[ Lifetimes across just a small handful of infinite possible realities should by all means separate them, and here they are. Holding one another fast in a strange market, baring their souls under dim light. As ever, as ever. ]

I'm biased, of course, but... If they got something out of it as well, then it wasn't entirely selfish, in the end. Maybe your motives were, but the act itself wasn't.

[ It's all about perception, after all.

He knows he doesn't have to explain that to Eren. They helped one another to understand a lot of concepts like that, didn't they...

There are memories in Maruki's head that he doesn't think he's actually lived. Vivid bright, but hazy. Sharp at the edges, but dimmed. A frigid night above Odaiba. A photo taken on a sunny day outside a school. A taxi pulling up just when needed. A darkened nurse's office. He remembers.

The words come out slow and unsure. He has to chew them over as he speaks them, and they're nearly disconnected, like he doesn't know where each thought is going until it gets there. He's unpracticed at this – sorting through so many lives reflected endlessly, like two mirrors facing one another. ]

There were situations where I succeeded. And I was never able to say goodbye. Everyone forgot me. I think I was– not happy with that, but at... No, not at peace either...

[ Resigned to it.

He stops, sighs. ]

I don't know. I just think that you were able to say goodbye, so they never forgot you. That's a beautiful thing.