Axel, meanwhile, flinches visibly at the utterance of the name, like saying it aloud only solidifies how much he wronged her. In a way, though, he appreciates that Ryoko called her a person, even if it's mostly just because she doesn't realize that Xion was a replica, and that he himself isn't exactly a person, either. If Nobodies are less than human, he wonders what that made Xion: did less than Nobody mean less than nothing at all?

He doesn't really want to talk about it, but he can't just pretend that Ryoko saw nothing, and even if he doesn't really owe her any explanations, something in him wants to at least try and be honest with her. Dishonesty is what caused most of the problems in his life anyway, after all.

"She was--is--a friend," he says, his eyes flicking up to meet Ryoko's briefly before they lower again, like keeping eye contact is too tiring. She is a friend. Not was. Because he's not going to forget her, he won't let it happen. "I let her down, though," he says then. "I was too afraid of what would happen to me to stop what was happening to her."