Even more fortunate that I’ve gotten to meet you and Emily here, Hibiki-san.

[Between them, the first stick of incense is beginning to crumble away, burning to its last, but its scent lingers, long after the incense itself has reduced to ash.]

Could I ask to keep meeting, from time to time? I think I could learn a lot from these conversations.

[He needs it. So adrift from his original purpose, someone like Hibiki is just the confidant he needs.]