A little manga/anime comparison
I want to talk about Kahaku in this week's episode, because his behavior in the corresponding manga chapters has always been very interesting to me, and I've just never discussed it. But as usual the anime has messed with his scenes a bit (in a way that was meant to conserve time and animation, from the looks of it), so I want to address that as well.
Kahaku's reluctance to speak to Fushi in the manga (the long pause he took before starting to speak, his bleak expression, the way he keeps looking away, you know: all those things that weren't present in the anime) give the impression that he's feeling guilty about what happened while they were out. He knows how upsetting this is going to be to them to the point where he can't look at them or even say what's going on. Anime Kahaku just has a vaguely pissed off expression on his face while Fushi asks him where everyone else is. He even has a bit of a fucking smile while Fushi asks him how he can say that "nothing happened."
It's difficult to make this evident through screenshots alone, but in the anime Kahaku launches right into his "praise me" shtick immediately after Fushi hears that Kai/Hylo/Messar are dead. In the manga there's a whole panel of him staring at Fushi with a contemplative look on his face, making it clear that he's aware of how upset they are and that what comes next is a pitiful attempt to cheer them up. Anime Kahaku is actually proud of killing a whole bunch of people for Fushi, manga Kahaku is trying to pull himself together for Fushi's sake. The scene where he kills Messar reinforces that.
The anime actually animated this scene very nicely I think, I just wanted to point it out.
Kahaku's talking to himself when he says "it's all right." If he's trying to convince himself that it's all right, then that means he has to know that he's just crossed a line and doesn't feel great about it. When he tries to comfort Fushi later, he basically repeats himself, saying that it's OK because he's still there. Kahaku's only in Renryrr in the first place because Fushi told him they needed him. And those words are what Kahaku uses to justify killing people. They've become a mantra that Kahaku keeps repeating to himself, because otherwise this situation would be completely unbearable. He repeats it to Fushi too, in the hopes that it'll make them feel better. It doesn't.
However, and I cannot stress this enough, Kahaku's not that shitty of a person and unlike Hayase, "it's for Fushi" doesn't make him feel any less guilt. The additional fact that the left hand takes over in situations where Kahaku is killing people when it's only supposed to be able to do that when its host is severely distressed says uh. A lot. It does stop him from thinking about it too much though!