Summary: Yuzu offers Shun a different perspective on bravery in peacetime.

When Yuzu found Kurosaki, he was doing push-ups in a private room. It sounded like he was overdoing things again, since he was somewhere in the hundreds and she'd only invited him to the gym ten minutes ago.

Annnnd it shouldn't surprise me that he's in here by himself.

Still.

"Shun," she called.

He stiffened noticeably on push one-hundred-five. She knew it wasn't because he didn't think she would find him, but rather because she had used his given name again. But she felt no inclination to go back to calling him "Kurosaki", not since she'd absorbed Ruri. It felt dishonest to her—and perhaps to him too, since he'd never complained about the familiarity.

"You're late, Hiiragi," he grunted as he approached, looking for where he'd left his trademark coat. "You said you'd meet me in five."

"Meet you in ten," she corrected, snatching his coat before he could and holding it behind her back. "And you made me look for you. Why didn't you just meet me by the treadmills with Yuuya and Sawatari?"

Shun growled, "Give me my coat."

"Answer my question first."

"I came here to see what you wanted with me, not to socialize."

"It wouldn't kill you to socialize," Yuzu mimicked, huffily, surrendering his coat. "I'm not asking you to talk to strangers, Shun—just comrades."

He looked annoyed. "Is that why you called me here?"

"Yes, it's why we called you here—because we barely see you and want to know how you're doing."

"Hiiragi—"

Frustration made Yuzu snap: "You're afraid, aren't you!?"

His gold eyes flashed; annoyance became rage. "How dare you!"

"No, you are," she insisted, refusing to be cowed. "We all fought together against Academia, and even though you never liked us much, you at least came to trust us at your back. But now that the war's over, you're really saying you don't want anything more to do with us?"

Shun roared, "You dare call me a coward?! I watched my family die!" When he advanced on her she couldn't help but stumble back and fall on her butt. "Everything I cared about was stripped from me and it never came back. The scales fell from my eyes, Hiiragi. I saw that peace is never permanent—only training stays with you. You speak disparagingly about trust, but it is all you should rely on. I don't—need to be friends with any of the Lancers, I just need to be able to trust them when the next fight comes."

Only after his outburst did he seem to notice Yuzu's new position and freeze; she knew from the look in his eyes that it wasn't her he was seeing. And honestly, her next words didn't feel wholly hers, either.

"No one can have a life that's just about fighting. Not even you, Kurosaki, no matter how good you are at it. You're using training as a crutch to keep from connecting with people who already care about you… which is what someone who's scared does."

He just stared at her, still unnaturally frozen, unable (or maybe unwilling) to say sorry or say anything in his defense.

Yuzu just… sighed.

"It's okay to admit you're scared of making friends, not just losing them. Courage… isn't something you only have on the battlefield. There's bravery in opening up to people too."

"…Yuzu," Shun breathed, shifting uncomfortably from way up.

She shook her head and persisted. "The war's over. There's a lot of people who want to meet you and hang out now that the world's not at stake. Are you up for the challenge?"

"Yuzu."

"Are you?"

Shun still didn't answer her directly, or apologize. But after a minute, he did bend down, offer her his hand and help her up.