[ She has to wonder if she's ever going to really be able to tell the whole story in all of its entirety, without glossing over the more... troubling parts of it. It's not even that she thinks her friends would think of her any differently, because she's sure they wouldn't-- but it's still...

Another day. She's going to tell him, about how the people in the hospital were involved in a dangerous situation technically because of her, but now isn't the time to talk about it. ]

Yeah. [ softly, but there's a promise there, and quiet acknowledgment. He's hugging back, at least-- kind of. She'll take it. ]

I'll spoil it a little for you now, but the moral of that story is that good friends are going to be there for you, whether you do stupid things or not, whether you're fine or not. And sometimes they'll say supportive things to get you back on your feet, or tell you to stop it with that bullshit-- [ thanks, Kou ] or just-- be there.

And you, Dave, are a good friend. So as someone who wants to be the same, I'm gonna be there for you too.

[ ... this is so sappy, this is so sappy, how does Kou say things like this so honestly without wanting to bury his face in his hands?? ]