Kenji
Whateverfuckinghorrorcircusmy Tiger had planned this evening, I would be shutting it down.
Right as I was about to roar, she spoke, "I wanted the Claws to have a space for joy and a space for grief. To remember their loved ones—"
"They're dead. All of them." My jaw ached from how hard I was holding back my rage. "What the fuck is wrong with you? We don't need this. We were having fun."
“Kenji. . .”
Hiro screamed and Kaede rushed over to help the monks. And I couldn’t even look that way. To continue to witness my brother’s pain was to break.
Fracture.
Splinter.
If I kept my view away, I could save my soul from cracking.
My heart from breaking even more.
And my Tiger had done this. She’d fucking betrayed us.
Nyomi touched my arm.
I moved it away. "Answer me. What do you want from us? Our tears? Regret? Guilt?”
“No—”
“You want us to fucking go crazy tonight?”
“They’re not going crazy, Kenji. Tears are—”
“We are at war. We don't have time for tears."
"It's not just about tears, Kenji. It's about space."
I snarled. "Space?"
"Space to feel it." Her voice stayed infuriatingly steady. "So the pain doesn't own them later."
And now Daisuke was fucking crying and reaching out his hand to his baby sister. And it wasn’t right. It was so fucking wrong. This was not what all of us had come to this ballroom for. Daisuke’s hand went over his own mouth like he was trying to put all the sobs back in.
I ran both of my hands through my hair, unable to deal with this. “I’m stopping this whole party right now—”
“No, you’re not. This ismyparty—”
“Your party is breaking my men—”
"If we all don't process the grief, it will destroy us later—"
"If we sit in grief, it will weaken us."
"No."
"Tora—"
"They need to let it out. They need to cry—"
"Cry!?" My fists closed. I leaned forward putting my nose barely a few inches from hers. "You wantmyClaws to fucking shed tears?"
