Aioria had blown up half of the Sagittarius inner residence, and Shion was not going to let that pass, so he had him scrub the steps of the sanctuary with a toothbrush. Along with Shura, who said nothing when he heard he was punished too and simply resigned himself to his fate.

Aioros wasn't going to let it go, though, and he stalked them as they washed the steps.

"So this whole thing, it's something between you two, uh?" he asked them, crouching on the steps above them while they pointedly avoided looking at him.

"Aioros please, just leave us alone," finally begged Aioria, staring up at him.

Aioros looked into his eyes, then to Shura's face. "I see it now. The darkness in both of you, it's the same. Why don't you tell me already? I've been dead and back again, what could be worse?" he asked, sitting down on the steps. They kept silent. "Is it really so awful that I have fallen in love with Shura?"

Shura scoffed. "You don't know what you're talking about"

"I could hear you crying out to me all the way to the underworld but I don't know what I'm talking about? I'm reborn, not stupid," he reached out to grab Shura's hair. "And I'm tired of pretending like I don't know anything."

Aioria couldn't stand it anymore. "Stop! Please Aioros, just leave!"

Shura pulled away and lowered his eyes.

After a moment of silence, Aioros stood up and left.

They both kept scrubbing.

They stayed there way past nightfall. Silent. Cold.

Aioria finally lost it and he threw the toothbrush away.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he cried, his voice choking, his eyes filling with tears. "I never apologized to you. But how- how could I-?"

"It was all my fault," said Shura in a low voice.

Aioria grabbed the bucket and threw it down the steps. "Fuck your martyrdom. It was me. I…I wanted to hurt you…"

"I know."

"I did hurt you."

"That was the point. That's what I wanted," said Shura.

"But I-!" started Aioria, his voice dying in his throat when he remembered what he had done.

It was the first party Aioria had been invited to, and he spent it sitting on a stool in a corner. Milo had come to taunt him, but Aphrodite had taken him away. Still, it was overall nice, and he had managed to get himself pleasantly drunk. Almost everything was as good as it could get, except for one thing.

Shura had spent most of the night glaring at him from wherever he was. His stare was so annoying, Aioria started considering just picking a fight with him and being done with it.

He looked up and noticed Shura walking towards him, a smirk in his face. He swayed a little with each step, but he had started drinking way earlier than Aioria, so that was no surprise.

"What?" spat Aioria when Shura was within hearing. Back in the living room, Death Mask and Aphrodite fought over control of the music, and ended up raising the volume so loud, Aioria felt the bass on his chest.

Shura leaned over him to whisper in his ear. "The resemblance is astounding," he said.

Aioria has forgotten a lot about what happened that day. He forgot how they got into the bedroom. He forgot how they had torn each other's clothes. The more bits and pieces he remembered, the more he fought to forget them.

But he couldn't forget the way he had bitten at Shura's lip when he had kissed him. He couldn't forget the taste of the blood he drew.

He forgot the ensuing fight. He forgot how Shura had punched him back and given him the bruises he felt on his face.

And then he remembered when he grabbed Shura's legs, pulling him against him to sink into him and making him cry out in pain. It felt good. It felt so good.

He had laughed.

He had laughed every time Shura cried out. He had laughed when he made him bleed.

"It hurts! It hurts, doesn't it?" he could remember saying, even as tears ran down his face.

Shura had covered his face, panting, crying out in pain. Aioria grabbed for his neck, choking him with both hands.

"A-! Aior-" choked Shura.

Aioria pushed deeper into him. Closed his hands harder around his throat.

Shura looked away. Above into the ceiling, as if searching something above.

"Aior-," he gasped, and Aioria realized he hadn't been calling his name.

His blood ran cold. He screamed, realizing what he was doing. He let go of Shura and pulled out of him.

He knew he had ran out, but he had no idea how. In his memory there was only the memory of speed. Of running away. Of flinching every time he caught the sight of his own face in a mirror. Of hiding in the house of Leo, crying yet not daring to call for the one he always called out to when he cried.

He remembered being alone.

Truly alone.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I will regret it until I die, Shura," kept saying Aioria.

Shura sighed. "That's a long time. I regret making you do it too. But…that's a heavy burden to be carrying. For the both of us. We made a mistake…"

"And he's in love with you now!" cried Aioria, slumping over the steps.

Shura didn't even want to think about that. If he pretended like there had never been any chance of Aioros loving him, then it wouldn't hurt so bad when he started hating him, right?

"What do you think he'll do when we tell him?" he asked.

"We can't tell him! He'll never forgive me!" said Aioria. "I brought him back and he became…he- he became whatever he is now. And then if he finds out I- He'll never forgive me…"

"We can't hide it forever," said Shura, trying to be as pragmatic as he could. "He won't leave it alone Aioria. He trapped me in a labyrinth and chased me around. No, he won't leave it alone."

"Fine, we'll tell him, yes. But…but not now. Later..."

Shura nodded and stood up. He reached out a hand to help Aioria stand up too. "Let's go back home now. Everything will be fine in the end. I promise."

Aioria wiped at his eyes with the edge of his sleeve. "You shouldn't be the one comforting me," he whispered.

Shura said nothing. He only reached out to comb back some of Aioria's hair away from his face. Crying and lost like that, he looked so much like the child he had been the night Shura had killed his brother.

He wanted to protect him.