#a child who so desperately tried to shield natsume from the worst and later realized how much more he hurt watching his nii-san's suffer

[raelyn-dreams]

So I was looking through Rei's appellations and:

This is so fucking sad???

SHU CALLED HIM HIS FRIEND. HE'S STILL ONE OF NATSUME'S BELOVED NII-SAN'S. THEY LOVED HIM SO MUCH, THEY STILL LOVE HIM UNCONDITIONALLY.

Even when Kanata would've drowned himself if not for Chiaki grabbing him, even when Shu was being barely kept alive by a desperate Mika, even when Wataru smiled and tried to reassure them as he calmly walked to his execution, even when Natsume could only cry from the shadows - none of them ever resented him for it.

But Rei resents himself, because he couldn't save them, or Ritsu, or Koga, or anyone he cared about.

And that is why he can't let them be that close - it'll only hurt them more when he lets them down again.