Devero raises his head, and manages to meet Koumyou's eyes across the pool. It's that trapped, screaming Devero inside that looks out of him, as if the priest's words were an invocation.

Or, as Koumyou had suggested before, an absolution? Permission given to lift the carefully carved yoke of guilt and self-loathing and fear off of his shoulders, and acknowledge finally that this weight is too much.

His eyes brim with fresh tears. "How-- how can you know what going on in here--" He thumps the center of his chest ungently. "--so much better than I do?" he asks, his voice wavering.