[That actually draws a laugh from Fai, and a slightly more genuine smile than the ones he usually uses to cover his unhappiness.]

Yes, I... I suppose you're right. And thank you. I doubt most people would be quite so eager to let a bloody stranger cry on them.

[Even so, Ghastly's offer is still a bit of a shock. Fai never talks about himself, and most people aren't able or willing to look past his smile to see that he even needs to talk. Kurogane is one of the few, and he....

Fai's smile slips away again. Still sitting in a bloody heap on the cobblestones, he stares down for a moment before opening his mouth to speak again.]

The world I was just in... it was collapsing. I barely managed to get the children out in time. I wasn't going to make it. I didn't think there was any way to get out. My-- [His mind stutters a little on what to call Kurogane. His friend? His traveling companion? In his confusion he sails right past the problem altogether.] --he was trying so hard to get us both out, and I told him to go, and he....

[He pauses, swallowing, trying to keep it together this time.]

He did something incredibly foolish, to save me. And wherever he is now, he's probably bleeding to death. And I can't find him.