"Right, right. Apparently my sanity is just more resilient than yours." He smirked slightly, rolling his shoulders back. "It's a terrible burden to shoulder, but I manage it."

He slid a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, and wondered if it was too dangerous to try and light one on the campfire. Or if Ken would try to stop him. There was something, back in there somewhere, that made the thought occur, but Youji was too tired and cold to figure out what.

Sighed, and just looked at the pack. Slow killer. Six years wasn't enough for it to work, but plenty of other things...

"I know it's traditional in sci-fi for the hero not to tell anyone what the future holds. Are you thinking you'll keep to that rule, or will you be my personal Oracle of Delphi?"

Youji wasn't sure what he wanted the answer to be, but best to lay it out on the ground now. His eyes had yet to leave the pack of cigarettes, even as his thoughts slipped backwards in time. To Neu, Asuka, always Asuka, and the scent of her hair, the last sounds of her voice--his hand tightened around the pack unconsciously, thumb pressing against the brand logo nearly hard enough to damage someone's hyoid. He didn't notice that, either; only thinking that no matter what Ken had seen Youji get up to, it couldn't have been worse than that moment.