[He flinches at the sharpness, but doesn't move from his position. He grips tightly at his pants as he keeps his head bowed.]

I was supposed to walk away from this, not be in here. I- I shouldn't have let Tenn examine me. If I hadn't, maybe the votes wouldn't have been as close.

[But the only thing that he could think at the time were those words ringing in his ears. The things that Alexei shouted at Makoto.

In that moment, he couldn't stand the thought of Alexei going out over him, even if his dream would still be achieved in the end.]