"E-eh?" Nozomi starts, tears halting from sheer surprise. She pulls back a bit to look at Eli's face, blue eyes shining with new, yet-unshed tears, cheeks splotchy and wet with the old ones. In almost three years, this is the most miserable Nozomi's ever seen her, and knowing she's the one to cause it makes her stomach twist up in guilty knots.

And after all this, she has the nerve to consider taking her up on that offer for even a second?

"No, um..." Nozomi stammers through her fluster, shaking her head. She can feel her face growing warm beneath the sticky layer of half-dried tears. "I just got carried away. I shouldn't have... sorry."