Void said as it Panther-walked toward Ryuk, coming to lie on his chest while staring at him with a sleek, dubious smile—one Ryuk wouldn't admit was even there.
"There were terms, remember? It wasn't something I forced on them or tried to hide. They both knew the conditions, agreed to them, and signed the contract."
"It was a deal. And now it's successfully—and naturally—come to an end."
"It is a happy ending. Why do you make it sound bad?" Ryuk asked, glancing at the cat, which now held him under a piercing, suspicious gaze.
"Did I?" Void asked, and Ryuk rolled his eyes.
"You can't be helped, Void."
"But honestly, though, Ryuk… don't you think you might need them sometime in the future?" it asked.
"Actually, you make a good point. I could still utilize their knowledge and power, but every one of them has their own life to live, or a life that has been lived. Their own family, their people to return to." Chapters first released on novel·fiɾe·net
"Me crossing their path is just an insignificant part of their lives," he said, as Void's whiskers twitched.
"I wouldn't be so quick to tag their meeting with you as 'insignificant'," it replied, and Ryuk smiled faintly.
"No, no, goof. I'm not being melodramatic here…" it added. Ryuk's smile vanished almost instantly, and he furrowed his brows as he studied the panther.
It was as if Void was trying to say more, keeping a secret it didn't want to say outright.
So Ryuk sat up halfway, looking around to ensure no one was nearby before leaning closer to Void's long ear and whispering.
"What exactly do you want me to know, Void?" he asked, voice barely audible, though still picked up by Void, who also scanned the surroundings before leaning back in.
"You do know, Ryuk, that I'm a Void Panther."
"Sneaking between voids, puffing in and out, creeping through the shadows, saving asses including yours, more times that I care to count…" it said.
Ryuk nodded, whispering,
"Of course, of course. You're the most special of them all, after all."
"Good, good. Seems like you know your math, Ryuk."
"But what you don't know is—better than my void-jumping and hero-saving skills, there's another ability I'm really good at... eavesdropping," Void whispered, as Ryuk's eyes drifted toward the creature's alert, upright ears.
"They're like sound-radar binoculars. I can pick up a sound, zoom in on it, and listen to everything like it's being said directly to me."
"And one day, while you were goofing off in your sleep, I snuck up on Aster and Rak's conversation," it said as Ryuk's eyes gleamed with anticipation.
"You did?" he whispered, and Void nodded.
"Then tell me—what are their secrets?" he asked, eyes glowing with curiosity as Void's lips parted.
"The truth is, Aster and Rak are—"
"And what are you guys doing?" a voice suddenly echoed, and both Ryuk and Void flinched in alarm, turning to see Aster and Rak casually walking past the glass door, raising curious brows at the scene before them.
"Awwwwn, Void is into them ladyboys now?" Rakshasa teased, her eyes sparkling with a mischievous pink glow.
"Not in a million years!" it said with a loud scoff before puffing away from the room, leaving Rakshasa, Aster, and a dumbfounded Ryuk sitting on the bed, looking thoroughly caught.
'Tch, that bastard ain't got my back,' he thought, scratching the back of his head.
"Looks like you two are up to something?" Aster said, stepping inside as Ryuk swallowed, watching her approach with a sharp, suspicious look.
She climbed onto the bed, crawling towards him, as he instinctively leaned back—until his head thudded against the bed's frame.
"You, uh, haha—you think so?" Ryuk replied with an awkward chuckle.
"Yes. You don't usually stammer. So you and Void must be hiding something. Something... bad."
A giggle rang out from behind.
"You know, it's easy to get the wrong idea with the pose you two are currently in," Rakshasa chimed in from the hallway.
A small vein twitched on Aster's temple, a faint, invisible blush tinging her cheeks.
"You need a mind cleansing, Rakshasa," she muttered, watching the Succuterra grin wickedly before strolling out of view.
Then Aster turned back, her piercing blue gaze fixing on him.
"Really, it's nothing, though. We were just talking about… some things."
"What things?" Aster asked, sitting properly in front of him, her stare unrelenting until Ryuk could only sigh in defeat.
"He thinks… I used you. Both of you," he admitted.
Aster's raised an eyebrow before she asked,
Ryuk paused, staring deep into those soul-piercing blue eyes, and eventually forced himself to answer.
"You remember when we first met, in that ruin? The deal was to get you out, and your vast knowledge about the Knulls was what made the deal appealing."
"So really, you could say… I wanted your knowledge."
"As for Rak, she was strong. I thought she could help me in the final invasion."
"So, you really did use both of us, huh?" Aster said, echoing Void's tone.
Ryuk didn't want to agree, but in the end, he could only nod.
"And?" she asked, referring to his earlier conversation with Void.
"And now, Void thinks it's wrong… to just end the contracts and let everyone go their separate ways like that."
"He thinks it's like picking up a tool, using it, and throwing it away once you're done. or something similar to that. He thinks it's… bad," Ryuk explained, as Aster hummed thoughtfully.
"To think that lecherous cat is capable of those types of thoughts. That's more than I expected." She thought, faintly surprised, and Ryuk had to admit he too was surprised.
That was the last thing he would expect from Void, and why he did that wasn't something he understood up until now.
But then his memories drifted to what Void had to say before he was cut off, and he felt his curiosity rising, prompting him to ask.