Eiji recognized the envy only through retrospect in his own memories. It had never been an emotion he was all that familiar with--he'd grown up privileged, and when he'd lost all desire for himself, it wasn't really something he needed to feel.

Ankh had felt it, though. It was something he couldn't understand back then, but did now--every time he'd taken Hina's side in an argument, every time he'd flown as TaJaDor.

That was what Tachibana was feeling right now. That anger about not being contacted, and the way his voice seemed to die after mentioning who had been.

"I'm sorry," Eiji said. "You shouldn't have had to go through that."