𝚒𝚗𝚋𝚘𝚡 — 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚗𝚒𝚊.

[sacral]

EVEN WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS

Comments

[sacral]

It was just a selfish second request.

[hallowedly]

Ah. ( Is this the taste of it? 'Uncertainty.' ) She would have liked that. Be selfish.

[sacral]

I do... keep hearing that.

[hallowedly]

You like to avoid directions.

[sacral]

That must seem ironic.

[hallowedly]

Must it? You're the head of the Sumeragi. Only the emperor and Amaterasu sit above you.

I'd expect a certain pride now.

[sacral]

Isn't it just? All I've done for years is listen to my own selfishness.

[hallowedly]

Is it a better life?

[sacral]

It is...

The life I've grown used to.

[hallowedly]

An existence isn't a life.

[sacral]

Then I'll tell you when I know.

[hallowedly]

I'm a selfish person. I paid handsomely, so now it amuses me to want you to live a good life. Anything but your happiness would shortchange me.

[sacral]

There are only so many more chances to live a happier life in Tokyo. But if you mean here, then...

I suppose that in some strange way, it is.

[ Good, or better, or — happier? His own realization that it makes him sound like a lunatic pulses light in the shadow of the Murmur. Yes, yes, he knows. ]

[hallowedly]

...Subaru-kun. You're mistaken. Your life is in Tokyo.

You are going back — to Tokyo.

[sacral]

Then to be shortchanged is inevitable.

[hallowedly]

( To think, emotion can bloom on this side of the Murmur: rare prickling of awe. )

...Subaru-kun. I thought we had an understanding.

[sacral]

We do. My happiness is something different.

[hallowedly]

I can't agree to this arrangement.

[sacral]

I can't be happy if you're not there.

[hallowedly]

Don't be a child.

[sacral]

It's the truth.

[hallowedly]

You managed nine years. You'll manage again.

[sacral]

I'll be alive, like you wished.

[hallowedly]

This isn't life. It's purgatory.

Has it occurred to you that you're putting us at odds?

[sacral]

It was one of the first things to occur to me.