The Equation of Hearts

√𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟽ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩ

Kato left the apartment and he didn't lie. He spent those first two hours going to the shooting range, where he was sifting through the thoughts in his head. There was a lot to think about. So the walk was well needed, where he ran his hand through his hair and ignored people looking at him on his way to the range. Of course, going for the sake of his aim was one of the reasons he was going. But he was also blindly going in hopes that Soji would be there. Though he hadn't calculated the chance of that like he had last time.

He had been out the whole night trying to fix himself. He expected to get hurt, he didn't expect it to hurt him as much as it did - where he felt he had to hold onto his chest to keep it from boring a hole into itself. He thought that getting her presents would make him feel better, but he felt worse. Not to anyone's fault but himself.

Arriving there, Soji was leaving the range before they both looked at each other. On his face, a small smile crept to his face and his arms crossed, "welcome back, kid." He turned around to re-enter the range. Kato followed behind, getting given a rifle. "Good to see you." He added and they turned to the targets.

When Kato was upset in his world, he would just work and train his sadness out. He felt bad going to his family with his feelings. Though as it ended up, Elena would be the only one to pick up on how he felt and make him feel better. The Elena of his world, that is.

But the same principle could mostly apply here, where he could just train mindlessly until he got over how he felt.

They silently and simultaneously shot and reloaded, they switched guns and switched to each other's target from where they stood for a while longer. It was just like training. Though Kato was aware of how dark the room was feeling with his energy, and it bothered him to the point he couldn't move his joints. He stopped shooting, putting the gun down and having Soji also stop, looking at him.

"Uncle Soji..." Kato exhaled and looked down at Soji.

"What's up?" He also put down his gun and returned their non-existent eye contact. But that was until Kato glanced at the cameras and took off his blindfold for Soji to be startled at. The man looked into those familiar pale blue eyes, the shape of them were identical to Tenshi's.

"How..." he looked at the blindfold and then to Soji, "I... need help." He confessed for the first time ever. In those eyes, though his facial expression never changed, tears welled and fell slowly down his face. Soji bit the inside of his cheek and frowned at the sight of the boy above him. How his eyes and bandaged cheeks grew wet with his silent crying.

"Then I'll be here to help you," he reached up and wiped away his tears, "what do you need?" He hummed calmly and saw him go onto his knees, where his head rested on Soji's shoulder and he could actually feel arms around something other than his stomach with how short the others were to him. He inhaled deeply and, well, he wanted to stop crying and take back what had happened. But Soji rested a hand on his head and massaged his scalp, he sighed and held onto Soji's blazer.

"I need you to... remind me of my duty," he whispered, letting Soji push him away and sit in front of him. Kato fell forward and his head rested on Soji's shoulder again. Soji rested his hands on Kato, sighing,

"What happened?" He queried.

"You taught me... to know the world wasn't black and white... but on the battlefield, it was easier to think that the other person was an enemy than both of us being both." He whispered and though Soji below him hadn't, he could see himself saying that, "and I've lived with that for longer than I can remember," he sighed, "but... in this duty... both the side I fight for and the side I go against... are sides I can't see as an enemy. Where I know both sides hold good and... I want the absolute best of both sides. What do I do when I want to help both the side that needs me and the side that hates me?" He whispered and held onto Soji tighter.