"I've never dared," Koumyou answers honestly, looking down again.

"I'm the last of the Taisouji students. And the monks who trained me before then weren't much kinder. If I ended up being anything like... like Master Zouryou, or his kind, I don't know if I could live with that."

He's staring down at his hands in particular, which slowly knot together.

"My oldest scars are from my time as a student. And you've seen how... how wrong my instincts are."

Devero was completely right to turn him down, and Koumyou knows it.