cloverfieldofficial:
She wasn’t really sure how she felt about him after what he had done, but the words had already slipped out of her mouth. There was no turning back now.
"Santa, uh, I mean Aoi… I never even knew you before the second nonary game… Why did I have to be involved in that horrible game again? Was it because my brother stuck with you when you went back for your sister? So you decided to throw both him and me back into this nightmare?" Her words were jumbled together and her thoughts were completely disoriented. But that’s what this kind of conversation did do her.
"We would have been so much better if my brother and I had never known you in the first place…" The pinkette looked at the ground sadly, hoping he hadn’t noticed the tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
Upon meeting Clover once again, an unforeseen occurrence as they had merely stumbled upon the other out of sheer luck, Aoi may have expected an awkward discussion, the girl solely knowing him from the Nonary Game as one of those who had organized it no less, their last encounter having been... not much of an amicable one. However, the immediate confession took him aback, words that it seemed she may have pondered ever since their last meeting, perhaps in an attempt at comprehending why those who had been Zero had chosen the Field siblings, blaming the ones responsible for their sufferings most likely soothing her mind as well.
He intently listened, azure hues gazing down at the shorter girl, no emotion passing on his features. However, despite the façade he wished to keep, his lips slightly pursed upon hearing mention of Light, of the time he had stood by his side in hopes to save his sister nine years back. There was much he owed the blind man, too much for one who had lived solely for himself and his sister from the youngest age, much more than he would have wished to ever owe anyone during whatever little time may have remained of his life. If it had been a possibility, he would have wished to spare Light and his sister of this fate. However, he had had but a sole goal: making certain his sister survived, the thought and feelings toward innocents may have died (and had died in several timelines) being irrelevant to his duty.
"Both you and Light were involved because we needed you to save Akane." Aoi repeated the exact same argument he had given them back in the incinerator room of Building Q, not adding more details as those were none of Clover's business. "Yes, that's right." He nodded to her, acquiescing to her statement, his features remaining composed, even as he took in every bits of the desperation overtaking her as she kept on. "If we hadn't known each other, the second Nonary Game would have never happened." It would have been for the best, no children abducted for experiments, to play a game where their lives had been in constant danger for nine hours, his sister never ending up inside this incinerator that almost put an end to her life either. "But if I hadn't known you or Light, I could never have saved my sister. Thank you Clover."