We Are Similar

Discovery pt3

She stood still as she processed the words. Their father's voice? Her father? "I..." She shook her head. "I don't... remember..."

"It's fine. I just wanted you to know." Hugo replied before continuing to fix up the little robot.

Eva could only stare. This man was her brother. The one she used to idolize. The one she had looked up to. The one she had always wanted to be... The one who she had thought to be dead for the past 10 years. It had hardly been two days since they had reunited, and not once had he pushed her into remembering her life before the accident. He also didn't push her to become familiar with him, despite being related by blood.

She turned to Mizel, who knew exactly what she was thinking. Their minds were still linked after all. He pointed at him with his eyes, as if saying, 'Go on'.

Gathering her courage, she slowly wrapped the older male into a hug. "I... I missed you..."

His eyes widened for a second before returning the hug. He chuckled slightly. "You have no idea how painful it was to see you cry about it every other night, and to not be able to do anything. I missed you too."

"Welcome back to the world of the living."

"It's good to be back."

~~~~~

Jin knew he had heard enough. He didn't want to eavesdrop anymore than he already had and it looked like Ban too, was getting a little awkward just standing there. The two went to the dining hall and, after fixing themselves their drinks, sat down on one side of the long table.

"Jin," Ban suddenly spoke up. "What do you think's going to happen after this?"

He thought about it for a while. "It depends on what you mean."

"That's... I'm talking about Mizel."

"In that case, I'm not entirely sure. We'll have to see how it goes. It's obvious that they trust him, so the rest of us will just have to keep an eye on him and judge for ourselves."

"Do you think Dad and the rest would try to get rid of him after this?"

"Again, I'm not sure. All we can do is hope for the best and expect the worst."

"I guess that's true... But which one is best?" Not getting an answer, Ban decided to change the question. "What about... Eva?"

Jin's hands tightened around his mug. "What about her?" He swore he would've choked if he was drinking.

"Well, she just seems so... lost..." Ban replied, choosing his words carefully. "Despite all that's happened, even after she reunited with Hugo-san, in a way, she didn't seem completely happy."

"What are you two talking about?" The two boys looked up in surprise when Jessica joined them.

"So you couldn't sleep either..." Ban trailled off.

"I'm honestly surprised anyone could." She said, sighing. She got a glass of water for herself before sitting down across Ban. "Enough of that, what were you two saying about Eva?"

"Ah, that was..." Ban cast a side glance at the one beside him before answering. "I was saying that... Even though she's winning, Eva didn't seem too happy. I mean, after this, she could still get away and we know that none of us could find her with Mizel on her side. He could delete any trace of her that appears. So wouldn't it make more sense if she was over the moon about all this? Everything is working in her favor."

"Not everything." Jessica stated. "There's one very significant factor working against her."

"R-really? What is it?"

"He's sitting right beside you."

At this, Jin looked up. "Me?"

"Who else would it be?" She smirked. "Niara and Kirito have had a large influence on her in the past few months, but you're still the one who knows her best. On top of that, she loves you, so of course she's not happy. She can't be without you by her side."

If she had told her this in a much different situation, he probably would've been flustered. Probably. Well, it wasn't like he didn't already know... He did, didn't he? He knew. He knew it from the beginning, right? ... Then why doesn't it ever sink in until now...?

He felt a churn in his stomach. Without another word, he left the room. His mug sat still on the table, not a single drop was drank.

~~~~~

Niara got up with a sigh. She looked at the other girls and found Jessica gone and the others asleep. Grabbing her LBX and CCM from the table, she walked out silently. Going around in the dark was never a problem for her. She did this a bunch of times back at Omega Dain. She used to love snooping around and scaring people in the dark. The memory made her smile slightly, but it was gone as soon as it appeared.

She headed for the cockpit. Sitting down at one of the back seats, she turned to look out the window. Outside was still really dark, it was around 3 a.m. after all, but she spotted white dots fluttering past the window. They were nearly there.

She nearly jumped when she heard the door opening. Turning around, she spotted Kirito, of all the people, KIRITO taking the seat beside hers.

"Why the fuck are you up so early?" She couldn't stop herself from cursing, but then again, when had she ever around him.

"Well why are you up?" He retorted.

"Can't sleep." She replied with a shrug, turning back to the the window.

He followed her gaze. "Snow, huh?"

"Mmhm."

After a second of silence, he opened his mouth again. "Lev, are you sure about this? It is your place we're going to."

She snorted. "If you're gonna ask that, you should've done it before we left."

"I'm just saying, you've been a little off since we got on board."

"I'm wondering if everyone's asses would survive the perpetual winter."

"Lev."

"... ah, screw it. We're nearly there. Who cares what I think? We're doing it anyway."

"Levanov."

"I mean it wouldn't be so bad. I get to see that place again after like... what, 8 years? I think it should be a little more than that now. There'll probably a ton of dust bunnies..."

"Nia-"

"SHUT. UP. I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN, OKAY?! I. GET. IT." She snapped at him. Seeing his eyes go wide was a first for her, but she ignored that minor detail. "I miss my parents... But crying about it won't bring them back. So it doesn't matter."

She refused to face him, so he muttered, "If you say so."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, why the fuck do you care? This doesn't have anything to do with the mission."

He leaned back on the seat while exhaling in an annoyed manner. "I don't know. A bunch of weird things has been happening lately. Mental stress makes you feel things, I guess."

She smirked. "I knew you drank too much coke."

"Retarded shit."

"Asshole."

It was silent after that. In contrast to the uncomfortable and heavy one from before, this one was much more calming. Morning came and Hugo and Eva were first from the rest to enter the cockpit. They found the Omega Duo asleep, leaning on each other's backs.

~~~~~~~~~~

Smol KiriNia fluff because Jin has issues :')