[ One of many things Maruki hopes to bring back to the true reality is this: Sincere effort put into spending more time with Akira outside of a counseling office. Chatting, getting to know one another, simply enjoying the company. Sometimes they read or journal more than they speak, content in the silence together.

It took forming a bond that wasn't built on Maruki's own distorted heart for a deep friendship to bloom. Even a guiding light doesn't begin to touch upon what they've found here. His own Akira means so much more to him now, and has never felt farther away.

Maybe this is something they can only have here. This is a place where hope shines through the bars of the cage, after all. But god, he'll try to pay it forward when he returns to where he belongs.

He idly rolls his iced Americano between his hands, condensation from the glass coating his palms as they chatter on. ]

I was hoping to get your input on that, if you don't mind. Admittedly, I'm still not sure if I can continue on with cognitive psience back home, but if I can, I'd like to look int–

[ The words don't trail off so much as die instantly on his tongue. His eyes roved away from Akira as he spoke, up to the ceiling of the little cafe in Stellari that they've come to favor, then over to glance out the window–

And that's where they stay. Widening behind the thick lenses of his glasses, pupils contracting, heart hammering up into his dry throat.

It's unmistakable. He would know her anywhere. Tall and graceful, close-cropped red hair shining in the early spring sun–

Eyes bright with recognition when they land on his.

Maruki says nothing. Only stares with an expression that begins to creep into horror as the woman in the bustling crowd of the city starts to approach the window. ]