"I know," he says, and sips his coffee again. He swallows before he continues.

"Everybody tries," Shotaro says, humor coloring it. He remembers trying to keep the Chief's death from her, remembers when he and Philip had first formed Extreme. "She's strong." A lot stronger than him, anyway.

"Still shouldn't'a said anything," he answers, sighing full-body. "He wanted to protect her from... all this." It rankled, that he hadn't been able to keep his damn mouth shut. That Philip's death was so close under his skin that at the first provocation he'd spilled.