[Mikazuki holds onto Tsurumaru tightly as he coughs, hard. Watches the flowers, red stains, fall onto the blue silk. Doesn't say anything for a beat or two, just to be sure that Tsurumaru's breathing is unobstructed now.]

I don't believe in curses or fairy tales. None of what happened to you was your fault, and you have never brought misfortune to me.

And you are warm, and soft, and joyful, and attentive to others. And you are mine. You have been mine ever since I first laid eyes on you, and I have been yours from that day onward. I have always known it.

[So cutting off all your feelings because you're afraid? Not acceptable, Tsurumaru Kuninaga. Mikazuki's hold wavers for just a moment as a shiver take shim.]

If you had asked Aruji to go and cut it out of you, all of it... what would have become of me then? Me, loving you with all of my heart, and you now unable to return those feelings, to even comprehend them... Would I have been doomed to the same fate? Would a flower have bloomed for me then?