Happy New Year! And welcome to Part 3! First, we begin with processing the aftermath. This is a somewhat shorter chapter (according to this fic's standard chapters anyway) since I had to split it.

Many thanks as always to my betas oddvector and Darkblaw, for doing wonderful things like reminding me how tenses work!

"I can't go back to yesterday, because I was a different person then." —Lewis Carroll

Scale 13: Absolute Relativity

"And I trust you."

Fret's last words. So quiet, shy even. Which was almost funny, considering how easily Fret said the word love all the time. Then he dissolved into light in Rindo's arms, leaving Rindo with only a feeling of empty air against his chest. His Soul felt bloated after gorging on so much Soul...gorging on Fret's Soul...All of Fret's Soul…

Rindo's body crackled and popped and burned in every muscle as his transformation began. His body shifted like sand, broke down into static, and then reforged into a new form.

Heat, so much heat, but a controllable heat now. Rindo looked down at himself, and saw nothing but tattoo feathers that went from red to orange to gold, with embers crawling on the surface. Wait, was he...a Phoenix? But he had been a Raven before.

He lifted his head up a little bit, and squawked when he bonked it on the ceiling. He was big now, or at least tall. Large, multicolor wings. Long red tail feathers, curled and sharp like scorpion tails. Several somethings raised up on the top of his head: crest feathers, probably. He should go to the bathroom and look into the mirror to get a better idea of what his whole body looked like.

But...Rindo didn't know if he could handle that right now. This Noise form...He didn't want it. He had never wanted it.

So instead Rindo looked around the room. Now that he wasn't singing anymore, everything seemed much more in focus, much more detailed. He could think clearly for the first time in days.

There was surprisingly little damage to the room, considering what just happened. It made sense, he supposed, since pretty much everything had been shielded, padded, or both. Still, there were a few signs of struggle. The unkempt bed with the torn and burned sheets. A couple of trash cans overturned, snack wrappers and tissues spilled out. Several singed spots on the carpet. But right where Fret had been there was…nothing…

Rage. At everything. With irate shrieks Rindo battered the room with feathers and fireballs and fury. How dare this room still be so orderly after that! How dare this room trap him and Fret together until the inevitable happened! How dare this room…this room…

The room was still mostly immaculate, except for two fully incinerated beds. Great job, now he and Fret didn't have a place to…

…Fret. Fret was…Because of…Did Rindo really just…

…And Fret could have won, if he had really wanted to. When Fret had pinned down Rindo early on, if he had just gone for the throat…Or when Fret had fully possessed Rindo, only to command more cuddles from him instead of going for the kill. Fret…Even when locked into the famished madness of a half-Noise form, why hadn't he…

Fret...Fret, why? Memories came flooding in, memories of all those times where Rindo had jumped back, trying to prevent the singing. I did all that to save you! So why did I...And why did you...

But of course if he had really wanted to save Fret, Rindo would have simply kept Minamimoto's seal on himself for the rest of the Game, no matter how much he hated it. Rindo had known what his choice meant, when he had jumped back that final time. Even when he had tried to undo that decision, only for Fret to throw away his pin. If Rindo had successfully jumped back, it would have made no difference by that point. The same thing would have only happened faster. Maybe he would have turned Boss Noise before he had a chance to sing Fret…But Fret had made it clear, in multiple timelines, that losing Rindo like that was the last thing he wanted, ever…

…But Fret would still be…

The tattoos unwound and retreated back into Rindo, leaving him with just his new human self. A human form that he definitely wasn't ready to see yet.

Rindo lay where the scorch marks were, staring up at the ceiling. What had Fret been thinking, as Rindo had essentially boiled Fret alive in his own emotions? When Rindo had ripped Fret's wings apart? When Fret, mortally wounded, had still sleepily smiled at him after all that, calling him his cufurreal Rindo?

…What did that word even mean? Some new internet slang that Rindo hadn't heard yet? But when he looked it up on his phone, he found nothing. He really doubted Fret was referencing those FuReal animal toys...Unless he was trying to make some kind of dumb furry joke even at a time like that? Rindo wouldn't put it past him. Trying to lighten the unbearably heavy mood, probably.

And what did Fret mean, when he said that he trusted him? Trusted Rindo to put him back together? That's what Rindo had told Fret, right? Back when Fret mentioned his fear of forgetting everything? That must have been what Fret meant, right? But how could Rindo do that?

…He missed Fret. He missed him so much. His heart tightened and more tears squeezed out of his eyes. This didn't feel like an endless sync at all! Where was Fret? Fret should be here!

The tears came easily and suddenly, and they wouldn't stop. His body quaked with sobs as he curled up on the floor.

Fret…Fret…Fret…

After all that…After everything…

…He was so tired…

He was on the 49th floor of TOKYU HANDS. Man this building went on forever. But he needed to keep climbing, he couldn't go back down, or he would hurt…

And Fret was here and happy. Always nearby, always in physical contact with Rindo, whether they held hands or held each other. If Rindo so much as thought of drawing away, even for a moment, Fret would start whimpering and would cling to him even more tightly than before.

Fret…His precious Fret…

They perused the HOG FANG store. Trying out the hats, trying out the beds, trying out the drinks that popped and crackled with static, Fret sharing his drink because of course he didn't like the Noise fizz, but that knowing smile…

Somewhere someone was laughing maniacally. Kubo? Minamimoto?

They kept going up. Past the store of sigils, past the shrine, past the sinister Players who glared at them through bars of electricity, including her...

They chatted with the Reapers about parks. They played with all the Noise freely roaming the halls like pets. They only stopped in the restaurants to cuddle, letting themselves feed off each other, blend into each other, because they missed each other so much...

And suddenly Rindo was flooded with a cold longing anxiety, and he rushed into Fret's arms. Fret held him for a while, babbling about things Rindo couldn't follow. Something about pins, something about pens, something about parades that weren't parades.

Rindo's fear melted. Fret loved him. He…

They stopped at Kaie's fortunetelling shop, where Shoka summoned the cards for them instead. He and Fret got the exact same fortune. But what was that fortune? Rindo couldn't…

Could Fret remind him? Yes, Fret could remind him of lots of things. Remember when they first met in school? Remember when they experienced their first sync and fought their first Noise? Remember when they decided to just mix together forever and ever and yeah, why just remember it, why not just do that now, and their Souls swirled and swirled and…

They were on the roof. The blue sky yawned wide above them, clouds rimming it like very worn teeth. How Rindo desired to just spread his wings and…

But Fret was the one who grew Reaper wings instead, long and thin, as he too stared up at the sky, as if wishing to…

But he smiled and wrapped his arms and wings around Rindo instead, holding him close, nuzzling his neck.

"My Rindo," Fret whispered into his ear.

The sky slowly darkened, as dark-blue tattoo brambles gradually filled the sky, their golden veins pulsing and flashing like lightning.

"Have I ever told you…"

Rindo woke up. His body was stiff and sore from laying on the floor, even if the carpet was poofy and soft.

More importantly, Fret was not here.

Almost afraid to move, Rindo got up. His body felt strangely ungainly and unbalanced as he tried to walk. Probably because the very structure of Rindo's body had been altered. He was definitely taller now, as the clothes he had on were a little short for his new longer limbs. Wow, was Fret really that much taller than him? Well, he did slouch a lot, unlike Rindo.

This wasn't his old body anymore...But how different was it? He didn't want to know, but he had to know.

Well, he didn't have to know yet. He should eat first. There should still be some stuff in the fridge and pantry, since he didn't feel like leaving the room just yet.

…Oh! There was Rindo's phone! It had either gotten knocked around during the battle with Fret...or Rindo's enraged rampage afterward. The screen was cracked, but otherwise it still worked fine. Not that Rindo had much use for it at this point, but…

…He had never finished ordering those painkillers, had he? When Rindo had been trying to decide what kind to get, Fret had suddenly teleported over to him, only to immediately start swaying unsteadily as his eyes glazed over. And by that point…

Rindo took a swig of a can of soda, only to recoil at the sizzling feeling on his throat and tongue. And it was way too sweet too! He dumped the rest of his drink down the sink.

Was this because Fret hated soda? To think he would carry that resentment all the way to their new body. Something about that made Rindo chuckle a little.

So Rindo needed to eat stuff Fret liked too? Rindo supposed that made sense, but that kinda...limited his options. Rindo liked his food as normal and bland as possible, while Fret preferred his food as not-normal and not-bland as possible.

This was gonna be…interesting…

Rooting through the hoard of snack bags, Rindo carefully nibbled their contents. He felt bad for wasting so much perfectly good food, but he had literally no idea what would taste good to him right now. Maybe that was another reason that Akinosuke Hotel offered so many different kinds of free food? If only they had some curry lying around. They both loved curry. Or even some Indian food. Maybe throw it all together in one dish and see if that satisfied Fret's desire for weird and wild meals.

Eventually Rindo settled on some bland but acceptable instant ramen.

Well, that was probably all Rindo needed for now. Even if most of that food hadn't tasted that great, it still filled him up eventually. Now, was there anything else he needed to do to...stall? Funny how he was both terrified of going outside, revealing to the world what he had done, and also loathed staying in this place.

Okay…Time to go to the bathroom and see just what he had turned into.

Rindo peered into the mirror, and winced at how wrong he looked. Dark hair, dark eyes...Right, because Fret's blue eyes were only contacts and his hair was bleached. He looked a lot like Fret otherwise: not quite as thin, but a similar angular bone structure, and a similar mouth. But while the eye color was Fret's, the eye shape was still Rindo's, and his face was still rounder. Might have still had his old nose too?

And his hair texture was still closer to Rindo's somewhat flyaway style, which, when mixed with Fret's smoother locks, resulted in this weird curly mess that Rindo had no idea what to do with. Trying to comb it only made it fluffy and frizzy, making him look like a poodle. He slicked it back with Fret's hair gel, but it still looked wrong. Maybe because his hair was even on both sides, unlike that emo haircut that Fret had somehow managed to rock without looking like a goth. Maybe it was because Fret had hidden his dark-colored eyes behind…

His eyes…Was that why everything seemed more detailed now? Because Fret's sight had been better than Rindo's? Rindo knew his natural sight wasn't exactly stellar, but he hated wearing glasses. But now his vision was super sharp, to the point where he could see all the loose threads and small stains on his favorite clothes.

No wonder Fret had been fussing at him to get some new threads. Even though these clothes weren't even that old…Worn down from all the battles in the Game maybe?

Though Rindo definitely needed a different hoodie and mask regardless. Wearing his old clothes on his new body felt off, and not just because his body shape had changed. Rindo wasn't even sure if he wanted to wear his old coat...

...Oh, right. Fret had been wearing the coat, and everything he had been wearing had vanished along with him. So…

Fret...Rindo placed a hand on his chest. His heart felt slightly warmer, though maybe that was just from heat from his hand. Either way, his heart still ached.

Oh, but there was still some of Fret's stuff around! He glanced over the sink area. There they were. Fret's contacts...Though he honestly wasn't sure if he could handle putting stuff in his eyes like Fret so casually did. Nor was he sure that he could handle Fret's blue eyes staring back at him in the mirror yet either. He left the contacts alone for now.

But Fret's earrings, which Rindo had nestled away in a drawer along with a bunch of other shiny things he'd pilfered? Those felt right. Funny how little Fret had missed the earrings once they had vanished. Then again maybe it wasn't that surprising, once Fret had become so obsessed about Rindo that he stopped caring about his own appearance.

Rindo took out the earrings in his left ear, washed off Fret's earrings, and then put them in. Rindo's earrings in one ear, Fret's in the other...It probably looked mismatched as all hell, but he liked it. So now he should…

Fret's pearl necklace, choker, bracelet, scarf, vest, plaid pants, and white tank top...one of Fret's favorite outfits…Rindo wasn't sure what to do with…

…

No, Rindo knew exactly what to do with these.

Rindo needed to put Fret back together, right? Then what better way to start than to gather up these physical pieces right here, and wearing them? He already mostly looked like Fret anyway, aside from the hair and the eyes. And he had contacts for the latter.

So Rindo looked up a tutorial on how to use contacts, spent several attempts trying to put in said contacts, and when he finally succeeded, he put the rest of the clothes and accessories on and…

…Stared at himself in the mirror. In many ways, it was so close. If it wasn't for his hair being completely wrong in texture and color, he could almost pass for Fret. Almost. Maybe.

A thousand details right, but a million details…

But this…This was a start right? Surely enough pieces for Fret to at least latch onto. Maybe all the imperfections would rouse Fret out of slumber just so that Fret could laugh at him and then tell him how it was really done.

But right now, Rindo felt nothing from Fret.

So Rindo took a deep breath, and put on a bright smile.

"Galaxy brain, activaaaaaaaaate!"

But his voice sounded so wrong. It didn't sound like Fret, or even Rindo pretending to be Fret.

And there was still no reaction from Fret himself.

Wait, Remind! Could Rindo do Remind now? It sounded simple enough. Just concentrate on an image in his head, and once he had a clear vision of it, say the magic words.

It wasn't hard to imagine Fret at all. Smiling, happy, loving. As he always was.

"C'mon—" Rindo hissed, squeezing his eyes tight. "—Think!"

…

Still nothing.

Maybe he just needed to focus more. Maybe he needed to mimic Fret's exact body language as he did it. Maybe he just needed to keep trying.

…But the more he tried, the more Rindo's heart hurt. And the more looking at Fret's outfit in the mirror pained him, until…

…Too much. Having Fret's outfit on only made everything worse. Because he wasn't Fret. Fret was…

Tears welled up in his eyes again. He missed Fret. He missed Fret so much, even though he was supposed to be somewhere here with him.

…But Rindo wanted to hold onto Fret's old stuff anyway. Maybe he could make them work with some new clothes, like on the shopping floor. Yeah, the Reapers did say that's what the place was there for. Maybe he should go ahead and do that.

Time to use...that bag. He gathered all of Fret's belongings in the black travel bag. Which did not include Fret's beloved black cap, because Fret had torn it to shreds at some point. Rindo noticed its remains in one of the overturned trash cans.

Rindo wondered why Fret ripped up his favorite hat. Trying to distract himself from his singing urges, maybe? Oh, maybe that was why Fret had been so afraid to take Rindo's coat that one time? Because he was worried that he'd destroy it?

But of course Fret had claimed the coat in the end, maybe even more than he meant to…

Either way, Rindo needed new clothes. All his old ones were too small for him now, so they were pretty much useless. And wearing just Fret's clothes was…

Though shopping for new clothes required Rindo to actually leave his room. In this new body. With this goddamn bodybag tote.

Y'know what? This is what hoodies were good for. And masks. He pulled up his hood over his new troublesome hair and his mask over his new troublesome face. There were still the eyes, but...But he could live with this for now.

Rindo gripped the bodybag handle with one hand and his chest with the other, trying not to collapse into tears all over again. "D-Don't worry, Fret! I-I'll find a way to wake you up and bring you back! Even if I have to do it piece by piece! If you can hear me...I love you. I love you more than anything..."

A snug warmth, if only for a few moments. It kinda reminded Rindo of when Fret would cuddle up to him in his sleep, murmuring something incomprehensible to him sweetly. Or whenever Rindo had planned to get up, but Fret's slumbering embrace had refused to release him. Sometimes Fret had whined softly. Sometimes he had even growled.

And sometimes, towards the end, Rindo had heard Fret whimpering in his sleep, his hand balled up against his heart.

"Teeth…Stop the…Rindo…"

Rindo's own heart had ached at Fret's soft yet anguished murmurs. So Rindo had hugged him and pet him and quietly reassured him, just as he had done for all of Fret's surprisingly frequent nightmares. But the only thing thathad seemed to bring Fret any relief from the 'teeth' was when he had started draining Rindo in his sleep, his anxious whimpers simmering down into more content whines.

Then Rindo would stay silent and still, careful not to wake Fret. He hadn't wanted Fret to feel horrified and guilty for something he had no control over, not when he had already been so terrified of his own needs.

…And of Rindo leaving him behind, even though that had been the absolute last thing Rindo wanted to do ever. Maybe it was because Fret had been a Pale Dog Noise? Or maybe Fret had a Pale Dog Noise because of his naturally friendly but needy temperament.

Needy, but also kind, sweet, loving…Only for Rindo to just…

...Rindo should go. At least outside he could do things to distract himself from his thoughts. This place was only a tomb now. Even if Fret's spirit resided within himself rather than these walls. Within himself...somewhere…

Rindo smiled just a little, even though his eyes still burned. Yes, if Fret was still here, at least in some form...Then he could do this. He headed outside.

No one in the halls. Good. Not that anyone would be able to get a good look at him between the hoodie and the face mask, but…

Ah! Someone was coming out of their room just across the hall! It was…

…Tsugumi? She seemed just as surprised to see him, eyes wide, her body frozen in the doorframe. Probably the most emotion Rindo had seen out of her ever.

"Um…" Rindo began. "...Hi?"

Tsugumi's body relaxed a little, and quickly closed the door behind her. "Hello. You are…" She squinted at him a little. "...Fret, correct?"

His sore heart ached even more. "...Rindo, actually. I, um…I…"

"Oh…" One hand rose to her mouth. "...Oh! Sorry! That was terribly rude of me, to assume…"

"It's…It's okay…" Rindo croaked. "I know that I…look a lot like him now…" Though not enough to completely pass for him. Physically maybe, but definitely not mentally. Not enough to pretend that Fret won instead. He'd…He'd probably be smiling now, happy that he had his Rindude with him forever and ever. How was Fret such a fountain of optimism even in the worst circumstances…?

"Don't blame yourself for what you couldn't control," said Tsugumi, and suddenly her eyes grew much sadder. "To be puppeted by another force…I know that feeling all too well."

"So you've…you've sung too?"

The question seemed to catch her off guard a little, but she quickly regained her composure. "...Yes. It is…a wonderful experience, until it all derails. And then…everything becomes different. Include yourself."

"...I don't feel that different though." Besides the lack of singing and lack of Fret.

"It will be more obvious to others than to yourself at first," said Tsugumi. "Like when I first sung, I didn't notice much of a difference other than my appearance, but my brother noticed the changes right away. And each time my brother sung, I saw how much he changed as well." Her expression turned more somber, eyes slipping toward the floor.

She had a brother? Was that Susukichi? As an only child, Rindo could only imagine what it would be like to have a sibling at all. Much less having that sibling with you as a Reaper, watching that sibling changing into another person entirely as they sung over and over…

…Would Rindo be happier, if he could watch Fret evolve alongside him? Or would that have made everything so much worse?

"I…cannot 'sense' or 'talk to' my previous partner like some seem to be able to," admitted Tsugumi. "But I can't deny the influence she has over me even now. Is it a conscious influence? Is it my own guilt trying to honor their memory and interests? That, I don't know. But I do know that I wouldn't be here today without her help, both before and during the singing."

Both before and during…Yeah, Fret had always been there for him. When they were alive, when they were in the Game, when they were singing…So he still had to be here somewhere, right?

Then Rindo heard footsteps, and both he and Tsugumi turned to see Ayano coming down the hall. Probably coming to see how Rindo and Fret were doing, as usual.

"Oh, hello Ayano," said Tsugumi without giving Rindo a chance to speak. "I was just checking on Rindo here. He's freshly sung, you see."

Being called Fret hurt, but being called Rindo…also felt weird? For some reason?

Ayano's gaze immediately locked onto Rindo, as she strode over to his side. "How are you feeling?" Her tone was soft and quiet, like she was talking to an injured animal.

"I…" He should say that was fine, or at least okay, so that he didn't worry her. "I…I miss Fret." He swallowed as his eyes burned. "I miss him…so much…"

"It's alright, dear. Such pain and loneliness is normal right after such a long and intense emotional connection. Both of you need time to recover and adjust to your new state of being," explained Ayano. "Here, would you like to hold Shoka?" She offered him the iguana on her shoulder.

Huh? Its name was Shoka too? Did Ayano let Shoka name it after herself or something? "Uh…sure?"

Ayano stretched out her arm, and the iguana climbed down. It slung itself around Rindo's shoulder instead, almost like a cat, and there was something…strangely comforting about that. Rindo carefully petted its dry scales.

Rindo wondered how silly he looked to Tsugumi, but apparently she had already left. Huh.

"She was a gift from my previous partner," Ayano explained. "So that I would still have a physical companion by my side after the singing was complete. She has been by my side ever since."

"That…sounds really nice, actually," said Rindo. If only he and Fret had gotten a puppy Noise or something. "So, is she a Noise then? She doesn't look like one though. Is she, like, uh, an iguana Soul that ended up in the UG then?" He hadn't really thought about how animal Souls worked before.

"My partner is very gifted in creative Imagination. She likes to conjure things both in and out of battle. Shoka is one of those."

"Whoa, that's pretty cool," said Rindo, now staring at the iguana on his shoulder. She seemed perfectly real no matter how hard he studied her. "And she's lasted all this time too?"

"Of course," said Ayano. "Because my partner is with me to maintain her."

"R-Really?" asked Rindo. "Though, uh, how do you know that it's not just you, uh…" Oh man, how did he ask this without sounding incredibly rude?

"How each partner manifests is different," said Ayano. "Umeko comes and goes as she pleases. Sometimes she talks in my head, and sometimes she talks by driving me to create my own art. She rarely comes to my call, however, stubborn as she is. She's still disappointed that she lost, you see. She hates losing anything." Ayano chuckled. "But she supposes that if she had to lose to anyone, it might as well be to her cherished partner." She laid a hand on her chest, her smile pleasant but distant.

Rindo stayed quiet, in case they were having an inner conversation or something.

"My first partner, however, has always been very quiet, both before and after the singing," Ayano went on. "But he is always here, in every motion, in every battle, in every flower that he helps me tend. He has always loved flowers."

"Your first partner, huh?" said Rindo. This 'quiet' partner sounded more like how Tsugumi had described her own partner. Maybe? "H-Hello to him too."

Ayano smiled warmly. "So do not be concerned. Your partner will manifest for you in his own way, given enough time. And remember, both of you chose to sing together, to free each other from the terrible Noise within."

…But Rindo had made that choice for Fret, when Rindo had purposefully gone back in time to make sure that Fret loved him and would happily sing with him…

…Although, when Rindo had finally confessed that to Fret, he still loved him. But was that because he had actually loved him before the singing, or because he was just that infected by Rindo's ill Soul?

…Never being able to know for sure was the worst part. Maybe they would have come to love each other without any help from the singing at all. Or maybe he would have drifted off like all of Rindo's other previous friends. Or maybe Fret would have stayed, but would have only been a friend and nothing more. But that…That still could have been nice…

…Wait, none of that would have mattered because they would have been erased by the end of this week anyway. Since this Game had gone on for ages without the top teams changing, according to the other Reapers. And the Wicked Twisters hadn't exactly been doing stellar in the leaderboards, even with Minamimoto backing them up. And was assuming that Minamimoto wouldn't have ditched them for her at some point.

So they would've been doomed if it weren't for the singing. If it weren't for her mauling his Soul into singing. If it weren't for her…

Should he thank her, if he ever saw her again?

But he really, really didn't want to see her again, ever, even if she did inadvertently save him and Fret from an unwinnable Game.

"Dear?"

"Oh, um, sorry, I just…" Rindo looked away. "I, um, I really appreciate all the help, and everything you've told me. But I…I think I need some time alone to just…think. I, uh, I'm gonna go to the clothes floor now."

Ayano nodded. "I understand. Whenever you need to talk to me or anyone else, don't hesitate to call."

Rindo nodded back. "Of course. Thank you Ayano."

One lonesome ride up the elevator later, and Rindo arrived at the empty shopping floor. He was so glad it was empty. This…might take a while, and he didn't want to be disturbed while he thought about the everything…

But soon he realized that things weren't quite as desolate as he hoped. He spotted a not-quite-familiar stocky girl, wearing a fedora. Ah, so the fedora girls had sung too, huh? That was fast.

They stared at each other with somber gazes, neither saying a word. Rindo understood her pain, and she understood his. Neither of them feeling social right now, they parted ways. Maybe another time.

The sleepy, wordless synthwave soothed Rindo a little as he explored each store. And he really had to explore, testing textures and gathering up anything that was even vaguely appealing. He piled all the threads into the dressing room once he couldn't carry anymore, and inspected every single piece of clothing from all angles once he finally started wearing stuff.

Shirts, shorts, pants, coats…So much to choose from and consider that Rindo didn't even know where to start. Should he wear a hat too, to cover his unwieldy hair? Or maybe he should wear it on his belt like Fret did? Maybe Fret would like that?

…Right, what would Fret want? What would make Fret happy?

Actually, Fret would enjoy an extensive shopping trip like this. Right, Fret often took forever to decide on clothes, when usually Rindo was the one who had trouble coming to a decision on anything. So Rindo shouldn't feel bad if this went on for a while.

So far Rindo had found a down vest from HOG FANG, but he still wasn't sure what to do for the shirt. He liked the Cobalt Bishamon from RyuGu, but not for this outfit. Of course he could probably have saved himself some trouble by just going with the faux vintage jacket from HOG FANG instead of the vest, like he had been pondering about for the past half-hour, but…but the vest was more something Fret would wear, probably. Though Rindo would probably be freezing in just a vest, even one with a fluffy collar like that one…or maybe not, since Fret stayed warmer than Rindo…Maybe if he got something with longer sleeves to go with it? But what if that looked too…stuffy?

Of course he was probably overthinking this, as he always did. He needed enough clothes for at least a few outfits, so maybe it didn't matter whether or not stuff perfectly matched. He could figure it out better along the way, maybe. And maybe if he dressed stupidly enough, he could get Fret to laugh at him, or give him some direct advice on fashion. Just like Rindo would laugh at all the dumb pictures he—

Oh right, Fret took pictures of stuff here before, right? That might help narrow things down. So Rindo would just look at what Fret sent out, and…Oh, Rindo was an idiot. Because of course these pictures had Fret in them, with his signature big goofy smile and dumb poses as he showed off the threads, and Rindo was not ready for that, and he could already feel the tears welling up as he looked at his phone—

Footsteps! Somewhere outside. Rindo carefully hid himself behind a rack of clothes and peeked through the store window.

Shoka. She glanced around uncertainly, before shuffling off into the Gatto Nero store across the way.

What was she doing here? Was she trying to bum off some free clothes from the hotel? Or had she started singing too? But Rindo didn't see anyone else with her.

He should probably just leave her alone. But shopping by himself wasn't very fun. It never had been, really, but it was especially not fun now. Not that this trip had really been 'for fun' in the first place, but…

But he decided to see what Shoka was up to. He had been planning to go to Gatto Nero next anyway. He just needed to grab all of his clothes first…And there was a lot of stuff he still hadn't even tried on yet…

As he headed on back, he noticed a turquoise necklace hanging off one of the doorknobs in one of those changing rooms. Wait, that was garagara, wasn't it? It must've been carried here by someone else, and missed by whoever straightened the stores afterward. But it was like two necklaces in one, with two strings and two pendants, and Rindo liked that. He also felt weirdly sorry for it, being stranded here in the HOG FANG store by itself for who knows how long. So he took it with him.

Rindo fumbled into Gatto Nero with his bundle of threads and his bag of Fret's belongings. Actually, he had freaking wings, so he should use them! He unfurled his wings and wait no he didn't want to transform—

But transform he did, knocking off several racks of clothes. Oh man, the Reapers who ran this place were gonna hate him! And oh no he dropped all the stuff he was carrying too! Uh, wait, how did he turn back again…?

"What the hell?" Shoka scurried out of the back of the store. "What are you—" She gaped at his giant clumsy bird form. "Holy shit, a Phoenix? Who the hell are you?"

He flattened against the floor. "...Rindo."

Shoka's eyes widened and her mouth gaped. "Wait, Rindo?"

"Y-Yeah," Rindo answered, though he could barely recognize his own voice through all the reverb. "H-Hold on a sec, lemme…Uh, I changed back before, so…" He tried to imagine his human self, but he kept thinking about his old body instead. "I-It's not working!"

"I think you just need to relax," said Shoka. "Just, uh, think about how you don't wanna be a Noise right now. At least that's what Ayano's told me before."

Right. He didn't want his new human form, but he wanted this Noise form even less. He didn't want this form, he didn't want this form, he didn't want—

Rindo felt the tattoos unwind, and then was just Rindo again. Well, Rindo with Fret enjoying the view from somewhere. "There we go." He paused. "Thanks Shoka. I'm…still getting used to all of this."

"Yeah, I bet." Shoka seemed to study him. "Wow, you really look like the other guy. If I didn't know better, I would've thought he'd sung you instead."

—"His name—" Rindo growled. "—is Fret."

Shoka looked away. "Right. Fret."

"What are you doing here anyway?" asked Rindo.

Shoka smirked. "Oh, since Ayano runs the hotel, she lets me nab some free stuff here sometimes."

So she was here to mooch off the hotel!

Shoka's smug grin faded. "And I…also wanted to check on you. Since I knew the whole singing thing was gonna happen any day now."

"Wait really?" asked Rindo.

"Yeah," said Shoka, hands on her hips. "I just wasn't expecting you to show up here. Even though I probably should have, considering one of the first things a newly evolved Reaper needs is new clothes."

"Why did you want to check on me though?" asked Rindo.

"Because I knew you were gonna be different, once the singing happened," said Shoka, and she sounded almost…sad? "I wasn't even sure if you'd even win that fight, wuss that you are. Especially considering how you two were in the park."

Huh? Oh yeah, she had come in while Fret had been Soul-twisting him into oblivion. Again. Because at that point Fret couldn't stand their Souls being apart for even a few seconds.

"But why did you care?" asked Rindo. "Why do you always care? You don't even know me! Not really anyway."

Shoka was silent for a moment. "I know you better than you think."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Rindo snapped. "You think you know me just because you Reapers watch us all the time and have our statistics lined up on your phones?"

"No."

"Then what do you—"

"Rindragon."

Whatever angry words Rindo had vanished from his mouth instantly. He stared at her.

She quietly stared back, arms folded.

"Why…Why do you know that name?"

Her arms fell to her sides. "Because I'm Swallow, you moron."

More silence.

"...What?" asked Rindo. "A-Are you serious?"

"Duh. Of course I am. Look!" She took out her phone, with its Mr. Mew casing, and showed him a text conversation. The very same conversation that he and Swallow had had eons ago, but with their messages having flipped positions. "See?"

RIndo still blinked at the phone screen before him. Then, still gaping at it, he brought out his own phone, and typed out a reply.

A moment later, Shoka's phone dinged.

"hi?" popped up on her screen. Under the name rindragon.

"Believe me now?" asked Shoka.

Rindo slowly nodded.

"Good," said Shoka, putting away her phone. Her somewhat harsh demeanor faded into something more awkward. "So…Hi. Hi rindragon."

"...Hi Swallow," Rindo croaked out. "N-Nice to meet you? In person?"

"Thanks. You too."

Things fell quiet again. Rindo almost wondered if they would have been better off texting each other instead. "Why didn't you say anything before?"

"Because…I didn't know if you would want to be my friend anymore," said Shoka, tugging on the cat ears of her hoodie. "If you knew the real me, in general, I guess? I'm not exactly an angel in person."

"You're…not wrong," admitted Rindo. For one, weren't Angels an actual thing according to Minamimoto? Though Rindo didn't even remember when Minamimoto had mentioned that.

"...Yeah." Shoka tugged on one of her sleeves. "Anyway, I just…I didn't want to mess up what we already had, you know? Does that make sense?"

"Yeah…Yeah I get that," said Rindo, glancing away. What would have Rindo thought, if he knew Shoka was Swallow since the beginning? Would he have treated Shoka nicer? Or would he have shunned both Shoka and Swallow all the more?

Would he have sung her instead? Or more accurately, gotten ripped to shreds by her, judging by that one early loop?

"I couldn't exactly be chummy with you during the Game anyway, since it's my job to be all 'fair' and 'unbiased' and all that crap," Shoka went on, pulling down her hoodie further. "I could've lost my wings for that. And if you lose your Reaper wings when you're already a Reaper, you stop getting points, and eventually you get erased."

"Points?"

"Oh right, you probably don't know about points yet," said Shoka. "Or know anything about being a Reaper yet. Ugh, why did this have to happen this way?" Her groan of frustration soon turned into a sigh. "Though, at least you didn't get erased by losing this rigged Game. So, there's that…" Still, she looked troubled.

"Y-Yeah, and now I'm a Reaper too, so…" Rindo's mouth squirmed into a smile. "S-So we can actually be friends and hang out and stuff. I-I mean, not that we weren't friends before, but…B-But it's nice to just see you? Or, uh, does that sound weird too? Um…"

Shoka grinned. "I know what you're trying to say, dummy. So why don't we start by helping you pick out some decent clothes?"

"R-Really?" asked Rindo. "Y-Yeah, that sounds good, actually!" Rindo grinned. "In fact that sounds great!"

"Then let's do this. So, what've you got so far?"

Shoka, expert in all things Gatto Nero, guided him through the store. There was something extra funny about finding a whole rack of the Mr. Mew hoodie Shoka wore. Rindo was half-tempted to just wear one of those, but dressing identically to Shoka would probably have been a little too weird. She'd probably just call him a loser or a poser or a faker. Faker? You're the fake hedgehog around here! You're comparing yourself to—

Oh yeah, that one meme that Fret had used constantly when they had first become friends, when Rindo had had no fashion confidence whatsoever. So Rindo had awkwardly tried to copy Fret's outfits exactly whenever they had gone out clothes shopping together.

Hold on, was Fret trying to tell him to form his own style instead of mindlessly following Shoka's advice? Wait, did that mean that Rindo would have to communicate with Fret through memes? That sounded like a horribly Fret thing to do. Man, Fret always joked about Rindo being terminally online, but Fret's brain was the one lethally overloaded with every meme on the planet.

Anyway, this was still nice, just seeing Shoka's expression light up as she held and described all the different clothes. Especially since Rindo was so used to seeing only sour smirks from her. And with whatever fashion sense Rindo had absorbed from Fret, either before or after the singing, helped Rindo appreciate what Shoka was talking about more.

Out of all of Shoka's suggestions, Rindo picked out some frayed cargo pants as well as that strange buckle-sleeve black shirt. As Shoka had pointed out, he could just add or remove the sleeves as he wanted to, depending on how hot or cold he felt. Which was especially handy when Rindo wasn't sure how cold or warm he naturally felt yet.

Okay, so…buckle-sleeve shirt, with the down vest on top, frayed cargo pants, and those high-top sneakers from HOG FANG. This looked…decent? Maybe? He had the feeling that Fret was both laughing and groaning at him. Okay, maybe this outfit wasn't quite it. Hmm, how could he pull all this together? He tried adding the garagara necklace. Nope, that wasn't it. He took it off, and squinted at the outfit in the mirror.

It was the pants. They didn't match his hodgepodge outfit at all, even though both it and the top were Gatto Nero. Maybe for another outfit, but not this one. Oh, what about those asymmetrical jeans? They were black like the top, so maybe that would work better? Yeah, that looked pretty good!

…Though now he kinda looked like a wannabe goth, with all the black, and the tangled dark hair and dark eyes. So little color, like he'd stepped right out of a black-and-white cartoon. Hmm…What if he added the turquoise necklace now? Yeah, that definitely helped, but it wasn't quite enough. He should head over to garagara and see what else they had.

Rindo browsed through the garagara store and almost immediately found a bracelet that matched the necklace. Yeah, that definitely helped a lot! So going with a color scheme of black and blue with some white and brown, huh? Shoka seemed to like it okay too, though it wasn't quite her thing. Well, if she wasn't calling him a braindead fashion moron, then that meant it must have looked at least passable. He also found some neat shirts and cloaks here too, but those didn't go with this outfit. Still, he'd add them to the pile of extra clothes he was carting around.

While Rindo collected any clothes that interested him, right now he was mostly looking for accessories for his current outfit. Maybe that Jupes' karma shoulder bag? Was that the right shade of blue though? Maybe that sling bag from MONOCROW? But he already had so much black with this outfit. That MONOCROW face mask would probably work though! It didn't look that different from his old one, but it fit his new face better now. His new face…Maybe he should track down a totally different mask, like a blue one or something. Out with the old…

…Did Rindo really want that though? No, he wanted to keep at least some of the old. And all this time, he had been toting around a bunch of Fret's old accessories with him too…

Rindo carefully opened the bodybag tote. Just seeing Fret's stuff lying in there caused pain to lance through his heart, followed by a surge of warmth. Fret trying to comfort him, maybe. Or perhaps he was just happy to see his old belongings, knowing that Rindo intended to add at least some of them to his current wardrobe.

...Or it might be just some kind of twisted nostalgia from Rindo himself.

Before he let himself sink any deeper into that quicksand pit of thought, Rindo pulled out everything one at a time to examine it closer. Fret's vest…Well, he already had a vest with this outfit, and this getup had enough black already, so that was a no go. The pearls…maybe? That might be a bit much with the turquoise necklace actually. The choker…definitely worked, even though he just said that this outfit had enough black already. The black-and-white bracelet…Perhaps if he put it on the opposite arm as the turquoise bracelet…Yeah, that worked. The scarf…

What to do with the scarf? Rindo tried wearing it real loose like Fret did, but the turquoise necklace hung a little too low for that. Hmm…He could wear it as a headband? No, that was just dumb. A bandana maybe? Instead of his mask? Yeah, that might work…Okay no it didn't, too narrow. Maybe if he put on the belt like…Nope, that didn't look good either. Oh, what about a sash across the chest? Especially if he put it under the vest to keep it secure…Yeah, actually, he liked that. Fret's scarf front and center, without getting in the way of the rest of the jewelry.

And hey, what if he added that Top O' Topo mouse cap to his outfit? He knew that Fret liked this cap because Fret had once bought an identical one during one of their RG shopping trips. So Rindo added that to his belt loop and…Yeah, actually, he really liked that. Bought some extra color to the outfit without being overpowering. And it was something else to remind him of Fret, besides the scarf. Maybe he should wear it and the scarf with every outfit, like Fret had always worn that old black cap with every outfit. They were both subdued enough colors to work with most clothes, probably.

The person in the mirror only sort of looked like Fret, and barely resembled Rindo at all. In fact, he still…Man, how did both Rindo's and Fret's tastes combine to form something that looked so…emo? So many dark-colored clothes, and the messy black hair and dark eyes really didn't help.

But it also felt…right? They had both been through a lot, thanks to the Game and the singing. Maybe they had earned a little bit of emo time. Maybe they had earned a little bit of time to…

…No. Fret was still here.

Right here. Rindo was looking right at him, wasn't he?

...Wasn't he?

This rough of this chapter wasn't hard to write exactly, but I just kept adding and adding more and more things, and suddenly a 7k chapter had somehow ballooned to 17k without me noticing. Thankfully my betas pointed out the ridiculous length, and we found a good place to split the chapter.

This also means that the following chapter probably won't take that long to come out! Since my betas essentially ended up doing two chapters' worth of edits instead of one, oops. Once again, you guys are the best. I'll probably wait about a week or so before posting to give everyone time to catch up on the current chapter first though.

The Ao3 version of this work contains art I did myself! Sadly ffnet is too ancient to handle such things.