[Luke almost doesn't want Asch to be nice all the time; he'd probably die of shock before he reaches eightee-eight. Luke listens even while his head's turned away, and his fingers grip into his pants when Asch gets to the part about stealing everything from him. If Luke had a list of crimes, which he's sure would be quite long, that right there would be in the top five, and he constantly feels the guilt eating away at him from it as a result.]

If I could apologize for the rest of my life for that, I would. [This line of thought is starting to feel familiar.] If I could-...

[... No. If he could die for his mistakes, he would; he'd do it in a heartbeat, even if he'd be afraid. But... he knows that Tear wouldn't be happy if she heard him say that, nor Guy, nor... Asch, for that matter. So, he shakes his head and skips that before he goes on.]

... But I can't. I can't do all of that. Just like how you can't pretend it's okay that I... did all of that to you. It's never going to be that easy, even if we want it to be.

[Finally, he looks back at Asch - this topic is hitting Luke very hard, and his eyes are showing it most of all.]

So... we just have to do what we can do. Even if it's hard... That just means we should try harder. Nothing's going to get done if we just... leave it alone and hope it solves itself.

[He ducks his head to hide just how much emotion is starting to spill over.]

If you can call me Luke, then... maybe I can too, someday.