The guilt about leaving her brother behind was unimaginable. But it hadn't been as bad as the guilt she felt after their last fight. When Kenichi had been so viciously wounded. Nor did the guilt from before compare to what she felt now.
Kenichi had sustained brain damage from their fight, and as far as anyone knew- He would never wake up. All she or her parents could do now was wait for him to die. Which was part of the reason that she had assumed his identity outside of her home.
A part of her still couldn't let go of the brother that she had idolized and loved with all her heart.
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Akisame had been meditating for an hour before he stopped and moved to wake Kenichi up and paused briefly when he noticed that the boy was crying in his sleep. The sounds of his ragged sobs and the sight of his tear streaked face, concerned the man as he reached out and gently shook the boy.
Kenichi's eyes opened and he bounded off of the cot and across the room where he slammed himself into the wall with enough force to knock a picture off of it's thumb tack, causing it to fall and hit the floor at the boys feet.
Akisame sighed. He'd have to fix the picture frame in a little bit. Right now he needed to calm the boy down before he accidentally hurt himself. "Kenichi-kun, are you alright?" He asked in a concerned tone as he took a step towards the teen.
The boy swiped at his face with his jacket sleeve, wiping away his tears and then dropped his arm and gave Akisame an arctic glare as he took several shuddering breaths then hissed. "I'm fine."
Just a little taken aback by the boy's hostile look, Akisame wondered what the boy had been dreaming about before he had woken up. From the tears and the soft whimpers that had escaped him, Akisame would bet anything that it was a nightmare of some sort. Which meant that his hostility probably stemmed from embarrassment.
Akisame wracked his brain trying to think of what was the best way to get the boy to talk about his dream but Kenichi obviously had other ideas since he muttered a polite thank you and then all but ran out of the room.
Apparently he had decided that it was finally time for him to go home. Akisame made a huffing sound as the door closed behind him and wished that the boy would trust them a little bit more.
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Miu had conned Sakaki into helping her with the laundry and both of them were heading to the second house thirty feet away from the main house, where the masters all lived, when Kenichi came barreling past them looking upset. Miu and Sakaki stopped dead in their tracks and called out to the boy a few times, asking if he was okay. But the boy didn't respond.
Instead he just speed walked across the yard to the gate and left. Leaving Miu distressed that something was wrong with her friend. And Sakaki standing there wondering if he should have words with Akisame since he probably had an idea of what was wrong with the boy.
Sakaki finished helping Miu then walked back to the main house where the other masters were and decided to call a meeting to see what the others thought of the boy.