"Huh?" Zenitsu Agatsuma had no idea what Tetsu no Sosuke meant.
"If you curl up here and wait for death, will that change your fate?"
Tetsu no Sosuke asked.
Confusion filled Zenitsu Agatsuma's eyes.
Tetsu no Sosuke sighed. "Once this began, standing still was never going to make the danger disappear. You don't have the courage, and you're afraid. I understand that. But how does it help you now?"
"You asked what this place is... I'll tell you. It's the deepest part of your mind. This is your own world..."
"My own world?" Zenitsu Agatsuma looked bewildered. "Why is my world so terrifying?"
"Because you carry too much fear in your heart." Tetsu no Sosuke listened to the thunder crashing outside, one peal after another. "Are you afraid of the lightning? Of the monsters that might be hiding in the dark? Are you worried your life could end at any moment?"
Zenitsu Agatsuma sniffed. He seemed angry, but he only muttered, "Who wouldn't be?"
"Exactly. Who wouldn't?"
Tetsu no Sosuke sat beside him and looked at the wall in front of him. "I was afraid the first time I encountered a demon, too. I'm not exaggerating: if there had been a hole I could crawl into that guaranteed I wouldn't die, I'd have gone in, no matter what else was down there. When your life is at stake, nothing else seems quite so important."
Zenitsu Agatsuma froze for a moment. "You get scared too? Scared enough to do something embarrassing?"
"I do." Tetsu no Sosuke smiled. "Fear isn't shameful. People ought to have some fear in their hearts. Most people fear the law, so few are willing to risk committing crimes. Without that fear, the world would fall into chaos. People who fear breaking the law don't break it, leaving