Mitsuru grabbed Misoka by the shoulders and shook him. "What are you talking about? Mahiru is definitely alive!"
"How do you know?" asked Misoka. Mitsuru hated him them, hated him more than anything else on Earth, that worshipped the sun, the moon, or whatever. He hated him so badly that he actually began to think of Misoka as one dead, because he wanted him dead so much.
"Check if there is a pulse," Misoka told Mitsuru. Mitsuru moved over to Mahiru and placed a finger on her neck. He felt a very faint and unsteady dum-dum-dum.
"There is a pulse," said Mitsuru.
Misoka checked his book again. "According to this, the only cure is syrup of ipecac, which is not available to us. Or we could use the Teardrops of the Moon."
"Let's use those then!" Mitsuru said desperately.
"They are in custody of the Queen. We can not get them without her permission."
"Get them now! How much longer does Mahiru have t-to l-" Mitsuru stumbled over the word "live."
"To live?" Misoka asked coolly. "I would estimate the princess had two hours left."
"That's all?" Mitsuru shook Misoka again. "Get the damn Teardrops! We got them, shouldn't we be able to use them?"
"The Teardrop that revived you could be exchanged for Mahiru's life," said Misoka. "But you would die."
"That…that can be our last resort," Mitsuru said grimly.
"Our options therefore stand as thus," Misoka said. "One – Ask the Queen for Teardrops. Two – Try to find syrup of ipecac. Three – Kill you to save Mahiru." Mitsuru clenched his fists.
"Option three is not the favored choice, for obvious reasons, although it has the best chance of succeeding," Misoka continued. "Option two is unattainable. And option one…that may not be a good idea, since I suspect the Queen was the one who had Mahiru poisoned."