[ At least that 400 year old man can be relied upon to preserve her life, an understanding between the two that Aki has to listen to in order to be alive; it's the opposite for Ryoji and Thanatos, Ryoji rejecting the Shadow and Thanatos silencing him and taking over in full, driven only by instinct instead of thought and reason.
This makes its movements simple but deadly, diving straight for Aki when it spots her standing there, unmoving, with its sword out to its side at the ready to slice off her head. Disappointment floods through Ryoji as he watches through Thanatos' eyes. She's not running. She's not even looking at it. If she's ready to give up her life, then Thanatos will gladly take—-
— a blow to the face, it catches Thanatos on the neck and rips upward past its jaw, black tar-like ichor spewing from the wound as it howls in anger and indignation as it shakes off the damage as if it could not feel it and grabs for Aki again, holding her there while her sword is caught on its mask, tearing her apart limb by limb by limb with its bare hands
-if it were a stranger off the streets, that might have happened. But it's Aki standing before him. Aki who is not somebody who considers him a friend— Ryoji isn't even sure he considers her a friend; he'd like to be, but they're not there yet. But it's somebody he knows, standing so close he can see Thanatos reflected in her eyes and it balks, frozen there in front of her.
no subject
This makes its movements simple but deadly, diving straight for Aki when it spots her standing there, unmoving, with its sword out to its side at the ready to slice off her head. Disappointment floods through Ryoji as he watches through Thanatos' eyes. She's not running. She's not even looking at it. If she's ready to give up her life, then Thanatos will gladly take—-
— a blow to the face, it catches Thanatos on the neck and rips upward past its jaw, black tar-like ichor spewing from the wound as it howls in anger and indignation as it shakes off the damage as if it could not feel it and
grabs for Aki again, holding her there while her sword is caught on its mask, tearing her apart limb by limb by limb with its bare hands-if it were a stranger off the streets, that might have happened. But it's Aki standing before him. Aki who is not somebody who considers him a friend— Ryoji isn't even sure he considers her a friend; he'd like to be, but they're not there yet. But it's somebody he knows, standing so close he can see Thanatos reflected in her eyes and it balks, frozen there in front of her.
Kill Ryoji. ]