[ haru slides back off his stool, moving to get out the items he'll need to make hot chocolate--real chocolate, for one thing--and pulling his hair back to keep it out of his face as he works. for a moment more he's silent, thinking of the character souji had written in the condensation. ] There's a difference between a monster and an oni to me. [ he starts breaking up the chocolate as he talks, glancing briefly back at souji. ] An oni can't help what it is. It was born that way, and it'll always be an oni, and there's nothing wrong with that. That's how the world works. But a monster chooses to be a monster. A monster makes itself into one, whether gradually or all at once. So if you're one of the two, you're the oni, Souji-san. You can be scary, but it's not necessarily a bad sort of scary.

[ he falls silent again, keeping his hands busy, but when souji speaks up again, he glances back at him, eyes narrowing briefly. ] --Drink your water. [ he turns back to the stove, then, beginning to stir his small pot. ] And it's not that, not exactly. I mean, if you really wanted to drink, I'd put something in the hot chocolate for you. But I think.. it's less that you want to get drunk and more that you have a lot on your shoulders and you need a little comfort and company right now. And when you can't do anything about either of those things, being drunk seems like a good alternative, probably.