"Midori." Midori had been sitting in silence, her arms crossed, next to the cyborg body of Rad, after Youko had repaired his damaged body a couple of hours ago, when the cyborg had suddenly spoken.

"Rad. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Youko did a good job repairing my body. As expected of the Chief Engineer of Garderobe." Midori frowned.

"…Yeah." Perhaps it was the look on her face, or the tone she took on, but Rad clearly felt the sudden tension in the room the instant Youko's name was mentioned.

"…Midori. Remind me again how old were you two when Youko left Aswad?"

"Huh? What's with that sudden question?" Midori questioned as Rad remained unmoving on the table.

"Just answer." She frowned but shrugged it off.

"Uh... I think we were like 10 or 11? I know we were younger than Arika, that's for sure." Rad nodded.

"Have you ever given any thoughts as to how Youko reached Garderobe? How she became a researcher there? How young she was when she started working there or how hard she must've studied to be able to upgrade your REM the way she did?" Midori looked away.

"We haven't actually talked about that."

"And when was the last time you two actually talked?" Rad was well aware that Midori and Youko hadn't spoken with each other since Youko came to Aswad a few hours before to repair his body and upgrade Midori's REM. And as much of a sore topic Youko is to Midori, he knew it would do the both of them good to stop being so stubborn and properly talk to each other.

"I can't help it! She left us!" Midori's voice projected her hurt and betrayal. "She just disappeared on us! On me."

"I know you're hurt by that, Midori." Rad said with a sigh. Midori was never one to take betrayal lightly, and the betrayal of her closest friend had torn her up more than anything else. "But Youko has been hurt in her own way too. It couldn't have been easy for her to leave too, and especially at such a young age. But she did it anyway, for your sake."

"Well, she shouldn't have!" Midori spat bitterly. "I told her I would survive if I became a cyborg. There wasn't a need for her to leave!"

"She, as well as we do, considers becoming a cyborg a loss of our humanity and our identity. That's why I go by Rad now, remember?" Rad pointed out.

"Still, that's not up to her! She just decided things on her own and abandoned us!" Midori argued.

"Midori." Rad cut her off before she could let her bitterness and anger cloud her judgement of Youko's actions. "I talked to Youko for a while when she was repairing my body, and she's not doing as well as you think she is."

FLASHBACK

All was silent in the room as Youko sat in the corner, a half-empty bottle of alcohol in her hand. She had just finished the repairs on Rad's body a few minutes ago, and also upgraded Midori's REM. All that was left to do was to monitor them to make sure nothing was wrong. However, Midori had made it clear she wanted nothing to do with her, so now, she was left alone in the room with Rad's body on the table. She sighed as she brought the bottle to her lips, her eyes staring into nothing.

"Drinking on the job probably isn't a good thing." She jumped at the sudden voice, turning to see Rad on the table.

"Oh, I didn't know you were awake, Reito-san." She forced a small smile.

"It's Rad now." She didn't reply, taking another swig from the bottle in her hands. "Youko. You're a human. Drinking that much isn't good for your liver. You should know that as a doctor." Rad stated as Youko's eyes glazed over.

"I know. But I can't help it, especially at a time like this, and in a place like this." Youko spoke softly, her eyes glassy as she drank from the bottle again. "When I first came here, all I could think of was to save you. I didn't want to lose you again, Reito-san." Another swig. "And now that I've completed what I came to do, I started looking around, and I realised that although I was born and raised in Aswad, I could no longer recognise what was supposed to be my homeland." She sighed, and finished the last of the bottle, before reaching into her bag and pulling out a second bottle.

"Stop, Youko. You're drinking too much." Despite his obvious displeasure at her drinking habits, Youko made no attempts to stop.

"I started drinking because it helped me forget." Youko blinked back tears as she spoke, her voice just barely above a whisper. "It helped me forget the pain. When I drink, I don't think of anything. I don't think of Aswad. I don't think of the illness. I don't think of you and the others. I don't think of Midori. I just. Don't think." She said as she took another swig. "And sometimes, I just don't want to think." She choked back a sob.

"Youko?"

"She hates me, Reito-san." Youko spoke softly as Rad sat up. "She hates me, and she doesn't want to see me. Perhaps it's better if we never meet again after this." She brought the bottle to her mouth. "I hurt her. I betrayed her. I betrayed everyone in Aswad." She took a large gulp, nearly choking as the burning liquid made its way down her throat. "When I came, nobody even remembered me. It was clear she was trying to forget me, and maybe erase my existence from Aswad's history. I don't blame her for it though." She took another swig. "It's for the better anyway. At least this way, the people of Aswad won't know that a traitor who had once abandoned them is currently staying among them."

"Youko, do you truly believe that?" Rad asked. Youko didn't reply, and instead took another swig from the bottle. "You left Aswad and went to Garderobe to help us, didn't you?"

"Just another place I've betrayed." Youko said darkly as she drank from the bottle again.

"But even so, even if it meant that you only joined Garderobe to get your hands on their technology and knowledge, you did it for our sakes, didn't you? How does that count as abandoning us?" Youko just sighed as she brought the bottle to her lips again. "Youko." If Rad could show his expression, he would've been frowning. It hadn't even been that long since she started on the second bottle, and from what he could see, it was already near empty, and a third bottle was peeking out from her bag, ready to be consumed as soon as she was through with her second bottle. As much as he wanted to stop her, his newly repaired body was still in no condition to be moving about.

"Thank you, Reito-san." Youko said softly as she drank from the bottle again. "But it's alright." She took another gulp, her dull eyes staring blankly, her face impassive. "I'm alright."

No, you are clearly not. Were the words Rad wanted to say, but for some reason, swallowed back.

END OF FLASHBACK

"Talk to her, Midori." Rad's recollections and firm tone left Midori unable to rebut as she turned around and left.