...Something about what Kanji said made Souji's heart... sink. It was far more painfully than he'd want to admit. Walk right passed him? If...if it was before they'd met in his timeline, fine, he was expecting that, but this Kanji knew him. Knew everything they'd been through together. He nearly asked -what- could have happened, but, held it back. Kanji had just said that it was painful enough a lot of people didn't want to talk to him. He'd... just have to hope he could change their minds, if he was stuck here for a long while. He had to be Understanding about this.

"...I'm... sorry." Shaking his head, he looked down, his voice soft, "... To have made you this upset... I don't want to think about what I could have done. You're... a dear friend to me, Kanji." Mushy, maybe, but... it was the truth.

He looked back up as Kanji continued, tilting his head to the side. So since this other version of him was already here, he'd need to think up some sort of nickname. Hmm...

"Well, if you're already calling him Souji, you can call me Seta, to make it simple enough." Even if it wouldn't be as familar as they were before, it could work.