[ he shrugs. ]

Okay. Been a long day. Spent a lot more time looking in a guy's mouth than I ever wanted to.

You did well even if it's nothing you wanted to. It's more than what some others do. It's commendable even if it's glamorous.

Thanks.

[ ... ]

Did you do it? Are you able to say it now if you did?

[ she closes her eyes. ]

Why do you think I did it?

I'm not that sure. The bruises and blood could all just be from the tree that night. But I overheard some of what you were saying to Rondo before...

[ everything went to hell with caelus. ]

...before everything got crazy at the end. And then that made me wonder.

You may wonder. What I said to Rondo.... was a continuation of our conversation from yesterday.

I didn't want him to lose sight of what was important to him.

About alleviating suffering and everything?

He wants to protect others. As a knight, it's understandable, but we both want to help others, even if it's just one.

[ if i can stop one heart from breaking, i shall not live in vain ]

Mm... And why did you think he wasn't doing that well enough? That's basically what you said, right?

You misunderstand the reason behind my questions. I thought he was doing all he could.

I guess so.

He did help find the afflicted who took Marina's life.

Yeah, no, I agree he did a good job. So I guess I misinterpreted what you were saying back then.

[ he thinks if you ask someone if they're doing enough you're implying that they're not. but maybe he just thinks that because he can be so passive aggressive himself. ]

[ he's valid. she isn't usually passive aggressive. what she likes to promote is harmony. ]

If my wording causes misinterpretation, the fault lies with me.

[ he thinks that's very nice when she does it but it is so far removed from his way of existing. ]

I don't know, I think I tend to default to more negative interpretations of things most of the time, so that doesn't help.

[ except for the rare cases where he thinks he might have a chance with someone he has no chance with and then that just convinces him that he needs to think even more negatively. ]

[ totty noooooooo sprace was kinder to him, wasn't it ]

Being here doesn't help either with death hovering over us everyday.

[ honestly, despite being more traumatized there... yeah kind of ]

Also true...

[ help

she clasps her hands in front of her. ]

I'm sorry I can't do more to alleviate your suffering, too, Mr. Todomatsu.

Ah... haha... Don't worry about it.

But I do. I can't help it.

Y-yeah, well...

[ a slight shrug. ]

It is what it is, you know?

[ and "what it is" is both of them feeling bad, i guess, so that's cool ]

... Yes. Although it'd be nice if we could find more to help it.

[ she still isn't good with accepting the badness. ]

Well... yeah, it would, but...

[ most of his suffering is from being chronically single and unpopular. ]

Are we still talking about me or are we back on larger scale suffering now?

It's both. Even if they don't intersect everywhere, they intersect somewhere.

I guess.

...Tomizawa-san was having a really hard time after Kasuga-san's death. And a pretty hard time before it, even.