Over coffee

"…Why Anezaki?"

Gen stared at the blond, eyes wide in surprise for a heartbeat, before he snorted in both embarrassment and amusement. "Well, she couldn't have you, you know? Wouldn't look good on her reputation to go out with the guy she loathed most during High School times. And well, I couldn't have you either-"

"Bullshit," Hiruma interrupted him, popping his bubble gum. "You could have had me all the way you wanted."

"…You know it's not like that," Gen said evenly. Something in his stomach churned though and he was quite sure that it was regret. "My father's business would not be where it is now, if-"

"Geez, you're sprouting so much bullshit these days," Hiruma laughed. It sounded cold and sarcastic to Gen, not mischievous, evil but warm, like it did back during their days at school. "It's not your father's business anymore, it's your fucking business now. Your old man's been dead for 3 years now."

Gen stiffened. Hiruma always did a good job at pointing out the obvious.

"And you're fucking business could be so much farther now, you could have ruled the entire-"

"What, are you telling me what could have been? That's not your style, you never dwelled in the past," Gen shot back, since it was his virtue to point out the obvious to Hiruma.

Catlike eyes narrowed at that, before their owner made a spitting sound. "Things changed a lot."

"They didn't change… not at all," the carpenter shook his head, hiding a small smile. He still managed to take Hiruma off guard and as long as he was able to do that, he was not old yet, no matter how often his coworkers told him to step back a bit and let them do their part.

"…"

Hiruma remained strangely silent at that, resuming to blowing bubbles with his gum. Gen took a sip of coffee as they shared this moment of silence, just to change the topic again, back to politics.

He did not need to point out that – no matter how close a friendship could be – Takekura constructions would be nowhere if its head was in a homosexual relationship or single. Society demanded that he married and had children, no matter how much they tried to struggle against it.

It really was not Hiruma's style, but even the blond had had to admit defeat over the shackles placed upon them.

They never talked about what had happened in the past between them again, since they both had never been the type to look back with regret.

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