[Marisa leans over to give Alice a soft kiss on the cheek.]

No, you're not weak and pitiful. You're just afraid.

You've always held yourself back, afraid of going all out, afraid of giving it your all only to have it fall short. So you hold back, to give yourself an excuse, a comfort zone. And that's not a bad thing, ze. But it does mean it's hard for you to take chances. You worry too much about 'what if'.

Shiki? He's fearless, but being fearless doesn't mean he has an absence of fear. It means he doesn't let the fear control him. Same with me. We both know life's too short to worry about the 'what ifs'. Yeah, he's youkai now, but he's so new to it he might as well still be human.

But it'll be okay, ze. It'll eventually be okay.