school: catra

[shaft]

Comments

[shaft]

Yeah, that kind of sucked.

[ He didn't really Love that. ]

But I'm not going to rub that in your face after you had something like that happened to you.

[supercatty]

[he puts it so casually that she can't help but huff in light amusement, though it's very, very mild]

. . .

Yeah, well. . . I brought most of it on myself, I think.

[SOMETIMES YOU ARE FULL OF SELF-LOATHING AND THINK EVERYTHING BAD THAT HAPPENS TO YOU IS YOUR FAULT]

[shaft]

I'm pretty Otome, Taichi and Beau are all blaming themselves, so you can fight out who gets that honour with them. Even though I think it's pretty stupid.

[ His voice is fairly dull when he says this. ]

We're all just trapped here, playing by the rules of this game whether we want to or not.

[supercatty]

[. . . lol Claude. she says nothing to that first part!!]

It's terrible, isn't it? How-- everything we do feels like it's part of some stupid script.

[shaft]

Yeah. Even if we get a happy ending, I feel like it'll be scripted.

[ ... ]

Though to be honest, I don't even care. I'll take what I can get.

[supercatty]

[. . .]

[she draws one leg up and rests her chin atop her knee]

I just want to go home.

[shaft]

[ ... ]

Yeah. We'll get you there. Hugo and Annie's items... I don't think death is the end here.

[supercatty]

[. . .]

Everyone sounds so sure about that.

[she can't bring herself to believe it. not yet]

[shaft]

We need it. Otherwise...

[ Anyway, he's going to abruptly change the subject. ]

Why did you kill Byleth?

[supercatty]

[ah. well. . . there it is. she had expected it though, so all she does is flatten her ears, gaze flickering away]

[. . .]

You don't believe what I said before? That I did it just because I could?

[shaft]

I don't know.

[ He shrugs. ]

Maybe you don't even know yourself.

[supercatty]

[hahaha. . . ha. . .]

[she looks away]

. . .

Yeah, well. Maybe I don't.

[said quietly]

[shaft]

[ Looks at her for a long time. ]

... I don't blame you for it.

[supercatty]

[. . . an ear flick]

For-- what, killing Byleth? Or not understanding who I am?

[shaft]

For killing Byleth. [ ... ] Why would I blame you for the second one?

[supercatty]

. . . I don't know.

[a flick of her tail, and she falls silent for a moment]

[. . .]

I thought. . . [. . .] I thought it'd be more cruel to make Byleth keep murdering when she didn't want to.

[shaft]

[ He nods. ]

Being trapped in a situation that you can't get out of is a terrible thing. Whether it's your own doing or someone else's.

I don't think Byleth wanted to die, but we had no guarantees that she wouldn't keep killing people.

... I would've killed her too.

[supercatty]

[at that, her head shoots up, ears perking forward]

[. . .]

[she says nothing, but clearly-- she's surprised]

[shaft]

[ His expression doesn't say much, he just watches her. ]

Does that make you angry?