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[rassera]

"Oi, it's me. Leave something here, would ya?"

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[iamtetsuo]

[He's awake. Shit.]

Tell me something.

[This is totally not stalling in any way, shape or form.]

[rassera]

[Kaneda doesn't say anything, not yet, more just lifting himself up onto his elbows to look more directly at Tetsuo.


He's listening.]

[iamtetsuo]

You turned seventeen last year, didn't you...?

[There's no way he didn't. He looked just the same as when Tetsuo saw him last. But it's not like they were really on close enough terms for pretty much any of last year to clarify anything, and maybe this is even vague enough that Kaneda won't catch why Tetsuo would ask something like this that ordinarily he would know by heart until he's already answered.]

[rassera]

...Yeahhh....?

[Kaneda's voice soft and cautious.

Granted, he never really celebrated his birthday--not officially anyway--and Tetsuo at the time didn't really care.

But still, he has to wonder why it's being questioned so late at night.]

September. You know the date.

[iamtetsuo]

[At the confirmation, he can feel his heart sink to his gut, throat tightening for what felt like the millionth time. That's it, then. He really did take longer to die here than he was ever going to back in Neo Tokyo.]

Yeah. I know.

[With that, he flips over onto his side, facing the wall.]

[rassera]

[The sudden movement from Tetsuo, the way he turns his back to him is worrying. And Kaneda reaches over to tug at his shoulder.]

Oi.


What's that attitude for? Something wrong with my birthday?

[iamtetsuo]

It's nothing.

[rassera]

You wouldn't wake me up for nothing.

[Kaneda you weren't sleeping.]

[iamtetsuo]

[No answer.]

[rassera]

[That hand squeezes on his shoulder.]

Tetsuo.

[iamtetsuo]

Forget it.

[rassera]

[-Flop-

Cue an exaggerated sigh.]

You're so damn stubborn...

[Wonder where he gets it from, idiot.]

[iamtetsuo]

[Yup. If he doesn't say it aloud, it can't hurt as much.



Okay that's a total lie, it's just eating at him more now.]

[rassera]

...







Is...it cause something happened?

[iamtetsuo]

No.

[....Not yet.]

[rassera]

...


[A soft exhale.]

So something -didn't- happen. Then what's the problem?

[iamtetsuo]

[The drive to know pushes at Tetsuo, until he can't stand it anymore. For half a year it's been building, with blocks at every turn. This was the first time Tetsuo could think clearly enough to come at the questions from a different enough angle to get something.]

I don't-

[He trails off.]

[rassera]

[The moment Tetsuo speaks, Kaneda leans up again, looking at him through the darkness of the room and giving him his full, undivided attention.

You have the floor, Tetsuo.


He's listening.]

You don't...?

[iamtetsuo]

[The sentence is lost, and it doesn't look like Tetsuo's got any interest in fighting to get it back.]

[rassera]

...It's gonna bug the crap out of you if you don't say it, you know.

[And bug the hell out of him, too, but that's probably not very helpful to hear.]

[iamtetsuo]

[WHAT IF HE DOESN'T WANT TO]

[rassera]

[Don't pull that shit with him you 'woke' him up at midnight for this goddamn garbage.]

[iamtetsuo]

[FUCK YOU YOU'RE JUST NOT GONNA SAY ANYTHING ANYWAY.]



Do I turn sixteen at all?

[rassera]

...

[It's immediate. The colour drains from Kaneda's face, eyes widening as soon as he hears it. He knows damn well Tetsuo isn't talking about this place. He already technically had his birthday.

So that just leaves...back home.


His head turns away for a moment, biting his lip until he can feel the skin crack. Instinct by now tells him to shut down all thoughts of Neo Tokyo. To hide it from Tetsuo as best he could. It was for his own safety, after all.

But Rick told him that he needed to be open with him. That it was better to hear this from him instead of someone else. He wasn't wrong, either. He couldn't hold every secret from Tetsuo. Pan already had an idea, and who knows how long until he figures out the whole story.]


I don't know. Maybe.


[It's soft, almost apologetic.

But at the same time, not no.]

[iamtetsuo]

You already thought I was dead, Kaneda. There's no maybe.