Ajin Demi-Human - Imagine...

Ko: Nine Lives

"Ko?"

"Hm?" He did his best to act surprised, which made you smile as you subtly rolled your eyes.

"You're staring again."

"Oh..." Ko wasn't one to feel necessarily self-conscious, but your remark brought a slight blush to his cheeks. The last thing he wanted was to make you uncomfortable. "Sorry."

"If something's wrong, you can tell me. You know that, right?"

"Yeah." He was distracted again, staring ahead now into nothing rather than at you. "Yeah, I know."

It was the first time the two of you had been alone for days. Mr. Tosaki was strict on Ko and Kei's training regimes, and your own role in preparations was taking up much of the sparse time where you could otherwise have been checking in on Ko. Though you didn't want to make him more nervous by showing your anxiety openly, you were worried about him. Being unable to die did not protect him from the pain or suffering of death, especially with the uncertainty that remained around the concept of decapitating an Ajin. Now, sitting beside him in the briefing room as you pored over the plans to protect the Minister, the distance between you had never seemed greater despite your proximity. You sighed silently, setting down the file and adjusting yourself so that you sat cross-legged on your chair, facing Ko with your head cocked curiously to the side.

"What's on your mind?" He looked up, genuinely surprised, and you could see his thoughts racing through the uncertainty in his eyes.

"I... No." He shook his head firmly. "No, don't you worry about me. Just..." He hesitated, and you saw his fist clench against his knee until, finally, he seemed to burst under the weight of it all. "Are you sure you should be fighting like this? I mean... you're human."

You smiled, albeit a bit taken aback by the question. He had protested against you being a fighting component of the team back at the beginning when you had met, and again after the two of you got together, but you had brushed those moments aside as simply attributing to overprotectiveness. Now - of course, he was being protective, but there was something deeper in the way he looked at you. There was a fear that you'd never seen before, in a way that you had never known before.

"...what?" You managed to say after a moment's silence. "I- What does being human have to do with anything? I'm fighting because that's what needs to be done. Besides, I don't believe that you or any Ajin aren't human."

"Yeah, but... humans and Ajins are still different." Ko insisted. "If you die-"

"I'm not going to die, Ko."

"You don't know that!" Ko's fist slammed suddenly against the table, accentuating the passion he felt on the subject but making you jump in your seat. He immediately softened at your reaction, scared about having frightened you. At any other time, it would've made you laugh to see him treating you so delicately, as though you were a precious being that needed to be cared for with gentility or you'd break like a mess of glass. Now, however, everything seemed foreign to how life had felt only an hour ago, when you'd been watching him training outside, boisterous and lively, with the others. "You don't know that, Y/N." He repeated, more softly this time.

"Ko..."

"I don't know what I'd do if you died." Ko whispered, the darkness in his voice catching you off guard. You had never seen him so afraid - not only for you, but of himself. The fear of not knowing who he might become, what he might be capable of. What the cost of immortality truly was in the face of losing the irreplaceable.

"If I die," you said softly, placing your hand over his, "I want you to take a deep breath, and to fight for you and everyone you can still save." You smiled dryly. "That is, if I haven't used up one of my nine lives to spring back up and scold your ass for worrying. I might not be an Ajin, but don't think for a second that I'm not like a cat and can't cheat death if I choose to, damn it." Ko snorted despite himself, frowning at you as he willed himself not to laugh.

"Don't joke about that." He wiped at his eyes, determined not to let you see him cry. You chuckled and gently pried his hands away from his face, holding them in yours.

"If we're not willing to risk everything, where will that leave us?" You gave his hands a reassuring squeeze, though you buried your face in them to hide your own fear that you could feel beginning to turn your skin cold. "If we fear what we might lose, we'll never see what we could gain. A peaceful life, where people can just live and that's enough."

You felt Ko's arms fold around you, pulling you into his chest as he rested his chin on your shoulder. "That sounds pretty nice." He murmured, the words heavy and uncharacteristically quiet. You smiled.

"Yeah." His embrace was strong. Warm. Safe. "Yeah, it really does."