her upper torso was raised before yukina’s inquiry of her condition. cold sweat soaked her skin but, no expression was there to paint her reaction to her nightmares. her mind was still hazy from the illusionary reality. she didn’t react to yukina placing her appetizer in her hand; holding it as though she was some kind of coat hanger.
❛
it’s fine… ❜ tone was soft but, it wasn’t exactly positive at the same time. holding the flask with both hands, she stared at it; wondering about such thoughts that would damage her cheery mood. a kabaneri, she was manufactured into one by him. does that make her a manmade monster ?
❛ yukina… i’m not a monster, am i ? ❜ when she said those words, she remained descended, with eyes avoiding eye contact. her hair acted as a curtain for the end of her play, her facade that she had tried so hard to hide her troubles with. ❛ i mean… i could just become a kabane at any time… killing everyone on this train… ❜
Yukina… I’m not a monster, am I?
Mumei’s lament hung heavy in the frigid air, plunging Yukina into a stupor of bewilderment with traces of hesitancy infringing on her typically unflappable stoicism. She felt her stomach leadened, her heart tightened the somber sentiment skirting around its desired effect and imbuing her with an inordinate sense of liability. Whatever radiant promise the evening had previously held has dissipated and the stark turn in events throttles her, beckoning her into untreaded waters.
Monster?
Yukina’s lips furled inward, furrowed brow plummeting against perturbed features as she fixated her despondent gaze upon the younger’s dejected form. She permitted the deafening silence to encapsulate them for another moment, curling around her and Mumei’s emaciated contours like phantom feline tails.
mon·ster
ˈmänstər/ (noun.)
a threatening force; deformity, one who excites horror by wickedness and cruelty━
❝You are far from it.❞
Dour cadences countered the fleeting veil of quietude as the engineer finally vociferated her unyielding belief. She could sentient the fragility of the moment, but nevertheless understood where Mumei’s insecurity derived. Mumei, ever since she embarked the Koutetsujou, has posed as everyone’s strength. She was compelled into utilizing the prodigious ability she wields as a means to hedge the lesser.
With her bony shoulders, she braced the weight of the world.*
But Yukina has never once doubted Mumei’s intentions, not when they uncovered that she sustenanced on blood. Not even in this startling moment. To her, to everyone━ Mumei isn’t just a solider, she isn’t a monster. Mumei is optimism, she is innocence; a lingering tact of chaste that hasn’ yet been marred or blemished. She is cherubic, she is stubbornness, she is candor; and all in all
❝ You are Mumei. ❞
Yukina affirmed. Her voice strove towards fond sternness, but her expression is calm and knowing; belying her gelid tone.
❝ And if it ever comes to a point where your grip on sanity falter, he will fix you. ❞
