She struggled to speak. "This is really getting on my nerves... Being with you always brings me bad luck... Wouldn't it be better to save all that affection for your wife?"
"Silly girl..." Tetsu no Sosuke tapped her forehead. "That's different."
Shinobu Kocho's mouth twitched. She didn't know how she was supposed to feel about that.
Part of her wanted to laugh. Part of her wanted to mock herself. And part of her was inexplicably happy.
What was there to be happy about?
No matter how much he doted on her, it wasn't what she wanted.
But if today was the end...
There were things she would never say.
She had reached this point, with life and death hanging by a thread. If she died, would Tetsu no Sosuke have any chance of surviving?
If she said those ill-timed words, what would become of his future—his future with her older sister?
So the problem was with me after all.
It was an illness... I'd just fallen ill.
Drowsiness washed over her, followed by a deep weariness. She wanted to close her eyes and quietly wait for the end.
"Don't fall asleep..."
Tetsu no Sosuke's voice sounded beside her ear, and Shinobu Kocho's half-closed eyes flew open.
She looked at him. His voice was utterly resolute. "If you fall asleep now, I'll never forgive you. Not for the rest of my life."
He gripped his blade and slowly rose.
Fear seized Shinobu Kocho. She tried to catch hold of his trouser leg. "Don't... do anything... stupid..."
Tetsu no Sosuke easily stepped out of her reach and smiled faintly. "Let me go mad just this once."
The fire in his heart surged like waves. He had held it back until now largely because he wanted Shinobu Kocho to keep fighting.
An injury