He pulled away from the both of them, and paced a bit, in what space he had to do so. His eyes were wide in that frightened bird kind of way as he ran things through his head. What had happened in that small booth with him and Hina. How easily Ankh had slipped back into place once he heard that wrong answer from her. He was beginning to lose himself in all of this. Once he would have considered that a victory. But now, he wasn't so sure.

If seeing her this much had shaken his resolve in the course of almost two weeks, then staying away had been the right plan all along. And he wasn't sure if he would ever forget the sound of her screams the first time he hit that button.

"Motherfucker!" he pushed his fingers into his hair (such that he could on the one side) and dropped to a crouch. As infuriating as it was, Eiji was right. That this was protecting Hina was only a delusion.