"I did have to tell Elise where you were... I mean, it was obvious you weren't going to man up and do it. Rean, your family loves you. It doesn't matter that you're not a noble." And he smiled again, frown turning upside down, soft and true. "I never required any of the members of the Imperial Liberation Front to distance themselves from their families - if they still had any family left, they were free to come and go as they pleased. You wanted an excuse to get away because you thought your presence hurt them when it was the exact opposite."

Crow could understand where Rean was coming from. Taking Rean in hurt the Schwarzers in the eyes of other nobles, but the Schwarzers aren't normal nobles. They couldn't have cared less about that because to them, Rean was their real child regardless of the lack of shared blood between them. Class VII's trip to Ymir before the festival just reaffirmed that fact in Crow's mind even more.

They were so happy to see Rean and Crow just felt so unflinchingly guilty. Even now, with that hurt guilt leaking into his tone even the smallest amount, Crow feels guilty for so many things that he's done.

"But I'm sure that deep down, you already knew that. I don't doubt that you did want to follow me and that you still do, but..." But, he trailed off, not willing to finish what he said.

It was unacceptable. Crow just couldn't stop hurting the people he loved.