13 SENTINELS: Aegis RIM: ANOTHER STORY - [PART I] (BOOK I)

8.8. Juro's Perspective: [Tuesday Afternoon: Sakura High School Stairs]

They were about to make it to the first floor.
Before they could move on though...
There were two individuals downstairs blocking the path.

???: "So what do you plan to do?"

Juro: "?"
Juro: "This voice is..."
He peeks down enough to not get caught.

Juro: 'Yakushiji...'
Juro:  'And Gouto-senpai?'
He whispers.

Megumi: "I've gotten permission from Morimura."

Gouto: "I see."

Shiba: "What's goin' on here?"

Juro: "Shh..."

Gouto: "Even if that's the case, it isn't looking good."
Gouto: "There's an issue with Juro's condition."
Gouto: "We can't continue as is."

Megumi: "You still plan on using him, don't you?"
Megumi: "You can't."
Megumi: "I won't let you."

Gouto: "..."

Megumi: "Please."
Megumi: "Let him...
Megumi: "Let him be free of the Sentinel."

Gouto: "..."
Gouto: "As of now, him and Y/n are the only ones who can fight."
Gouto: "I can't promise anything."

Megumi: "..."

Gouto: "I recognize the position you're in."
Gouto: "You harbor feelings for him, correct?"
Gouto: "You must understand that he is no longer the Izumi you knew."

Juro: 'Izumi...?'

Gouto: "He is Juro Kurabe."
Gouto: "You would do well to consider him an entirely different person."
Gouto: "The new personality is not stable."
Gouto: "Don't disregard the danger this may put you in."

Megumi: "Juro will recover."
Megumi: "I'll make sure of it."

Gouto: "Even if we erased the personality of Juro Kurabe..."
Gouto: "...It would be a futile effort as I've already explained."

Juro: 'What?'

Gouto: "Izumi's memory is gone."
Gouto: "There is nothing left."
Gouto: "Also..."
Gouto: "With Murasawa Y/n around him as well, it would dangerously put us in a bad situation even more if she were to recognize herself."

Megumi: "..."

Juro: 'Y/n-san?'
Juro: 'What does she have to do with this?'
Juro:  'And, how do they know of her?'

Gouto: "She also has an unstable personality as well."
Gouto: "A new person, yet she unconsciously stays with the person she loves even when she doesn't realize it."
Gouto: "She was (Y/n) (L/n) before, and is now Y/n Murasawa."
Gouto: "I understand you got that information from Morimura, correct?"

Juro: '(Y/n)... (L/n)...?'

Gouto: "You already know from Morimura how their relationship was previously."
Gouto: "With their new personalities, you know how well their relationship has been going currently."
Gouto:  "Them staying together with their new personalities is what keeping them stable as long as they don't remember who they truly are."
Gouto: "Yet you choose the latter."
Gouto:  "You want to recover Juro and don't want to consider the risks this will put you, her, and other people in."

Megumi: "..."

Gouto: "But if they realize too soon that they are different personalities from different worlds in the same sector..."
Gouto: "And reawaken as Juro Izumi and (Y/n) (L/n)..."
Gouto: "They may fulfill their lost promises to each other, and he may disregard you as a result."
Gouto: "Even though there's nothing left in them anyways."

Megumi: "..."
Megumi: "I won't let that happen."
Megumi: "I'll make sure of it, that only he recovers and Murasawa Y/n will not come close to him."

Gouto: "As I explained already, they need each other."
Gouto: "You separating them for your own benefit will only mean worse ends."
Gouto:  "..."
Gouto: "You're a difficult one."
Gouto sighs deeply.

Megumi: "..."

Gouto: "This is for your own good."

Megumi: "Just let me be."

Gouto: "I cannot."
Gouto: "You must return to Shikishima."

Megumi: "..."
Megumi: "...And what if I say no?"

Gouto: "..."

Just then, Juro walks to them.
Taking the male in discussion with and in front of Megumi by surprise.

Gouto: "!"
Gouto: "Kurabe..."

Megumi turns around to see it was actually Juro standing behind them.

Megumi: "!"
Megumi: "Juro..."

Gouto: "How long have you been listening?"
Gouto: "..."

Gouto proceeds to walk past Megumi first, Juro second, and lastly Shiba.
Weirdly enough, Shiba was in the far back of the stairs, staying silent from his spot.
Juro walks up to Megumi.
Four stair steps between the two, with enough space between them, he confronts her.

[[[Music Should Stop Here]]]

Juro: "What was that about?"

Megumi: "..."

Juro: "Who is Izumi?"
Juro: "And who is (L/n)?"

Megumi: "..."
Megumi: "I'll cook one of your favorite meals tonight."
Megumi: "So please..."
Megumi: "Come right home, okay?"
Megumi: "No eating out."

By that, Megumi leaves...
Leaving Juro behind with extremely deep thoughts.
He walked down the last floor of the stairs, reaching to the first floor of the school.
What he heard was mind blowing.
He wasn't happy nor content with it.
This left him with a lot of questions.
...
...
...
Ones where he might be thinking for a long time.
Ones that question himself very deeply.

Juro: "..."
Juro: "I'm a different person?"
Juro: "Juro... Izumi?"
Juro: "That's ridiculous."

Juro: "..."
Juro: "What about Y/n?"
Juro: "She's a different person, too?"
Juro: "She's (Y/n) (L/n)?"

Juro: "This all sounds ridiculous."
Juro: "Does she even know about this?"
Juro: "..."
Juro: 'It's best not to tell her for now.'

Juro: "So..."
Juro: "Yakushiji has feelings for this Izumi."

Juro: "Now thinking about it..."
Juro: "For some reason, I feel that Y/n-san..."
Juro: "The one Y/n-san has feelings for..."
Juro: "..."
Juro blushes as red as a tomato.

Juro: 'Shoot, get it together...!'
Juro: 'It's just a thought, don't get ahead of yourself, Juro...!'

...
...
...

Juro: "But also, why do I have this sinking feeling?"
Juro: "Why do I feel..."
Juro: "That Y/n-san and I..."
Juro: "Might be related for all this time?"

...
...
...

...
...
...

Unknown to everyone there, there was one more person who listened into the whole ordeal.
And she...
Has so many questions that needed to be answered.

TO BE CONTINUED...
STORY PROGRESS: 32%
[Juro Izumi and (Y/n) (L/n)]