[It's a loaded question, yes. Intentionally so. She isn't going to go easy on him, because he has, admittedly indirectly, caused distress in the life of someone she would fight, kill, and die for. Someone she has killed to protect, and someone who she'll stand beside for millennia to come. But that doesn't change the fact that she cares about him too, or that it was over romance. Romance was rarely worth getting worked up over, and Rei was more practical than that. And opinionated.

Family was more important than romance...to the girl who had none. She could understand that explanation. She really could. In a way, Tadashi was as important to Hiro as Shingo was to Usagi, or Chibi-usa to Setsuna...and vice versa. A behavior she'd seen in others, she got it. At the same time, it wasn't something she could just brush off. She wouldn't. Not without more information.]

You were afraid. That's understandable, if a little childish. [Evenly, she adds:] You're young, and I can see why that would startle you. There's nothing stupid about wanting to spend time with your brother, though. And if he was keeping secrets, then I can doubly understand. I know how that would make me feel, and it's not a good feeling.

[Rei lays one hand out flat onto the table. And presses another button.]

Ami tells me he lied to you about her. Is that true?