Fundamental Kai
It was a matter of pride. They never asked if he was going to be okay. He never lied to them that he was going to be okay. When he dragged himself away to lick his wounds, alone, no one ever followed him. He never let them follow him. He never allowed them to be concerned. If they had followed—if they saw him that way, weak… it all would have been over. For him. He would never recover. He couldn't let them see him that way. It was a matter of pride. It was a matter of strength. He was strong. He was strong, even when he was weak. He was strong as long as they thought he was strong. He was strong as long as they never saw his weakness. He was happy to collapse there, alone. He was happy no one saw him that way. He was happy to keep his pride. It was all he had. It was all he had that he could never let them take away from him—through concern, through… through knowing that he was weak. It was all he had that he could keep from them. He was proud of that.