Neku's initial response was a pretty standard one here. Most of the patients couldn't say they were doing very well while stuck here, and Sora couldn't judge them for that. It was even hard on him sometimes, and he'd been through his fair share of stuff in the past. But he'd always been able to keep on the move, to make progress, to do something... Whereas here, he was stuck and forced to just wait for bad things to happen a lot of the time. It wasn't easy.

But then Neku came out with some shocking news that Sora honestly hadn't been expecting. Maybe he should have, but hearing that someone had actually died was always enough to pull the rug out from under him. (Or the grass, in this case.) Disappearances were one thing, but...

"Who?" he blurted out without really thinking. "What happened? Are you all right?" The boy was out of his room and walking around, at least, but if it really was a friend, then that couldn't be easy to deal with. Neku seemed to be trying to put on a strong face, but chances were that he needed someone to talk to right now. Sora just hoped he could be helpful.