Dave had the advantage in this regard of Kubo not having a very good understanding of what "normal" looked like. He hadn't had friends he was close to back home. He had a growing sense that he would be deeply sad if Dave went home, in a way that was more severe than he would have been devastated if any of the kids in the village had moved to another.

As far as he knew, having an older friend did mean missing them this much.

"She's worried about you, too," he said. Then went on, thinking that Dave ought not to think he was only inviting him over because they cared from a worried perspective.

"We both wanted to see you. Even if you weren't having a hard time . . ." he shrugged a bit. "It's comforting to see your friends when you've been through a terrible thing, and you're our friend." He paused. "The Silent Horizon was a terrible thing. So Mother and I wanted to see you again, too."