[Maybe Ruby wouldn't have caught on to the nature of that pause if it wasn't something she'd done herself so many times. It's why she always hated when people asked her what her parents did for a living or why nobody had ever gone to her house before. Lying felt bad and exhausting.]

...I get it.

[Ruby tries not to sound completely despondent even if she can't help being a little frustrated at being unable to help.]

I, uh--I know this kinda stuff is super hard to talk about. Mine's--well. I don't know where I'd even start.

But you don't have to pretend you're fine since it's really obvious that you're not. You're pretty bad at lying, Hibiki-chan.