Week 2, Post-Trial: Shinshin

[withsadness]

Hey! Hey!

[It's not exactly a time to celebrate, but they do have a small victory on their hands. And this one: it's for Eleanor. So Mary can't help bound up to Shinshin with hope on her face.]

We got her! We got her! We were right!

Comments

[shinssin]

[He smiles warmly at her. She's smart, but still so innocent. He can't let her kill anyone, no matter how prepared she seems to be for the task. She doesn't deserve to go through that.]

Thanks, Mary. But, just in case... Hey, do you mind if I borrow that?

[The knife that fell from the sky, that is.]

[withsadness]

I guuuuess I don't mind.

[Not that she's handing it over immediately. She looks from Shinshin to the knife and then back up again.]

What are you gonna do with it?

[shinssin]

Don't worry, don't worry. I won't use it on you, and it'll only take just a second. I'll give it back right away.

[ He holds out a pinky. ]

I promise.

[withsadness]

Well, okay!

[She trusts him, so she grabs his pinky with one hand while handing him off the knife with her other.]

[shinssin]

[ They pinky swear on it. Good, good. He doesn't have a knife of his own, so he takes the handle of hers.

Then, he takes a lock of his long, silky hair and measures just how much he needs to cut. ]

Mary, what was your entry fee?

[withsadness]

[Mary's expression gets stiff, and then very sad at the question.]

...it's hard to say.

[But she does say, because Shinshin is allowed to know whatever he wants about her.]

I couldn't figure out what it was at first, because I just kind of felt the same...but then I realized that I couldn't feel anything from anybody. Does that make sense?

[She's not even sure it does to herself so she adds even more weakly:]

It feels like nobody really likes me, like I'm just being lied to. I don't know what it means, but I think that's what was taken from me: other people liking me.

[shinssin]

[ Assassin is proud of his appearance. His skin is smooth, his body is strong, and his hair is beautiful. If there is anything he can immediately take pride in, it's this. This is what he grooms for whatever praise might come his way. This is what he cultivates for whoever might come to love him.

The sadness in her voice is what does it.

In his palm is now a length of his hair — a tendril thin and uneven enough to be reasonably found in a struggle. ]

In case I can't make it in time, use this.

[withsadness]

What's it for?

[She's trying to understand, but it's not the kind of gesture she's ever been given before. It's a pretty unusual situation. She takes the hair carefully, holding it like a treasure in the palm of her hand.]

[shinssin]

Maybe there'll come a time when I can't save you. Maybe you'll have to fend for yourself, you know? I don't want that to happen, but...

[ He puts the knife down, then curls Mary's hand around the lock of hair. ]

In case you kill someone, leave this behind. They send everyone looking for evidence, right? When they find this, they definitely won't come for you.

[withsadness]

[Mary's face contorts as it sinks in: he's saying he'd take the fall for her. Her cheeks color, her lips shaking so hard that her heartbreaking frown is almost angry.]

I don't know why you'd do that for me.

[The things that he's said gives her the information she needs to understand, but the emotional block from her entry fee makes it hard for it to come through the way that it needs to. Mary nods--because she'll do anything to win, but also because she can tell that Shinshin isn't the kind of person you just argue with. If this is what he's set his mind on, this is how it's going to be.]

I won't lose this. I think it's the biggest gift I've ever gotten.

[shinssin]

[ Though he smiles, his heart aches. They are both tragic characters who want their happy-ever-afters. He wants his place in the stars, to survive, to live. Setz's words echoes in his mind, voicing Eleanor's wishes. But... if he is destined to fall here, he wants a death he can take pride in. ]

Really? I'm glad. I always know what a girl wants, after all.

[ But no more jokes. He gets on one knee, presses a palm to his fist and bows. ]

If you would kindly receive this offering, then as one of the 108 Stars of Destiny, it would be my greatest honor.

[withsadness]

[Although what he says are pretty words that don't really mean anything to her with her limited young knowledge, they're still pretty, pretty word. Mary nods again, keeping his lock of hair save in her closed fist as she dots at the corners of her eyes.]

I do receive your offering and I'll keep it safe.

[Keep it safe and hope she never, ever has to use it. With her hands curled up to her chest and Shinshin's form bowed before her, Mary leans in and plants a sweet kiss onto his forehead where his bangs are parted.]