[ There's a quiet sigh as his shoulders sag some before tensing up, arms crossing as he's back to leaning against the counter top again. Though Chris does fight the urge to rub at his temples when he sees Mafuyu searching his expression for an answer. Judging from the way her voice strains slightly as she tries to keep her tone even, he can tell she's expecting a 'no'. ]

I know. [ The wrinkle between his brow continues to crease at her mention of being an adult. Perhaps they were both fortunate that Mafuyu looked a few years younger than seventeen. Though the settlement didn't force their 'ideology' with the women who stayed behind most days, he still wasn't comfortable with what he saw. So he switches to her mother tongue. After finding out no one understood Japanese, he'd asked Jill and Mafuyu to teach him just enough to speak and understand the basics. His enunciation is still hard and stilted, but it had worked so far in keeping information between them through hold-ups and questioning. On top of that, she still had her cultural identity even if it did alienate or draw attention to them both at times. ] 'And we agreed on keeping these sort of talks between us.'

[ While he means about keeping her age between them, for her safety, he finally relents little by little. However, before he can give his approval or final say he'd like to sift through a few more of her answers. So the accent drops, as well as his arms before his hands grip at the edge of the counter. This time he carefully scrutinizes her as he continues to question. And hopefully Mafuyu'll convince them both that she's fit to do some training and some scavenging. ]

Is this something you want to do? You can't step outside of these walls feeling unsure or distracted, Mafuyu.