"Really. Must have been hard."

That was how Ena summed things up after Tomoya had explained the situation. Naturally, she'd been astonished and had interrupted his explanation with all kinds of questions. Still, she seemed a bit too calm, given the fact that she'd come face to face with a talking, moving capsule figure.

"Not really. I'm the one who should say I'm sorry, for eavesdropping the whole time."

Kanako apologized with a glum look, but with just her head protruding from the backpack, she didn't quite achieve the intended effect. Ena giggled.

"I don't mind. I hope your arm turns up."

Kanako gave a little snort and slipped back into the pack. Evidently she hadn't taken a real shine to Ena.

"Sorry."

"Not at all."

Tomoya adjusted the pack on his back and walked alongside Ena. Now that she understood, he felt relieved.

"Um. . ."

Ena leaned over, put her lips to his ear, and spoke just loud enough for him to hear.

"What do you plan to do with Kanako when you get her all put together?"

Her expression seemed innocent enough. She was asking merely out of curiosity, or at least that's how it seemed to Tomoya. And yet something about this felt shady. He looked around for help but saw only a slightly noisy CD shop and the blank faces of shuttered stores.

"Sorry, but I haven't actually thought about it."

As they left Nakano Broadway, Ena said "I see," and then suddenly turned around.

"Goodbye. I'll see you."

Tomoya waved as Ena walked away, her back to him. Then he headed home.