klorin

"stay alive until you get back

well um!

And Akane said "No, I will." in what I bet is a calming tone, cause he is, as always, at his gentlest with Aoi.

But Aoi refuses!! She physically keeps him down, holding on tight to his shirt.

Is important that Aoi doesn't follow Akane's lead but she also doesn't try to go back to her first decision, there is no "I told you to run Akane! Get out of here!" because she respects Akane's desire to protect her, she appreciates it even, deep down.

She just refuses to leave him alone here.

And Akane actually went through enough growth to respect her decision back.

"I can see you have your heart set on it. So let's both die here."

She is someone to protect but she is her own person with the right to make her own decisions, and unlike old timeline Aoi, she shows her emotions. She puts her foot down.

Considering Akane blushes underneath all his scratches after seeing her resolve, I feel like a part of him appreciates that she feels the same protectiveness for him.

Here’s the reference

I struggle so much with oil pastels