Hexus: Neo

*20* Ripple

[5:51AM, January 13, UTC +02:00]

KOJIRO startled awake and scrambled off the bed. Pain shot through his back from the sudden movement and he hissed, but maintained his guard. He could feel his vision swimming even though he couldn't see much in the near-darkness, and he staggered slightly before dropping to a crouch to steady himself. The silence was strange, the air syrupy. The metronomic sound of the grandfather clock in the hall seemed slower than usual, and the snowstorm outside was blowing against the window with such force that he expected the glass panes to rattle, yet all remained still.

"If I truly wished you ill, you wouldn't be alive to consider it."

He started at the voice and turned. Rin was seated on his study table by the adjacent wall, her legs crossed in a casual, almost dainty pose. Her expression remained placid, making her idle threat seem more like a mere observation. Her body seemed almost too discernible in the darkness, as though she had an unseen source of light. He relaxed just a fraction and rose to a more dignified stance, yet he couldn't help his frown. He clearly remembered seeing her leave after the funeral.

"What are you doing here?"

She returned with look of indifference, yet he couldn't help noticing the graveness in her stare. He folded his arms both as a show of impatience and to conserve body heat, and her lips lifted by a fraction when he winced at the pain in his back

"You have been rather good at hiding it. Then again, I suppose you have had the most practice."

"What are you talking about?"

"You would have taken a lot less strain if you did not erect such an edifice. One should be conserving his strength, considering the times."

Heraised his eyebrows, but he wasn't entirely surprised. Rin was more perceptive than even the most astute of humans. She also had a tendency to resort to elusive or circumstantial speech, which meant he had to wait a while before she eventually got to the point.

"It was my decision to," he replied after a pause. "The least Erwith deserved was a grand exit."

"There is no place for extravagance in death. What is of importance is what lies ahead."

"Is that what you've come to tell me.?

"I hold no predictions of the future," she said with a shrug. "Only implications, given current knowledge."

"What sort of implications?"

"Should things continue as they are, Erwith's death would be the first of many."

He huffed and almost rolled his eyes. "Don't you think we already know that? Why do you think we're trying so hard to get to the bottom of this?"

"You misunderstand," she said, rising from the desk and moving towards the window. She idly traced her fingers over the frost lines before she turned back. "Human casualties are inevitable. I was referring to you and your allies."

"And what difference does that make? We're all aware of the risks involved this job. There's hardly any of us who hasn't considered that we wouldn't come out of this alive."

"Noble as that might sound, this would not be of much concern to me if it did not spell even more dire consequences. All of existence is currently balanced on a precipice, and your fingers are set to tip it into oblivion."

He scowled. "Wait, how are we the ones responsible for what's happening here?"

She turned away. "Often, one's crime is not by commission, but omission."