An experiment? [It could be taken literally, particularly after all the science fiction Mizuki has seen here and even back home, but ultimately that distinction is a rhetorical one. What matters is how much pain they've felt.] I guess we both know neither of us are stupid or lazy by now. I know that - hitting anyone, hurting anyone so much - is definitely wrong, especially some little kid. But that's just how it had to be, for so long, and they say "it's your fault" or "you're making me look like the bad guy". It, it makes sense, it won't you apologize even though whatever you say sounds annoying too, and you can't remember eer being happy anymore. How can what they expect and you expect be different? And having nothing is... even scarier than that. Being alone, and afraid, and the way everyone else treats you... Without Date, I don't know if—

[But she doesn't have him here. And Nagisa might not even have someone like that at all.]

Thank you for... being someone I can trust. I have my friend without a dad, but you're the first person I actually know who— [Her hand cups the air as she tries to grasp the idea.] Is not the problem. [She's forcing herself through this for the first time, almost only believing it in the sense that to disagree would be to invalidate Nagisa.]