Survival in Akame ga kill.

"You're not obligated to 'move on,'" Bane said while looking at her, his tone even. "And you sure as hell don't owe anyone an explanation for what you feel. But if you really intend to do nothing for the rest of your life, then own that. SAY IT. OUT LOUD."

"...."

Sheele's lavender eyes remained empty, unfocused, staring at something that wasn't there.

Minutes passed.

Bane, for once, lost hope in getting a response.

Then, barely above a whisper, so weak that it almost dissolved into the air, she finally spoke.

"…I can hear their voices."

Her voice was hoarse, dry, like someone who hadn't used it in a long time. Which was exactly the case.

Bane's gaze flicked toward her, but he didn't interrupt.

Sheele fingers, thin and trembling, gripped the sheets as she continued.

"They are cursing me… Telling me that if I wasn't so useless… they would have been still alive."

"I keep telling them… that I tried my best. I wanted to be useful… but whatever I did, it always ended badly." Her voice wavered like a fragile, broken thing. "At some point, they lost all expectations of me."

"I saved Mika… I saw that even my only friend was afraid of me."

"I was hurt, but even then, I accepted my fate. I finally found something I was good at. A place and people who accepted me for who I am," she muttered incoherently.

"Yet...it all ended in ruin."

For a moment, she fell silent.

Bane remained quiet, watching her.

Her grip tightened on the sheets, her knuckles turned white.

"Instead of me… my mother and father were killed" A deep, suffocating guilt seeped into her tone.

"Instead of me… Mika was targeted, sold, captured, and then brutally raped… she was tortured like an animal for months." Her breathing grew uneven.

"Because of my vengeance, my partner, Mine, had to sacrifice herself to save someone like me."

"I am a curse that shouldn't have existed…I-I should just-"

Her frail fingers trembled violently as she gripped something in her hand.

*Swoshh*

Before she could hesitate, before her exhausted mind could second-guess itself, she plunged it toward her throat.

*Shillk*

Crimson blood splattered.

"...."

But instead of the expected sensation of steel slicing into her flesh, there was something else.

Something in the way.

Her blurred vision focused in time to see a trembling, bloodied, bandaged hand impaled on the scalpel.

Her breath caught in her throat. For the first time in over half an hour, she truly looked at the person who had been speaking to her.

His entire body was wrapped in thick bandages, covering everything from his neck down to his fingertips.

Faint traces of blood seeped through the gauze, fresh wounds reopening just from the sheer exertion of movement.

She had heard about him.

Najenda had told her that he was the one who had saved her and Tatsumi.

He had fought against terrifying foes and risked everything, all to pull them from the depths of imperial capital.

He had even gone with her to save Mika, throwing himself into danger again and again just to repay a 'small debt' he believed he owed her.

And for all of that, he had suffered worse than anyone.

He had spent an entire month in a coma.

Because of her.

Her throat tightened, panic rising as her lavender eyes flickered between his injured hand and his unreadable face. "I—"

Her voice cracked from weeks of disuse.

Her heart pounded against her ribs, the weight of fresh guilt crashing over her. "I-I'm sorry—"

A gesture from his uninjured hand silenced her.

Still gripping the scalpel embedded in his palm, Bane let out a slow, pained hiss through his teeth. "Damnit!"

With an almost casual grimace, he pulled the object free, fresh blood immediately dripping onto the already-stained bedsheets.

Sheele's eyes widened, her breath hitching.

He barely acknowledged it. Instead, he reached for a nearby medical kit, popping it open.

Grabbing a roll of gauze, he bit off a section of the bandage with his teeth before wrapping the wound tightly.

Sheele couldn't speak. Couldn't move.

It was like her body had forgotten how to function.

Bane stood, flexing his fingers slightly, testing the tightness of the wrap.

"Seems like my regeneration is screwed after the previous incident."

He clicked his tongue in mild annoyance before walking toward her bed.

She flinched.

Her breath caught as she instinctively closed her eyes, bracing herself.

She expected anger.

Expected his voice to be filled with frustration, maybe even fury.

Like her mother and father.

But instead, something soft pressed against her cheek.

A warm, damp cloth.

She froze, eyes snapping open in shock.

Bane, standing before her, was wiping the blood from her face with an almost lazy motion, his bandaged hand moving with surprising gentleness.

His eyes flickered toward hers, unreadable beneath the dim light filtering through the room.

Distorted image of Mine overlapped with him.

Finally, he spoke, breaking her confusion.

"Good thing you didn't ingest my poisonous blood," he muttered dryly. "That would've been a real pain in the ass to fix. Also, if it feels itchy, just tell me now."

Sheele stared at him, her mind struggling to process what had just happened.

The warmth of his blood still clung to her fingers, the reality of what she had done sinking in like a slow, suffocating weight.

"Hmm, sounds like you are doing fine." Bane, on the other hand, exhaled through his nose, shaking his head.

'Holy fucking shit! I need to tell Geralt to punch me if I ever try this kind of dumb shit again.' he inwardly cursed at his stupidity.

He grabbed an antiseptic wipe, roughly cleaning the smeared blood off her face, his movements firm but not harsh.

When he was done, he placed a hand under her chin, tilting her face up so she had no choice but to look at him.

Sheele's breath hitched slightly, her lavender eyes wide, reflecting the dim light.

His eyes bore into hers.

She could feel the warmth of his bandaged hand against her skin, but her mind was too scattered, too overwhelmed to process it properly.

Her fingers twitched against the sheets.

Why…?

Why wasn't he angry? Why wasn't he yelling at her?

She had hurt him. Again.

She had—

"Che!" Bane clicked his tongue in mild annoyance. "Stop panicking, woman. Something like this doesn't hurt me anymore."

Sheele stiffened, unable to look away.

"But I harmed you—"

She tried to move, but his grip on her shoulder firmed just enough to still her.

"It's okay," he interrupted, his voice flat but firm. "Seriously, you have a bad habit of apologizing over and over. It's annoying, so if you really want to apologize, don't ever do it in front of me again."

His tone left no room for argument.

"…Do you understand?"

Sheele's lips parted slightly, but no words came.

Instead, she gave the barest of nods, her muscles still tense, her mind still reeling.

Bane studied her reaction for a moment before exhaling through his nose, shaking his head.

"Seriously, woman…" he muttered, releasing her chin and shoulder as he stepped back. "You have a habit of making a mountain out of a molehill."

With that, he turned and strode toward the meal tray.

Sheele remained still, her mind sluggishly processing what had just happened.

By the time she gathered herself, Bane had already grabbed the soup bowl and spoon, moving with casual ease as he pulled a chair closer to the bed.

Then, without preamble, he dipped the spoon into the soup and raised it toward her lips.

Sheele blinked.

Stared.

Did… Did he expect her to just—

Bane raised a brow at her stunned expression.

"What? I'm not gonna blow on it," he muttered. "It's already cold, so it's not like I'm gonna burn your damn tongue. Been sitting here for, what, thirty minutes now?"

Sheele's lips parted slightly, but before she could even attempt to protest, he tilted the spoon forward just enough to make it clear, she either drank or he'd make her.

Hesitating only briefly, she finally opened her mouth and let him feed her the first spoonful.

The taste was bland, the warmth nearly gone, but it settled heavily in her stomach.

It was the first thing she had eaten in…

She didn't even know how long.

Bane didn't say anything as he scooped up another spoonful and held it out for her.

She took it.

And another.

And another.

The silence stretched between them.

At some point, Bane exhaled, shaking his head.

"Seriously," he muttered, stirring the spoon absently in the soup. "Something's really wrong with us."

Sheele blinked, confused.

Bane pointed the spoon towards her, "From the very first time we met, you've tried to kill me multiple times by now."

She blinked again.

"First, when you nearly sliced my neck open with those long-ass scissors."

Sheele's eyes widened slightly in recognition. Indeed, in their first meeting, she had assumed he was an intruder and had nearly decapitated him, only to stop in the end at Najenda's order.

"Then, next, tried to stab my eye with a fucking pencil."

Sheele's lips parted slightly, as if to argue, but he cut her off.

"And now…" Bane gestured vaguely with the spoon before tapping his injured hand against the armrest of his chair, "Now you stab me with a scalpel."

Sheele lowered her gaze slightly, guilt flickering in her expression.

Bane raised a brow. "At this rate, I might as well start carrying around a will every time we meet."

Sheele's lips parted, her voice barely above a whisper.

"…Sorry."

Bane huffed, rolling his eyes. "What did I just say about apologizing in front of me?"

Sheele flinched slightly, looking away.

Bane sighed, shaking his head before holding out another spoonful of soup.

She hesitated.

"…You're really going to keep feeding me?"

Bane fed her another spoonful of soup."

"What? You think I got stabbed for free?" he retorted as he stuffed her mouth with soup.

....

AN: Hah, I think I've been consuming way too much emotional K-drama lately. Seriously, Korean authors have a crazy good grasp of emotional storytelling—it just hits different. (Meanwhile, my exams are creeping up, and what am I doing? Writing novels, binging K-novels, and drowning in fanfiction… yeah, I'm definitely screwed. 'Exam pressure intensifies'.)

Ahem—anyway, back to the real topic! How did you guys like this chapter?

(Also Sheele's incoherent speech, like shifting from one topic to another was intentional in my part, I did my best in order to portray her broken condition.)

Does the progression feel natural? Let me know your thoughts!