It startles her no less the second time than the first. She stares at him -- the small, quiet face, so strangely grown up. He means the question.

Inside, she stings with guilt. She's made him ask it.

". . . Easier doesn't mean it's better, Conan-kun." The words come slowly. She has to get them right. "You shouldn't always choose 'easier' because it's there. Even when it hurts. Not when the person on the other side of that choice is worth more than that."

A small smile, very faint. "If the roles were different, if it were me instead of him, I think -- I hope? -- he'd wait for me too."