The Shadow stole a quick glance over at Aoi and Duster, then turned to Akane. He patted her on the head. "I am your brother, remember? But if you want us to actually go live our lives, we just gotta know you're ok. You gotta stop trying to save the world by yourself, stop trying to sacrifice your happiness and your future. We both gotta learn to trust people. If he thinks that you're gonna get yourself killed or you're going to die old and alone if we leave, he's never gonna accept my will."

He shrugged. It wasn't easy, but it was the truth. "You don't need to go elope with anybody 'cept Junpei, but it would help if we knew you had someone else to rely on if you needed something."

Meanwhile, the other Aoi was looking hard at Duster. "That's it, huh?" Duster made it sound so simple. Aoi snorted. If Duster really wanted the truth, he was gonna get it, probably way more than he wanted.

"Ok, here's what's been wrong. I've kept you out of the loop to protect you from the bad shit I've had to do. I thought if you saw that side of me, you'd figure I wasn't worth it. There's other people around who understand music better, that are nicer, that you think are hotter...and, you know, I was the one who asked you out. I don't think you woulda ever asked me. So I though...maybe you only went along with me because there wasn't anyone else, and if I didn't make it easy to be with me, you wouldn't want me anymore."

He shrugged. "That's what's made me hesitate and not fight when you left. But if it's not true, then yeah, I wanna be with you and work all our shit out."