nanako hasaba

“And look I know you’re a big girl now. But if you have any more nightmares, you can always sleep with me if you’d like. I’m probably not going to wake up with the sleeping pills and all that junk on my head, but if having a big snoring log next to you helps you get a few more z’s then be my guest.”Sarah stopped on the stairs, struggling to find her words.“Sure dad, thanks. Love you, g’night.”

After Cain’s fight, the seventh match proceeded without a hitch, and as always, Seraph stepped into the ring for the final battle of the round. Though his earlier wins had been desperate and narrow, the prince’s arrival brought a chorus of cheers from the audience. One might expect this noisy support to bolster his confidence and turn him back to how he was, but he remained humble, or perhaps ‘fearful’ would be a better word. Every win would plague him with doubts, doubts that he was really strong enough to have defeated his opponents. All of his accomplishments were surely due to plain luck, or maybe his enemies had been paid off to let him win.

You’re still here because you’re strong, maybe not strong enough to win, but strong enough to live. How many knights and soldiers can say that? How many people in history do you think have clawed their way through the mud, gnashing their teeth and howling in pain, all for that little victory? You being here, after all that bloodshed and horror, is an accomplishment you shouldn’t dismiss.”