[ Pudding finds her face heating up from just that one sentence. ]

He does.

[ He does. He's so good. He was so good to her, better to her over the course of a few short hours than anyone else had ever been for the whole of her life... ]

[ She has to wipe at all of her eyes with the back of one hand. ]

[ The second question, though? God. That's loaded. And she already knows... she's well aware that every single thing she says here could (should, probably, if Reiju has any sense) be taken as a lie. And just as aware that Reiju is under no obligation to keep any of her secrets. ]

[ She blows out a breath before sending a second message. ]

I'm not using Mama's name here. No one has to know.

I have friends.