[He wheezes a faint sound when Akira burrows into him, rearranging himself so it's comfortable to let him do so. The arm he has under Akira is already going numb from the fingers back, but he doesn't seem to care enough to do anything about it.] You just like calling me Goro to irritate me.

[His mouth pulls crooked, and he hunches inward, settled atop him the way he is.] ...don't thank me, either. [He takes note of the pensive silence and keeps his own, giving Akira the time to think and then to speak, eyelids falling half closed in understanding.] Not neglect, so much as just absence, and as a result they had no relationship with you, so only knew how to blindly push you to do things they wanted you to do as opposed to things you wanted to accomplish. That's a very common Japanese household problem-- I don't mean that to undermine yours. [He reaches up to play with Akira's hair, a bit.] ...it's not so simple, to break out of ingrained habits established when you're young, especially not when it's a desperate desire to please, even at your own expense, but... From an outsider's point of view, if you'd told any of them you needed an ear, I'm sure they'd have listened. [He's speaking to himself as much as he is to Akira, he realizes, so his expression is a little sour and he won't look Akira in the eye.]