Eiri Shirai

I had to do that. Yeah, I was serious. I went at it hard enough that I might’ve killed you. Damn straight I did. If I didn’t, Takasagi might’ve finished me. Besides—you aren’t who you used to be, either. If I don’t go all out, I can’t beat you.

But, man, you know there’s no way I’d kill you, right?

We may not be friends, but we’re comrades, okay? You understand that much, don’t you? You’re supposed to be Haruhiro, but you couldn’t read what I was thinking? We’ve been together all this time, so why didn’t you get it...? Then, to top it all off—

Do you understand? ...Well, not that I need you to. I wanna get strong. I’m sure you know this, but damn, I’m weak. Even this is better than I was before, though, you know? Still, I’ve got a long way to go. I dunno how to say it, but living when you’re weak, you wouldn’t understand, but... It’s tough. You’ve gotta give up on all these things. It’s lame.”

“It’s fine to ask questions, but think for yourself first,” Moyugi snapped. “To put it simply, you look up to me as some sort of superior, and you were looking for me to give you orders, right? In other words, you’re an idiot. They say an idiot is what you make of him, and, it goes without saying, I could make good use of you. What do you say to that, Haruhiro-kun the idiot?”