[There are some combinations of three short words that contain power despite their simplicity. "I love you" is the most commonly praised, of course... but "I believe you" can be just as, if not occasionally sometimes even more, moving a thing to hear.
Because Hayame knew, she knew the moment that demon had commanded his lackey to heal her, that it was no kindness like that thing had pretended it was. No. It was to smear her in yet another way, to make it harder for her to tell others what had been done to her, to make her seem mad with rage or bitterness or jealousy. And it's worked, hasn't it? She meant to warn the newer members of Meridian with this, to convince those older members who believed the demon's act that they were wrong to do so... And has she succeeded at either? What has shaming herself by revealing that information even accomplished... ?
... Though she did hear D, when he said "I believe you". And it still mattered to her, even if she knows how pathetic of her it is for such a bare minimum to mean so much.
But he does not have to warn her. After all,]
... It would not bother me if it were me.
[The sensation even in Communion betrays fingers digging in to palms, the grit of a jaw, the shameful turn of gaze.]
But that demon...
[It had said it would never kill her. Because just killing her would be a mercy, would it not, and be far too kind. Instead, there had been smiles, and slick little insinuations that it knew whose homes she frequented, which surely meant not just the threat of her own crippling or humiliation, but also-]
It knows... who would hurt me more to lose.
[... So when any attempt to fight back might bring pain down on someone else entirely... What is she supposed to do?]
no subject
Because Hayame knew, she knew the moment that demon had commanded his lackey to heal her, that it was no kindness like that thing had pretended it was. No. It was to smear her in yet another way, to make it harder for her to tell others what had been done to her, to make her seem mad with rage or bitterness or jealousy. And it's worked, hasn't it? She meant to warn the newer members of Meridian with this, to convince those older members who believed the demon's act that they were wrong to do so... And has she succeeded at either? What has shaming herself by revealing that information even accomplished... ?
... Though she did hear D, when he said "I believe you". And it still mattered to her, even if she knows how pathetic of her it is for such a bare minimum to mean so much.
But he does not have to warn her. After all,]
... It would not bother me if it were me.
[The sensation even in Communion betrays fingers digging in to palms, the grit of a jaw, the shameful turn of gaze.]
But that demon...
[It had said it would never kill her. Because just killing her would be a mercy, would it not, and be far too kind. Instead, there had been smiles, and slick little insinuations that it knew whose homes she frequented, which surely meant not just the threat of her own crippling or humiliation, but also-]
It knows... who would hurt me more to lose.
[... So when any attempt to fight back might bring pain down on someone else entirely... What is she supposed to do?]