Talking about homesickness would have been perfect, Kyoko thinks--surely enough material there to fill a nice long walk and satisfy Shinji. It would be easy to avoid stray thoughts of certain boys. But just as she's gearing up to talk more about her bosses at Darumaya, Shinji comes in with that line about him and Kaito.

It's stupid, she thinks. Usually something like this wouldn't unravel her so easily--and even if it did, she'd be able to hide it no problem, keep the conversation going without a hitch. But something is off today, even beyond the flowers she just can't stop coughing up--it's a flood of gardenias and yellow roses that she has to stop everything for this time, turning away from Shinji as she buckles over. There's just something about even hearing Kaito's name, especially from Shinji's mouth, especially when he talks so plainly about the two of them as a set pair....

Something is wrong with her.