His head was so full of voices, why wouldn't the voices stop, why wouldn't they leave him alone, why couldn't they understand that everything they were saying wasn't true? He wasn't a monster.

You're a monster.

He's not.

You're a monster.

He's not he's not he's not. "I'm not..." Kotetsu cried out quietly, fingers digging into his scalp, hands shaking and when something moved ahead of him he jerked his head back up, and the figure was still shapeless and he didn't know what to do. Was this the person telling him all these things?

I'm so disappointed in you.

And then his eyes widened, and he could see her. Tomoe, her back turned to him, all in white, the sheet draped over her still but he knew it was her because it was her voice, it was her, she was walking away from him, she was leaving him because he'd let her down-- and again, in the blink of an eye, the figure changed and the person in front of him was Barnaby.

You're not the hero I need.

"No!" He yelled out desperately and tried to scramble back to his feet, managed to at least get unsteadily to his knees and reach out, try and grab an arm, pull her-- him, both of them back, keep them here because he couldn't let them leave him again when he hadn't done anything wrong. "Please don't go, please--!"