She claid, but then Ryuk turned to look at her and noticed her smile.
"You don't seem too annoyed at that, though?"
"Almost like you like it," he said with an evil grin, as she rolled her eyes.
"I'm not annoyed any longer. I was annoyed by your impromptu acts before the last Knull Invasion, though," she said.
"You still angry I disbanded your organization?" he asked her, as she shook her head.
"Not after I learned you only did that to save them all from dying..." she said, and he nodded.
"Maybe just try to reveal your plans to , so I can know the reason behind things happening. You said we were in this together, rember?" she said, as Ryuk paused.
"And on the note of that... I'm wondering if that's no longer true, since the contract has now been dispersed?" she added with a faint smile—one Ryuk didn't fully understand, yet sohow, felt filled with sadness.
"Aster, I..." he tried to say, but no words left his lips.
"It's fine, Ryuk. I understand we had our terms, and we've reached the end of the deal. It's all closed now."
"I'll hang around Isha for the day, and tomorrow, I'll take my leave," she said, stepping down and planting her feet back onto the ground as she rose to her full height.
"Have a good rest, Ryuk," Aster said, before disappearing through the glass door.
Ryuk's hand unconsciously reached out—but he soon noticed and slowly pulled it back, resting on his back.
Her words echoed in his mind.
-----
"Or is it no longer true that we're in this together, because the contract has now been dispersed?"
-----
"We signed the contract, after agreeing to the terms. And now, it's over. Yet why?" he silently thought to himself as he stared up at the blank ceiling.
Then, he felt a faint thump on his hand, followed by two more taps, and he muttered:
"Throne Shift."
His eyes slowly shut closed, losing their consciousness.
---------
Eclipsed Citadel, Grade B…
Ryuk's eyes slowly opened to the sight of Morgaine staring down at him, her expression laced with concern.
"Ryuk? You okay?" she asked, watching him stir. He nodded.
"You're awake, Morgaine..." he said, rising into a seated position. She exhaled in relief before leaning forward and giving him a gentle kiss.
"You seed really deep in sleep. I called your na so many tis, and you didn't wake up. I thought you'd fallen into slumber again..."
"We'll be having a family breakfast downstairs. Want to join in?" she said. Ryuk humd, then mumbled:
"Isn't it quite early?"
"Breakfast is ant to be had early in the first place—that's why it's called breakfast," she replied, then added, "And I think an important decision will be made too... by Mum. want you there..." she said, gazing at him with puppy eyes.
In the end, he couldn't refuse and got off the bed, rolling his eyes as he saw her bouncing after him.
--------
"You seem to have a lot on your mind. What's wrong, Bloody Mutt?" ca a voice beside Ryuk, followed by a nudge on his shoulder from none other than Old Jack—nearly tipping the vegetables off his fork.
Ryuk narrowly managed to keep control of them, glaring sideways at Jack, who laughed mockingly.
"Almost had you there. Hahaha..." he said, and Ryuk rolled his eyes.
Then Morgaine spoke up.
"Bloody Mutt? What's that?" she asked, confused. Ryuk kept quiet, but Old Jack responded.
"That's his nickna back in Grade E."
Morgaine humd silently.
"That's a really weird nickna..."
"At least I got a na—with a nickna on top. Not everyone in Grade E had one, and so who did hadn't been called by it in years..." Ryuk murmured under his breath, as Old Jack chuckled.
"I'm afraid you've got a lot to learn about Bloody Mutt, Morgaine. Coming to the city might've changed him a bit, but deep down, I can still see he's the sa old Bushy Ryuk," Old Jack said, and Ryuk snorted.
"You make it sound bad, as if the nickna 'Greedy Old Bastard' isn't worse..." Ryuk retorted with an eye-roll.
Old Jack almost spat out his drink, as Ryuk gave him a devilish grin.
"You! Tch, you were the Greedy Old Bastard!"
"You always ca in, barging in with those useless F-grade cores, asking for double their usual price from !" Old Jack shot back, and Ryuk snorted.
"Oh yeah? Like you weren't making quadruple that from reselling those sa cores to the bastards at the Apex Barracks," he said, and Old Jack shrugged.
"I had to get paid for my hard work too."
"Tsk. Hard work, yeah right. The only hard work I ever saw you do was puffing on smoke all day long."
"Sounds like soone's jealous," Old Jack fired back.
"Jealous of blowing out my lungs? Yeah, right—I'm green with envy."
"I always dread of the day you'd choke on one of those puffs of yours and have your lungs blow up with a bang!" Ryuk said as Old Jack's eye twitched.
"Well, joke's on you, 'cause that ain't ever happening! And if it does, I'll get a speaker in my throat!"
"And be called the One-Eyed, Speaker-Throated Greedy Old Bastard."
"Hey! You ain't particularly innocent either..."
"Oh really? What wrong do, old man?" Ryuk asked, smirking.
Morgaine and the Half-Fallen One could only watch helplessly as the peaceful family breakfast devolved into an endless tug-of-war.
Eventually, the Half-Fallen One had to clear her throat loudly to silence them both.
"Can't we just have a nice and peaceful family breakfast without any argunts, hmm?" she asked.
Both n only huffed at each other before diving back into their food.
"That reminds —Mom, you said you wanted to announce sothing this morning..." Morgaine said.
Ryuk's interest was imdiately piqued, and he wasn't the only one as all eyes turned toward her.
"Yes, I do. And that is... the Fallen Angels will soon be returning to our original worlds."
"We're the only ones among the Ten Families yet to begin leaving..."
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