"I see, it must've been hard on you."
After hearing about Miko's situation from the person herself, that was Kousuke's response, including a hand patting her head. It's easy to tell someone to ignore the things they didn't want to see, but difficult to truly follow with action, especially for a growing teenager. For a dormant Sacred Gear, it is hardly problematic if one have knowledge about them beforehand. However exactly because it is dormant, he couldn't tell whether it could be another Longinus or a normal one.
At the very least, he knows it's related to her vision. Who knows, maybe it would allow her to even see through the fabric of reality itself. Which is why it's a shame that he has to seal it.
"Are you absolutely and certainly sure?" He asked her once again. This is the fifth times and Miko had grown weary of answering the same thing, so she nodded with exhaustion etched on her face.
"You know, just because you won't able to see them after this doesn't mean they disappear completely." Kousuke said with ominous smile. "What you'll be doing is just turning blind eye to the other side of reality, it could backfires you in the most gruesome way. Wouldn't it be scary not knowing what kill you in a random Sunday night? Which is entirely avoidable by the way."
"I... Ever since I noticed I could see ghosts, this had always been my desire—to be normal again. I wouldn't need to always live around the edge just walking from home to school, being fearful at all times had taken a toil on my mind heavily." Miko voiced out her thought after listening to him. "What if they knew I was only pretending not to see them? What if they could converse with one another and my act was exposed? I keep having these paranoia thoughts each and every single day of my life since. It's honestly scary and... really exhausting."
Kousuke thought he might have went a little too far with his curiosity. Perhaps, it is better for people to remain ignorant, if it makes them feels safer that way. Miko really looks like she's very much fed up with this whole thing. He still remembers her expression immediately lit up when Valerie first introduced them to him. It was like coming across a lake after walking through the heat in the endless desert—the long awaited happiness that comes in the wake of the suffering.
He thought of giving up on trying to change her mind, but she continues before he could speak.
"But it is also as you said. It's even scarier not knowing what could be with you in your own room while feeling a gaze at the back of your mind." She muttered, her body trembled slightly, as if recalling the exact moment something like that happens to her in the past. "At least by pretending, I know for sure they're right there. I could see them in the corner of my eyes, and felt relieved once they sate their curiosity, knowing my acting truly worked on them."
"Miko-chi..." Hana muttered. She didn't know her friend always had this worry going through her mind at all time. She knew that sometimes Miko would act rather strange, but Hana didn't think much of it at the time. But with the knowledge she had now, everything made sense.
There was a time she woke up feeling heavy, as if there was something pressing on her shoulder and Miko wouldn't look at her in the eyes at all. And all of sudden, her friend suggested visiting a well known shrine. Hana thought it was strange that her friend of all people say that at the time, but after leaving the shrine, she feels extremely freshed as if she had just taken a good sauna bath. There was however a blank slate in her memory, something must have happened in that time but she couldn't remember anything.
"If I decide to awaken my dormant Sacred Gear, can you promise me that if it ever gets dangerous, you will have no problem sealing it properly?" Miko asked, her gaze bored into him like birds seeking shelter on a tree branch in a rainy day. Currently, they were in Morgan's place, the latter had given him the key to her place so that he could just walk into her anytime. At the moment however, she and some of his girls were spending their time in his game. They were saying something like shaping his world to their liking before getting into the capsule.
"Of course, you can trust me on my words. After all, I'm the strongest," he said casually, but then chuckles as if recalling something funny. His words and action doesn't match in Miko's eyes, but if he truly had taken care of the creature in the abandoned shrine, then he must have some means to back it up. Plus, Seele was the one who told them about her brother and how he specialize in this sort of stuff, which was rather strange considering the rumors spreading at school.
"Well then, this might hurt a little bit but I'm sure you'll be just fine."
"...Wait what?"
Before Miko could ask him to elaborate on what he said, a sharp pain assaulted her body and her eyes feels like they were scorched in flame. She wanted to gouge her eyes out if it could lessen the pain as she begins screaming, but there was something firmly holding her in place. She could do nothing but scream for her dear life. 'This isn't just hurt a little bit.. it's insanely fucking painful!'
Hana watched with a worried look. In her point of view, Miko suddenly started screaming when Kousuke placed his hand behind her back. But fortunately it was a minute long session, by the time it was over, Miko fell over with sweats covering her entire body. Though Hana immediately went forward and catched her in time.
"Is she really okay?"
"She was just a little exhausted, nothing a good rest won't fix. All I did was just tapping into her potential, making the Sacred Gear believes that her body is ready then voilà, I succeed." Kousuke answered Hana's question calmly with a convincing smile. Though he didn't tell her that the result went beyond his expectation, Miko's reaction suggested her Sacred Gear is anything but average. His eyes glint in mysterious light as it reflected the unconscious Miko in Hana's embrace. 'I see, that's why it unlocked her sight at first. It was preparing her for the awakening.'