The Fool - Chapter 5
Ryoji Mochizuki offered you a choice.
The group gathered in the fourth floor meeting room. Ryoji sat in the head chair, where the Chairman used to sit. He explained everything to you- that the Shadows were a symptom, not the cause, of the Fall. And that the world was going to end, and all of that. The group switched, almost unconsciously, between staring at him, and staring at you. You were used to them staring at you all the time, of course, but this time was different. Normally, they looked to you for guidance. This time, they were looking at you like you were some kind of sideshow freak.
Option one was: kill him, lose your memories, and delay the end of the world. The second option was to fight Nyx, and inevitably lose.
The choice was left to you, of course. Wasn't that how these things always worked?
New Year's Eve came a bit more quickly than you'd expected. Time flies when you're most definitely not having fun. Your friends had moped, and cried, and yelled, and otherwise expressed themselves, but when the moment arrived, you had to face your Shadow alone. He sat quietly on your bed. When you opened the door, he didn't move. You looked at each other for a moment, and you knew that you had to be the one to start talking.
"Ryoji," you began softly. "It never mattered to me what the others decided. I could never kill you. You know that." Ryoji bowed his head in resignation.
"I know," he sighed. "But I could still hope you'd decide differently."
Ryoji wasn't trying to put you off fighting out of some sinister impulse. It wasn't like he wanted Nyx to end the world, just because he was Death. You could see how conflicted he was. He was Nyx's Avatar, yet from everything you could see and feel, Ryoji was completely terrified of her. His fear was powerful and legitimate.
He was more afraid of the end of the world than you were.
"I-" You paused. "We won't let the world end." For the first time in your life, you had a life- friends, and a future, and something to fight for. You weren't about to give that all up just to avoid a little hardship.
"I wish I could believe that the way you do." Ryoji stared at his hands. You sat down next to him, and gently rested your hand on top of his.
He'd transferred to Gekkoukan High late in the fall.
"This is our third transfer student this year, so I guess that makes it a hat trick," Ms. Toriyumi said drily. The classroom was abuzz. You, the original transfer student, had bagged the elusive and sexy Sanada-senpai. People still hadn't figured out what the deal was with Aigis. Many upstanding gents had tried on that front, and failed miserably. This time, the new student was a boy, and the girls of 2-F were excited for new meat rather than new competition.
"I heard he's cute," a big-nosed girl nearby whispered. Her friends ooh'ed and ah'ed. You glanced nonchalantly over at the girl sitting next to you, and noted that she was writing "Akihiko Sanada" over and over in her notebook, surrounded by swirlies and hearts. But you were above glaring, or other sorts of retaliation, and you settled for an air of smug satisfaction. You felt nothing but pity for these people.
They were seriously missing out.
The sound of the door opening drew your attention, along with the rest of your classmates'. The boy who walked in appeared to be fairly average; however, something about him captured your interest.
"Hello," he said pleasantly. His voice rang in your head. "My name is Ryoji Mochizuki. I'm very pleased to meet you all." Ms. Toriyumi gestured for him to sit in an empty seat beside you. As he walked toward you, your heart sped up, but it wasn't from attraction, or anything like that. You were excited to see him, but you didn't know why.
Your eyes met.
"Hi," he said. "What's your name?" You told him. His lips- handsome lips, now that you were seeing them up close- curled downward into a slight frown.
"That's strange," he murmured. "Have we met before? You seem familiar." The girls around you seethed with jealousy. You were about to open your mouth and tell him that no, you most definitely had not met before, when you were interrupted by an unlikely source.
"You are dangerous."
Aigis stood up sharply. Her eyes narrowed, focused entirely on Ryoji. He looked as surprised as you felt.
"Excuse me?"
"You are dangerous!" she repeated. She leaned forward, almost into her battle stance. You were fully convinced that she really was going to tackle him. That, or pull some crazy Orgia Mode shit.
"Aigis," Yukari hissed. "Sit down."
"Dangerous?" Ryoji cocked his head to one side. His eyes narrowed. For an instant, you believed he was actually going to fight her, too. Then the moment passed, and instead, he shrugged his shoulders.
"But I haven't even asked you out yet."
The tension broke.
Well, for everyone except Aigis.
Low groans of wow-that-joke-was-lame-but-also-kind-of-funny passed through the class, and like usual, they quickly forgot about Aigis's strange behavior. Aigis herself sat back down, but she remained stiff and alert, and her eyes never left the back of Ryoji's head. Apparently her sensors were good for both Shadows, and vaguely creepy dudes.
Junpei and Ryoji, of course, both being the sort of guy who would find a tactical robot super cute, quickly became the best of friends. Ryoji took out a different girl every night, and Junpei, despite his grief for Chidori, was more than happy to go along for the ride. It was Junpei who introduced the two of you, officially, and Ryoji seemed very pleased to meet you.
That wasn't the first time you'd met Ryoji, of course.
The first time you met him was lost to you, in a memory so tightly sealed that even head trauma could barely break it free.
The second time, though, you remembered clearly. The night you moved into the dorm. Your first time experiencing the Dark Hour. The first time Death awakened within you, after ten long years of being perfectly dormant.
He greeted you when you came inside, and, well, in hindsight, you were much less freaked out than you probably should have been. That was the first sign that you knew this kid much more deeply than you would admit. His face was a mockery of your own, with dark hair to contrast with your fiery ginger, and bright blue eyes against your brown.
Pharos, he called himself then.
"Can't I just sleep?" you moaned miserably, as he woke you up night after night, always during the Dark Hour, never normal time, like normal people.
"Something important is going to happen," he told you idly. He was sitting on your desk. His short little legs swung to and fro.
"We already figured out the full moon thing," you grunted. "Now go away." You wondered briefly if other people could see Pharos. You knew that your room was bugged. Maybe people were trying to watch you sleep, or whatever, and instead you were convincing them that you were mentally unstable.
"No, not that," Pharos said. "I was talking about the Fall." Now, that was the first time you heard that lovely phrase.
If only it had been the last.
"What's the Fall, Pharos?" you asked, with a heavy dose of I-don't-care included. Later on, you'd be kicking yourself for being so flippant about it. But hey, if he wanted to tell you that the goddamn world was going to end, he should've just come out and said it. Instead, he said:
"That's just it. I don't remember." You pulled your pillow over your face and groaned.
"For fuck's sake." You got foul-mouthed on lack of sleep. Pharos didn't appear to notice, or mind, or both.
"I just know that it's coming," he continued. "It's coming because a lot of people wished for it. Isn't that funny?"
"Sure. Ha ha."
"I thought you would want to know," he sniffed. "Good night, my dearest."
"Finally."
Later on, you'd wonder if Ryoji remembered how mean you'd been to Pharos. If he did, he didn't appear to hold a grudge.
In any case, Ryoji's present incarnation took your school by storm. No one was free from his amorous advances, not even the seniors. His cheerful and confident personality made him well-known, and the rumors began flying.
One evening in the dorm, after Ryoji came to pick up Junpei, Akihiko pulled you aside. He must have seen the way Ryoji picked you out in the lounge and offered you a flirty wink and a wave. The dude had balls, that was for sure.
"Hey," Akihiko said seriously. "You know that Ryoji kid? I heard he tried to hit on Mitsuru." Apparently, hitting on Kirijo-senpai was such a serious offense that the news had been spread around. Akihiko looked you up and down, as if looking for battle wounds. "He hasn't tried anything on you, has he?"
"No," you answered, somewhat truthfully. He had made a big show of 'recognizing you from somewhere,' and the wink-and-wave was kind of obvious. Akihiko was satisfied with your answer, though, and he nodded grimly.
"If he ever does, you tell me," he said. You tried your best not to giggle at the thought of Aki protecting you from the oh-so-scary junior boys. He was just looking out for you, after all. C'mon, it was sweet.
"Don't worry," you told him. "You're much cuter than he is." At that, Aki flushed an awkward mauve color. You gave him a kiss to settle him down.
Regardless, you found it difficult to stay away from Ryoji, even to protect Aki's delicate man feelings, and you continued to hang out with him on a regular basis. You didn't feel the same way about Ryoji as you did about Akihiko, of course, but something was keeping the two of you connected, and you were determined to find out what it was.
Appropriately, you found out the truth on the night of a full moon.
The first sign that shit was going down was that Aigis went missing. She didn't have any friends outside of SEES, of course, given that she was a robot and stuff, and it was unusual for her to go out at night, or spend any time away from you at all. When she didn't come home by eleven thirty, the group was worried. As soon as the Dark Hour hit, Fuuka and Juno searched for her, and SEES mounted up.
She was in an unusual place, but at the time, you thought nothing of it. You ran up to the Moonlight Bridge just as Aigis launched her final attack. Palladion soared through the air. With a mighty crack, it was swatted carelessly to the side.
Aigis lunged.
By the time you got to her, she was in a heap on the pavement.
The force of the blow was evident- Aigis had hit the ground hard enough for the road to have been cracked in several places, chunks of asphalt in disarray. But that couldn't be right. Aigis was, well, Aigis- she was completely unstoppable. Who could do something like this?
You knew the answer before you saw his face.
It only made sense that Ryoji should possess a power opposite your own. You weren't sure why, but you weren't surprised to see him there, standing on that bridge, during the Dark Hour. You didn't think you could ever be surprised to see him.
"I remembered everything," Aigis said to you, brokenly. Her hand reached out to touch you. You heard her, but your eyes stayed on Ryoji.
"Ryoji-kun? Is that you?" The rest of the group was running up behind you, and after surveying the damage, they'd only just seen the cause.
"Oh my God- did he-"
"I can't believe it- Ryoji?-"
"How could you do this?" Akihiko was standing right behind you. Apparently, he still wanted his chance to protect you from big bad Ryoji. The thought made you crack a wry smile.
"Cool down, Akihiko," Mitsuru ordered. "He doesn't appear to be hostile."
"He doesn't appear to be hostile? Did you see what he did to Aigis?"
"It's all right," Ryoji said suddenly. He sounded calmer, more mature. You had trouble imagining this Ryoji chasing skirt in a high school. "I'm not going to hurt you. I remember everything now." He tilted his head back and looked at the full moon. He exuded a calm serenity, very unlike a person who'd just blown someone up.
"I attacked her because I'm a Shadow."
Because he's a Shadow.
You knew it to be true. The others gasped in disbelief, but you kept staring at Ryoji, with an even gaze. If he said he was a Shadow, then that was what he was. The simplest answer was usually, the best, after all. The others' shouts were lost on you.
"What?"
"No way!"
"His true name is Death," Aigis struggled to tell you. Her vital signs were clearly failing. She couldn't even stand. Ryoji nodded in affirmation.
"The thirteenth Arcana, that was never meant to be." He closed his eyes. "Ten years ago, Aigis and I fought on this very bridge." His manner was stilted and somewhat other than human. The expressions and gestures you'd gotten used to seeing from him were notably absent.
"Can't this wait? We need to help Aigis," Fuuka said urgently. She and Yukari were both hunched over Aigis's fallen body. Yukari's Dia spells were only somewhat effective on Aigis's mechanical body in the best of circumstances, and now, the damage was far beyond what magic could repair.
"It's not working," Mitsuru said, incredibly calmly, given the circumstances. "We're going to have to get her to the lab-"
"No, it can't wait," Ryoji snapped. "There's too much that you need to know." You felt a swell of power from him. The others stopped their activities. You hadn't taken your eyes off him since you'd arrived. He knew something- something important- and you knew that it was significant to your life, specifically.
Ten years ago, on this very bridge. That was where your parents died.
"Aigis couldn't defeat me back then," he said. His eyes dropped to the pavement. "So instead, she sealed me away."
"I'm so sorry," Aigis whispered. "I'm so sorry."
"She sealed me inside the only available vessel- a child who happened to be nearby." While he spoke, Ryoji walked up to you. Aki tugged your shoulders as if to pull you away from him, but you refused to move, and all Ryoji did was clasp your hand with both of his. You allowed him to. Images of a car wreck, a fire, a screaming girl- images of growing up as an orphan flashed in your brain.
"The rest of my body was scattered in the process, apparently lost forever." He relayed the information calmly, despite how fantastic it was. "But then, by some sick twist of fate, that same child came back to this island, as a transfer student." Your heart was pounding.
"Me," you said tonelessly. The others, for once, said nothing, but appeared to have come to the same conclusion. Ryoji squeezed your hand.
"I lived inside of you for ten long years," Ryoji whispered.
You remembered the impossibly powerful Persona you summoned.
You remembered the way the Shadows whispered to you.
You remembered Pharos.
How could you have been so stupid?
"I'm so sorry." Aigis was fading. "I couldn't protect you." Her eyes didn't close. You were hit by a sudden silence, as if someone had stopped breathing. Aigis's inner workings didn't make much noise, but you were accustomed enough to them that you could notice when they stopped. Yukari whispered Aigis's name, over and over, and shook Aigis's heavy metal frame. She got no response.
A heavy atmosphere settled over the bridge, but you were still preoccupied by Ryoji. You had so many questions that needed to be answered.
"What are we going to do?" Junpei snapped at the rest of you. "I mean, Ryoji- Ryoji?"
"There's so much more I need to tell you." Ryoji's expression was dreamy and tired. "I remember so much- about Shadows-!" He wobbled. You knew he was going down, even before he fell. When he crumpled, no one went to catch him. He lay helpless at your feet, and an sensation uncomfortably close to "motherly" stirred in your heart. What were you going to do with him? He was Death, after all- was it ok to just move Death around, as if he were some sort of normal teenage boy?
"We can't leave him here," Mitsuru finally said. No one asked, but you knew they were looking to you for a decision. You'd spoken the least of anyone, and when you tried, your throat felt dry.
"Bring him back to the dorm." It sounded more like an order than a request, but in any case, Junpei and Akihiko followed it. They easily hoisted Ryoji's unconscious body- he was kind of small for a guy, now that you were paying attention to that sort of thing- and carried him off. Mitsuru, Yukari, and Fuuka stayed on the bridge with Aigis, to make the arrangements to have her body removed and repaired, before she was discovered by the public.
That left you to walk home by yourself.
You stumbled into the dorm just as the Dark Hour ended. You felt as exhausted as if you'd just fought. Ryoji's fatigue was what you were feeling, of course, not your own. Or was it your own, since he'd lived inside your body?
God, this was confusing.
Akihiko was waiting for you inside. Ryoji was nowhere to be seen- you must have walked home slower than you thought.
"We put him upstairs, like you asked," Aki said. "In Shinji's room." Well, it seemed rather cruel to stick Death in the comatose dude's own bedroom, but it was the only room available. The dorm had gotten pretty packed. Part of you wanted to ask that Ryoji be placed in your room- he was quite familiar with it, after all- but you sensed that that wasn't a good idea.
"Thanks."
"Junpei's with him now. We figured he shouldn't be left alone after, well, you know."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Akihiko was sitting on the couch in the lounge, and almost automatically, you went and plopped down next to him. He wrapped an arm around your shoulders. You were surprised by how warm he was- were you really that cold?
"I'm so tired."
"Yeah, I know." You leaned onto his shoulder and closed your eyes.
When you opened them again, you were in bed, in your room.
Aki carried me here…? You looked around, but the boyf himself was nowhere to be found. Why would he dump you here and leave? They're busy looking after Ryoji, you reminded yourself. Which reminded you of something else.
You clambered out of bed, and ran down to Shinji's bedroom.
Everyone on the team took turns monitoring Ryoji's condition. You, however, managed to sneak in more shifts than everyone else. They couldn't deny you that privilege, after all. You felt a biting need to be near him.
You found yourself understanding Aigis's priorities a little better.
When Ryoji woke up, you almost didn't notice. It was kind of a flip from the usual thing, you watching him sleep, rather than the other way around. The idea that he and Pharos were one and the same had been alarming at first, but was now firmly cemented in your mind, as if you'd always known. Ryoji- Pharos- Thanatos- they were all a part of you.
"Hi," Ryoji said weakly. "I always dreamed I'd wake up beside you." He tried to give you a smooth wink. You rolled your eyes.
"Give it a rest." You bit your lip. No one ever taught you what to say in situations like this. You decided to start with the basics.
"Um, are you feeling ok?"
"I feel fine."
"That's good." Even though he'd passed out with all his clothes on and been carried to the dorm, Ryoji still looked clean and well-kept. Not a hair was out of place, and his scarf was still wrapped snugly around his neck. He looked exactly as he had when you'd first met him. When you'd first met him as Ryoji, that is.
Ryoji did not appear to want to start a conversation, so you took the plunge on your own.
"You lived inside of me," you whispered. Ryoji's expression turned serious. He sat up, hiding a small wince of pain. "You spoke to me. During the Dark Hour. All this time." Ryoji rested a hand on your arm, and you didn't brush him away.
"I don't know if it matters now, but I didn't remember, either," he said. "Not until I awakened during the Dark Hour on my own. Um, and Aigis reminded me."
"Yeah. She's really something." Aigis, who decided to use you as a guinea pig and mobile prison. No, you couldn't blame her. She was a machine. She'd been doing what she was programmed to do. At that time, she'd had no concept of human life. She simply saw an opportunity and took it. Nothing more. And it had prevented the end of the world, so- smashing success, right?
"I'm sorry that it had to be you," Ryoji said simply. You shook your head.
"It's not worth thinking about. If you hadn't been with me- well, who knows where I'd be right now? There's no point in dwelling on it." What if you and your parents had never stumbled across Death? You'd be living in a different city, going to a different school. Surrounded by a normal family, and normal friends. You'd be an unrecognizably different person.
That thought scared you more than having had Death live inside you for ten years.
"You're not angry?" Ryoji asked curiously. You shook your head, even as you thought of what to say next. You were confused, but having Ryoji close to you made everything feel clearer. More centered, somehow.
"I don't know what I feel," you said. Ryoji's face fell. "But," you continued softly, "I feel better because you're here with me." Ryoji's expression brightened.
"Thank you," he said. "You don't know what that means to me." He nodded, his expression resolute. "I feel better when I'm around you, too. All this sadness that I feel…" He trailed off. You weren't sure why, until you heard someone knocking on the door.
"Come in," you said, automatically. Ryoji removed his hand from your arm. It was, of course, Akihiko. Who else could possibly come in while you were bonding with another dude? He gave Ryoji a hard look.
"I was coming to check on you. Both of you," he said. He nodded stiffly at Ryoji. "Good to see you're awake." Ryoji's expression turned serious.
"I have a lot that I need to tell all of you," he said. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. You were surprised at how much energy he had after being unconscious for so long, but then, Ryoji wasn't really human. You stayed where you were.
"There's a lounge on the fourth floor. Everyone will be up there in a little bit," Akihiko told him. Ryoji left without saying a word, offering you only a long glance. You long-glanced back at him. Akihiko noticed.
"What's going on?" he snapped, as soon as Ryoji was gone. "I heard you talking."
"Huh?" You said the first thing that popped into your mind, which was probably the least appropriate. "Oh. You wouldn't understand." You winced inwardly as Aki gave you an unreadable- but definitely not positive- look, before leaving in silence. You didn't mean to shut him out. Well, at least you wouldn't have to talk to him for a little while, given the Ryoji issue.
Ryoji told you the details of the Fall. He gave you a month to decide. New Year's Eve, and there you were, sitting in front of him in your bedroom, as if you were just casually hanging out.
I won't let the world end. For Ryoji, too.
"I wish I could believe that the way you do." You smiled at him, as confidently as you could manage.
"I'll believe enough for both of us."
Ryoji's lips curled up into a tiny smile, which developed into a grin, and then a bright, happy laugh. He took your hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. Without saying a word, he slid a ring off his finger- the very one he'd bought for himself in Kyoto- and pressed it into the palm of your hand.
"I want you to have this." You stared at the ring. "Keep it. Keep it as a reminder that I was human once." Slowly, you picked up the ring, and slid it onto your forefinger. Ryoji's hands were almost the same size as yours, and it fit comfortably. The low-level dorm lighting glinted off of its curves in a pretty fashion.
"Thanks," you said.
"It looks good on you."
"I'll take good care of it."
"Please do." You and Ryoji sat together on your bed, worlds apart yet impossibly similar. The connection between you was stronger than anything you'd felt- even stronger than your bonds with Akihiko, or your best friends. Those ties were unbreakable, yes, but Ryoji was different. The connection was visceral.
With Ryoji, you were whole.
"Ryoji," you said quietly. You'd only mentioned your deepest fear to Akihiko; however, Ryoji was the only person you knew who might have an answer. "You said that I made you part human. Do you think- do you think there's a part of me that's-"
"A Shadow?" he said bluntly. The possibility had apparently not occurred to him before, and he seemed intrigued by the idea. It wasn't very encouraging.
"Maybe," he shrugged, after a few seconds of thought. "I mean, you are pretty good at fighting other Shadows." You winced at the term "other Shadows"- as if Ryoji had already accepted that you were one, too.
"That's not what I meant." You struggled to find the words to say I don't want to be part Shadow without offending Ryoji's Shadow-Human status. Thankfully, though, he seemed to get your meaning.
"There's nothing objectively evil about Shadows," Ryoji laughed. "They're just different, that's all. I guess they have been feeding on humans, so you're natural enemies, but… I mean, they're supposed to stay pretty separate from people, so you aren't used to each other." You'd never thought of Shadows having a purpose, or a cause, before- you'd always thought of them as nothing more than roving monsters.
"Kept separate?" you asked. Ryoji nodded slowly, and he furrowed his brow, deep in thought.
"I don't know how to explain it to you in human language," he finally said. "But Shadows have their place in this world, too." His expression brightened. "If you did end up with some Shadow in you, it would be a great asset. If not, well, you're pretty great on your own, too."
"You don't mind being a Shadow?"
"I'm not sad that I'm a Shadow. Not at all. On the contrary, it just feels good to finally know the truth," he smiled for an instant, before he turned pensive. "But… I don't want the world to end. It's a pretty nice place, actually. It has people like you in it." He looked sadder than you'd ever seen him. "But my opinion- what I want- doesn't matter. You'll realize that too, someday." You looked at the ring on your finger. Ryoji took your hand, and he held it, simple and chaste.
"I love you," he said. You stayed for a long while, just like that, your hand in his. The spell was broken by the numbers flashing on your alarm clock, steadily ticking their way closer to 2010.
"It's almost midnight," Ryoji finally said. "We'd better go tell the others." You nodded silently, and allowed him to lead you out of your room and back downstairs. The others sighed with relief when they saw him alive and well.
"It's a regrettable decision, but it's yours to make," he said. You stood firmly by his side. When you gave his hand a supportive squeeze, you realized that you were still holding it. The group's eyes were trained on Ryoji, all except Akihiko, who was looking directly at you with extreme concern. You avoided his gaze.
"The 31st of January," Ryoji said, without quite meeting the eyes of anyone in the room. "One month from today. Nyx will descend to the top of Tartarus, and the world will end."
"You know we're not gonna let that happen," Junpei grinned. Ryoji nodded stiffly. He failed miserably to absorb the optimism of the people around him.
Ryoji gave your hand one final squeeze before his fingers slipped out of yours. Your hand hovered in the air as he walked away from you. When he reached the door, he paused, and turned back. His eyes brushed over the rest of the group, and settled on you. He gave you a tiny smile.
"Best wishes for the new year," he said. "That's what you say on New Year's Eve, right?" He stared directly into your eyes.
I hope I'm wrong, my dearest.
Ryoji stepped out the door.
A piece of you was torn out with him.
One of your hands, the one wearing Ryoji's ring, curled up into a tight fist. You must have looked ill, because Akihiko and Aigis were both rushing over to you. Akihiko got to you first.
"Are you ok?" he asked. You shook your head.
"Take her upstairs," Mitsuru said, and you were too upset to tell her to go fuck herself. Akihiko nodded, and led you away from the rest of the group. You didn't miss the fact that you passed the second floor to go to the third, but you were too upset to care about that, either. Akihiko shuffled you into your room and got you situated on your bed. He went through the motions of comforting you, sure, but it was awkward and distant. You remembered that he'd heard you talking to Ryoji, and you let out a bitter laugh.
"Are you mad at me?"
"I'm not mad."
"Yes you are," you snapped. "Lying about it doesn't make it better."
"Ok, you're right. I'm mad. But you know what?" He breathed heavily. "I'm mad because I'm scared. Scared that you liked Ryoji better than me. And I guess that's true. So, whatever." You stared at him.
"How can you say that?"
"For months it's been Ryoji, Ryoji, Ryoji! You go on little coffee dates with him, you invited him to your room-"
"Aki-" You tried to get him to stop, but he was on fire. A lump built in your throat.
"And you said you were happier with him- and he gave you a ring- and-" Aki was getting flustered, since every word in his rant made you more upset, not angry, or defensive. He'd seen you yell, and scream, and laugh. He'd seen you cry out in pain and cry out in fear and cry out in rage.
But neither he nor anyone on the rest of the team had ever seen you just… cry.
Fat tears hovered for just a moment before sliding down your cheeks. Your face was wet and your eyeballs burned. Akihiko's face changed from angry, to confused, to worried. You cried silently as you stared at him, begging him to understand. Finally, you opened your mouth, and a tiny sob popped out.
"You don't- it's not like that," you whispered. "It's not that I'm in love with him, or anything stupid like that. He's me, Aki. He came out of me." You collapsed onto Aki's shoulder, weeping miserably. Stunned, Aki said nothing.
"He's me," you sobbed, over and over. Aki gently wrapped his arms around you.
"He's me."
So, this was actually written a while ago, but it was total crap so I cut and pasted and rewrote a bunch of stuff. I kind of love Ryoji in the FeMC's storyline. I think the main character's "other side" works really well with that person being the opposite gender. Hmm... maybe I should write some Minato/Fem!Ryoji?
If you're dating Akihiko, he actually does tell you to tell him if Ryoji tries anything. I lol'ed.
Oh, and I'm going to be at Otakon if anyone wants to meet up. I'll be dressing as Yukari on Saturday. Woot.
Only two more chapters, and one of them is PORN! YAY PORN!