[Seireitei, a secluded location]

Setsurou sighed as Hikaru seemed unable to put her suspicions into words, and he already knew what they were anyway.

So he decided to take the wheel of this particular conversation.

Turning his back to Hikaru, Setsurou began to walk lazily forward, gazing up at the sky as wind blew through his hair.

"I guess I never did want to hide the whole thing from you after all, Hikaru-san. Not that I couldn't have tried a little harder at mantaining the charade. But then, it wasn't as if you wouldn't have found out eventually.

Y'see... Ever since I was a little kid, there were expectations for me. People wanted me to be what I had been 'born for'. The only way I would be able to take hold of my own destiny would be if I dashed their hopes early and often. So yes... outwardly, Hishikawa Setsurou is nothing but a fool.

You might ask yourself then, 'how can I trust someone who deceives friends and family just to get what he wants?'. And it would be a perfectly good question to ask. You might wonder, 'where does the facade end and the mistakes begin?', and that would be the perfect inquiry too.

I can answer only one of those questions."

Suddenly, he turned. His gaze was intense as he stared into Hikaru's eyes, and as he approached, his fedora lazily steered further to the side where the rim was lowest.

And then he kissed her.

(He was good at it, though she might not fully appreciate the extent of that until later.)

With one hand lightly adjusting his hat, the part of Setsurou's face that wasn't covered by the rim looked back towards (a likely stunned) Hikaru. He began to walk towards the edge of a cliff.

"You can trust me to be myself. You can trust me to do my best to protect those around me who can't protect themselves. And you can trust me to put the lives and smiles of everyone before my own, personal gain.

I am the man fated to be the master of every art. I cannot allow something as minor as a war that defines existence be an obstacle. Making others happy, too, is an art.

And to answer your previous question..."

At this point, he turned back fully towards Hikaru, backstepping towards the cliff.

"...I do not 'enjoy' making a fool out of you, though admittedly, your flustering is a very amusing byproduct."

And then he threw himself back over the cliff.