"There is a time and place for mercy," Ami said slowly, staring into the milky remains of her drink. "But if you try to make it a blanket policy, you'll just get somebody killed." There was bitterness in her soft voice. "...but maybe that's okay too. Because in the end, for every person that gets killed because of poorly-timed mercy, there will be one more person like me out there."

There was a price to letting an offender live to see another day. A price that could be the initial crime or body count doubled or tripled.

"I don't hate you, Senpai," she decided. "I didn't hate my father's teammate for sparing the man who came back with reinforcements. I didn't hate him for coming home, when my father stayed back, going down as he finished what should have been done in the first place. I guess..." She looked up, pensive. "I guess I just hope you learn instead of clinging to shining ideals, so you don't have to carry that sort of weight around until you die, too."

Her throat closed up, and she looked back down. She hated talking for so long at once.