A mistake in hindsight. Misunderstanding was running rampant on all sides in a rare and very ugly form. Maybe whenever he calmed down to more of a simmer and one of them sat him down to tell what happened in those five years, he'd regret the harsh words that had spilled out of him and the way he'd behaved.

But right now he was grabbing onto his hatred for Schwarz, because that was one of the few things that made sense right now. Wrapped tight in his pride and a sudden fierce mental division between black and white, Aya was doing his unmovable force impersonation. Not the best time to be doing such, but he didn't care.

He felt Yohji's eyes burning twin holes in the back of his head and ignored it. He set himself to ignore pretty much everything, other than the jarring motions of the bus and the tight web of his thoughts. Yet his hand still strayed up, rubbing the lobe of his ear where her earring should be.

Violet eyes slid shut and Aya was silent for the rest of the trip.