Chapter Text
Tsukasa looks back over his shoulder with a frown. “You’ve got to stop hiding behind me whenever you see that guy, Daiki, he’s going to figure out something’s up even if he doesn’t have his memories back.”
Daiki makes a face, mouth pursing like he’s eaten something unpleasant. “I don’t see why I can’t, I’d rather not be in his line of sight if at all possible.”
“Does he really freak you out that badly? I told you, I talked to Sougo, even if he’s got his memories back he hasn’t got any of his power, Sougo says he made sure Tsukuyomi got all of it.”
“Not all of it.”
A pause, and then Tsukasa says, slowly, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Look, we can’t talk about it out here, he might be listening to us.”
“Talk about what?”
Daiki’s already tugging him through a rippling curtain, and then another, and then a third before he stops. Tsukasa looks down at his clothes, notices with some frustration that he seems to be dressed like a high school gym teacher, and then doesn’t have a chance to comment on it before Daiki says, “I still have some of it.”
“You still–what?”
“Sougo’s little reset button didn’t hit us, remember? I still have some of Schwartz’s power.” Daiki stops and looks him up and down with some appreciation. “Also wow, ok, those shorts look fantastic on you. I mean, I’m generally enthusiastic about your legs, but this is a great look.”
“Daiki, baby, I love you so goddamn much, can we please focus on how you have some of Schwartz’s power just…floating around inside you. Why didn’t you mention this before now?”
“Because, frankly, it was agonizing when he gave it to me, and I don’t really want to think about how much more painful it’d probably be to have it removed. Anyway, it’s not like I’m using it for anything.”
“I should hope not.” Tsukasa pauses, eyeing him suspiciously. “You haven’t been, right?”
Daiki gives him a pained look. “I know I’m not famously trustworthy, but please believe me when I say that I’d rather die a few times myself than watch you die again.”
Which doesn’t directly answer the question, but it tells Tsukasa enough for him to nod and reach for Daiki again. “Come on, the kids are expecting us.”
“You think you can hang onto those shorts?”
“…we can talk about the shorts later.”
Back and back and back, until they come out on the sidewalk where they’d left it, a few blocks from Kujigoji Hall, and round the corner to nearly bump into Schwartz coming back towards them. He smiles a thin smile, and Tsukasa can feel Daiki’s hand go tense in his. “Ah, it’s you two again. I was just retracing my steps, I think I might have dropped something. You don’t happen to have seen anything of mine lying around, have you?”
Tsukasa’s about to reply when Daiki beats him to it, false cheer glowing in his voice. “We hadn’t noticed anything, no, what did it look like?”
Instead of any description, Schwartz just nods and says, “If you see it, please do let me know,” and walks away past them, his shoulder brushing Daiki’s briefly.
Daiki shudders visibly and mutters, as soon as he’s far enough away, “So we’re going to talk to the kids about this, right? This time you’re not just going to say, ‘sure, I’ll talk to Sougo,’ and then not actually do anything?”
Tsukasa glances over his shoulder at Schwartz’s retreating back. “I did say I was sorry about spacing out there. And, uh. Yeah. Yeah, I think we’re going to talk to them about it now.”
“Good, because now I am sure he knows I’ve got his shit.”