[It is at this moment that Akechi is convinced he and Kotone Shiomi will be living on opposite sides of town. Or in different towns entirely. Different continents. And yet, and yet—when he blinks at her, some of the tension's gone out of him.]

Shiomi-san, it's a better than my last effort, but it's nothing to get so excited about. [He takes a look inside it, at the dirty crystals.] Quartz, maybe..? I suppose it could be anything.

Would you like it?

[He holds the rock out to her, in the tips of his fingers. Little strings people can pull, he thinks. They're still all there inside him; he needs to cut them. And a rock's a small enough price to pay to make a connection.]