Togusa is startled, but he doesn't find himself leaning in or away from her. Don't flinch away, as strange as the movement is, but don't reach out for more, no matter how badly he wants it. The touch, it is more tender than Mariko truly is, at least with him, and it fills that damn need of something undefinable that he feel starved for. As his face is tilted up, with words oh so kind being offered, it's all Togusa can do to not break down right then and there.

"I hoped you didn't have The Answer. I hoped we could still find it together. I just hoped that it didn't hurt when we got there."

Her attempt at a bandaid is a lie, and he knows it. One she tells herself, but it is out there. One he has to smile and pretend to buy, which he does, with a nod. The words between her words, this is all really for you, do you know that?

"I wouldn't have gotten nearly this far if some upperclassman hadn't taken me under her wing and showed me how to survive so far away from everything I'd known. Would have run back to Japan years ago."

For me and him both. There is a part of this that is all for you. Which is why the validation from Mariko reaches right into his chest and touches the both of them. Mending one, only one, of those cracks in his heart with a thin line of gold.