She rises slowly, keeping her eyes on Ariadne's. The other tributes are running ahead of them; the advantage of her speed is lost and the danger is growing with every new weapon picked up but Hitagi can only look at the other girl and the trembling she cannot (does not?) conceal.

With a step, she could be on her, uncertain of the outcome but certain to bloody them both. With another she could move back and away from what this moment could be, the sharp edge of a turning point for which she is not ready (now while the first strike is still yours, now while you can see her eyes and know if when if when that choice to attack is made)

She takes a step back.

"If I don't have to, then I won't."

Her own words are almost lost to her, made distant by the dizzying vertigo, the rushing of her blood and the cold.

"It's not a lie though whether or not you choose to believe me is up to you."