I entered and saw her. She's wearing a black sweater, different from her usual pastel style. It would be alright before since Kuroiwa and I chose the clothes for her wardrobe but now her choice of clothing only confirms something else.

"You're awake." She stated. "If you're going to nag me about my way of fighting against you, I suggest you stop. The teachers have reprimanded me enough and locked me in this room as punishment."

I was taken aback by what she said. Her prediction was on point. Well, almost.

"You're right, but that is not all." I sauntered towards her, stopping in front of her bed. Her head was looking up at me, still emotionless.

"How much of Kuroiwa's memory did you get?"

Her eyes widen. Her expression changed as if a mask she's wearing on her face broke. She looked down. I heard her sigh.

Aoi raised her knee by moving her feet closer to her. Her blanket slid off her right leg, revealing the black pants she was wearing. She rested her arm on her raised knee. Her head looked up with her relaxed posture. A familiar sly smile appeared on her face.

"What do you think, Shou-kun?"

It was still Aoi's face. The voice was still Aoi's. But her expression, and the way she talked, it was just like him. For the first time, the sound of when she calls my nickname didn't make me feel happy.

I was confused. I was frustrated. Then I felt infuriated.

"How did it happen!?" While grabbing her arms, I yelled at her. "Why did he do this!?"

She didn't even looked surprised.

"What? Shin realized that he's going to die. All of my memories are permanently erased from my brain. Do you want to continue this mission without all the information he had acquired?"

"Kuroiwa already gave us all the information about this mission. There is no need for you to be burdened about it and he could just give your memories without his!"

"No need for me? Really?" Her eyes narrowed. "What is this mission for? Protecting Kiseki Aoi. Why does she need protection? Because Kiseki Aoi is being chased by a group of villains. Why? Because Kiseki Aoi has a Quirk that can be used as an energy source. What is the use for the energy? That answer has not been found yet."

"So tell me, Shou-kun. Why can't I be involved in this when I am the main reason of this mission?"

"The mission is to protect you and in order to protect you, we must keep you away as far as possible."

"And you think the villains won't find me?"

"We'll find them first." I let go of Aoi's arms.

"Hah." Aoi scoffed, leaning at the bed's headboard. "How confident of you when you don't even know the reason why the villain is after me."

"We will know soon enough."

"Yes, because Shin already found out."

"What?"

"So do you still think Shin's memories is no use for me?"

"I still think that it's too dangerous for you."

"Since when were you concerned about my well-being? Since Momo died?"

I felt something snapped in my mind.

Then I realized that I'm already on top of Aoi, with my hand choking her neck forcefully.

"Right. Now you want to kill me? Go ahead."

She didn't look in pain. She even laughed bitterly with her choking breath. I immediately let go and moved away from her. Her neck glowed as the red marks on her neck healed up and disappeared.

What have I done? Why did I do that?

"Ahh how amusing. Why didn't I realize this sooner?" Aoi was smiling as she sat up. Her hand brushed her hair up, moving them away from her face.

"I was so stupid." It was a soft whisper, that I can't almost hear. But I still heard her.

The guilt started surging through my body and up to my throat.

"A..Aoi," I reached out to hold her hand, and to my surprise, she didn't pull it away. It gave me courage to speak.

"Aoi, please understand. All I really want is for you to be safe. Now that you know what is really going on, I hope you understand why I'm doing this."

Her golden eyes looked gentle. "This is the first time you've shown this to me after thirteen years... Genuine concern."

I couldn't stare at her eyes after she said those words. Guilt started eating me up inside.

"But I know you only care for me because Yaoyorozu is not here."

"That's not true..." I shook my head sideways. "That's not true Aoi."

She got up on both of her knees. Then I saw Aoi's hands reached out to me. She held both sides of my face gently and made me look up at her. She's so close that I can feel her breath against mine.

"Shou-kun." She whispered gently, with so much care.

"Kiseki Aoi is not the one you love."

I felt like I've been stabbed in the chest all over again.

My mind started recalling everything uncontrollably. From the moment I started ignoring her thirteen years ago...

When I pushed her away,

When I completely didn't care what was going on about her until she mentioned the engagement,

When I pushed her away again but she didn't let me,

When I desperately asked Yaoyorozu for help to push her away once more,

When I finally succeeded in pushing her away,

When she saved my life,

When she risked everything to save us,

And when I couldn't bear that Aoi survived but Yaoyorozu didn't

When I wished she was the one who died instead.

Now, Aoi knows everything.

"Shin interpreted that you love me. But I disagree." Aoi stated.

Her golden eyes were looking right through me. She doesn't have Kuroiwa's Quirk but she's still trying to look what's in my mind.

"You don't love me, Shou-kun." Aoi moved away from me, letting go of my face. "I am just a replacement."

"Stop. Stop saying those things..."

"I am merely saying the truth." Then she sighed.

"Now," the tone of her voice changed. They are monotone once again. "If you have nothing else to say to me, please leave."

She is back to her emotionless self. My mind flashed back to her smile during the days on the western house.

I stood up, walking towards the door.

It was all my fault.

I closed the door and walked through the hallway. The logical side of my mind led me towards the boy's dressing room where I recalled putting extra clothes in case I have to sleep overnight. Like a robot, I changed clothes and left the school campus. When I arrived home, I didn't even have the energy to greet anyone. My feet just went auto-pilot towards my room. I slid the door open and saw my japanese-styled room.

I realized that I didn't even noticed when Aoi started to have a separate room from me.

My feet guided me inside the room.

I know I'm not thinking straight but I can't even make myself think straight right now.

Then I realized that my hands were shuffling through my storage closet, searching for something. It pulled out a rectangular woven basket with the size of a shoe box. I opened it.

Inside where folded pieces of letters, drawings that were given to me way before everything fell apart. Behind all of it was a different type of paper. I took it and realized it was a photo paper. When I looked at the other side, my heart sank.

There was a little girl with short pale blue hair, and a little boy with two-colored hair split evenly in half. They were inside a japanese room, both smiling while the boy was holding a story book.

I felt my eyes started stinging. The picture turned blurry as tears fell down one by one.

~*~

AOI

Despite the painful process, my hands mentally reached out to the bright colors. I pulled the bright colors apart, piece by piece, and fitting them up like a jigsaw puzzle. When a piece fits right on place, the bright colors will start to look more like a picture. Then as the more pieces become pictures. Those pictures will finally show the memories.

My eyes hurt despite the fact that I am not using them physically. They are closed while I try to fit every puzzle piece. No wonder why Shin likes neutral colors, especially black. It surely hurts being bombarded with memories all the time. He is an expert of watching them though, while I still have to piece it together.

I heard a knock on my door. My eyes opened and saw my dark room, so it's already evening. I sat up and saw Recovery Girl enter my room.

"I heard from your teacher you were looking for this? I believe this will help you. But of course, you know the rules."

"Thank you, Sensei. I won't do that again to an ally."

I opened both of my palm up as Recovery Girl gave me the sword-sheathed in white clothing. I removed the bandages and it the black grip and the black sheathe of the sword. Recover Girl also handed me a black rectangular box.

I pulled the sheathe of the sword and the moonlight greeted the blade. The light reflected to my eyes. Then I opened the box and took a sharping stone. I rested the sword on my lap.

As soon as I heard the stone against the blade, my head felt at ease.

"He's right. It does help in calming down."

Recovery Girl smiled compassionately as Aoi held the sword like it was her most-prized treasure.

"Now, I hope you will decide to help with the mission now that we've given that to you."

Aoi nodded with a smile on her face.

"Of course. I always keep my word."