[ "we're both showing our true selves," the girl says, and shuten has to wonder about that.

this verbal needling, when they had such a disastrously explosive first meeting, is a farce as silly as the master-maid act they first engaged in. despite being at a terrible disadvantage, despite how their last scuffle ended, shuten thinks it'd be easier to have this come to blows.

this has little to do with the haniwa, after all, or the tanuki she supposedly (did) victimize — this girl is after her.

she pouts, palm cradling her frowning cheek. ]

Come now, why not just draw your sword and get this over with if you've got it out for me so badly, dear? You know tanuki are shifty little things, too. For all you know, he could be waiting to nab your cash, or worse...

[ the curtain of her kimono drags across the floor as she steps to the side, beginning a slow, calculated circle around the woman. her low gaze traces the thickness of those lashes, the shape of her eyes. ]

But you're not concerned with tanuki, are you, honey?

[ step by step, she peers at her through her shifting angle. ]

So where's that "true self" you were talking about?