A few seconds of silence stretched on after Keiko asked her question. Asahi kept her head tilted, and her fists clenched at her sides. Keiko took a step forward and pressed further.
"I heard about the substitution or whatever," she informed the girl. "What my grandmother intends to do if I die. So, tell me. Do you both intend to kill me?"
Asahi slowly shook her head.
"N-No," she answered, and her tone appeared as though she was almost panicking. "T-That's not what I was told."
"Okay, what were you told, then?" Keiko asked while the sound of battle raged on in the background. Perhaps those sounds served to push Asahi to speak up, as she flinched when a soldier's cry echoed in the distance and replied:
"T-The Elder said that it was only a contingency, siya," she bowed her head slightly as she spoke. "That it was just a backup plan. Just in case the worst came to pass."
