Shoto opened the door to see Eri curled into herself by the window, sniffling. He walked over and sat down beside her. They sat in silence, Eri never looking away from glass before she spoke.

"They thought they had the right. You know? Turning me into a weapon? 'For justice' they said." Eri gave a small sigh that felt ages beyond how she looked. "They got their weapon. I got cheated out of my childhood."

"I know what that's like."

Eri finally turned to look at him, a sad look on her face. "You do, don't you?"

Shoto only responded with a hum. Eri only kept looking at him as if studying his face for some hidden response before returning her gaze to the glass.

"Why did it happen? Why me?" Sniffling could be heard from the small girl.

Shoto leaned over, offering a hug. She curled into his side, now fully crying and smearing snot on his shirt, but he didn't care about that right now.

"The world has a tendency to overlook the bad to try and make everything seem better than it really is. It's why people resist change because admiting that change is necessary means that they have to admit that the world is broken in some way. What happened to you was not your fault. It was the fault of a bunch of bad men and women who didn't want to adapt to a changing world."

He rubbed circles in her back until crying turned back to sniffles. "It's not a good idea to go to bed sad. Why don't we make some hot chocolate and watch a movie instead?"

Eri rubbed her eyes and nodded her agreement, and Shoto picked her up and carried her to the kitchen where he set her down on the counter.