Okay, of all the things that Shardik might have said, of all the possible answers Vash was expecting, I blew it up was in no way one of the options! I don't know, maybe, or that ever-infuriating adult it was bad, I'll tell you when you're older. But the casual way he claims responsibility for it, talking like a video instructor giving a math lecture, isn't something Vash even knows how to respond to.

And then the feathers appear, and with them comes the fear.

He's not afraid of Shardik, to be clear. It's the fear he feels every time he learns something else horrible that a Vash has done -- it's the fear of becoming Shardik that's got his heart pounding and mouth dry. But fear is fear, and the look Vash is giving Shardik is definitely frightened. To his credit, however, his voice doesn't waver when he finally speaks -- he's getting better at this being brave thing!

"We could blow up a city?" Clenching his fist hard, Vash can force one tiny little feather to appear, a downy fluff at the inside of his wrist. Nothing at all like the sharp things running down Shardik's arm. "Tell me how? So I don't do it too."

What's the point of having all these older selves -- and not-selves -- running around if he can't learn from their mistakes?