[He visibly bristles when she yells at him-- honestly, he was just asking her a question, she didn't need to shout at him for something when she was doing something weird-- and he was about to bite back at her when she seems to remember herself. Xiaolang can't help but huff a little in response, though, the annoyance from her initial reaction still nagging at him, and crosses his arms. Why was this bugging him so much? Sure, he didn't like being shouted at, but this was Makoto for goodness sakes.]

Who else would be in the forest this time of day?

[... aside from him. Which is a good question she poses, and his irritation quickly leeches out of him, hastily trying to find a good excuse to give her that didn't also... bring up the whole Retrospec mess. Because did she know about it?? He wasn't sure, but if she was out here...]

I was, ah-- researching something. For a class project. Abut unique ecosystems and the ones we can find around the city!

[Yes, because that's why you have a sizable book bag and a fucking sword strapped to your back, Xiaolang. For Earth Science. Good job, son.

But! Time to deflect the subject away from himself, and more towards the important matters at hand. His eyes catch upon a pale pink flower nearby and he plucks it without thinking, twisting in within his hand. It looked an awful lot like a cherry blossom, now that he thought about it...]

But I can ask the same about you. What are you doing out here? Did you get lost?

[It's an innocent question, really! But five hours in one spot is an awful long time...]