[There are questions he needs to ask, important questions. It's likely that whoever hurt her is part of what's been going on recently, and even if they're not, he wants to make them pay for what they did... The thought of Jennifer suffering makes his hands twitch the way seeing Ayumu's body did, fills his mind with the visceral memory of a dark, cramped shed, the sticky summer air heavy with the scent of blood and candle wax and filth, the cries of agony and terror as Masuya realized he didn't have any intention of killing him quickly...]
[There's room for a lot in his heart, but not for mercy on those who hurt his people.]
[But she's here. She's here, and for the time being, that overrides thoughts of vengeance, fills him overwhelmingly with the need to take care of her. She might not be his shinki anymore, but she's still someone who trusted him with herself, isn't she?]
[He tucks his chin on top of her head, hands pressing gently against her back, trying to breathe as steadily as he can when he feels like he might shatter at any moment.]
You're a god?
[Good. Good. Then no one will ever be able to force a name on her again, no one will have her feelings to toy with the way her old master did...]
warning in this tag for mental references to torture, death, ambiguously PTSD
[There's room for a lot in his heart, but not for mercy on those who hurt his people.]
[But she's here. She's here, and for the time being, that overrides thoughts of vengeance, fills him overwhelmingly with the need to take care of her. She might not be his shinki anymore, but she's still someone who trusted him with herself, isn't she?]
[He tucks his chin on top of her head, hands pressing gently against her back, trying to breathe as steadily as he can when he feels like he might shatter at any moment.]
You're a god?
[Good. Good. Then no one will ever be able to force a name on her again, no one will have her feelings to toy with the way her old master did...]
...I'm glad. I'm glad you're with us again.