[Normally, getting Aqua to speak is like pulling teeth. Now, even though the words are as muted as usual, they keep coming. Lortel looks at him, and he keeps talking.]

Mmm. Her name was Sarina-chan. Tendouji Sarina. She was a patient at the hospital where I worked. ...That keychain was originally hers.

[It's so old, now. It's been through so much.]

I was the only one there for her, at the end. She was twelve.

[That keychain lay forgotten with his corpse for longer than Sarina was alive.]

I started following Ai's career as a sort of tribute to Sarina-chan. My way of remembering her, I guess. Of course, I fell for Ai's charms on their own merit, too. She was... there's never been another idol quite like her. Someone who could turn cuteness up to a thousand and dazzle the world... all while hiding how much that world had hurt her, how afraid it made her that she was unlovable. Incapable of loving in return.

[He breathes in. Breathes out.]

Neither Sarina-chan nor I ever knew a parent's love as deep and real as Ai's. I'm sure of that.