"Oh?"
Her words took him by surprise, wondering the reason for such a change, but his expression didn’t make it seem like he was that surprised at all.
"Sounds like hate?" he replied, and she shrugged.
"Maybe it is. But most of all, it’s caution," she said, stepping closer to Ryuk until she stood just a meter before him.
"When I stayed and hid within Draco, I did that not just to find a perfect opportunity where your relationships with each other soured, but to understand all about you..." she said.
Ryuk chuckled.
"And that ten-minute skirmish was enough to understand everything about me?" he asked humorously.
She shook her head with clarity.
"It’s not enough to understand ALL about you, but enough to understand just enough."
"I’ve seen how your two bloodlines fell in my hands and got erased."
"To be fair, they didn’t fall in my hands—they fell in yours."
"I didn’t lay a finger on them, though," Ryuk defended.
"Exactly," she replied. "And that’s what makes you scary."
"You made them believe in you so much, they began to underestimate you. You made them believe they were in control, with no chance of ever getting replaced. And you did this while they watched all your actions from your soul space."
"That’s why they couldn’t believe it when you told them you’d entertained the thought and didn’t even realize how truly serious you were until I was right before them."
"And to top it off, they never suspected that you’d been planning this all along. I knew it when the red-haired one asked how long you’d been planning this, and you replied—after your fight with Zar’kull."
"That alone tells me you’re not as dumb as you act," she concluded.
A curved grin spread across Ryuk’s lips.
"And the fact that you replaced two bloodlines you were born with—who had been with you through your whole journey—and sat on the throne watching wide-eyed as they were executed one by one, is enough proof of your ruthlessness."
"My instincts tell me not many would be able to watch their own bloodline manifestations get erased, let alone be the one to set it up and watch as it happens."
"And not only that, but then go on to try and get along with the one who executed them, mere seconds after they were executed."
Ryuk grinned even wider.
"I’m not stupid enough to think you appreciate my presence here."
"And neither am I stupid enough to believe I won’t be replaced by a stronger bloodline the moment you get the chance."
"I’ll never trust you and I’ll never let you know my plans, or how much capability I hold, while making sure I learn all of yours."
"I will listen to none of your whims or commands, and I will never see you as an equal."
"I will be something above your traitorous and cunning existence. Something you will never understand."
"So quit trying to get to know me or get me to trust you. It’s a useless endeavor!" she declared, nailing each word with precision.
She watched in satisfaction as Ryuk’s evil grin faded into a slight frown.
But in a second, that changed into a brilliant smile.
"Sounds like you won’t be fake at least," he said.
"And guessing by how you keep using the word ’instinct’ and your one-meter-tall childlike appearance... I’m guessing you’re more blank than filled, and have a lower chance of hiding some grand, overly dark motive."
"Sounds good for me..." Ryuk shrugged.
"And even if you do have a dark motive, I don’t need to be a hundred percent sure to get rid of you."
"I’ve got some experience with getting rid of bloodlines thingy after all..." he added.
Her eyes gleamed faintly because for her, his words hinted at something deeper.
His reason for choosing to get rid of his original might not be tiredness or repeated betrayals, or endless battles.
There was suspicion in his tone.
And how she understood it? He must have believed his original bloodlines had been hiding something from him—something that troubled him enough to consider replacing them, even with a bloodline not entirely on his side.
’Just what exactly is it?’ she thought, mystified, turning back to Ryuk, only to find him lying on the ground.
"Now, if you don’t mind, I need to return to the physical..."
"It’s nice having you around,..." Ryuk said, then paused.
"Um, what do you say your name again?" he asked.
She opened her lips as if to answer, but then scoffed mockingly.
"That is something you will never know..."
"Miss, ’That is something you will never know’," Ryuk added with a wave, his hand collapsing to the side.
"See you... around," he said, his voice fading out.
She watched blankly as his image slowly turned transparent, a sign his soul body had returned to the physical.
Walking forward, she appeared before Ryuk.
Going slowly on her knees, her scaly white hands slowly lowered to the side of his face, exactly to his ears.
Her claws elongated in that moment, and just when it seemed she would dig into his head with both hands, she halted at the last moment.
"Hmmmm," she hummed faintly, staring at the spot for a while before sitting down.
Her image also faded like Ryuk’s.
Absolute silence and calm returned to the Soul Place.
_________________________
Hsssss.
The first thing he picked up was the sound—and he recognized it.
A faint, continuous hiss, like heat stretching across a surface.
His ears flickered as he unconsciously turned toward the source, and then his eyes opened.
What he saw was the gentle shimmer of sunlight filtering through the white glass panel.
Wmmm-wmmm.
Another sound reached him, one whose meaning he couldn’t immediately grasp—but when he turned to it, he recognized it.
It was the wave-like pulse of sunlight shifting through the curtains and hitting the mattress.
Fwwwhhhhh.
A sound of steadily gliding air flowing across the room.
Fshhh-fshhhh-fshhhhh.
The light, rhythmic brushing of a cluster of leaves shifting and softly slapping against each other.
Each sound was unnaturally clear, as if amplified through a powerful speaker.
Unconsciously, Ryuk’s hand moved, reaching for his ears.
"Wh...why is my hearing so clear?"
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A/N:
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In and Out_SnowySmoos