Devero reaches through the water and covers Koumyou's knotted hands with one of his own. "But you weren't... you weren't trying to teach me, then," he says slowly. "That wasn't a lesson. That was-- that was you trying to just fucking-- get through to me, when all I was doing was shutting you out. When I was trying to hurt you, because I didn't want to see what you were trying to show me."

He draws his hand back and looks away, curling in a little on himself before he can say, "...It was still the wrong thing to do. But-- but you know that now, right?"

He swings his gaze right back over, though he remains hunched on the ledge. "I think you're going to surprise yourself, if you try," he tells Koumyou quietly. "And I--" If anything, his voice goes quieter. "I don't want to learn magic from anyone but you."