[ deep, deep sigh. SHE IS KIND OF TIRED OF FEELING LIKE SHE HAS TO DEFEND HER FEELINGS. but okay.

there's. gonna be a lot of "hiryuu is typing" messages and each of the following texts come through slowly, as she struggles to communicate her perspective. ]

Hiryuu: I don't really want to argue with you about this, but I need you to understand where I'm coming from.
Hiryuu: Shuten is one of my people, metaphorically and realistically.
Hiryuu: He was born in the kingdom that my father ruled and allowed to be horribly mistreated due to my father's negligence.
Hiryuu: And he may not be blood of mine, but he's as much my family as my own blood relatives.
Hiryuu: I promised, even before we knew all of that, back in the very beginning, that I would do my best to keep him safe.
Hiryuu: I failed to keep my word to him. And there's a strong possibility I'm responsible for his even being here in the first place.
Hiryuu: It's not that I want to think unhealthily or that I want to unnecessarily burden myself.
Hiryuu: But this is a part of who I am and my role in the world.