"..." Kenta gripped her hand tighter. "Shay... You... Why?" He tried to ask something coherent, but he was already hurting. Already had questions. Already felt lost. Nothing made sense. Not to him at least. And it all just kept feeling worse... He bit his lip, trying to focus enough to speak properly. "Do you not like being around me..? I don't... You're not making sense..."
Shay looked down at the hand gripping her wrist. It was tight enough to cause concern, but she didn't think Kenta would actually hurt her. "I like being around you; that's the problem. It was fine when I was helping you with Gin, but now...there's no barrier."
"... Barrier..? Shay..." He let go of her and gripped the bench he was on instead. "I don't... understand..." He bit his lip harder, drawing a stream of blood that would drip down his lip. "Is it..." He mumbled as he tore into his lip. "What are you... afraid of..?" He asked, still fixated on the ground.
Was he about to cry? Shay hoped not. She couldn't deal with that. She couldn't even handle this. All of it. She held the arm he'd been gripping close to her chest and looked at her feet. How could she tell him what she was afraid or? She wasn't sure. Not completely. Not in sane, comprehensible thought.
"Something is going to happen," she answered, voice steely, even when her gaze wasn't. "You'll leave when I start getting comfortable with you."
Kenta looked up at her. "Why would I... Shay... Am I gonna die? Is that... what this is about?" He asked. He let go of his lip but that didn't stop the bleeding.
"What?" Shay asked, confused. "No Kenta. I don't know. I can't see that. I don't know which choices you'll make and where they'll lead. I just...I mean, can you seriously promise you'll never abandon me?"
"Yes!" He told her bluntly. "I don't see any reason you'd think otherwise!" He sounded a bit frustrated, a bit hurt, but mostly confused. "Unless I... Shay-shay, as long as I'm still alive... Still me... I'm not going anywhere."
"But is there a guarantee of that? That you'll always still be you?" Her voice had gone shrill when he rose his. She knew it sounded bad, but the idea that she would become close to him only for him to be pulled away bothered her. Crushed her.
His eyes got wide when she said this, and tears finally fell. "NO! GOD DAMN IT NO SHAY!" He screamed, clearly in pain. "YOU..! You... know that... Better than anyone, you know that..." He pulled his legs onto the bench, close to his body. "... You're right..." He said after a long silence. "You're right... I... I don't even know... how I exist... I'm not real. Kenta isn't... I... don't..."
Shay flinched when she was yelled at and despite herself, she couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks. They came quickly and silently. She was torn in her anger. How could he say he wasn't real? Why was he yelling at her?
"How can you say that?" she seethed. "How can you say you're not real? I see you! I've touched you! Now you want to tell me you're not real? And don't yell at me! I didn't ask for this!"