Chapter Text
Sirei had left Takumi unattended. Big mistake.
Eito slipped into the dark infirmary, butterflies fluttering about in his chest. He already had the fake extinguisher prepped and ready. No one was guarding the courtyard, nor the entrance hall. The cards were stacked in his favor. He could leave right now and only ever see Takumi’s vile face on opposite sides of the battlefield, but the temptation was too great. Like Eve drawn to her forbidden fruit, Eito could not resist seeing the object of his fascination one last time.
Takumi looked absolutely disgusting in that chair. But even through Eito’s righteous eyes, despite the power outage dimming his view, he could see how pathetic and vulnerable this brainwashing had left him. Each of his grotesque limbs were locked tightly in place. A web of wires hung from the helmet attached to his limp head. Saliva dribbled down his chin, pooling on his lap. When Eito approached, he stirred every so slightly.
“Oh, hello. Can you hear me in there?” Eito flashed an innocent grin. “Do you remember your good friend Eito?”
No response from Takumi. Eito lifted his chin with a single finger; not an ounce of resistance was met save for the force of gravity. Takumi’s eyes fluttered under their lids, briefly meeting Eito with a glassy look of recognition before rolling back into his head. Eito committed this moment to memory. He was fortunate to even have this opportunity. Only by chance had he overheard Sirei’s plans for Takumi, whilst hiding behind the door to the girls’ bathroom.
“It won’t hurt to let his brain cool off in there.” Sirei’s overconfident voice echoed throughout the halls. “All the other students are fast asleep—I made sure of it.”
Nigou’s voice followed. “But sir, what if he wakes up while we’re away?”
Sirei barked out a laugh. “That Sumino is a tough one. I’m not sure if it’s a result of his time-travel shenanigans, but he's gonna need another couple rounds of conditioning before he’s ready to rejoin the ranks. Right now? If the Dolmenic Cognition Reconstruction Therapy was powerful enough to cause a school-wide blackout, his brain’s gonna be fried for a good while. At least long enough for us to sort out this little problem.”
And that was that. Eito estimated the time Sirei would take to return after fixing the power—assuming he was in a rush to finish what he started. If Eito wanted to risk it, he might have over an hour. Regardless, it was time enough to perform an experiment of his own.
“This is quite the opposite of our previous predicament, isn’t it?” Eito cooed. Takumi’s head tipped, threatening to topple off Eito’s finger. Reluctantly, he shifted to cup Takumi’s cheeks in his entire palm. Drool trailed down onto his gloves. Eito shuddered; he’d have to wash those later. “This wouldn’t have happened if you’d allowed me to kill Sirei, you know.”
Leave him, leave him, LEAVE HIM, Eito’s instincts cried out. The power was still down. He still had time to give in to his desires.
“Look at you, now. Brain-dead and reprogrammed for the crime of, what, daring to interrogate a prisoner?” He clicked his tongue. “What a shame.”
Takumi groaned, spilling out a string of unintelligible syllables that Eito couldn’t be bothered to interpret. Of all the things Eito had predicted following the new prisoner’s arrival, Takumi getting tased and knocked unconscious in the courtyard was not one of them. Eito prided himself on his quick thinking; Sirei would surely have knocked him out as well if he suspected Eito wasn’t truly asleep.
Aren’t you two on the same side, the prisoner had asked Sirei before he hauled Takumi away. Eito, too, wondered what secret could possibly be worth harming one of his own for. It almost made him angry on Takumi’s behalf. After all, Eito genuinely respected him for his determination and inquisitive nature, even if it had been a thorn in his side. Unfortunately, whatever Sirei had in store for him, Eito had no intention of finding out the hard way. When the power went out, he wasted no time getting out of that cage and leaving the invader behind. There was no hope for her anymore. As for Takumi…
“As much as I’d like to return the favor, I’m afraid I can’t save you.” Eito dropped Takumi’s chin and wiped and wiped the grime off his glove. “It would be too much trouble to escape with your dead weight. Besides, Sirei’s already made his mark on your mind. I’m almost jealous he has so much power over you.”
Amidst his soliloquy, the infirmary’s lights flashed back on. The machine around Takumi’s head whirred to life. Eito broke into a grin. “My, how convenient! This truly must be my righteous path. I ought to be on my way now, but how about I leave you with a parting gift?”
Takumi did not consent. He didn’t need to.
The control panel wasn’t too hard to decipher. Eito gathered that it inputted a series of “corrections,” after which the brain required a replacement personality to fill in the gaps. Eito would not be going through that whole process—Sirei would surely notice if Takumi started screaming in pain—though there was one simple opportunity. Supposing Nigou was the one in charge of the control panel, he seemed the unobservant type. It was highly possible he wouldn’t notice a few extra “corrections” hidden amongst the list items. And if he did? Eito would be long gone.
The existing list was laughably on-the-nose: obey Sirei’s orders without question, never doubt Sirei’s word, forget the past 24 hours. What an immoral commanding officer Takumi had gotten mixed up with. Well, if it was that easy to overwrite his morals and critical thinking, Eito would be a fool not to take advantage.
After typing up a subtle suggestion and hiding it amongst the others, Eito gave Takumi one last look before making his grand escape. Takumi, his head lolled to the side and his lips still stupidly parted, stared back with glassy eyes. His lips moved silently, his brain working overtime to speak even a single word.
“Hu…hurts…”
“Shh.” Eito held a finger over his lips. “Just forget I was ever here.”
Moments later, Sirei would commence phase two of Takumi’s brainwashing. Nigou would start the process and spin a wheel to decide the soldier’s fate. Both of them, with the genuine belief that they were doing what’s best for humanity, remained unaware of the suggestion hidden between the lines:
Obey Eito Aotsuki.