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[ So she literally wasted her breath back there. Cool. She can't even remember all of what she yelled at him about, because she was just yelling and then— then she killed Terry, and he was screaming, and after that it was her turn. The first time through was enough; she doesn't really want to think about it another time. ]

...People will naturally die out all on their own when there's too many of them. You didn't have to kill anybody. Who was making you do it? "Death"? Whether you say yes or no, it would have happened.

"They don't die fast enough", is what they told me.

[ He frowns and finishes the rest of the pastry. He's eating the soup in spoonfuls now. ]

It was a big political mess and stuff, for humans, and beings like Death alike. But I killed the one representing Death in the end, and I didn't have to do it anymore.

"Fast enough"?!

[ That makes her so angry. People's lives are already so short, and somebody has the nerve to say people don't die fast enough. None of Kido's dinner is going to get eaten, at this rate, seeing as she huffs and pushes her chair back so she can cross her arms and slouch. Impatient bastards. "Fast enough." They can fucking deal with it. ]

So where does that leave everybody else? You don't have to do it anymore, and everybody can grow up like normal, right? Isn't that how it's supposed to be in the first place? People's lives have no business being in politics.

... Yeah.

[ Terry stares down at the soup bowl, pensive. He thinks of it more like someone having to hold something up to support it, but it gets too heavy as time passes, so they need to shave off some weight from what they're lifting before they can properly support it again. And now that Terry killed whoever was supporting the planet...

... ]

Everyone live out their whole lives so that they can work toward passing away without regrets.

[ It's only a tragedy when they can't. ]

[ So he doomed the world faster. Don't tell Kido. ]

That's how it should be... Lives aren't something you're supposed to mess with.

[ Terry just decided that the world should die because he's had enough of living this way. Yeah. He's never telling anyone that. It ended with a me vs the world in the end, apart from Orien, so you can only imagine how happy he felt when he came back here. But the thing is that whatever he's done in those forty thousand years is bothering him here too. He absolutely hates it. The personality he tried to keep in check to stay the same so that he's not a hollow shell of what he once was... he feels like it's being scratched off with each reminder.

Things are different now.

He smiles. ]

I know.

[ ... ]

You're not going to eat?

[ Terry took up a resolution in his heart, then went home and slaughtered millions and then flounced. Great job.

Even while being ignorant to all of that, knowing only what she saw in Terry's memory and never through his own words, it's a heavy feeling that settles in the pit of her stomach and she shakes her head. ]

I'm not that hungry. Sorry, I'm going to go lie down for a bit. You can leave everything on the counter when you're finished, and I'll put things away later.

[ Coming back to Hirajiro wasn't his choice, okay... but he likes it. He looks at Kido with a slightly surprised look, but he figures that he shouldn't be surprised. At least he won't deny it this time that he ruined his own life, blaming external circumstances on himself.

He puts the spoon down on the rim of the soup bowl. ]

... I'm sorry. Rest well, Kido.

It's not your fault.

[ Like... it is, but the conversation was her fault to begin with, so she doesn't hold that against him. She doesn't even go to the bedroom to sleep, she just goes straight to the couch in the living room so she can lie there and curl up in one of the corners. So she can sort of be here with Terry so he doesn't have to eat alone, but also not there, because she can't look at him right now. ]

[ Terry looks down at the table and quietly eats the rest. He wraps the leftovers with a plastic wrap and puts it in the fridge. Then he cleans the table quietly. After that's done, he pulls out the warmer blanket in the closet and puts that over Kido. There's a ziploc bag with a food can label that he puts next to her too, labeled as "magic reflector". It's his last one, and in the end, he never used any of them for himself. It's for Kido and he hopes it will keep her safe, like a good luck charm.

He doesn't say anything more and walks out of the house. Kido will hear some quiet thumps on the roof. Terry decided to sit there and think about things.

The coldness yanks him back to reality. ]

[ Why does she need a magic reflector... She's forgotten she'd given hers to Rio too, and when she hears the thumps on the roof and startles awake, thinking that it's raining again at first but then the thumping stops, she leaves the bag with the blanket, both of which weren't there when she'd laid down, so she automatically knows who they're from.

He's not in the house.

She runs out of it, far enough away so she can turns around and see if he's up there. ]

Terrence?!

[ PEOPLE GO ON ROOFS LIKE THAT TO JUMP, DON'T DO THIS TO HER why can't he choose a safer place to mope ]

[ Terry had been sitting on the roof with his head on his knees, so he's startled when Kido suddenly runs out of the house and he has no idea why. Were his footsteps too loud? He tried his best to soften it. ]

I'm here... what's wrong?

You being on the roof is what's wrong! What are you doing up there— how did you even get up there?!

[ He couldn't have jumped, because she thinks there'd be a hole in the roof then ]

I climbed up.

[ He can still do parkour, Kido... There aren't ladders around either, since the household never needed one. ]

... Am I not allowed to be on the roof?

[ He looks genuinely confused as to why. ]

That's right, being on the roof is banned. I don't want you to fall, so come down.

[ Even if he won't break anything by falling, still!!! Just come down... ]

[ Terry is about to protest that he won't fall, but he has a better idea(?). ]

If I come down, will you catch me?

I'll probably break a bone or two.

[ But she plants her feet and opens her arms out anyways, thinking Terry can't be so stupid as to jump off the roof into her waiting arms. ]

[ Terry slides off the roof and grabs the ledge, swinging his feet to toss himself into Kido's arms. Yeah. Not that bad. ]

[ Kido's bones are spared for another day. It's still an effort catching a grown person, though, and she tries to catch him around the middle so his feet don't slam into the ground since he's taller, and has to hug him tight to keep her balance and not fall over. ]

What were you even thinking...

Thinking of ways to get you to catch me so I can swoon.

[ ... ]

No, I just wanted fresh air and think about stuff. The roof is a nice place for that.

[ Kido pulls back and Terry gets a forehead flick. ]

Don't orchestrate stuff like that. You nearly gave me a heart attack. [ So, yeah, that had better be a joke. ]

You can always just take a walk around the block if you wanted air. I can keep you company too, unless you wanted to be alone.

You looked like you were the one who wanted to be alone...

[ And the fact that Kido was sleeping. Yeah. ]

I did, but I would go with you if you ask.

[ She still wants to sleep, but she'll go with him if he asks... yeah. ]

[ terry, waking kido up at four in the morning: i wanna go on a walk with you
kido, smothering him with a pillow: shhh go back to sleep

Terry meant that Kido looked like she didn't even want to look at him, which was pretty understandable, considering what they talked about, so... He finds it hard to reply, which reflects on his face as some sort of struggle of not knowing what to say. ]

[ lmfao yeah, Terry, do your thinking at more reasonable hours.

Kido takes the silence and the complicated expression on Terry's face the wrong way, like she always does, and frowns a little herself. ]

If you wanted to be alone, you can just say that too. And I'll leave you alone.

[ He can tell her to fuck off if he wants to!! But she'll get mad at him. He could say it, though. ]

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