[Atem shakes his head, his ear wings tight. He's not sure he has the words to get across how he feels: how it's a good thing to go see Yugi, and how the part he understands is the mistrust, not the sense of being unimportant.

(He's never felt unimportant once in his life. Even now, the self-importance is making all of this worse, because Atem messing up, not being able to trust himself, isn't like anyone else messing up. This feels enormous to him, for better or worse.)]

I don't feel unimportant.

It's good, that you went over. It's important to get help from the people around you.

[Even Mukuro?

That question is a splinter in his brain. It's getting harder and harder to ignore. He's trying to tell himself that what matters is that Ryou doesn't starve himself out of guilt, because no matter what Ryou says, monsters' feelings have to be treated with more consideration than human lives, and making Ryou feel bad over his choices is counterproductive, isn't supporting him in becoming the kind of person he wants to be. Mukuro's not dangerous to her friends, as long as Junko isn't here. This feels controlling, feels stifling.

He should leave it alone. He--

--no, Atem should ask. Not tell. He should ask a productive question, one Ryou can give an answer to that Atem can respect.]

....

Do you want me to keep hunting for you?