Against his will, Shura found himself sitting outside a fitting room in the only store that rented tuxedos in the town.
"The pants are fine, but I don't think this shirt is my size Shura," said Aioros from inside.
Shura facepalmed. He really did feel in part like he was dealing with a moody fourteen year old.
"If it's too baggy it can be fixed. Come out and let me see."
Aioros pulled aside the curtain and Shura instantly regretted every single decision he had ever made in his life.
The shirt wasn't too big. Quite the opposite. It wouldn't close over Aioros' broad chest.
Shura covered half his face, where he felt his cheeks coloring. He realized that if he combusted on the spot, he would not mind it too much. Might even welcome it, in fact.
"You'll need at least two sizes more but that's already a large," he grumbled. "Why didn't you bring Aioria instead? Out of all people, you chose to bring your own murderer with you."
"I'm not letting my little brother choose my clothes. I still have some pride," said Aioros, unbuttoning the shirt. "And if he came, I couldn't have bought him this as a surprise!" he rummaged inside one of the many bags that he carried and pulled out a lion costume, complete with ears and paws. "Or this!" he pulled out a shirt that said Big Cat on it.
Shura groaned.
Aioros put the silly costume and clothes back into the bags. "And about what happened to me… That doesn't matter anymore. After all, you remembered me so much after death. Even after so many years, only you and Aioria still called out for me"
"Call out…to you? You heard us…?"
Aioros gave a soft laugh. "Ah, is that too spooky? But it really made me very happy."
Shura's blood ran cold. "So you…you could hear me? When I thought of you?"
Aioros gave an absentminded nod as he stepped out of the fitting room. "When people think of you, or talk to you, their memories of you sort of…align with your own memories of yourself in death. They sort of anchor you. That's why I was able to hold on to you and Aioria. The Sagittarius cloth too, also called out to me always. That's why I was able to not drift away."
"So you…you heard…"
Aioros passed his hand through Shura's hair, a warmth shining in his eyes that Shura did not recognize.
"Don't be so scared. It's not like I was a ghost hanging around in the shadows. I just…heard you sometimes. I don't know all that happened during those years. I don't know what is that darkness you keep inside yourself."
Shura pushed him back into the fitting room, closed the curtain, and ran out to the public phone on the corner, desperately dialing Aphrodite to come rescue him from this hell.