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Eiji woke up. Or, he supposed, he gained consciousness. Something more nebulous than bolting awake, in a way he couldn’t put a finger on.
Last thing he remembered was… someone named Goda? And King OOO? And pain… lots and lots of pain…
The memories all being a blur, it took him a while to process anything else. He felt a rumbling all around him, and after a moment of shock he realized he was laughing. His body was laughing, and around him was more laughter.
His eyes were open, he realized. Had they been open the whole time? He could see things, but couldn’t control where he was looking. As his gaze shifted around, he slowly started to recognize what he was seeing.
Across from him in a wicker chair with a wild patterned cushion was Chiyoko, her eyes more creased with smile lines, but otherwise just the same as he remembered her. And then to either side of him… On one side was Hina, and the other… Shingo!
Both of them were dressed more flashy than he remembered. Hina was wearing something that could easily have come straight from one of her fashion shows. And Shingo… well, his hair hadn’t changed, but his clothes were much tighter. More like…
Hina was saying something to him, leaning her head in casually to bump Eiji’s knee, which made Eiji realize he was higher up than both Hina and Shingo. They both seemed to be sitting on a couch, so he realized that for some reason, he must have been perched on the back of said couch. Before he could try to figure that out, he felt the rumbling return, and realized his body was laughing again.
He hadn’t made out what Hina had said — what anyone had said since he became aware — but somehow his body was moving and reacting without him. But strange as it was, the thought didn’t panic him as it maybe should have. Instead, it felt warm and comfortable, surrounded by people he knew and loved.
He started trying to pay more attention to his own body. He was wearing a breezy shirt that wasn’t exactly what he would have picked for himself, but not a far cry from it. But beside that…
Why are my pants so tight?
The conversation around him stopped, and he felt all eyes on him.
“Ankh, are you okay?” he heard Hina say, staring at him in concern.
Ankh?
His body moved, raising his right hand. Except it wasn’t his hand. Red and clawed and inhuman, but nearly as familiar as his own. His other hand, thankfully the same as he remembered it, reached up as well, and Ankh’s hand wrapped around it.
“Eiji,” he felt the body around him rumble.
He heard some gasps, but couldn’t pinpoint which companions they had come from. Before much more could be said about that, he felt his body bolt up, vision blurring with the speed that it stood (presumably still on top of the couch).
“You’ve been sleeping for a year and the first thing you say to me is about my pants?!” his voice, his body — but undoubtedly being controlled by Ankh — demanded of him.
A year? Eiji thought. Or, perhaps, said. It was hard to tell.
And then, his consciousness went blurry, and he fell asleep again.
When Eiji awoke again it was sometime later, but he couldn’t be sure how much time had passed. His eyes were open, but the room around him was dark, only lit by a faint ray of moonlight shining through a window. The ceiling was only a few feet above his head, he realized as his eyes shifted there without his control.
“There you are,” the voice of his body rumbled around him. “I was wondering when you would wake up again.”
The world lurched, and Eiji realized that his body had jumped from some place high up, and landed near silently on the floor. His eyes swept over the room, almost in an intentional way now, as if showing off to Eiji. It was nothing special, really. It wasn’t the same as the attic room of Cous Coussier, but felt similar. A lot of the clutter was the same, all of it speaking to Chiyoko’s style. He realized that he had jumped from the top of a proper bunk bed, the lower bed slightly larger than the top. The bottom bed was made but looked like it hadn’t been used recently, some clutter scattered across it.
The top bunk was covered in red sheets and blankets, piled atop one another like a nest.
Is this Cous Coussier?
“Cous Coussier Duo,” Eiji’s own voice replied to his thought. “Chiyoko wanted a new and improved name, and could never just call it something normal.”
Eiji laughed at that, and felt that laugh reflected in his body.
It’s you, isn’t it, Ankh?
“Of course it’s me, idiot!” Eiji recognized it as his own voice, but the sneer was undeniably Ankh.
Eiji felt his body get warmer, and he wasn’t sure if that was himself or Ankh. It comforted him though, feeling safe.
I want to see.
Ankh piloted the body, stalking over to a wardrobe with an attached mirror. Without looking, he flicked on a nearby lamp, and Eiji could finally see himself in the thin yellow light.
The face was recognizably him, even if the expression wasn’t. Ankh was smirking into the mirror, almost smug. Even though they had presumably just been in bed, his hair was perfectly in place, clearly more manicured than Eiji ever bothered to keep it, without even addressing the little curl of red and blond swooping off to one side. He was wearing a loose shirt and… silk boxers. Red, but brightly patterned.
“I hope you approve,” Ankh said into the mirror.
What happened?
“A lot. You’re going to need to be more specific.”
Eiji paused. He supposed that was fair. This is a new Cous Coussier?
Ankh scoffed, but seemed almost amused. “The old one was destroyed. We rebuilt it.”
We?
“Chiyoko, Shingo, and I,” Ankh said. “Hina spent some of that time in France, or else she would have helped more. I threatened the CEO until he hired some people to help. I guess those Birth idiots helped a little too.”
Eiji chuckled at that; it was just too Ankh. He noticed that his form in the mirror laughed as well, before snapping back to Ankh’s sour face.
Apparently Eiji had some control over the body, whether Ankh had a say in it or not.
“It’s very annoying,” Ankh said, likely having heard that thought.
I can’t control it.
“I assumed as much.” Ankh straightened up, looking around the room again.
Why is there a bunk bed? Who uses the bottom bunk?
“Any bumbling homeless kamen riders that wander through that Chiyoko takes pity on.”
Is that a joke?
“You’d be surprised.”
Both of them fell silent for a moment. Eiji couldn’t hear the thoughts in Ankh’s head, but the silence felt companionable. He suspected Ankh had things to say, but wasn’t sure yet how to voice it all.
You said it’s been a year?
“Huh?”
When I woke up before. You said it’s been a year?
Ankh scoffed again. “Yeah. You did a number on this body of yours.”
Eiji searched his memories, and again came back to a lot of chaos and a lot of pain. And… giving everything he could to save Ankh.
I didn’t think I was going to survive…
Ankh turned quickly, glowering back into the mirror. “And I didn’t give you permission to go.”
Eiji puzzled at that.
“Surely you haven’t forgotten that I am a Greeed,” Ankh said, glaring piercingly into their shared reflection. “I do not give up what is mine easily.”
Yours? My… body?
Ankh scoffed. “I see you’re still an idiot.”
Are you okay? Eiji asked.
“Huh?”
Were you hurt in the battle?
“Oh. Not really,” Ankh said. He raised his arm, the greeed arm, looking at it thoughtfully. “I could manifest my full form if I wanted to. But people recognize me by the arm now.”
So you don’t need to possess a body?
Ankh raised an eyebrow. “No.”
So why are you here? In my body?
Ankh scoffed. “Until this week, I don’t think I could have left you alone for even a moment. Not even the way I would pop away from Shingo here and there.”
Eiji was surprised to hear Ankh call Shingo by his name, but didn’t comment on it for fear of jinxing whatever bond they had formed in his absence.
“Like I said, you really wrecked this body.”
So you… kept me alive?
Ankh rolled his eyes. “What? Are you going to complain about me ruining your heroic sacrifice?”
No, Eiji said. I just…
“Go to sleep, idiot,” Ankh said. “I can feel you drifting off again.”
Eiji wanted to know more, but he felt himself growing tired again, just as Ankh had said. He wanted to protest, but he was so comfortable in the warmth surrounding his consciousness that he drifted off to sleep.
It was maybe a week later when Ankh finally felt comfortable enough to leave Eiji alone in his body for any meaningful amount of time. Eiji sat in the bottom bunk of the bed, with Hina and Shingo sitting on nearby chairs, as Ankh fully manifested. His familiar human form became visible, and multicolor spectral wings stretched in the air before shimmering out of existence.
“Decided to stick with my look, huh?” Shingo asked.
Ankh turned, smirking over his shoulder. “Don’t be jealous that I can make your body look better than you do.”
Eiji wanted to comment on the banter. Point out that it was more friendly — maybe he would go so far as to say brotherly — than he ever would have expected. But now being in control of his body without Ankh puppeting it he felt a bit woozy and boneless. When Ankh looked back at him though, Eiji gave him a wide, reassuring smile.
Ankh stretched again, before heading to the door. “I think I’m going to get… four. No, five. Five popsicles. Anyone want anything?”
“Bring me an orange one, if there are any left after your rampage,” Shingo said.
Ankh waved him off, but didn’t say no as he slipped out of the door.
“I see Ankh is the same as always,” Eiji said, looking over to the two siblings.
“He’s been very restrained on the popsicles,” Hina said with a chuckle. “Only one per day, most of the time.”
Eiji’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really? How come?”
The siblings looked at each other.
“I guess he likes you more than me,” Shingo said.
Eiji tried his luck with standing up, and stumbled almost immediately. Hina caught him quickly, before Shingo could even reach out.
“Careful,” Shingo said. “I know having Ankh in your body is better than being in a normal coma, since at least your muscles are getting used, but it still takes some time to get used to moving around on your own power.”
“I guess you’d know best,” Eiji said, letting himself lean on Hina as she helped him into one of the other chairs in the small bedroom.
Ankh hadn’t returned yet, and Eiji was fairly certain that was intentional. Eiji hadn’t kicked him out of the room per se, but he knew that Ankh was frustrated with the questions Eiji kept asking that he didn’t want to answer. Eiji was looking forward to talking to others without Ankh grousing in his brain.
“So, Ankh’s just been hanging out with all of you while I was out?”
Hina and Shingo looked at each other again, more serious this time. “Well… yes.”
Eiji squinted at their hesitation. “What?”
“It was pretty bad when he first came back, with you,” Hina said.
“What do you mean?”
Hina looked down. “You were… you were really hurt. We were worried that you wouldn’t…”
“Ankh refused to even admit to Hina how bad it was,” Shingo said, smiling sadly. “It was easy to see though. He was bed-bound for two months.”
Eiji’s eyes widened. “What?”
“He could move your body, but it clearly took a lot out of him, even with his improved medals,” Hina said. She chuckled slightly. “I knew it was bad when he would eat the food I gave him without complaint.”
Eiji wracked his brain, and vaguely he could summon the memory of choking down soup despite his body resisting. A determination that wasn’t his own, willing his body to keep it down.
“We moved him into my place while Chiyoko was still salvaging what she could of the old Cous Coussier,” Shingo said. “Hina stayed with us until Ankh was feeling well enough to move on his own power.”
“As if I would just go back to France with everything like that!”
Eiji smiled, trying to summon memories that weren’t his, and found he could still snatch glimpses here and there. “I never would have thought Ankh would be my nursemaid like that. Babysitting my body when he didn’t have to.”
The siblings looked at each other again, and Eiji wished he could parse what their glances meant, each one seeming loaded with meaning.
“I’m not really sure he did have a choice,” Shingo said, after a moment of deliberation. “I don’t know if… normal medical science would have been enough.”
“That doesn’t mean he had to,” Eiji said quietly.
“Eiji, you spent ten years searching for a way to revive him!” Hina said sternly. “Why wouldn’t he put the same amount of effort into reviving you?”
Eiji’s mouth opened and closed at that, no words seeming sufficient. At least not ones Hina would like… Eiji had been prepared to die for Ankh. To give Ankh a second chance. For Ankh to be willing to suffer for him… could Ankh have also died, pulled down by trying to save a failing body? He never expected Ankh to take that kind of risk with the life that had only just been restored.
Shingo shook his head and sighed. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out sooner or later, Eiji.”
Eiji was still grasping for words when Ankh came back. He was halfway through a popsicle, and held several more in his other hand, sticks slotted between his claws. He gestured, shifting an orange one to Shingo, and then offered a pink one to Hina despite the fact that she hadn’t asked for one. She took it with an easy smile.
Eiji boggled at him as he offered the last one to him. “You’re sharing?”
Ankh scoffed. “I ate all the rest before I came up.”
Eiji took the last popsicle from him. If he’d been asked, Eiji wouldn’t have known what to say his favorite flavor was, but the coconut flavor that Ankh had given him was perfect. “Thank you.”
Ankh just huffed again before sitting next to Hina.
Later that night, Eiji couldn’t sleep, lost in his own thoughts. Ankh had melded into his body again, relieving a lot of the ache and wooziness he felt on his own, but his mind was still spinning.
“Stop thinking and go to sleep,” Ankh said with their shared mouth.
Ankh, could you leave me so we can talk?
“We’re talking right now, idiot.”
It’s different.
Eiji felt Ankh huff. Slowly, with the sound of falling coins, Ankh extricated himself from Eiji’s body. His human form manifested in the small space remaining in the top bunk of the bed, and so their bodies huddled together. Eiji smiled to see Ankh’s scowling face next to him.
“So what is it?” Ankh asked.
Eiji was pretty sure now that since he was just manifesting himself rather than possessing someone, he could manifest whatever clothing he wanted. But rather than his normally flashy looks, he was wearing the same kind of baggy sleep clothes that Eiji was dressed in. He wondered if it was just habit now, or if Ankh actually preferred it. For that matter, did he even need sleep or had he just grown accustomed to it? He certainly looked tired, and a bit cranky in a way that Eiji couldn’t help but find cute.
“Yo, idiot, you still haven’t said anything.”
Eiji smiled. “Sorry. I’m just thinking about a lot of things.”
“I know,” Ankh said, sighing.
“Were you able to hear all of them?”
“Not the ones since I’ve been out here, obviously,” Ankh said. “And even before that, you’re not as easy to read as Shingo was.”
Eiji smiled. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize for me not being able to invade your privacy. That’s weird.”
Eiji laughed. “I guess, um. I wanted to say thank you. After talking to Hina and Shingo and knowing what happened, I just… thanks…”
Ankh looked unimpressed. “Is that all?”
“And also I wanted to say you don’t need to keep possessing me,” Eiji said. “It sounds like it takes a lot out of you, but now that my body is mostly healed, I don’t want you to have to burden yourself.”
Ankh reached out. Eiji half expected him to wrap his hands around his neck, choking him the way he used to choke anyone who annoyed him enough. But instead both of his hands — both greeed and human — cupped either side of his face. “I wouldn’t even be here to be burdened if you hadn’t wasted so much time trying to revive a pile of coins.”
“It wasn’t a waste—”
“And healing your body isn’t a burden,” Ankh cut him off. “Goes both ways, huh?”
Eiji laughed. “I feel like I missed so much. You’re friendly with Hina and Shingo now. And you’re taking care of me whether I like it or not.” Ankh’s face was twisted up in a scowl, and Eiji wanted to laugh again. “I just don’t want you to do all of this just because you feel like you owe me.”
“Oh, you misunderstand,” Ankh said. “I know I don’t owe you.”
“Oh?”
“I told you before,” Ankh said. “I don’t owe you. I own you. You belong to me. And greeed do not give up what’s theirs easily.”
Eiji chuckled. The words would sound villainous from anyone else; arguably they still did. But Eiji understood the way greeed worked. The way they saw the world. He moved one hand to caress Ankh’s greeed hand. “And do Hina and Shingo belong to you too?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “But that’s different.”
“How so?”
Ankh continued scowling at him. “You’re an idiot.”
Eiji smiled. “Fine, then explain it to me like I’m an idiot.”
Ankh looked like he might scratch Eiji’s eyes out. But instead he grabbed Eiji’s head, claws tangling in his hair, and pulled him in roughly for a kiss.
Eiji wondered if he was too tired to be surprised. Or, maybe he knew that this was the answer, but was too afraid to say it aloud. Either way, he relaxed into the kiss. He was feeling groggy again, but Ankh seemed more than willing to take the lead.
When they parted, Ankh’s face stayed millimeters from his face, foreheads still brushing against each other.
“Was that simple enough for you to understand?”
“Mhm.” Eiji felt his eyelids growing heavy, but still pushed forward to press another small kiss onto Ankh’s mouth.
Ankh growled softly, and Eiji suspected there was something more than anger behind the noise.
“Go to sleep, idiot. Before you start something you’re too tired to finish.”
“Like what?” Eiji asked, feeling cheeky.
Later, he wouldn’t be sure if Ankh had refused to answer or if he’d just fallen asleep before hearing it. All he knew was that, when he woke up to sunlight filling their attic room, Ankh was still wrapped around him, claws protectively clutching his shirt even in sleep. Eiji smiled and drifted off again, feeling well and truly safe.