(likewise, manjiro isn't particularly into it. either freeze him to the bone or burn him to the ground, no in-between, but that's only if it were up to him. uncertainty isn't particularly welcome - he dies or kills, but he doesn't wander in limbo for too long.

this isn't his decision, though. he's learned as much that it takes two to fix a past, and he allows yu to guide this conflict as a dance, at times bringing them closer, at times, distancing, all part of an intricate flow of yearning and repelling. he can only be better than he was yesterday - actions.

for a while, he says nothing. his hands are focused on the one between them, a touch, a gentle press, an index going across the knuckles as he attentively absorbs each and every word.)

You said... The Shadows were them, though. Their own shit, coming to bite them in the ass. Somethin' bout acceptin' it. Sorry, I don't remember too good, I was... Nervous.

(an admission that he would never do sober.)

... I don't know if it's the same, but every time I accepted the curse, shit went sideways in horrible, horrible ways. ... I think that's kinda what it did. Took all my shit and tenfolded it.

... Did you? Get to see your own shit like that.