[ thank you, Steph, for not choosing to side with the "embarrass Hikage" faction this time. Still, he finds he's not even mad about Belph's teasing, either. He's happy. That's the teasing of a friend. He didn't think he could feel this way again... ]

I won't say anything. There's nothing for me to gain from that.

[ That's not a lie. This is all real. They came to him with this. Hikage looks a little flustered, still, by all of this, but he smiles, and it's warmer and more alive than any of his others have been. ]

... I wish I could have met you two while I was alive. [ it's impossible, of course. still, he's sure things would have gone differently. ] Thank you. For believing in me.