swallow know about them being in the Game? Okay, Swallow definitely knew more than they should have. And this over-the-top freakout… "who r u, his mom? were in a store so he should be fine."

If only Rindo could contract his actual mom. She must be worried sick with him being gone for days…Actually she was probably grieving because he was dead. Right.

…Wait.

If he couldn't contact anyone in the RG…

Rindo stared down at his phone.

…Then why could he and Swallow still talk at all?

"swallow" Oh yeah. "this is rindragon btw"

"oh there you are :)" Swallow answered. "are you okay?"

"ya im fine"

"that's good. :) btw your friend's kinda creepy and possessive. you should be careful around him."

That angered Rindo for so many reasons, but he would keep that to himself for now. "hey swallow can i ask u smthn weird?"

"Go for it! :D"

"are u dead?"

A long, notable lack of a ding.

"bc im dead, and i cant contact any1 else alive, so then how am i talking to u?"

Still nothing.

"who r u really?"

Nothing but infuriating silence.

"swallow. who. are. you."

And yet there was still no reply.

Did this mean that Rindo was right? Or very, very wrong?

Fret finally came out rocking a denim jacket, a Sheepy t-shirt, brown corduroy pants, and a wool scarf, and of course it looked great, because he knew how to make any outfit look great. He could probably even make Cony×Cony look passable somehow. Yeah, the way he brushed his hair back and smiled at Rindo, it warmed Rindo's heart a little.

...No, wait, that was bad! Rindo needed to keep his heart cool and controlled, or his Inner Noise might break out again. He had to remember, this all depended on his willpower.

Rindo mumbled something to Fret that not even Rindo understood, before he turned away to shuffle to the counter with his finds. Rindo sighed in relief as his heart settled back into snowy serenity. No big deal. He could handle this.

And then Rindo spotted her, also trekking to the checkout with a long white shirt clutched to her chest. Their eyes met, and she released a wail of alarm before scurrying back into the bowels of the store.

Good, she better run. He did not feel like dealing with her today, or ever.

Fret yelped as she dashed past him. "Wow, somebody's sure in a hurry for the sales. Anyway, you ready to go, Rindude?"

"Yeah."

After they both bought stuff at Shepherd House, they walked in silence for a while. Rindo walked ahead a little in case looking at Fret too much triggered more unwanted warmth. Though looking at Fret at least a little more would be nice.

13:02.

"Hey, uh, Rindude?"

"Yeah?"

"Did I upset you earlier or something?" asked Fret. "You kinda left me in a hurry? And now you're being kinda quiet?...Was it about the shoplifting thing? I figured you just grabbed 'em on accident. Just...You know, it totally bothers me when—"

"Oh, you didn't do anything wrong! Don't worry!" Rindo quickly added, turning to face Fret. He didn't look too worried at least, more curious than anything. "That was just, uh, more of a me thing. But I'm good now!"

"Oh, are ya now?"

Both Rindo and Fret spun around to see Kubo standing behind them. The hook-nosed Reaper had on his usual sneer. Rindo hadn't seen the Reaper since…the second day, maybe? But a face as twisted with malice as his was hard to forget.

Fret folded his arms and squinted at Kubo. "And what do you want?"

"Nyeheh! Oh, but it ain't about what I want!" Kubo leaned in Rindo's direction, one eye bugged out. "It's about what he wants!"

Rindo gritted his teeth as he stepped back. "What are you talking about?"

"Dude, personal space much?" Fret stepped in between Rindo and Kubo, glaring at the Reaper. He was almost being...protective? But Rindo and Fret hadn't synced or anything.

Oh right, he had done something similar before, when they had first met Kubo. Right. Rindo was just overthinking things.

"Ha! Oh that's rich, coming from youse two!" said Kubo. "Or two and a half's of youse, anyway."

"What?" Wait. Kubo didn't mean that, did he? Could he tell?

"Now I see that you've got some fancy seal on yer Soul now." His normally nasally voice dropped to a low rumble, his face puckering like he had just eaten some salty lemon ramen. "But looks to me that you've already ripped out a few chunks of this kid's Soul for yourself."

"W-What?" Fret asked, glancing at Rindo.

Shit, Kubo was talking about that! How could he tell? Had he used the RNS like Kaie had done a couple loops ago? Actually, that was probably exactly what he'd done.

"Uh, i-is that true, Rindo?" Fret's nervous smile did little to hide his obvious fear.

Rindo sighed. He couldn't really hide it at this point. "Yeah…In the past, whenever we synced, my Inner Noise would absorb Soul from you. But that was in the past! By accident! So you'll be fine now! That's why I have this seal on me. To make sure I don't hurt you anymore."

Fret still seemed uncertain.

"Youse that scared of singing, kid?" asked Kubo. "Looks to me like you found your buddy's Soul mighty tasty."

"Shut it! I won't hurt him this time!" Rindo snapped.

"Uh, Rindude?"

"Oh? And what makes youse so sure that you won't finish your meal once you get a little more hungry?" asked Kubo with a self-satisfied smile. "I mean, that's the point of leftovers, right? Somethin' easy to heat up and—"

"I won't hurt him because I love him!"

Silence. Huh. Until Kubo cackled up a storm. "Oh, this is gonna be good! Y'know, I can't even be mad! This is just too damn funny!" His raucous laughter went on even as he left.

Rindo glared daggers at Kubo's back. That guy...

"Um..."

Rindo turned back to Fret. He seemed...fidgety? Uncomfortable. He didn't even look Rindo in the eye. Yeah, the Soul thing was probably a lot for Fret to process.

"Hey," said Rindo. "I meant what I said, okay?"

Fret was quiet at first. "...T-That you, uh...l-love me?"

Oh. Right, Rindo had said that. Without even thinking. "Well, that too. But also the not hurting you thing. That's...That's the important part."

"Dude, how can you of all people casually just...confess like that? And then act like it's not even a big deal?" asked Fret. "C-Cause that's...uh, that's a lot to take in, buddy, along with the Soul stuff..."

Rindo studied Fret. Nervous, still no eye contact, even sweating a little. A bit of a blush, maybe? But not the obvious pink-to-red tinge that spread from his face to his ears and neck, like when he'd attempted the soda sharing thing. This blush…was probably from secondhand embarrassment.

What Fret wasn't doing...And what he wasn't saying...

"This...I-It really means a lot, it really does..." Fret stumbled on. "Hey, uh, let's go get something to eat! I sure am hungry after all that shopping. Aren't you, Rindude?"

A flailing attempt at a misdirect if Rindo ever heard one. But that was fine. "Yeah, sure."

Fret picked Donburi Town. 13:15…

Fret sat across from Rindo. That was normal, Rindo reminded himself. So instead Rindo quietly watched Fret as the latter perused the menu. Rindo already knew what he wanted to get, and he knew what Fret was gonna get too. Seeing Fret squirm around in his seat trying to decide was way more entertaining.

Then Fret stared back, tilting his head a bit to one side.

Uh oh, had Fret noticed?

Fret's eyes narrowed. He folded his arms.

Yup, Fret had definitely noticed.

"Dude," said Fret. "Why do you keep copying me?"

"Huh?" asked Rindo.

"Like, why do you keep mimicking the way I move?"

"I am?"

"You're doing it right now."

Rindo finally took note of his own body, and…Yeah, it was in the exact same position as Fret's. Leaning forward, arms crossed, with his head slightly tilted. "Huh. Weird. I, uh, swear I'm not doing it on purpose?"

"Hmm…" Fret seemed only somewhat convinced. "Is this, like…" He shifted back in his seat. "Is this because of the…Soul thing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, if you've…snacked on my Soul or whatever, and it becomes part of you, does that mean you become more like me?" asked Fret.

"Uh…" That was a good question. Rindo didn't feel any different though. It wasn't like he was suddenly a happy-go-lucky fashionista. But in the end, singing was about two Souls fusing together, right? "Probably? At least to some extent?"

"Maybe that's where this copying stuff comes from then?" said Fret. "Because it's not like you're doing it a second or two after me, you move with me at the exact same time. Like you know how I'll move even before I do."

"Huh…Yeah, that probably is a singing thing then." He glanced away, tucking his coat tighter around himself. "S-Sorry if I'm weirding you out."

"Don't worry, it's only a little bit weird." Fret winked at him. "So how're you holding up? With the seal thingy, I mean."

"Oh, I'm good. The sigil makes me feel kinda cold, but that's probably to help suppress the singing. Singing makes your heart feel like it's gonna spontaneously combust." He rested a closed fist over his chest.

"Really? Man, that sounds like it sucks."

"Everything sucks about singing," Rindo grumbled. "That's why I'm doing everything I can to prevent it." Including reminding himself over and over that he had to keep this under control. For Fret's sake. "Because I care about you. A lot."

Fret squirmed in his side of the booth again, his eyes briefly averting. "Buddy. Listen, I…I hope that you're doing this for yourself, too. 'Cause I…I want you to be okay too, y'know?"

"Don't worry, I'll be okay as long as I'm with you."

"Um…"

Then the waiter finally arrived to take their order. Rindo mumbled out his order before the waiter had even finished speaking. Fret meanwhile took another minute to eventually decide on the exact same order he had chosen in the previous timeline. Not that Fret would have known that, to be fair.

"So, uh…" Since Fret no longer had the menu to play with, Rindo could hear him clasp and unclasp the hat hooked onto his beltloop instead. "Buddy I…I care about you a lot too. Though I…I don't think I could handle dating right now?"

Rindo suddenly felt even colder.

Fret threw up his hands with an anxious grin. "I-I-It's not a you thing! It's a me thing! I'm just…Like, that's probably dangerous for us to do anyway, since we're trying to avoid the singing thing right? And that's not counting all the Game stuff, and all the Noise trying to eat our faces…"

Honestly Fret had a point. Trying to date would only agitate the suppressed singing further, and the Game wasn't the ideal place to be boyfriends. Though they had managed to eke out a date at TOKYU HANDS before…

"...B-But maybe after the Game, once we're back home and don't have to worry about the singing thing…" Fret still didn't make eye contact. "M-M-Maybe then we can give it a shot? S-See if it works out? Just…Will you still be my friend if it doesn't work out?" He was unusually quiet and still. "Will…you still be my friend now, even if I can't…"

He looked so sad that Rindo just wanted to reach across the table and hug him. But that would only make this so much more awkward. Rindo swallowed and hoped that his voice would come out evenly. "Of course. In fact, just…forget all the mushy stuff I said earlier, if it makes you more comfortable. I don't want to force you into anything, if you don't feel that way."

Fret stayed silent, except for the clasping and unclasping of his hat.

"Really, it's okay. I don't have to date you to be with you. I'll still be your friend if you're willing to stay my friend."

Fret perked up, finally leaving his poor hat alone, and grinned. "Sounds good to me! Best buds forever!"

Rindo forced himself to smile back. Because this was normal Fret. This was the Fret that wasn't hopelessly obsessed with him.

And this was what Rindo wanted.

Even if it made his heart hurt.

But whatever! Rindo's heart was sick with Noise anyway! That wasn't what Rindo wanted or needed! If...If Fret didn't feel that way about him, then it should make this all easier, right?

14:36. C'mon…

Rindo let Fret lead the way to TOKYU HANDS. Yeah, as massive as that place was, they could kill their remaining time there easily. Good choice, Fret.

He stared down at the shiny pins in his palm, his eyes occasionally flitting to equally gleaming garbage on the street. Anything to keep him from directly looking at Fret for too long. Because looking at Fret too long hurt. Even thinking too long about Fret hurt.

Would it…would it always be like this now?

"But man, what's even the point of this Game?" Fret rambled on. "I mean, I know the point is coming back to life, but why all the tattoo animals and puzzles?"

"Dunno," Rindo mumbled. What was the point of any of this?

"I know right? Like, you'd think it'd be, like, proving yourself virtuous or something. Y'know, to show that you're worthy of a second chance?"

Worthy of a second chance...Was he? Fret, of course. But Rindo?

"But I just, don't get that vibe? Like, the 'I bid you adieu' guy that does the announcements..."

Right. That Shiba guy. The one whose smug face had glowed from the big screen at Scramble Crossing, just before that truck had fallen on Fret, and Rindo had jumped back and undone everything for the very first time.

"...Though he does have a pretty sweet outfit, what with the open shirt and shades and all. Like, that butterfly necklace he's got, it's..."

All for Fret...It was always for Fret. Even that one time when Rindo had been the one about to die. Because if she had been on a rampage, then who else would her next target have been other than the guy right next to Rindo? Fret would probably have still been standing there, wondering why Rindo had keeled over for no reason...

"...Butterflies are actually kinda scary though. Not when they're fluttering around and stuff, I mean…"

Would Fret try to help Rindo, actually? After being synced with Rindo's own singing Soul, of course he would, but before? Would this unchanged Fret have kneeled down to see if he was okay, even if Rindo couldn't feel anything anymore? Would this unchanged Fret have struggled to carry Rindo down stairs for Rindo's sake, at the risk of falling down and hurting himself, because he needed Rindo to be okay?

"...Like, uh, the body just freaking dissolves in the cocoon..."

Or would Fret have just walked away? Maybe run away, if she was after him. And...And that was what Rindo would want, right? For Fret to get away from him, if it would save Fret's life? If he wanted to keep Fret safe...If he kept Fret safe, would he be worthy?

"...And I mean, it's beautiful, but..."

Yes, what Rindo wanted was for Fret to walk away from him, to leave Rindo behind if he had to.

"...terrifying..."

Just like everyone else had.

Rindo froze in place.

Fret would leave Rindo behind, just like all his other real-life friends. And why not? Rindo didn't have anything special to offer. Rindo couldn't even tame his worries enough to leave the house sometimes, even when friends were waiting for him. If growing up was supposed to make him more confident and comfortable, then why had Rindo's anxiety only gotten worse as he had gotten older? Now he felt more comfortable chatting over text than he ever did talking to someone in person, which demanded for him to make his thoughts into words immediately.

Because Rindo hated making any decision immediately, because what if he was wrong? And people hated waiting for him to finally make up his mind on anything. No wonder everyone moved on without him eventually...

Would Swallow still be Rindo's friend if they had to wait around in real time for him to finally do something, or if he failed to meet with them multiple times in a row? Wait, Swallow probably wasn't his friend anymore after that conversation, if they ever had been…They had never even texted back…

"Rindude?"

So many friends had drifted in and out of Rindo's life, but most of them didn't matter, not really. They might still be his friends now, if he'd just tried harder to meet with them and stay in touch. Or maybe they would have abandoned him regardless of his efforts. There was no way to know now. His time travel didn't allow him to jump that far back.

But Fret...Rindo really didn't want to lose Fret. Not when Fret was willing to fight monsters with him. Not when Fret was willing to carry him all the way down TOKYU HANDS, just to make sure Rindo would be okay. Not when Fret was willing to hold Rindo close while he was faint from fever, murmuring to Rindo how much he loved him...Fret loved him...Unlike…

That heat buried deep in Rindo's chest suddenly rushed out to the rest of his body.

"Whoa!" yelped Fret as Rindo suddenly embraced him. "Uh…T-Thanks? Y-You good buddy?"

Rindo loved him! He loved him! And he didn't want Fret to go! Rindo loved him, and he didn't want to be alone with his anxieties anymore!

Fret finally relaxed a little in his grip, chuckling with slight nervousness. "Though, uh, I guess this isn't so baaaaaaaaaaaah what the hell are those?"

Funny, Rindo had barely even felt the wings rend out of his back. Nice, another way to hug Fret. He carefully wrapped his wings around him. "It's alright, Fret. Everything's gonna be okay now. I love you."

"Uh...Uhhh..." Fret squirmed in Rindo's grasp. Rindo could feel Fret's heart thudding hard against his chest. Fret put on a nervous grin. "So...what's with the...wings? And the...smile? And the...uh, glowy eyes? And the...uh..." He silently stared at the blue tattoos weaving out of Rindo's fingertips. "Uhhhh..."

Rindo jabbed his talons into his own soft palms and smeared away the XOR sigil on his hand with the fresh blood. Then Fret's.

Yes. This was right. Minamimoto didn't have a right to mark his Fret. To cage his Fret's precious Soul and the delicate Noise within. No, only Rindo was allowed to draw it out, unravel it line by jagged line, and reweave it into a nest that would protect him and Fret forever. Yes, a nest with Rindo's blue brambles and branches of Fret's golden veins burrowed within…

Yeah, that would be perfect…

But Fret stared at Rindo's blood sliding over his skin, before his terrified gaze snapped to Rindo. "Dude...What the fuck..."

"Don't worry," murmured Rindo. He took Fret's shaking heads as he touched his brow to Fret's. "You'll get it once we sync."

The color drained from Fret's face as he wriggled more. "Buddy, buddy, friends aren't food, remember?" His strained smile gave way to something more panicked. "D-Don't do this, Rindo! H...Help!"

Something large swatted Rindo aside, and Fret disappeared from his arms. Where'd he—

Minamimoto. He had Fret, who quivered beside him. Minamimoto's glare could probably strike a gorilla Boss Noise dead, but Rindo was no mere Boss Noise. "Zeptogram No. 2! Is this what you want?"

Rindo glanced at the shaking Fret, eyes wide with fear as he cowered behind Minamimoto, clinging to his coat, mumbling thanks for saving him.

...No.

"If 4-2-1 is what you want, then go factor some trash Reaper!" Minamimoto snapped. "Zeptogram No. 1 is my zeptogram—"

...No.

"—with a zetta useful natural psych, and clearly he doesn't want to get crunched by your eigenvector!"

...No! This wasn't what Rindo wanted.

Fret only nodded, frightened eyes set on Rindo.

This wasn't the Fret Rindo wanted.

Even if Rindo synced with this Fret, and he fell for Rindo harder than ever, this Fret would still have those awful memories of fear, of love that he didn't feel or understand, of being called merely a meal or even leftovers.

Rindo wanted it all to be happy. He wanted it all to be perfect.

So Rindo jumped back in time once more. He only lingered in that boring cold void long enough to think of a plan, and then started at the very beginning of the day. Oh, he forgot to skip the vision, but...

"Whatcha smiling about, Rindude?"

Yes I know, evil cliffhanger is evil.

And that's the end of part 1! How does this go on for several more chapters? Find out next time!