[ oh, and that's a far worse answer than anything he could have assumed — especially with his own experiences of, you know, being killed by people you know, and all that.

the tears are falling freely by this point, so when junpei finally looks at him, he is faced by charles, swallowing down his sobs so he makes as little noise as possible — and yet, when he actually gets down on the floor too, scoots over to him, charles tries to shake his head, tell him wordlessly that he shouldn't bother; but of course that does nothing, and in the end, he doesn't have enough strength to not fall against junpei, clutch at him like he might disappear any second if he didn't, bury his head against his shoulder as he fights against the overwhelming wave of sadness over every single terrible thing that junpei's carried all alone all this time. ]

No, [ he manages eventually, though his voice hitches still, ] No, don't say sorry, none of this's your fault. You shouldn't have... I just wanted you to not be alone with all that. But I didn't mean —

[ didn't mean to force him to relive the worst parts of his trauma, really. he pulls back slightly, so that he can look at junpei with his red-rimmed eyes when he says, ] I'm so fucking sorry all that happened to you. None of it's fair. None of it's okay. And I know it's over and done and all, but... I just need you to know that.