"You mean... why do I keep showing up to pester you?" So that's what Ginko meant, not his decades of frantic attempts to cross that damn bridge. It hadn't really occurred to him a few hours of hiking would be considered exceptional in any way...

"It's not that deep. I like you, that's all. You're not a disappointment, I can't even imagine why you think that. We hang out, we play cards, talk nonsense, and I know you'd help me out if I ever needed it, you always have. Even when I was a stranger. Remember the flower curse?"