--- The impact of the shove was enough to make the frames on the wall rattle. He winced briefly from how taut his back had been pressed, but soon grounded his composure. Looking at Akira this close, their anger was obvious. How their shoulders had tensed, the grip of their hands on him, and the strain in their voice.
"..." His right hand lifted up, gloved fingers wrapping around Akira's. His eyes dipped in distaste as he spoke, his voice tense. "You think equalizing our childhoods makes us chummy?" He challenged, his grasp tightening painfully around the other's wrist.
"Asking me these questions won't give you any answers. What happened is in the past. Had I not done what I did, would you have rather let you and your group deal with the consequences?" He pointed out.
"Would you have let them die in my place?"
His free hand shoved the other back by the shoulder, crearing some distance between them.
"Do you honestly think you could have lived knowing anyone else would have taken the fall instead of me?"
"You lived on. One death is something you can carry. Do you want what I did to waste in this place?"
"You're still a teenager. You're going to make mistakes. It was the adult's irresponsible acts that got you here, not you. He should have been looking out for you, and HE failed."
Reaching out, he tapped the other's chest with his index finger. It was a harsh push, but not inherently cruel.
Group suffering makes no sense for either of us when you have the power to get out of this mess. You have friends waiting for you. A future. Stop wasting it, or you're just going to make me rot." He was blunt, his tone harsher than it needed to be. But his eyes did not stray from Akira.
"Sumire is suffering in here, too. SHE is alive just like you...be the leader she needs and get her out of here."