Aria of the Planetes

~The Past and The Plan~

Silence lingers in the air. There's a look in Kyoko's eyes -- unreadable and threatening. 

She steps towards Aria. 

"Has this just been an act this whole time?" She hisses. "Are you that good at pretending? You just cover it up? Act like you don't remember a thing?" She stops right in front of Aria. "I should kill you here and now." 

Aria just looks at Kyoko fearlessly. "I don't know what you're talking about. And if you were going to kill me, you'd already have tried." 

Kyoko narrows her eyes, glaring up at the other girl. "Keep playing naive, sure. But Aria of the Planetes is somewhere in you. I know you remember." 

"I don't remember anything." Aria repeats. 

Kyoko looks ready to do something bad, but Kokone speaks up first. 

"Hey! I don't know what you're on about, but we've done what you wanted us to do. Just drop the problem and focus on this stupid game of yours." She says. 

Kyoko shoots her a glare, and even Kokone looks like she's at least a little scared by the murderous expression. 

"Fine." Kyoko spits out. Her voice is all toxins and death threats and none of the sing-song murder mischief from before. She spins around to turn away from Aria. "Only two more need to fight. Yukari and Aria." 

Yukari steps forward, glancing towards Kyoko as the two walk past each other. 

Yukari stops in front of Aria, instead of standing at the unofficially designated fighting spot. "Aria," she whispers quietly, "be careful. Something is waking up inside you." She stares deep into Aria's eyes, and it almost seems as if she's looking at me, and not Aria. "If you show that around the wrong person, or in front of Kyoko again, there could be trouble." 

"I don't even know what happened." Aria whispers back. "But I'll try to watch out." 

Yukari nods. Then she turns and goes to her spot. When she lifts her hood and pulls out her scythe, all sense of friendship is gone. If any strangers had been watching, Yukari and Aria would seem like enemies. 

They move towards each other in unison. I make sure to keep a tight hold on the magic, making sure Aria never uses anything other than her swords. 

The flow of the fight switches back and forth. Yukari is more nimble, but Aria is stronger. They spin in circles around each other. They let go just like when Aria fought Kokone, but this time it's not friendly. There's a good chance one could hurt the other. But there's no hatred, either. From what I can tell, part of it is the emotions that one should have but lacks. But the other part of it is the knowledge that holding back would be an insult to each other. Even with some memories not intact, there is complete trust between these two. 

And then Yukari's scythe slips out of her hand, and it's not a simple mistake -- because someone so well-trained doesn't make that kind of mistake. Aria knows that too, and it makes her stop in her tracks. And all she can do is stare, wondering how Yukari could have simply dropped her weapon. 

"Are you just going to stand there?" Kyoko calls. "Don't make this tedious; I'm not in the mood." 

Yukari picks up her scythe without a word. 

"Y--" 

Yukari interrupts Aria with a slash towards her stomach. Aria dodges, and slashes upwards, knocking the scythe out of Yukari's hands. She grips Yukari's arm, easily flipping her over to her stomach. 

"What are you doing?" Aria hisses, not unkindly. "You're out of it." 

Yukari is silent. She moves suddenly, managing to twist enough to kick Aria away. She grabs her scythe again, this time parrying Aria's swords. To most viewing, Yukari is back to normal, and whatever happened before was just a strange fluke. But some know better: Oliver and Kyoko. And me and Aria, of course, who stand before her.