c1 (1/2)
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, Awas.h.i.+ma. “Oh?”
Answering the call, he heard Awas.h.i.+ma’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 Reis.h.i.+ 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 s.h.i.+fted 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.”