His eyes roamed over Kuro’s newly healed formed, coming to terms with him being much better than he was a few minutes ago. That was what mattered. Issho’s voice didn’t immediately make him flinch away, instead, Aoba actually turned his attention to him. His gaze faltered multiple times as Issho spoke. Instead of keeping eye contact, the fallen angel would glance at Issho’s shirt or neck. It was a little more reassuring to know that he wasn’t angry anymore- if he was ever angry to begin with. Apparently violence and discipline went hand in hand. So did violence and playfulness. Aoba never understood it and he didn’t think he ever would at this point. [i]’It’s… It’s just another demon thing.’[/i] The many things he labeled as ‘just a demon thing’ would soon end up being an extremely long list if things like this kept up.

The idea of being proud of Kuro risking his life did make him look up in curiosity. Issh further explained himself, only proving Aoba’s point of it being another ‘demon thing’. Before he could say anything, Dani piped up in childish glee. His overzealous nature was quickly tempered by Issho and Aoba looked at Issho again. There was still fear hidden in his gaze, however it was much less than before. Now, it was the typical shy gaze he normally gave. He didn’t know what to say, so he nodded in understanding. [i]’I can be proud that he fought so valiantly… Still there was no reason to go to such extremes.’[/i] His eyes betray his acceptance, but Aoba does try his best to think of it as natural. It was something he didn’t understand, therefore harder to accept. His list of demon things were just a vast majority of things he didn’t understand but could easily be ignored and brought up some time later. 

The gentle shifts turn Aoba’s attention away from the puzzle. Aoba lit up a bit as Kuro stirred awake. That was definitely a good sign. He stayed perfectly still while Kuro began to adjust. His smile turns into a playful pout as he speaks. It was almost instinctive to yell at him to be more careful, however with Kuro’s mention and Issho telling him not to worry, Aoba simply sighed. Kuro was fine. He was smiling. There was no need to get all panicky. Instead of doing just that, Aoba reached forward with his free hand and gently tugged at the tattered shirt. “You need new clothes. . .” His hand retracted back to his lap before he wrinkled his nose a bit. “And a bath.” That made him blink and look down at his own bloodstained clothing. He had completely forgot that the trip back home resulted in his own clothes getting dirty. The fallen angel frowned slightly and mentioned quietly, “Ah, so do I.” 

The mention of a bath made Dani wrinkle his nose in distaste. He was still going to dislike baths no matter how close to the angel he could have gotten. Homura on the other hand looked a bit more interested at the idea. His thoughts weren’t exactly on the bath however. His last efforts to fully examine Aoba had failed when Kuro and Aoba told him no. Maybe this time he could. . .

Of course, Aoba didn’t notice any of these expressions as he began to look his over his stained clothes. He wondered if his clothes were still in his room. When he had left before, Father Gerard had bought him all new outfits to “keep him pure.” He doubted Kuro would have tossed all his things away. After all, Kuro did say it was only a little over a week even if it felt like forever.