[ Sonico jumps and that weird, unnatural smile finally slips. She flaps her hands in the panicky way she always does when she's trying to calm Suzu down and get her off the warpath. Something about it seems a little more... extreme though. Especially considering that Suzu is totally right to be so angry on her behalf. Isn't she? ]

N--no, I-- they-- i--it's not like they lost us! N--not like that, not exactly, but um-- they-- we were...

[ She runs out of words and purses her lips hard like she wants to keep any more of them from falling out. Then she swallows hard. ]

S--Suzu-chan... I'm sorry, but... n--not now. Please? I promise I'll tell you everything later, but... I--I don't know if I can right now. Not here.