He stopped walking just half a step after her, turning to face her but not quite meeting her eyes.

"...That's similar to my response when I met the version of Uzuki that was here before, and then when I found you as well. I had hoped that I could recover those friendships that had been damaged by U-TIC. Pellegri...I don't know how events transpired in your universe, but the last time I was able to simply spend time with you was before the Miltian Conflict. It's going to take some time to grow accustomed to it being the two of us rather than three."