"You don't have to tell me," Aether said, breaking the stillness with a chuckle. His laughter felt misplaced, a brittle thing that cracked in the heavy air.
Ryuji's sharp eyes lifted from the book. "Was that fake?" His voice cut through the room, quiet yet razor-edged.
"What?" Aether blinked, straightening slightly.
Ryuji didn't answer immediately. He tilted his head, studying Aether's face as if weighing the authenticity of his reaction. "My sword thinks it was," he said finally, the words falling from his lips with unsettling calmness.
Aether frowned, his expression caught somewhere between confusion and exasperation. "I wasn't fake laughing," he muttered, his tone slower now, almost defensive.
"Good," Ryuji replied, and though his words were simple, there was something about them—a certainty, perhaps—that made Aether's shoulders tense.
