"Marron!"

"Stay out of my sight!"

A slender hand landed across his face in a stinging slap.

"Just take your muscles and get out of my sight, you bastard!"

"Marron!"

~

Marron awoke in a cold sweat, panting heavily. He lifted his hand, staring 
at it for several minutes. The hand he had slapped Gateau with just two 
days ago.

Two days. Had it really been that little time? Or that long?

Only two days ago, he'd suddenly lost his temper with Gateau. Granted, 
they'd nearly gotten their asses kicked fighting a sorcerer, and it had 
started raining before they could find an inn. As usual, Gateau had 
offered to share his room, but Marron just wasn't in the mood that night.

So he'd acted on impulse. He'd told Gateau he was sick of his stupid 
flirting, slapped him, and demanded he never speak to him again.

The next day, Gateau was beaten up by a sorcerer and lost his memory.

"He doesn't even remember his name...who I am...who any of us are..."

It was like Gateau Mocha didn't exist anymore. Only this stranger who 
looked like him.

No flexing. No posing. No "LOOK AT MEEEE!". No arguing with Carrot.

No flirting.

The last thing bit at Marron.

He'd grown so used to Gateau's comments and innuendos that even a day and 
a half without them felt too strange to him.

Or was it more than just that?

"It's not like I MISS it terribly...I shouldn't, after I lost my temper 
with him and said how much I hated it! Because that would be ridiculous, 
to miss something you hate...wouldn't it?"

"But looking back...did I really MEAN it?"

Images began to flash through his mind. The day he met Gateau. Every 
instance where Gateau had yelled for Marron to check out his muscles. 
Asking Marron if he wanted to sleep together. The way he told Marron how 
beautiful he was.

The way he looked at Marron.

His kindness.

His smile.

The way Gateau said his name.

'Marron...'

Marron's shoulders shook slightly, sudden tears falling from his eyes.

He didn't just miss Gateau's antics.

He missed Gateau.

But he felt so guilty about the things he'd said he couldn't bring himself 
to even try to talk to him.

'Before that battle...oh, God, I can't stop thinking about those sad eyes 
of his...the way he was...staring at me, looking like he was afraid I 
would tell him off at any given moment...then that sorcerer attacked...'

Marron shuddered, choking back a sob. Despite the anger Marron had shown 
him the night before, Gateau had still told the sorcerer "You harm one 
hair on Marron's head and I'll cut you to ribbons with my bare hands!".

He hadn't been injured protecting Marron, per sé. He'd been injured when 
the sorcerer jumped him out of nowhere...but nevertheless, the words had 
still bitten at Marron.

"Now...whenever he looks at me...his eyes seem so...so empty, almost. He 
smiles...but it's not the same. It's...it's not him," Marron choked. "If 
only...I could just take back the things I said...apologize to him, say I 
didn't mean it!" He let out a sharp sniff and buried his face in his arms. 
"Gateau...I'm so sorry..."

On the other side of the room, Carrot began to stir a little as he woke up 
to the sounds of faint crying.

"Nn...Marron, are you okay?" he mumbled. Marron froze.

"N...niisan," he choked. "I...I'm sorry for waking you up."

"Marron, are you crying?" Carrot slipped out of bed and walked over to his 
brother. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Niisan..." Marron looked up slightly, not bothering to hide his tears. 
"I...I really hurt Gateau...and now I can't even apologize because he 
doesn't even know my name...doesn't remember what happened that night," he 
cried.

"Hey..." Carrot sat down and put his arm around Marron's shoulders. "Why 
get yourself all worked up over it? Gateau probably didn't even take it 
seriously, you're always rejecting him!"

"Not this time, niisan! I didn't just ignore him. I slapped him and told 
him to stay away from me!" Marron sobbed. "And you didn't notice the way 
he was looking at me before he lost his memory...he looked so afraid I 
would randomly snap at him!" Carrot winced. No wonder Gateau had seemed 
kinda quiet...

"Well...you could just say you're sorry anyway, even if he doesn't 
remember," he suggested.

"Niisan, just looking at him hurts right now! Just seeing him...knowing 
it's him...yet at the same time it isn't him..." Marron paused to catch 
his breath for a moment. "It's not the same..." he sniffled.

"Wow..." Carrot sighed sadly as he watched Marron cry. "You...really are 
upset about this," he mumbled, knowing he was stating the obvious but not 
caring much. He didn't know what to say...all he could do was hold his 
brother and let him cry.

"I...I just miss him so much, niisan, even...even if I hadn't said what I 
did, I just...it's so painful to be with him when he doesn't even know our 
names," Marron sobbed.

"But...look on the bright side. At least now he actually TALKS to you and 
stuff, not just begging you to look at his muscles," Carrot said.

"But that's just it, niisan! As much as I like just talking to him and all 
that...I..." Marron trailed off.

"You miss the old Gateau," Carrot said.

"W-well, maybe a little..." Marron blushed slightly.

"So, ya actually LIKED it then?" Carrot teased.

"N-niisan, it's not like that!" Marron protested. "I-it's just hard to get 
used to, that's all."

"Then how come you're blushing?"