"He's not worried about me." There was a smoothing of hackles, a tentative de-spiking of the hedgehog she had reverted to once Sephiroth parsed the situation down so that it made more sense to her. But that just made the bitter resentment ring clear. "He's not worried about anything. He just enjoys prodding and poking for the sake of getting a reaction. He likes twisting things, for fun. He has no actual concern for me, so you needn't waste your time placating him." There was the faintest tinge of defeat, at the end of it, when she stopped to breathe.

When she met Masanori's eyes, full on, her own were tired; tired enough that she didn't bother hiding the wariness. "Uchiha-sensei has not stopped me from corresponding with Sephiroth, Shizuoka-san. They have met in person. He would not have brought me to Kirigakure at all, if us meeting was as repugnant as you seem to think. I don't know what game you're playing, but if it's anything like what my classmates tried in the past—it won't be fun, or whatever you're hoping to gain from it."

She rubbed her throat, grimacing behind her high collar. She hated having to talk so much.