Mikoto was sitting in the HOMRA bar with his old friend, Izumo Kusanagi; apart from them, the bar was completely empty. It had been a while since the two of them had been able to just sit and casually talk to each other like they were doing now. Mikoto had usually made an effort to bond with his Clansmen as much as possible, but ever since Totsuka's death he had grown more distant towards them. Even so, he didn't want to completely neglect them, especially Izumo. He was one of his closest friends, after all.
After Izumo had served Mikoto a drink, he sat down next to him. "It's certainly been a while since we've been able to peacefully talk like this, hasn't it? If I remember correctly, the last time we did something like this Totsuka was still here..." Izumo commented with a small sigh.
"It's been that long, huh." Mikoto responded, getting a cigarette from the pack in his pocket and lighting it. He offered one to Izumo and he took it, lighting it with his own lighter. Izumo had recently been trying to quit smoking but he thought that just having one wouldn't do any harm.
"So much for quitting." Mikoto said jokingly, knowing that Izumo wasn't the kind of person who would give up on something like quitting smoking.
Izumo laughed and replied just as jokingly, "Well, it's not something you can do straight away."
Mikoto laughed and realised how long it had really been since he had been able to just sit back, relax and have a good time by just chatting with Izumo. A lot had happened since Totsuka's death, and Mikoto had been busy dealing with SCEPTER 4. He had almost forgotten what it was like to just sit around and forget everything that was going on outside of the bar, so he was happy that he was able to experience it again before it was too late.