The corner of Retsu Unohana's mouth lifted. "Yuko, you're always unusually perceptive at times like this."
"I wouldn't call it perceptive. I just don't agree with... no, it's more like I despise your ideas and beliefs, Sister Hana."
"Yuko." Retsu Unohana calmly picked up her teacup and looked Yuko in the eye. "Don't you think that's rather arrogant? Passing judgment on someone else's beliefs?"
"Why does that sound so familiar? I'm getting a strong sense of déjà vu." Yuko raised her eyes and muttered, then met Retsu Unohana's gaze. "There are plenty of things worth risking your life for, but I don't find your story moving, Sister Hana."
"You've got nerve, Yuko." Retsu Unohana's eyes turned uncharacteristically cold. She did not even bother masking the indifference on her face.
This was more than an insult. Yuko was denying her will, her convictions.
Even though Retsu Unohana and Yuko were close friends, a flicker of anger rose in her.
Faced with Retsu Unohana's coldness, Yuko did not flinch. "There's no reason to respect someone who doesn't value life."
"I don't think this is worth gambling your life on."
"..." Retsu Unohana narrowed her eyes. "You don't have quite as much of that old-person air about you anymore. Is that why you dare lecture me now?"
"Old-person air? What's that supposed to mean?" Yuko sipped her tea. "What are you saying to a beautiful young woman?"
"I mean the air of death. That lifeless, dying air." Retsu Unohana did not mince words. "Do you know what you looked like to me when the head of the Shunko Family found you? A lost dog."
Yuko gave her a dead-eyed stare. "Hey, I'm warning you. That's a personal attack. Besides, you said earlier that I looked like a wolf at first!"
"You've always been