If Yomi was in any position to care about such things, she might have been annoyed at the implication that she had willfully led him astray. She had asked for none of this--any of it.

"I told you," she said, "I really am a bad choice."

The worst choice, maybe. Category As didn’t do anyone any favors, and she… she couldn’t even die properly. Failure and disappointment practically clung to her.

But as she came nearer and nearer to the chapel doors, his hushed observation made her turn her attention back to him. “That’s a good guess.” It certainly was, and it made her think he could sense something about the room that she couldn’t. Rather than make her wary, though, the thought only increased her drive. At the very least, Yomi was a survivor. The sesshouseki still had reason to encourage her to live.

Without another word, she reached for the door handle and opened the door to the hospital’s place of worship.

_{[to here]}