[We shouldn’t let them, he says, but Hayame has never been able to prevent failure from weighing on her mind. Oh, there have been times when she has been able to walk away from a poor decision driven by it, to compartmentalize it, but to banish it altogether, or even lighten it…

No. That was the thing about failure.]

Some of us should. Then, at least, they might take things seriously.

[She shreds another piece of petal off… but maybe just for the sake of shredding, not eating.]

There are those in our number who refuse to fight and cower at camp… those that make little use of themselves…

[And it burns in her guts. Both of them. She could carry the weight of several Meridian if need be, but… how many need she? And how many did it take before her own abilities (desperation) began to suffer?]