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Takumi came back to the world in waves, his eyes opening and closing as if his body never wanted him to remove himself from his long dream. He was in his room at Last Defense Academy, as he had been for the past 93 days, give or take a night or so of him being unconscious beyond the wall of Undying Flames. He moved his limbs stiffly, it felt much more than the normal amount of soreness. The war was really messing with his body.
When he finally rose from his bed it was unsteady and from a vantage point higher than he expected, like he was still wearing the heels from his class armor. He looked down at his hands and saw they were pale with elongated fingers… What on earth? He bunched up the sleeves of his hoodie and saw his arms were pale as well.
He approached the mirror but where it had been was only an empty wall.
*tap tap tap*
He heard urgent footsteps outside.
“Takumi!” Came a familiar voice, then a ring at the door.
Takumi saw no reason not to open the door considering he knew the voice.
There was Eito, his hair swept up in a way Takumi had never seen before and with an expression that was also unexpected. He was practically crying with relief and joy seeing Takumi. Something terrible must’ve happened.
“You're finally awake! Oh my goodness, it is so good to see you!” Eito cried out, leaning in to hug Takumi. Takumi took a step back.
“W-w-wait! How long have I been out?” Takumi stammered. Eito put his outstretched arms down as if he was remembering himself.
“Over a year…” Eito replied, the smile on his face fading a bit as he looked down.
A YEAR!?
“You’re joking, t-that can't be true!” How was Takumi still even alive with the threat of V'ehxness and World Death? There was no way he could have slept through all of that, right? But the changes to his body… was that because he had aged?
Eito took a deep breath and with a sad smile started to explain.
“It is true, but I completed our mission while you were indisposed so don't worry! We're safe now. And I'm taking you to the others!” Eito took his hand in his own surprisingly ungloved one and started leading him out of the room. What struck Takumi most upon stepping out was the comforting sight of the Artificial Dome stretched out over the sky.
“How?” Takumi gasped. Eito turned back to him with brows knitted like he was struggling with words. He was a bit hoarse, now that Takumi thought of it.
“There's a lot to go over, but basically this isn't the Last Defense Academy we stayed at on Earth, it's kind of like a prototype area before they deployed it on Earth. I thought it would be best to keep you here until you woke up so it would be less jarring.” He turned up the corners of his mouth with that last bit. He was glad for the consideration.
So they were back on the Artificial Satellite huh… somehow Takumi did not feel relieved as they walked down the stairs. He just felt kind of... Numb. There was a lot to process just from the first 5 minutes of being awake. It proved to be true that they weren't in the Last Defense Academy as well. There were definitely a lot of differences in the detailing and architecture. And no strange statues.
They finally left through the entrance. The courtyard opened up to a landscape all too familiar to Takumi. The standard copy pasted structures he grew up with in the TRC spanned out everywhere in his view. Eito led him to a kitted out Isuzu with matte body paint which had supplies to last for days. He handed over a lukewarm bottle of water which to a dried out Takumi tasted like mana from Heaven.
“Sorry, no food for right now. It's a bit hard to come by out here but I'll get you fed at our destination.” Eito held out his hand in front of his nose winking with an apologetic gesture. His bare hand. That was going to take some getting used to.
Takumi got into the vehicle and looked around, it didn’t look as clean as he’d expect one manned by Eito to be.
“I'm surprised you don't have any cleaning supplies in here, I thought you were a neat freak, Eito.” He attempted some humor, but in reality in the enclosed space of the car he suddenly felt adrift. This was too surreal.
“Oh, I don't worry about that anymore now.” Eito said cheerfully, starting the engine. They peeled out in an even keel. There was no hurry as Eito cruised them down the streets. The empty streets.
“Where is everyone?” Takumi asked. Normally his area of the TRC was bustling with people.
“They were evacuated a long time ago. Probably so they could test the prototype Academy.” Eito replied, he didn't seem unsettled at all at the lack of people. He looked truly relaxed. Takumi didn’t even realize just how much tension Eito had been holding before until he saw him now, the war had truly stressed him out after all. Even though he had tried to keep everyone’s spirits up he was really putting on a brave front all this time. Takumi burst into tears. He was free from the nightmare. They both were. He involuntarily let out a choked sound.
“Whoa, Takumi, what's wrong?” Eito asked, slowing the Isuzu to a stop. Concern etched his face.
“It's finally over…” Takumi sobbed, letting reality wash over him. He was so overwhelmed he didn't even feel embarrassed when Eito clambered over the console to hold him. The generous seat of the Isuzu could barely accommodate the two grown men. It was a little awkward but his only relief was in Eito’s reassuring pats on his back. He would take what he could get as he let his ocean of grief and despair stream out.
“Yes, it's over.” Eito soothed, his voice resonating from his neck onto Takumi's shoulder. They remained like that for a while.
—
The drive up to their destination was silent save for the rumblings of the engine and the tires' dull roar against the road. Takumi felt hollowed out. The only thing keeping him from sleeping was the knowledge that he would see his friends again. They were waiting for him. Takumi was grateful Eito respectfully allowed Takumi to catch his emotional breath and didn't try to explain other things that he wasn't ready for.
Takumi returned back to his body when the Isuzu slowed down to a stop. They were at their destination. It was… Kamakura General Hospital? Upon seeing Takumi's shocked expression Eito spoke up again.
“Your teammates… They're here because they needed treatment. Don't worry! They're all making steady progress to a full recovery. I'm keeping an eye on them every day and the equipment here is state of the art.” Eito reassured him. Takumi felt the formation of a new pit in his stomach.
“It's really OK! They're going to be up within weeks by my estimate! Here, let's go to them!” Eito took Takumi's hand again. There were no people at the reception desk.
“The public facing staff was replaced with artificial intelligence for the most part at some point. It was the only way to keep the mission classified.” Eito explained, leading Takumi down hallways that were somehow more endless and dimly lit than the LDA. The pit grew more and more as he looked around and still saw no people. Just how classified was this mission anyway? Eventually they arrived at a particularly reinforced elevator.
“This part of the hospital was built to withstand attacks, even Hemoanima would have a hard time breaching through here.” Eito once again gave an explainer before Takumi could ask. They descended for a longer time than Takumi could fathom a hospital elevator would normally. Eventually it opened to a new area with wires, lights, and buttons abound. It looked like the inside of an old fashioned spaceship Karua had shown a picture of to him once. He hoped he could see Karua right after this reunion. He got the feeling he would need the comfort.
Eito led him to a room where he keyed in a long code to open. When they stepped inside it was suddenly barren of excess tech. Just a series of pods. It brought him to mind when Shouma had described his dream. Was this also where they had been oh so long ago before the deployment to their mission? As he pondered that the door shut automatically behind them. Eito let out a sigh, readying for what was likely his most complicated explanation of all.
“Ok Takumi let's go see them... just… they're going to look a little different from how you remember. It was unfortunately the only way to restore them, but I know it works because this is how you're standing here right now next to me! The scientists had already been growing them before I arrived to give them the Hemoanima they needed so they took on some amount of differentiated characteristics but not enough to disgust me. Thank God, I mean, me.” Eito rambled. Takumi was having a hard time understanding what he was talking about but nevertheless stepped forward. The first pod he approached was fogged over, he wiped his hand over it.
In the pod was Eito. A stab of pure fear sliced through Takumi. He turned to look at the Eito beside him who looked sheepish and not horrified by the clone of himself at all.
“Oh that one's Takemaru, it's kind of hard to tell since this one doesn't have his scars and dyed hair.” Eito said lightly, slicking back his hair as bile rose in Takumi’s throat. He didn't want to look at the Eito in the pod again but it did have black hair. Takumi didn't really want to move either but Eito took his hand and used it to brush away the moisture from the next pod. In that pod was Eito again. Black haired again but slimmer. With breasts evident underneath the flimsy hospital gown. Takumi felt like he was looking down at himself from the top of the ceiling.
“This one’s Hiruko. Of the females I think she turned out the best. I figured out I don't really like the females much though.” Takumi heard Eito say from far away. One by one Eito took Takumi around the room and showed him the Eitos inside the pods. Some smaller, some bigger, some female, some male. He referred to them as the names of Takumi's comrades. They weren't his comrades. Nozomi wasn’t included in the list.
“I know this is a lot to take in Takumi but trust me, they're all themselves! I was able to reverse engineer them from the Hemoanima I drained from them. And, of course, I made sure to remove any troubling memories. I left yours though because I thought it was important that someone other than me remembered our time down there. Not everything, however! There are a few things I kept to myself. It was for your own good.” Eito said but he was clearly not really worried anymore about how Takumi felt at all. It was like he was bragging now.
“I worked really hard to make this happen, after I ended humanity I didn't realize how lonely I was going to feel. They were so revolting and yet in time I started to miss even them! I found this place though and it was like fate. I made you first, of course. I liked you even when you were so filthy and abhorrent. Look at you now though, you're so beautiful! You even have your original eye color-marvelous-like two little sapphires!” Eito unclasped a small pocket mirror. To Takumi's already devastating despair, he saw Eito’s visage looking back, crying with blank eyes, a mop of blood red hair framing his face.
“I’m so happy you were the first to be ready. I know I said I was lonely but I wouldn't mind if it was just you and me. Don't tell the others, but I only made them because I thought you might miss them, hehe.” Eito chuckled and draped himself over Takumi, constricting him.
“Are you hungry Takumi? There isn't any food anymore because my Undying Flames removed pretty much all the biological material from the Artificial Satellite but I found out I can just feed you guys some Hemoanima and that should sustain you. I was thinking once we're all up we could raid Futurum for some variety of food.” Eito cut his finger and pressed it thoughtlessly into Takumi's mouth. The memories started flooding in of all the deeds Eito had done. It wasn’t in chronological order. He saw Eito power the escape pod to the Artificial Satellite. Takumi saw Nozomi speared through. He saw Eito kill and drain everyone. He saw himself defeat V'ehxness. He saw-
“Oops, I didn't think that would happen! You saw that, didn't you? Hmm, you're not very responsive right now. Maybe some altering is needed… not that I don't love you Takumi but I'm going to need some more affection from my partner! Yeah, with some adjustments it's going to be perfect.” Eito seemed satisfied with what he had concluded. He unwrapped himself and-staring into Takumi's annihilation-gave him a succinct kiss. He was so happy.
“You’re my own little Garden of Eden, Takumi. I love you.”