[When she lifts her head, he shifts his hands so he can cup her cheeks instead. The touch is gentle and light, delicate, shaky - he can't stop the renewed bout of tremors that run through his body. But he can deal with that later, later, because Chizuru has already suffered so much and this has to be as deeply shocking and upsetting to her as it is to him to remember it.]

Don't apologize... Please don't apologize when you only thought that you were doing what was best. [It's his own fault for being such a godawful hopeless mess, pushing her into throwing away so much just for the chance to make him less of one. He couldn't ever blame her for something like that, even if there's a part of him that reels horribly about the overarching notion of everything crumbling. Everything they had worked for for three years, gone in a blink, and they would never have the chance to try again. This had been their chance - this had been it. The survivors back at the base will be able to manage, he's sure, but will they ever be able to take down the Producers now?

—No, he can't let his thoughts be consumed by that yet. He forces himself to focus on Chizuru, running his thumbs over the arch of her cheekbones.]

I should have seen it. I should have been able to do something, I should have been able to stop it— Three years of planning and I can't even take the necessary precautions to keep my little sister safe?