After Story # 1 by Azano Kouhei
The slant of the sunrays coming through the windows got even steeper.
When Kusanagi Izumo, busy wiping a gla.s.s behind the counter on the first floor of bar HOMRA, noticed how the sunlight illuminated the floor in elongated stripes, he glanced at the clock.
It was past afternoon, and no customers were supposed to come yet, so time moved with pleasant slowness. Except when one thought about it, one would find that time pa.s.sed at an astounding speed, as if melting away. On that day, too, more time had pa.s.sed than Kusanagi was vaguely aware of.
Returning the gla.s.s to the shelf, Kusanagi opened the fridge, checking its contents. Besides alcoholic drinks, his bar offered simple cooked meals to its customers, and he wanted to get some precooking done now in preparation for the night.
“Well then,” he murmured, taking out the necessary ingredients. Then, “…Mm? Come to think of it…”
Remembering something, he turned to the calendar to check. Today’s date was marked with a blue heart doodle. Going back to the fridge, Kusanagi took out anko from the freezer to defrost it at room temperature.
Anko was not something to be served in a bar, but he had it prepared for a certain “special customer”. He tried to always have some in stock, but seeing that said customer’s visits were irregular, there were a few times when he was out of stock right when that person happened to call on his establishment. Ever since, “she” made sure to contact him prior to visiting.
“Thanks to that, my repertoire has broadened.”
He had no doubt that the reason why she bothered to come to HOMRA was this anko. Every time Kusanagi, though not without reluctance, would come up with something quite elaborate for her, and she appeared to look forward to his next creation. Eliciting those sentiments from her was the bar’s owner’s main intention, but at the same time…
“I did manage to come up with a recipe of anko martini that most people would find reasonably drinkable. …But well, with Seri-chan’s tastes, she just wants too much anko in everything.”
The world of c.o.c.ktails really was big, Kusanagi discovered. As a matter of fact, currently, he was entertaining the idea of making a c.o.c.ktail this time that would use powdered green tea. It may have been viable to start including some of his creations into the bar’s c.o.c.ktail menu as something to surprise his customers with.
But just then, Kusanagi’s thoughts were interrupted, “Hm?” as his PDA signaled an incoming call. A glance to the caller’s name revealed that was from the woman he just thought about, Awashima. “Oh?”
Answering the call, he heard Awashima’s apologetic voice saying, “I’m sorry.” She informed him that something sudden came up at work, and she would not be able to come tonight.
“Nothing to it,” Kusanagi chuckled. “No problem, no problem. Don’t worry about it.”
‘Of course I would worry.’
“Haha. If you keep being that nice to me, it will only make me all the more curious. So what happened?”
"Well, actually…’
“Yes?”
"I went and inadvertently blurted out my plans for tonight…’
“Mm?”
"And he said that it would be a waste if no one showed up so he would go as my subst.i.tute…’
“…Mmmmm?”
Just then, from the door, a chime came.
Kusanagi’s head snapped up by reflex, “Ah, welco—” The ending of the word vanished into the air with a goofily sounding ring.
Munakata Reishi smiled faintly and replied, “Thanks.”
＊
“…What chance brings you here?”
“Oya? Is my coming here so strange?”
“Well, that’s… you know?”
“Fufu. Please do not be so alert. I a.s.sure you there is no deep meaning to my visit,” Munakata informed Kusanagi calmly.
There was a lit cigarette between his lips. This was a second time Kusanagi saw him smoke.
“It has been a while, and I simply wanted to check how things were going on your end. I figured that I would not run into many of your people if I came early.”
“…Well, true, if the other guys were here, things might have taken a rough turn.”
“I came here in my off-duty time, as just a regular customer. Can I hope that these subtleties will not be lost on you people?”
“Impossible, I’m afraid.”
“I see. Well, as expected, should I say.”
“Is that a hara.s.sing call, then?”
“Surely you jest.” Munakata smiled sharply.
Seeing that smile revealing the other man’s great amus.e.m.e.nt made Kusanagi feel distinctly dejected. But then again… As far as he could tell through the cigarette smoke that Munakata exhaled, what the other man said was probably not altogether a joke. Pick up on the subtleties, he was told, but it still was no easy to come up with a nice thing to say.
Munakata himself, meanwhile, tilted the gla.s.s in his hand, smoking the cigarette unhurriedly in front of Kusanagi who kept his silence. Blowing out the smoke, he shifted his gaze to Kusanagi.
“How is it going lately?”
“Ah, well. little by little.”
“The Red King still lives here, does she not? Where is she today?”
“Ah, well, she’s out for a bit…”
“Pity.”
“What would you do if you saw her?”
“I wanted to thank her for her help.”
“Thank her?”
“Yes. When I think about it now, her advice was invaluable.”
“Aah… During the incident with the Greens, you mean…”
When Kusanagi said that, the expression of self-deprecation twisted Munakata’s features briefly, and he put the gla.s.s to his lips. Seeing Munakata like that certainly was a fresh experience.
Self-deprecation, if fleeting, huh. It was very unlike Munakata. But, surprisingly, it didn’t exactly look bad on him. "Heeh’, Kusanagi drawled in his mind in amus.e.m.e.nt.
“How unexpected.”
“Is it?”
“Not to be rude, but I always thought of you as self-conceited.”
“That… is quite harsh.”
“Yes, it is. And I apologize.”
At the moment, Munakata was his customer, so the apologies Kusanagi offered were honest. Although he apparently did not look very apologetic. Munakata allowed himself a wry smile, then took another drink from his gla.s.s. It was bourbon. Kusanagi wondered if he chose that brand for a certain special reason.
These days, things calmed down. Of course, busy days still happened, but compared to the last few hectic years, it was quiet, emotional peace-wise. With things slowing down, even Kusanagi felt it was a good time to pause and look back on the past. Maybe he was just getting old. Admittedly, those several years were more than enough to age any heart.
“…Perhaps…”
“Yes?”
“I do feel a little… lonely.”
Kusanagi had to raise an eyebrow at Munakata’s confession wordlessly.
“It is quite odd, really, since I loathed him so much.”
“Haha. To such an extent?”
“Of course. And probably more than you can ever imagine. Especially in the beginning.”
“…I see…”
Kusanagi’s words were few as he looked down at his own hands busy with precooking. But he fully agreed with Munakata’s defining certain things as “odd”. In the past, not even in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that one day he would not be opposed to holding this kind of conversation with the Blue King.
However…
If you thought about it, himself and Munakata were fellow survivors, those who had been “left”. They both shared time with the same person and both saw that person die, only from the opposite standpoints…
With a quiet chuckle, Kusanagi showed a tiny smile.
Pausing in his work, he apologized, “…Excuse me,” took out a cigarette and lit it. Munakata, unruffled, watched him smoke it.
Kusanagi took his time, puffing at the cigarette. Separated by the counter, two wafts of smoke drifted across the bar.
Munakata mentioned feeling lonely earlier, didn’t he. Indeed, Kusanagi couldn’t deny that it was the same for him, too. Perhaps, the ones who felt loneliness the most acutely were the two of them.
Kusanagi, still smoking his cigarette, reached for a gla.s.s unhurriedly and dropped a few ice cubes into it. Pouring himself bourbon of the same brand that Munakata was having - and that his late friend preferred in the past - he raised the hand with the gla.s.s lightly.
“Well. Why not use this opportunity and toast?”
“Oya. Are you sure though?”
“It won’t hurt once in a while,” Kusanagi winked at Munakata.
Those who were left went through hardships and felt a special brand of loneliness and satisfaction that only those like them could understand. The joy of moving forward, with a future in sight. That feeling of joy must have been the same for both Kusanagi and Munakata, even if their standpoints were different…
For a while, Munakata only gazed at Kusanagi, not saying anything. Then, with another faint smile, he slowly raised his own gla.s.s.
“Allow me to take you up on your offer then. …Let us see… "To those who pa.s.sed away” seems appropriate enough; what do you think?“
"Well, I bet they’re having their own fun on the other side.”
“Are they?”
“Yes, they are. I’m sure of it.”
“I see.”
Munakata showed an odd little smile and touched his gla.s.s to Kusanagi’s. Above the counter, a clear musical clink resounded, and the ice cubes swirled in bourbon inside the two gla.s.ses.
Just then, for an instance, it almost seemed like two different chuckling voices could be heard in the bar.
Sipping his bourbon, Kusanagi grinned. “…By the way,” he started, wanting to confirm something. “Munakata-san… You came here today as your Lieutenant’s subst.i.tute, correct?”
“Yes, that is correct. What of it?”
“Oh no, nothing much. But with that being the case and the opportunity presenting itself so generously…” Kusanagi replied as his hand reached for the Tupperware with anko.