"How about we keep her?"
The tiny voice echoed through the room, and Ryuk’s expression plummeted—but only for a second—bubbling back up when Isha fell into his embrace.
"Let’s keep her, Ryuk. Pleaseee..." Isha begged, flashing puppy eyes at him.
He almost couldn’t resist...Almost.
When he thought about their safety, he was able to push the idea down.
"Of course we will, Isha..." he replied, to which a brilliant smile blossomed across her face.
"But only after we confirm she doesn’t pose a threat to us..." he added, and her expression dimmed a bit before she cutely hmphed.
"I’m sure she won’t," she said confidently, to which Ryuk smiled triumphantly.
"I guess we’ll all see about that when she wakes up," he replied.
Isha remained resting over him as they all watched the girl stir a bit on the sofa, resulting in some strands of her rainbow hair splashing across Ryuk’s lap.
Before Ryuk could mutter a word, Isha’s hands moved, pushing the hair away from Ryuk’s lap, while stretching herself in a way that made sure her own snow-white hair was the one covering his legs instead.
[That’s one jealous Frost Hydra,] the system said, making Ryuk roll his eyes at the antic.
’She wants us to keep the girl but won’t even allow a strand of her hair to rest on me.’
"So... do we have a plan?" He asked, turning to the others.
"Yes," Elder Celine replied.
"We continue our journey to the Planetary Port just like we started out."
"As for the rainbow girl, we’ll decide whether to keep her based on how she reacts to us when she wakes up."
Ryuk nodded.
"Good," he muttered under his breath.
They had a clear goal and direction and were not wandering aimlessly. That alone was a relief.
Eventually, Elder Celine rose and headed for her room, followed by Rakshasa, leaving just Antares on the sofa, attention rapt on the device in his hands.
"Did you get new tattoos?" Isha asked after the others were gone, as she looked at Ryuk’s purple tattoos.
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Her hand gently brushed them.
When she did, she was a bit surprised to see the purple tattoos suddenly shift into a color of white, accompanied by the coldness of frost.
"Huh?" she gasped in surprise, her hand quickly retreating, and the tattoos shifted back to their previous purple.
She tried again, her fingers running across his arm, only to watch it change to the same frosty color.
And when she removed her hand again, it became purple once more.
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"Wow... it’s like they’re changing to my Frost Aura," Isha exclaimed, turning to Ryuk, who smiled slightly.
"How did you do that?" she asked.
"A new skill," he replied curtly.
She returned her hand to his tattoos, running her fingers back and forth, watching the colors shift repeatedly, before finally stopping to ask something else.
"Hey, Ryuk..." she said, her tone suddenly softer, like a whisper.
"Hmm?"
"When I got locked up by those people, I tried to return to the Pet World, but somehow... It’s...it’s like I’ve lost connection to it," she confessed, and Ryuk’s eyebrows knitted a bit.
"And even now... I still can’t access it."
"Why is that?" she asked, turning to look at him.
He could see it in her eyes—she was more worried about his well-being than she was about her inability to access the Pet Space.
"I..." Ryuk started, trying to think of the best way to explain it to her and quell her worry.
But then, another thought drifted into his mind.
A dark voice echoed within him, rooting him in place:
____
"If you still had your bloodlines, she could’ve retreated into the Pet Space when she was captured. But because you didn’t... she suffered. Her wings were torn off—her heads severed."
"If you had arrived even a second later, perhaps all you might have found would her corpse."
’Isha went through pain, and almost died, Ryuk... because of your pride.’
____
"IT IS NOT PRIDE!" Ryuk suddenly shouted, his voice cutting through the room like a whip.
Isha jerked back in shock, heading for the floor, but she didn’t hit the floor before Ryuk’s arms caught her
She was so close he could feel her heart pounding against his chest.
It beat very fast...too fast, a silent sign of her fear, and in her confusion, ice crystals rained down on his shoulders—a silent sign of her tears.
"I’m sorry, Isha," he whispered, hugging her tighter.
"I never meant for you to go through harm... or any pain whatsoever. I’m sorry."
"Are you... mad at me?" she whispered, her eyes closing in pain.
A pain that hurt more than her being imprisoned or experimented on. This pain assaulted her heart directly, and it stung.
Her left hand folded into a tight fist—but then, another hand coiled around hers, unwrapping the clenched fingers and holding onto them.
She felt the gentle touch on her face as he raised her chin, bringing her eyes to meet his.
"How could I be mad at you?" he asked, as the ice crystals fell even faster.
His fingers wiped away her tears.
"I love you more than I can put into words, Isha..." he said, before leaning forward and gently pressing his forehead to hers.
At the point where their skin met, a blue runic tattoo reappeared—one that had first manifested when Ryuk had first contracted Isha.
The runic tattoo spread outwards across Isha’s face, soon trailing down her entire body, while to Ryuk, it stretched deep into his eyes before vanishing within.
The touch of their foreheads deepened as Isha embraced him tightly.
"I love you too, Ryuk," she whispered, her tears fading into snowflakes.
BAAADDUMMP
BAAADDUMMP
BAADDUMMMMP
Antares, who sat opposite the duo, had his device fall out of his hands in shock.
He could hear it clearly.
The sound of a heartbeat—two at first, but then they started to beat, in perfect harmony, and soon enough, there was only the sound of a single beat.
His lips parted in shock.
For just a moment, an illusion crossed his eyes.
He saw Ryuk and Isha seemingly melt into one another, leaving just a single silhouette sitting on the sofa.
’They... they became one!?’
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A/N:
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In and Out_SnowySmoos