[Sakata is his childhood friend. But Sakata is also blindly loyal and refuses to acknowledge much of any of the changes in Raikou. He just acts like it's normal and nothing's happened at all, and as much as devotion feels nice, it also makes Raikou's stomach turn. It's shallow, and it's empty, and no amount of physical intimacy has fixed that (not for lack of trying on his part).

Tsuyukusa is a whole nother thing. He knows. He knows and he acknowledges and he doesn't pretend. He's honest, and he cares anyway, and that's what's keeping Raikou afloat.]

I'm not asking for you to change anything. You have someone else who loves you and who you love, and that's... good. For both of you. He's a good man.

Just... don't leave me. I need you here. I want to be near you.