[somewhere inside, higekiri thinks about the scenes like this that he'd seen before. he's a sword of samurai descent. he's no stranger to death, and he shouldn't be affected by the way that others are so fragile compared to him, only steel and sharp edges. and yet...

and yet....

the demon possessing hige's body seems to wince, a hand coming up to where the rock impacted him, frowning from that as well as - ]

... What a racket.

[and then he'll make eye contact with chuuya even as he stalks forward, casual and careless in higekiri's usual picture perfect posture]

He wants you to fight, you know. [he lets the expression on higekiri's face crumble, all open sadness and vulnerability:] 'You said you wouldn't go down so easily.'

[he extends his sword arm, letting the tip of higekiri's sword press against the front of chuuya's throat]

Maybe that makes both of us liars.