[Zero made another noncommittal shrug. What Hajime said was true, he couldn't deny the obvious facts - but that didn't mean it could undo history. The matter of whether it all evened out in the end, however, was entirely subjective. He couldn't expect Hajime to completely understand, even with his body like this.

Why Zero even bothered mentioning it at all was a bit of a surprise to himself, too. But he recognized the spark of mistrust in Kiyotaka's eyes when his student realized his dark origins. Maybe a part of him was morbidly curious what Hajime would think of him now.

Well. There was nothing to be done about it, regardless. Zero sealed the knee plates back up as he dryly remarked:]

And I still have a knack for picking up stray pacifists, it seems.