[She notices it. She notices it, and that makes her panic - because what sort of thing could he have experienced in this life that would cause that sort of reaction to a mere touch? But then, it hadn't seemed to bother him before. Just now, when what she's already said has brought that painfully familiar anger and discontent to the surface.
Was it always in him? Or is this something else - some residual trick of the producers'..? She remembers her time in the castle, but this is a different timeline. She went back, she changed things. She remembers what she does because she has to, to change them, but she's absolutely certain Kaoru doesn't remember them.
They had enough time before the humans came to spend together. They were so close. Surely he would have mentioned something if he did remember any of it, even if it came to him as a half-remembered dream...
It's just because she's stressed him out. She has to believe that.]
Thank you...
[As long as he stays away from Tosa, as long as nothing else causes him to be under this sort of pressure again, he'll be just fine. At the end of the week, she'll have to go back, and hopefully he'll stay here in Edo where it's safe -
But she can't even trick herself into fully believing that, because there's the matter of the ochimizu as well. The ochimizu, which he seems to be involved with even though she never was. Curse Kodo for involving him - curse him. She'd treasured her memories of the man who raised her for years, but she can't help but feel bitter that he's involved Kaoru in something that can only end in tragedy.
His question gives her pause, though, and she looks down, uncertain how to answer. She can only bear it because doing so is what guarantees he's not the one in that situation. She walked right into it, she chose it...]
...it's what I was born for. [Duty. When it comes down to it, it's duty. Even if it wasn't to protect her brother, she would have entered into a similar arrangement with some clan or another. Not the Nagumo, most likely, which means she would have been treated better, but... staying close to home and never having to deal with in-laws was never an option for a female demon.] From the very beginning, this is the sort of fate that someone like me cannot escape. [A female from a rare demonic bloodline...] And it's better than the alternative.
I don't like the way they treat me, but even so... if I'm there, at least I'll be able to do what I can to keep them from mistreating other people.
[She was always going to go back at the end of this week, although she dearly wants to stay. This temporary reprieve is just that - temporary.]
no subject
Was it always in him? Or is this something else - some residual trick of the producers'..? She remembers her time in the castle, but this is a different timeline. She went back, she changed things. She remembers what she does because she has to, to change them, but she's absolutely certain Kaoru doesn't remember them.
They had enough time before the humans came to spend together. They were so close. Surely he would have mentioned something if he did remember any of it, even if it came to him as a half-remembered dream...
It's just because she's stressed him out. She has to believe that.]
Thank you...
[As long as he stays away from Tosa, as long as nothing else causes him to be under this sort of pressure again, he'll be just fine. At the end of the week, she'll have to go back, and hopefully he'll stay here in Edo where it's safe -
But she can't even trick herself into fully believing that, because there's the matter of the ochimizu as well. The ochimizu, which he seems to be involved with even though she never was. Curse Kodo for involving him - curse him. She'd treasured her memories of the man who raised her for years, but she can't help but feel bitter that he's involved Kaoru in something that can only end in tragedy.
His question gives her pause, though, and she looks down, uncertain how to answer. She can only bear it because doing so is what guarantees he's not the one in that situation. She walked right into it, she chose it...]
...it's what I was born for. [Duty. When it comes down to it, it's duty. Even if it wasn't to protect her brother, she would have entered into a similar arrangement with some clan or another. Not the Nagumo, most likely, which means she would have been treated better, but... staying close to home and never having to deal with in-laws was never an option for a female demon.] From the very beginning, this is the sort of fate that someone like me cannot escape. [A female from a rare demonic bloodline...] And it's better than the alternative.
I don't like the way they treat me, but even so... if I'm there, at least I'll be able to do what I can to keep them from mistreating other people.
[She was always going to go back at the end of this week, although she dearly wants to stay. This temporary reprieve is just that - temporary.]