èȘçæ„ăăă§ăăăšăăăăŒăăŹăłăżă€ăłă @hitokilling.
Itâs an opportunity he is not likely to miss, for neither of them can be sure if there will ever be another. With the money they have gathered, a rather popular brand of sake is purchased with a red bow around it, together in a bag with Oryouâs special handmade Frog Choco. All meticulously prepared for this singly day, one he has never forgotten, never allowed himself to forget. If Ryouma is luck to find and talk to his old friend for even a minute, he already considers the whole thing a success.
âI was hopinâ youâd be free today, Izou-san.â That utterly polite accent is dropped all for the sake of this one moment, this one day. He raises the bag non-ceremoniously, decorated properly like a gift, but nothing extravagant, nothing outright special, and hands it over. The gesture itself already speaks words, and both know it. âAh, but if ya got any plans, donât let us stop ya. We just wanted tâsee how youâre doinâ.â Which is obviously a white lie.
âHow Iâm doinâ.... ?âÂ
Of course.
Of course Ryouma remembers and expects his old friend to just willingly take the gift. But heâs obstinate at first, glowering at him with an unusually pained look. Of all the people to remember... -- of all the people to meet on a day where he expected to be all alone, it had to be him, like a knife slicing into a perpetually open wound. But it should be him, and thatâs also why it stings so badly -- for Izou canât help but be fragile when it comes to the subject of Sakamoto Ryoumaâs existence in general. âTch. Take one look and thatâll tell ya all y'want.â Ragged and rough, and with new tears in his hakama. Another scuffle? â... and? Itâs obvious yer not just here to âcheck on meâ all chummy-like.â















