"Hate is far too strong. Ah, for the most part." His hand trails down Ren's hair to his jaw, then he takes it back, folding it in his lap. The other is still in Ren's grasp.

"Yoshizawa-san, down the hall, has been very kind—well, that's Yoshizawa-san all over, isn't it? Many people have been kind. Crow, for instance, spent so much time with me. They want to help me. That is, when I don't repel them."

His smile is ghastly, for different reasons than usual. The truth is that, as one awkward encounter has piled on another, and as the sad results of one blankout have reinforced the next, he's increasingly resented the fuck out of his isolation here—and it shows.