I see... [Well, he's definitely not promising that he'll understand anything that complicated... His education has been pretty basic, to say the least, and while he's not dumb, almost any research paper is bound to be well beyond him. He'll do his best to understand, though! And, even if he doesn't, he'll never get frustrated. He may just... politely withdraw from the conversation, if he needs to. Suddenly there are groceries to be done - something like that.] You say that, but it's easy to be nice to you when you're so kind, yourself.

[It's true, he doesn't know much about her past. He only knows a little - and he doesn't want to ask for more unless it comes up naturally. He's not sure he wants to dig into his own past more than he has, either; it's only fair that he doesn't ask more of her than he's willing to give, himself. And he's willing to tell her anything, of course he is, but... it still hurts. Even if he got away from his past, a lot of it is still painful. He won't pretend it doesn't exist, but he'd rather not wallow in it, either.

When she puts her hand on his chest, he places his own hand over it to keep it there for a little while longer. It's not like he ever expected her to run off at the first sign of trouble - he's been honest enough about his life in that regard, if no other! - but something about her saying as much still warms his heart.]

... I feel so lucky that we met. Really, I can't thank you enough. If you hadn't started talking to me... if you hadn't come to Yokohama, we might never have had this happiness.

[Sure, that's stating the obvious - but it feels so important to him.]