#stuck.

Even if the Reset branch of this path undos this in his moment of panic and being accosted by Sirei, just this moment in particular hits. You can tell he was struggling to get the words out at first- the inertia king all of a sudden had to grind things to a screaming halt, but of course, he needs the support of others to be able to do it.

Actually summoning that courage to reach out really means the world- and typically, it's the hardest thing in the world for him to do. That's often why he finds himelf trapped in his own head. But look at him here- he took the momentum and laid out what was needed without backing down. This is huge for him, and even emboldened others like Tsubasa to come out and say she didn't want this too.

Yes, it was too late. He'd languished, he'd fallen for the ploy, and it would cost them all so much. But the fact that he took the shock of losing humanity and without prompting, pulled out of his own head, really showed how far he'd come. Even someone like him- between being brainwashed and pushed into the role of taking actions for everyones' sake while they don't even know what to do, his past also hard-wires him for fighting for those near to him - compulsively, even - and for rejecting thoughts he deems 'dangerous'.

I think this is a major part of why I can't take Takumi's story as an 'everyman tale'. Of course, the everyman can relate to the issues, but the 'degree' is the point of contention here- just like for example, the average person will forget things sometimes and be impulsive, but for ADHDers these things are an ongoing pattern and problem. Takumi's journey involved battling with similar hard-wiring that put him in an extremely tenuous position from the very start, and as it happens very few others were as driven towards fighting as him.