Regressor || Bsd x OC

Chapter 29 - Page 8 - Bottoms up

Mizuki jolts awake four days earlier than scheduled.

"I'M ALIVE!" She realizes she's next to a jail cell. "YO! FUKUCHI! YOU're actually alive."

Mizuki quiets down, staring at Fukuzawa resting in his seat.

Fukuchi stares back at Mizuki. "Why'd you revive me?"

"I want one last drink with you before you pass away," Mizuki smiles. 

"Ah, how convenient," Fukuzawa stirs in his sleep, voice low with exhaustion. "You woke up. Shall we drink one final time?"

"Sure," Mizuki hums. "One final time. As friends, not as enemies or acquaintances."

"As people who betrayed each other," Fukuchi chuckles, eyes closed. "One in the past, one in the present."

"One more in the future," Mizuki grins. "I'll get the sake."

"You stay here," Fukuzawa pushes Mizuki back into the bed. "You just woke up. You're a patient."

"Alright," Mizuki hums. "Can I at least have my sword?"

Fukuzawa slides the blade off his hilt and hands it to her. "Be careful."

"Of course," Mizuki hums. "Shall we pull out a wine instead?"

"I want sake," Fukuchi blinks from the cell. "And... it's not like I can break out from a cell made from the page."

"Glad you noticed," Mizuki beams. 

Fukuzawa glances at the two one last time, and he heads up the stairs.

"I take that you enjoy the overall aesthetic of the royals in Europe? The cell resembles the ones there."

"Yeah," Mizuki drums her fingers on the desk. "The cells there are pretty. I like it."

"Pretty? I'd say it's only an aesthetic."

Mizuki grins. "I suppose."

"You know," Fukuchi shifts his arms slightly. "When you blew my face up with the coin, I thought I was going to die from that."

"I figured."

"It... I did that to you all in your past life, huh?"

"Scared the shit out of me."

"And you hate me for it?"

"You know. There's a timeline where I don't exist."

"Is there?"

"The book can create multiple universes. There's one where none of us have abilities. There's another where-"

"That's what the book is, isn't it?"

"Do you think you worked for the agency in one?"

"I bet there's one where I don't exist at all."

"That would be sad... Fukuzawa-dono would be so lonely without you."

"Is that so?"

"You are his best friend, after all."

"... does he still call me that?"

"Yeah," Mizuki glances at the door, footsteps approaching. "We both still call you that."

Fukuchi goes silent, and Fukuzawa walks back in. "I found the cups too."

"Lovely!" Mizuki clasps her hands together. "Just like old times."

Fukuchi grins at Fukuzawa. "Nice wife."

"Thanks," Fukuzawa deadpans immediately. "She slung me over her shoulder, and we've been married since."

"Why couldn't I get married like that???" Fukuchi whines. "You have such good luck..."