[It's blinding. Something that makes Maki freeze in place, having to turn away but finding she can't. For a second, she's that fresh-faced kid feeling the sting of a thousand rejections all over again.

She has to move on. She wasted her youth on an unachievable dream. She can't just go back to that.

But...]

...You have a real talent for making things sound possible, you know that?

[Finally, barely, she looks away and back down at her hands.]

I can't. I'd just screw it up again anyway. You're --

[--someone who'd never know, right? Someone who always finds success. Who can captivate everyone around her. But she can't say that.]

-- you're too good to us, Hoshino.