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... When Sanada-san found me that night, before I came back, he told me it was my choice. Whether I stayed there until I died, or if I went back. He's right. In the end, we end up alone, Minato-san. [Even you, right? In the end you had to shoulder it all on your own.]

The cure they found won't work when the pathogen's gotten this far. I can't do anything when I'm stuck in bed half the time. I'll come back. Because I've still got the will to fight -- but I don't... [He feels really weak and he doesn't want Minato to see him if it starts to get to him emotionally.]

[We end up alone. Minato closes his eyes. He's quiet when he speaks.]

The last thing I remember is everyone's voices.

[No, they weren't alone. He was never alone. Every step of the way since joining SEES he had someone at his side. Maybe not physically, but even as the world was ending, he was still in people's hearts. Even as he'd faced Nyx, everyone still wished for his safety. Even as he died, he could still hear the voices of his friends, he could still feel Aigis' lap. If he had been alone... It would have been horrible, if he had been alone.]

[Minato he doesn't get it.]

Voices...?

It was on the roof of the school. A really warm day, but I was tired. I was supposed to see you all again, but...

I fell asleep before everyone made it.

It was nice to hear you, though. It... made it nice.

[He falls quiet. He drops his gaze and lowers his head, unsure how to respond to that. Of all the people to lose their lives in the end, it had to be this person.]

I'm sorry.

[Of all the people who had to die, why did it have to be him? Why did he get brought here? Here, of all places? Why wasn't he allowed to just rest?]

We don't end up alone, Ken. [He was here with Yukari, wasn't he, before Minato showed up. And even in death, Minato's not alone. It's just fundamentally untrue.]

[He shakes his head. But it makes him dizzy so he sits down on his bed, looking defeated.]

... We do. I've already been. Besides, Minato-san. [He shrugs.] If everything ends, and SEES disbands, the senpais will go on and graduate and find jobs, but I'm still in school. I'll go back to my old dorm again, and I can't barge in on them because they'll be busy. [He's there to fight. They're all there to fight. Of course they'll support Minato, of course they all care -- but after that, he can never...]

Will they bring Koromaru back to the shrine, too?

If nobody does, I'll take care of him.

[Nobody else knows how to take care of dogs anyway. Akihiko would poison him with protein.]

Sounds like you'll have someone else, at least.

... I don't want anyone to see. Dying is... [He won't admit that he's scared. He won't admit that he's sick of this place.]

Terrifying? [He finishes Ken's thought with the first word that comes to mind in relation to both Ken and death.]

...

[He nods, silently.]

Then stay. [Let him keep an eye on you. He'll never bring it up again.]

You'll end up having to watch me die...

I've seen a lot of people die.

Why do you want to watch another one, then?

[He's quiet. He stretches. Moves to the other side of the room. Frowns at nothing. He doesn't turn to look back at Ken.

Why?

Because he left everyone behind without a goodbye, without an explanation, without anything but a spring day and a fulfilled promise. Because there's no one left to take care of SEES, to give them a reason why, to make sure they're looking out for each other or themselves. He's sure they're already on top of it, but--]

I never did enough for you.

[He's not sure what he was going to say, but if there was an argument, it dies before it leaves his mouth. Ken lifts his head to look at Minato's back, his eyes widening just a fraction as he processes that answer.]

... Me?

I heard you. In September. Sometimes you'd talk to yourself.

[And those questions. Those hypotheticals, the rhetoricals, the open ended vague statements Ken made.

He'd heard them all.

He hadn't done shit about it.]

[Ah.]

[He drops his head again and responds quietly.]

I-I don't think anyone would have... even Kirijo-senpai didn't notice until that night, right?

What kind of a leader doesn't help his team?

[Minato's being selfish, he knows this. He's making this about him.

But he knows Ken's scared. And being alone isn't going to help that. It's just going to cut away his support. It's just going to make him more scared.]

That wasn't your fault! [It wasn't. It wasn't Minato's fault at all, or anybody's. Shinjiro's death was Takaya's doing. Shinjiro agreeing to come out that day was his own decision. But Ken had been the one planning that day, the one who called him out -- it wasn't Minato's fault. Minato had nothing to do with it.]

It wasn't your fault. I was the one who made that decision.

[Minato turns back, finally, to look at Ken. He's wearing a smile, as warm and comforting as he can make it. But it doesn't reach his eyes.]

You were alone that whole time.

... It wasn't the sort of thing to share with anyone.

[He doesn't try to think about what would've happened if anyone called him out on it before. If anybody had noticed, or asked. He shakes his head.]

We made you shoulder everything on your own, too.

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