Background

He always watched over her. 

Whether he was Origami Cyclone or simply Ivan, he would always look after her. They had been raised together, spend so much time in each other's presence that it had been deeply ingrained into Ivan to take care of her - to be with her. That's just what he always did, so he continued to do so. His feelings for her hadn't diminished, on the contrary, he could only say they had grown greater.

Yet their relationship had never passed the line of friendship, maybe because it had always felt fine as it was or maybe because they had ever had the courage to take the initiative. Ivan's reason being the latter, he remained content with just being by her side.  

 He moved through Sternbild City with a nonchalance that only those who had spent most of their life living there could pull off. The other Nexts were off catching a group of thieves and he knew he should be with them -  not because he would be of any use, not because they would miss him, but simply because his sponsors would throw  a fit if he didn't make an appearance. It was hard standing out against his comrades who were more loved and praised by the citizens. Most of the time, he would be lucky enough to appear in the background. It seemed like that's where he usually found himself nowadays, Ivan thought bitterly.

His train of thought was broken when he found he had lost sight of [Name]. He quickly looked around, wondering what direction she had gone. She hadn't contacted him today, like she usually did, and that was enough to bother Ivan enough to decide to check on her. He began digging for his cellphone as he continued walking down the streets. Once he had dialed her number and it begun ringing, he brought it up to his ear while his eyes remained busy scanning the busy streets.

As if he knew just where to look, his eyes landed on her unmistakable figure in just the the second ring. His blue eyes widened at the sight and her  name left his mouth as a mere whisper.

Now gripping his phone, Ivan watched her take out her phone and check who was calling. He couldn't lie and say his heart didn't break when she ignored the call and put away her phone back in her purse. As if that wasn't enough, to add to his suffering, she turned and smiled up to the man waiting in front of her. The man smiled back at her and said something that Ivan wasn't close enough to hear, but the blush that begun forming on her face said more than Ivan ever wanted to know.

Ivan could do nothing but watch her take the stranger's hand and let herself be pulled away. His instincts were yelling at him, crying to chase after them, because he just couldn't think of a world where [Name] wasn't next to him. 

This wasn't a situation where he had the right to do that though, Ivan realized and in that moment, he decided he was better off in the background after all.