Aoko Aozaki was the kind of person who liked to figure that the only thing she feared was fear itself, and even then, that it was something she had learned to overcome.
But even so, despite her thoughts of how she was different from humans -- that she was no longer what other people could classify as human -- she was still one through and through. And as a human, even developing an idea of what this mysterious gas was able to do, reinforced by Wayne's later words, she had an involuntary reaction to it. Just as everyone else seemed to be facing their greatest fears, Aoko had no such thing she could think of that she actively feared.
But the mind was a tricky thing. It was capable of wonders even the magician couldn't fathom. When the gas reached into her subconscious to yank out something she feared, the thought materialized into a hallucination that stood before Aoko in the blink of an eye. And he stood atop one of the wrecked buildings (at least, a building that looked destroyed due to the influence of the gas), looking down upon the redhead as though holding the intent to tower over her.
It was a young man, no older than 17 years old at this current time, sporting bandages on his face that seemed to serve the purpose of obscuring his eyes until he had moved them off. The indigo shine of his eyes, glowing radiantly in a tragically beautiful sense, pierced through the darkness like a star shooting through the night sky. That was the irony found in something such as the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Something so lifelike, gleaming luminously, was the origin of such black, ugly death.
That was the fate that Shiki Tohno was afflicted with.
An innocent boy already predisposed to misfortune, shouldering such a burden of seeing the death of every day before his very eyes.
Life was just destined to be difficult for him. Far more than any one person deserved to go through.
Aoko never stopped thinking about the boy, not even after eight years and only meeting him once. He was a good person, but humans could go either way. They could rise above their obstacles, or they could crumble beneath them.
And the tragedy of that was that Shiki Tohno was no exception.
In a life destined to face hardship, agony, and loss, there was no doubt in Aoko's mind that his life would be far easier if he were to "break." If he had destroyed the chains that held him back, the chains that held together his moral inhibitions and fears, perhaps he would have lived a better life, even if at the expense of everyone around him.
In other words, if he had destroyed everything around him, perhaps he would have lived a good life, able to freely acknowledge the death of everything he saw.
But that was also something Aoko, whether or not she realized it, feared.
Would it have been her own fault if his attempts to lead a moral life, wholesome and "normal" for all intents and purposes, simply led him down a path of self-ruin and resentment? After all, it was her that inspired him to lead that kind of good life all those years ago on that grassy field. Would it have been on her if her attempts to live a moral life resulted in that kind of life begetting even more misfortune for him? And what scenario did she even fear more? That, or the one where the boy let go of such morals, and lived the life he wanted to, at the expense of everyone else's?
Perhaps the gas answered that question for her. The figure continued to stand above, watching Aoko like a hawk, and the redheaded woman figured it was finally time to grasp that answer for herself.
"Well, even though I know you're a fake, you're still not going away, so I guess either we gotta have a talk, or we gotta fight. Like a ghost that needs to be fulfilled before it can move on. And I don't feel motivated to fight a hallucination... even if you might be the type of vision that can make me think I'm hurting enough to actually hurt me," she spoke.
"..."
"What, you just gonna stand there? A little unresponsive for someone locked in my imagination."
"..."
"Jeez, how dull."
Before long, however, the figure finally moved, like a wild animal who had just finished examining his prey. Hopping off the edge that he was standing upon, the illusion of the boy known as "Shiki Tohno" slowly walked toward Aoko, all the while the woman, laying down her baggage, put her hands on her hips in wait, come what may.
And then, it finally spoke.
"Are such phenomena mutually exclusive? To be a good person is to lead a bad life, and to be a bad person is to lead a good life? If so, would it not be your fault either way what happened to me?" It spoke, as though able to read her mind. After all, if this was
all in Aoko's head, perhaps it made sense that way. Continuing to walk towards her, the illusion kept talking, a low voice penetrating the air like the knife he held in his hand.
"Cursed to hold back this great power and lead a life where I'm powerless just like everyone else, or cursed to make use of this power as I pleased, and take what I want from everyone. Would you take responsibility for that, Sensei?"
Eventually, he stopped walking, standing just a few feet before Aoko. Like a standoff, the two of them stared each other down, but in reality, Aoko knew that no fight would occur. She was not aiming to start one, and thus, the reactionary hallucination would not indulge her.
To be honest, this illusion was far more vivid than Aoko had expected, and she suspected that it was at least partially due to the nature of her powers. The image before her was indeed the result of a possible future, but her thoughts and what she made of it were her own. They were pure speculation for all she knew. Only one way to find out.
"Of course, that's like you, isn't it? Always roaming, always moving. Dodging the responsibility of your actions. Like you're running away from Soujuurou, or Touko. But your sins will always catch up to you, Sensei. No one can escape their fate."
"..."
Aoko remained silent, her expression a mystery for a good silent seconds, before she let out a breath, and spoke, producing her response.
"... You bring up a good point about one thing."
"What...?"
"Being a good person and leading a good life... They don't have to be mutually exclusive. Who's to say that at the end of the day, Shiki Tohno decided to lead such a moral life, and decided that it was good enough for him? After all, a wonderful boy like him would surely grow up into a wonderful young man," Aoko said, beginning to walk toward the illusion.
"Maybe either way, it doesn't matter. With his Mystic Eyes... at this rate, he doesn't have much longer to live, I'll bet. In another ten years, it's very likely he won't be around anymore. He'll never be able to raise a child, let alone have the luxury of growing old. And at the end of the day, the only thing he'll have to show for it is the connections he makes. That's all anyone can ever have in this terrifying, lonely world. But I trust him. I trust him to live the life that he wants. Because he deserves that much."
Then... she did something even she might not have expected from herself.
She pulled the illusion into a hug, as though it were Shiki himself she were holding.
"I know it in my heart. Shiki Tohno has grown into a wonderful young man. And I'll be sure to see it with my own two eyes when I come home. Just you wait and see."
As though it were a real person, the hallucination could only gasp in surprise, and do little more. It could do nothing. Aoko had conquered this fear for now, and thus, this fear could do nothing more to her. It could not haunt her, nor could it drive her mad. Not while she had faith in the boy that she had met eight years ago in the grassy field.
And just like that, it was all over.
He was gone. Gone, like the wind.
