asgardeventide | 004 | audio; D496

[After having his bracelet returned to him, Soushi was having a difficult time readjusting to his current situation in the city. It was as thought all the memories, all the guilt, and all the emotions that were haunting him had returned at full strength; or, maybe, it had doubled in strength while he was grey. Whatever the case may be, he felt sick to his stomach. Very sick. But even so, he can be found sitting in one of the benches at the park, head lowered to the ground as he begins his latest transmission.]

...it would seem I have returned from the grey spell. I am uncertain over the length of time I had vanished, but it feels as thought it was a while... [There will be a pause before he admits.] ...my chest hurts, and I currently feel nauseous...

[Then there will be silence as he tries to find a neutral tone to his voice. Allowing his more formal tone of voice to return instead of the hollow and quite voice he was currently offering.]

What are the latest developments that has occurred or is occurring within the city? I haven't had the time to check the network as I....returned at this very moment. I would greatly appreciate to be told the latest news as I feel under the weather. [Then another pause until he remembers.] ...I won't skip my shift with the city patrol tonight, no matter how ill I currently feel...[He needed something to keep his mind off his current troubles and feelings. He wishes to ignore them as long as he is able to. That's why his job in patrolling the city was so important to him.

As he thought about his next set of words, there will be a long moment of silence as Soushi was uncertain over many things. He isn't certain if it was the guilt, current demeanor, or lack of readjusting to his current environment as he felt the need to ask an important question pertaining to friendship and self-worth. It was a question he has had in the back of his mind ever since he spoke to Jane about it. Honestly, he would normally never ask or even allow himself to be bothered by it, and yet he was. It was all so odd to feel like this.]

Before I end this transmission and if there is anyone still listening -- if you are, then I thank you for doing so -- I have a final inquiry to make. [A pause as he takes a deep breath before deciding to say.] Does an individual who has committed a heinous crime deserve to have friends even if they committed said crime in their home world and without meaning to? Would it be for the best for that individual to isolate themselves as punishment in this world? Would it be proper for that individual to cut all ties with all those surrounding him?

[And without saying anything else, he will end the transmission with a simple "thank you" as he no longer had the strength to keep speaking any more as he felt he would lose his stomach or himself as he thought about his master.]

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[Ryoji's reaction and view over the way he saw the situation will leave Soushi simply nodding his head as he continue to look ashamed with his fox ears drooping and his gaze on his lap. However, when he heard Ryoji's own guilt over his actions, it will catch his attention and curiosity.]

...if you have no qualms with telling me your story, then it would be an honor to listen. [After all.] If you're able to trust me and believe I deserve better than I feel I do, regardless of my actions committed against my master, then...I would like to know... [Even if he didn't believe Ryoji was the type to commit any wrong. At the very least, from the little he had seen of him, the younger boy has always been kind and thoughtful, so it was difficult to imagine him doing any wrong was worse than his own.]

...I don’t really have any problems with telling you. It’s in the past, but… you deserve to know. You deserve to know what I’ve done before you agree to be friends with someone like me.

[And then it’s Ryoji’s turn to explain everything: how an entity of darkness known as Nyx had pieces of her manifesting on Earth, how scientists used the darkness in experiments that resulted in Death being trapped in a physical form.

He explains how Death wreaked havoc in his city, how pieces of it split off and became Shadows. He describes the battle that the Anti-Shadow Weapon, Aigis, fought, and explains that she couldn’t defeat Death, and could only seal it away inside a nearby boy… a boy by the name of Minato Arisato.

Then, he explains how Death began to develop humanity while within the boy, and how Minato was led to its missing pieces and defeated them, not realizing that it would add power to the monster within him…]

After all the pieces were defeated, Death was strong enough to escape his body and join the real world. He had a human form, and had no memory of what he truly was, so he enrolled at Gekkoukan High School… as a transfer student named Ryoji Mochizuki.

[There’s still more to explain, but he pauses there to get his thoughts in order.]

...no, there is no need to say it. I do not deserve anything. I simply wish to hear your own story to get a better idea of the type of individual you are...

[Once he had spoken his own thoughts over the matter, Soushi will intently listen to Ryoji's story over his origins which have his full attention at the mention of an entity of darkness. His face will hardened at the mention of scientists having experimented on the boy and forces they shouldn't have been playing with to begin.

Nevertheless, Soushi will continue to listen at the explanation of creatures known as Shadows, an invention to fight against them, and the way "Death" was sealed within an individual. He didn't recognize the name, but he continue to listen.

That was all he could do as his expression begins to soften and turned more neutral at the explanation of death having taken a human form in which he was the entity itself.]

Hmm, I see. You're the embodiment of the same experiment the scientist were playing with except taken in a human form...? [He'll offer that moment of silence to give Ryoji time to form his story while Soushi gave his own mind a breather, but it won't last long as he was curious to know more even if he had a feeling where it all mind end in. Then again, it was only a simple theory, nothing more.] Whenever you are ready, please continue Mochizuki-san. [Maybe the next part of the story will answer his questions over the boy like the reason he choose that particular name and the reason the entity had possessed Minato.]

Yes… Though I wasn’t exactly human before I came here. I only looked like a human and thought I was one.

[Unfortunately, once Ryoji continues his story, there are more questions than answers.]

I lived peacefully for a month, but one night, I entered a trance and woke up outside on the same bridge where the accident took place. The Anti-Shadow Weapon-Aigis-found me, and she tried to finish the job she had taken on ten years before… but once I started to remember what I was, I was too powerful for her, and I left her severely damaged… when her friends found me, I told them what had happened… and what my existence meant.

[He looks down at the ground, afraid to make eye contact.]

My presence on Earth was summoning Nyx towards us. When she arrived, she would hear the pleas of so many people… the desire to give up, start over, stop suffering and find peace. Upon hearing that, she would bring about the Fall, and all of humanity would perish. There wasn’t any way to stop it. I offered my life to them… if they killed me, they could prevent the Fall for a few months, and live in peace with their memories of Shadows gone… but that was all I could do. I couldn’t stop it. And… I couldn’t influence their decision.

In the end, they decided to let me live. I told them where they could find Nyx before getting absorbed by the darkness. Nyx found me and used me as her vessel when the day of the Fall arrived. I was instructed to bring about the end, but… they found me and tried to stop me. They couldn’t defeat Nyx, but Minato decided he could seal us away from the desires that had called us there… he sacrificed his life to accomplish this.

[It did leave more questions, but he allowed it to slide for the time being and allowed Ryoji to continue with his story. A story he wished to learn the ending to. Which he was slowly learning about the more the younger boy continue to tell it.

There weren't much reaction Soushi will offer as his gaze remained neutral, but his thoughts about the boy didn't change. He was still a good boy. The way he would volunteer for his life to end to offer his friends a chance to live freely and happily was more than enough to prove his wonderful heart and personality. And it was just as equally wonderful that the boy had supportive friends that wouldn't allow him to needlessly sacrifice his life and find a different way to solve the problem. For that short moment, he felt envy over the matter before he felt happy again.

That is until the end of the story began to reach especially the part of the boy named Minato entering the picture once more. Soushi will become pensive over the implications.]

...in other words, he saved humanity from the "Fall" by using his own life to do so? [And he can't help wonder.] What happened to you if it were the case? Were you saved or did you die alongside Minato-san? [And. One more question. Last question.] This is the second time this particular individual's name has been mentioned. How is he connected to you? Why did he have to be the sacrifice?

004 | audio; D496

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