“There’s somebody I’m very fond of, but he hates himself. He’s so cruel to himself and it kills me.” There was so much pain in Danya’s voice as he spoke. More guilt thrashed around inside of Ilya; his palms ached from the intensity of it. Danya continued, “He’s been beaten down his whole life, so I understand why he’s like this, but he won’t let anybody be kind to him. He won’t let me be kind to him. He looks confused every time it happens, doesn’t understand why I ever would be… Why doesn’t he understand?” Ilya swallowed and tried to gather his thoughts. This was it then. “Perhaps kindness
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