Futaba will... gladly follow up on what she knows about Iwatodai and what happened there - though she's said a fair bit of it already - but... well. The news about what happened to their wild card stops her cold. Ren in particular will find that the grip on his hand is suddenly vicelike. She remembers. Remembers how upset he was when he got here; how it wasn't easy for him to speak about it. How she never pressed and never followed up. How nobody else was telling her what happened. How much danger they'd been in back home.

The logical part of her is fairly certain. Makoto didn't treat Ren like he was someone who only existed here in Vaikuntha. Who disappeared. But there are many ways in which Futaba is not her mother; logic is not the ruling party in her mind, and the person with the knowledge to confirm the truth is right there.

"M-Makoto-" her voice is stiff with anxiety. Please just. Just confirm this for her. Confirm that Ren isn't dead. Doesn't die.