[ oh. there's a soft, sudden intake of breath, because suddenly a lot of things make sense. the way kainé drew back from them, last week, where before she'd been starting to inch closer, for one thing. the theories - their theories, of people being mind controlled and compelled. it explains some of the violence from sieghart's crime scene. it explains - it explains a lot. ]

...Holy shit. I bet that's what happened to Kaoruko, too. You -

[ okay.

okay. he realizes about a second later that this cannot look like a good reaction, and she trusted him with this - his head whips back up to look at her again, and whatever went across his face softens back again, brows knitting, a thousand emotions at once. ]

...Kainé. [ his voice is a little rougher, but softer, too. emotional. ] It's - it's not your fault. Someone fucked with your head. [ he didn't feel good about voting for kaoruko for the same reason. caiman - caiman's head was fucked like that since the beginning, apparently, but it could easily have been the same with him, too.

(different. is it different? the morality of this place is complicated, and - he shakes his head. viola said it. the greater enemy here is someone else, not each other.) ]

...Thank you for - for trusting me enough to tell me. [ sincerity, there, too, as he looks at her, reaching out where her hand is to. just briefly, quickly, cover it with his own and give it a squeeze. ] Knowing that helps. I think it's gonna help us figure things out.

I'm so sorry, Kainé. Fuck, I'm so sorry that happened to you.