#chapter 140.2

Fushi wasn't actually planning on using the sword but using it to threaten Mizuha and get her away. Also they've never fucking learned how to hold a sword properly and that's hilarious. They just... drag it through the mud, and then when they do hold it up it's tilted at an awkward angle. Totally funny and not indicative of their reluctance at all...

Their initial plan, to fuck up Izumi's knocker (with the sword), is kind of like what Hirotoshi tried to do by playing the hero. They even say "I am about to free that body from your clutches" which is a very hero-slaying-villain thing to say.

Mimori and Miyabi's relationship is supposed to be a parallel of Mizuha's and Izumi's, but it's significantly different in ways that Fushi has not grasped. With Mimori it was comparatively simple, convince her to return to her body and send her back home. But, it's not like her home situation improved at all after she was resurrected? Out of sight out of mind as far as Fushi is concerned. They think that if they can kill Izumi's knocker and resurrect Izumi then there's no longer a problem, because knockers = bad, humans = good.

So Fushi broadcasts their intent to kill Izumi's knocker and even prompts them to give some last words, really encouraging it to "drop the act." And when it doesn't, they set up in the most efficient way they can. It's a reminder that Fushi's roots are used for more than just instant transportation and locating their friends. They can also use their powers for less pleasant things, like spreading roots inside a living person. CoNcidENTaLlY this is exactly what the knockers of the previous era did.

Fushi repeatedly tells Mizuha that "it's all fake." This applies to the peace they thought they were returning their friends to when they resurrected them in this era. They've pinpointed Izumi's death as the moment when everything went wrong, so returning her to her body is their final attempt to set things back to the way they want them to be. Fushi knows that their knocker problems can only be solved by cutting off the head of the beast—the Left Hand. Even when they show disgust towards Mizuha accepting the "fake" they already have.

Mizuha, the MVP this chapter. She was really putting herself in harms way to protect her mom. Love her. But more seriously, the way she pleaded with Fushi not to kill Izumi's knocker shows that while she still reveres them as a god, they are no longer a benevolent one. A comparison:

Fushi is looking down on Mizuha, about to pass judgement, while her face is lifted up towards them she doesn't see Fushi as some deity who's come to grant her wishes, but rather someone who can obstruct her happiness on a whim.

Fushi is not a god, but they try to be, and this appeal to their goodness makes it harder for them to do as they want. Coupled with their final decision, it also puts a greater value on Mizuha's happiness than anything else in this era, to preserve that happiness Fushi will fuck up any number of things.

Mizuha talking about how Izumi never really saw her for who she was versus Fushi who has repeatedly projected onto Izumi and is in the habit of pretending Mizuha is Kahaku to make themselves feel better. Holy shit. ALSO—tying it in to the idea that Fushi's worried about keeping their friends close by, do they think she's calling them out, too? For bringing their friends back when it might not have been the right choice.

So Mizuha's logic is the main thing that convinces Fushi, but what actually pushes them over the edge is when Izumi's knocker tells Mizuha "I love you." Fushi still doesn't think that Izumi's knocker should be left alive, and the idea of letting it die in an honorable way pissed them off. Letting its last words be "I love you" upset them.

Fushi turning their back while Izumi's still facing towards her knocker with Mizuha. They're averting their eyes while Izumi's finally facing the issue. Since both she and Bon are here, I think her prescence will reaffirm Fushi's belief that she needs some kind of closure and prompt them to try again to work things out, although hopefully in a peaceful way.

I do still think Bon was partly reading too much into Izumi's emotions when he relayed her messages to Fushi, but. In this chapter, she heard what Mizuha had to say and it affected her. There are a lot of problems with Izumi, and I expect soon we'll know why. Why did she cut ties with her father? Why did she think it was OK to raise Mizuha the way she did? Why is she so obsessed with how the world sees her? This is also an opportunity to find out.

And then, after Fushi starts to walk off, Mizuha thanks them. From the look on their face they probably understand how bad it is that they can threaten her with a sword and put her mother through excruciating pain while planning to kill it plus restraining her and she'll thank them for sparing her mom. I think another objective of theirs was to ward Mizuha off, but obviously that didn't work.