Araya (after battle)
.......
What's the matter, hmm?
You sheathed your sword in anticipation of my next attack.
What is this?
You've never been particularly keen on Iaidō.
Said that it's meaningless to sheathe a blade once unsheathed,
that to put yourself at such a risk in the middle of a fight is tantamount to suicide.
The Nursefather's blade bursts out of its sheath, drawing an erratic arc in the air.
...!
Yes, it's...
... a new habit of mine. After every flurry, I'm compelled to sheathe my sword.
Because sometimes, there are flashes when I lose all sense of where I am.
It happens like an unpredictable, uncontrollable calamity.
When it does, I simply... wait it out.
I wait, and I wait... and then it's over.
A bad habit formed in anticipation of these flashes.
I don't give a shit about what new little habits you've been picking up.
Why would you use a technique like that now...?
To teach you anew upon your return. It is us Nursefathers' duties to educate you in the way of the blade.
Because unlike you, I remember everything.
... I've already made myself clear,
that I've neither let go nor forgotten it.
Give me my daughter back.
Araya, she...
... she's good at hiding, but...
I know she doesn't like being in the dark...
... Hah.
The Pinky Nursefather hesitated, and a cry of pain escaped from her lips.
.......
It's happening again. I can't see a thing...
Nothing at all...
She stumbles as though an invisible, intangible force has taken over her.
...!
...!
Gah...
Her veil flutters to the ground with the gentle rustling of soft fabric.
And I see a face that much resembles Ryōshū's, only wrinkled and older.
Hah... at last, I finally get to see it.
You've never once allowed me to see your face.
Because you wanted to hide that face from the world - the face that shriveled because of me.
No...
I wear this veil because...
... I want to see the world through a haze.