"That's the last one" you call out, hoping to offer relief of some kind. Suguru refuses your extended hand, straightening up on his own. Each curse gets harder to absorb these days, the taste becoming unbearable, and every mission feels harder than the last, not that his skill is overestimated- he's just over it all.

You can tell.

If he feels like he's losing his mind, then you must be long gone. Perhaps you're emotional intelligence is off balance, misguided, yet there's always the possibility that it's not, and your dear friend is indeed trotting down a treacherous road, maybe not trotting- tumbling. It's subtle enough to drive you crazy, makes it easy to ignore, or second guess. It's the words that he allows to slip, should've let it kill them, what's even the point anymore, words that cause your hands to freeze, breathing hitch, silently praying that he didn't actually mean it.

But if you know anything about Suguru Geto, you know that he doesn't let things slip. He'll only scream if he wishes for someone to hear, only takes you on assignments to get you alone. The sky is dark now, a misty fog settling over the town, cloaking the street lights and silently undoing whatever tidiness left in his hair. He breaks the uneasy silence, weary eyes taking a look at you for the first time in hours "Are you okay?" he croaks, almost guilty that he didn't bother to check.

"Unscathed" you respond quietly, running a hand over you arm, it's like you know what path this conversation is going to take, he almost smiles. "That's good." A chilled hand rubs over the back of his neck, sharply pulling at the hairs at the back, his way of biting his tongue, willing himself to shut up, but damn it all. "You didn't have to leave unharmed, neither did I" a hollow laugh rips from his throat, prompting your heart to skip a beat, painfully. "We didn't have to make it out, we could've died, every single mission could lead to fatality.....what are we fighting for?."

Two children run past just then, giving chase to a ratty dog. It's supposed to spark some warmth or hope in him, something, you think the sight is ironically the answer to his question. He just feels nothing.

"We're fighting to save people, save lives" you begin "To help those who are weaker than us, and can't help themselves." He stops abruptly, and for a second you think he might pounce on you. "Why us..". It's a silly question, who else would exorcise curses if not sorcerers, it's your entire existence. "Why us? Suguru who else-"

"Why us!". He's mastered the art of masking, contorting all the ugly, horrible parts of him and manipulating it into something pretty, digestible. His mask doesn't have cracks or holes, he's made sure of that, if it slips it's because he took it off, just too sick to wear it. He doesn't bother to take it off anymore, not even around Satoru, he just doesn't understand, but you- just maybe-.

"It's just a cycle, we're in an exhausting, senseless circle. The only way to break it, is to get rid of them" The intensity in his gaze terrifies you more than it should. "So what are you just gonna start murdering-"

"I just want out!"

His breathing is shaky as he tries to get a hold of himself. His hand reaches for yours, pretending not to notice when you flinch. He lifts your sleeve to reveal a healed scar along your forearm, that day was a close call, one that he thinks of often, because one less stroke of luck and he wouldn't have you any longer. "We'd be so much happier, if they were gone." He draws closer, and you see him for what he really is, miserable. "{{user}}, I just want out."