Page 77 of Mercy Written in Blood

"So I understand."

"No."

Her voice changed.

"The reports won't explain it properly."

Renji remained still. Takeda lowered her eyes to her hands.

"He could have reached the passage before any of us. He was closest to it when the door opened."

"But he stayed."

"He carried Jun."

"That likely worsened his injuries."

"He knew."

Renji remembered the damage inside Haruki's abdomen — the angle of the wound, the torn artery, the bruising that spoke of a body forced to keep moving after it should have fallen.

"He stayed behind when we couldn't move fast enough," Takeda continued. "He told us to leave him."

"And yet you did not."

"Professor Minamoto dragged me."

A tremor entered her voice. Renji did not interrupt.

"He stood between us and them with a folding knife."

"A poor choice of weapon."

"It was all he had."

"He should not have remained."

Takeda looked up.

"You would have."

Renji held her gaze.

"That is different."

"How?"

"I am trained to preserve life."

"So is he."

"He is not a doctor."

"No."

She looked towards the corridor Haruki had been taken through hours before.

"But he seems to believe everyone around him is his to protect."