12/31/09
Late Night

He was turned away from her, but she could hear the sadness in his voice. "Aigis... I'm sorry for all the pain and suffering I've put you through." Ryoji looked over his shoulder and his eyes met hers.

"I won't forget that you were my enemy... and my friend." It almost surprised her to say such a human thing, but the words caused some of the pain to vanish from his face. He smiled.

"...Thank you." Ryoji then made a remark about best wishes and left laughing. They all stood silently for the moment after his departure, but Aigis sensed that something was still wrong. No one noticed as she slipped out the door and began searching.

Since her last feeling about Ryoji's secret was dead right, she knew that her intuition was to be trusted. She could understand the sadness that the boy was feeling due to the circumstances, but she needed to find the truth out for herself. So Aigis wasn't all that surprised when she found him huddled in an alley near their dorm.

"Ryoji-san..." He slowly raised his head from his crossed arms. The boy may be the human form of the shadow Death, but his eyes truly looked dead as he gazed towards the dirty ground.

"Why'd you come after me? It's getting closer to midnight." His voice sounded flat, uninterested. It seemed so wrong for the usually cheerful and flirty boy to sound like that.

"I am not exactly sure," she hesitated, not really wanting to say her next words but they came out anyway. "I...had a feeling." There was no reason to feel embarrassed, so why did she feel that way? Ryoji always seemed to bring out her human emotions.

The boy didn't reply so she slowly continued. "I also had a feeling that there was more to you... I thought you were dangerous, a threat to Minato..." Aigis looked down and sighed. "I wish I was wrong..."

"Do you really think that?" he whispered.

...Did she? Ever since Ryoji Mochizuki transferred into her class, she wasn't exactly able to pinpoint what she thought of him. The word that came out at first was dangerous, but at the same time, it didn't feel like he posed a threat.

"I am not sure," she repeated. "I'm...confused." She sat down beside him. He looked away from her, but Aigis kept her gaze on him. He didn't say a word but he must have been deep in thought.

Slowly, Ryoji started to speak. "You sealed me in him for ten years. I was a shadow, but now, I'm somewhat human. It was because of him." For the first time since they were at the dorm, his eyes met hers. "He gave me a bit of his humanity. You could almost say that I was a part of him."

Something finally clicked. That was the reason behind her conflicting emotions. He was a diluted shadow, carrying part of Minato within himself. Her desire to protect him warred with her mission and duty to destroy shadows, making her unsure about what she thought about Ryoji. This was the answer she was looking for.

But in the end it didn't solve anything. Ryoji was leaving; Nyx was coming. Aigis felt an unexpected stab of pain jolt through her. Ryoji was leaving for good. Why did she feel such loss...?

One of Ryoji's arms looped loosely around her shoulders. "...You might have been better off not knowing." Instantly she shook her head. Finding the truth was infinitely better than being doomed to always search for it.

"Aigis...one month." His eyes were kind as he looked over at her. "One month, and if all goes well, we may meet again someday. So until then, make sure to take good care of him."

At first all she could do was nod numbly, but she found her voice again. "I promise."

They stood together, his hand finding a place in hers. A smile was back on Ryoji's face, such a welcome sight compared to his earlier melancholy mood. "I've decided that if you all are really going to fight Nyx, then I'm going to fight too. It might be just out of atonement, but it's also of my desire to see you guys win. I'll do what I can, so you fight hard too.

Just as she started to nod in response, Ryoji did something to, once again, completely change her world. It was only the briefest of touches, but his lips touched hers for a moment before he walked away.

Aigis stood there long after he was gone. As the Dark Hour began once more, the sadness she never knew she could feel was almost too much for her to bear alone.

--

AN: There needs to be more RyojiAigis out there. Seriously. -lessthanthree-