[If Kouha could hear those thoughts right now, he'd be doing his best to to soothe and allay any fears that Koumei had about his upbringing. Sure, it was messed up and lonely, but they'd come for him eventually. It wasn't their fault that their father was a piece of human trash in Kouha's eyes, or that his mother mentally collapsed.

In the end, they protected him as best they could, and they gave him a way out of that darkness when he couldn't see it himself. Hadn't they done plenty for him? That was one of the reasons Kouha pushed himself so hard. He refused to let them down, no matter what he had to do to achieve that. If sitting down and listening to painful news was part of those duties, he'd take it without a single complaint.]

Aladdin?

[He looks surprised, but he considers the question seriously. It's been a while since they've met, to Kouha's disappointment. Aladdin's a fun kid, even though he's technically aligned with Alibaba and not Kou proper. But Kouha counts him as a friend, so it's easy enough to remember when.]

Haven't seen him in person since Magnostadt, I think... After that, I went to the Tenzan Plateau, and I didn't go with you guys to Balbadd or the summit. By then, we had a bunch of other things to take care of.

[He gives Koumei a meaningful look. They both know he's talking about Hakuryuu and Judar committing regicide, and the war that followed. At least, he assumes that both of them know. Is that what Mei's getting at?]