Disclaimer: Not mine.
Inui Sadaharu, Yanagi Renji...
Some Years Later
Renji just gave him a small smile when they sat down at the same ramen stand on a mild Tokyo evening. "It's been a while, Sadaharu."
"Almost seven years." He kept his tone mild and polite. Glasses hid his eyes, though somehow he felt that Renji could still see right through him.
"Three years, you mean," Renji corrected him. "I was at your wedding, remember?"
There was a pause.
"...Aah."
They fell silent as their meals arrived, and the silence continued over the steaming bowls of ramen.
"How is everything going these days?" Renji finally asked as they both paused to take a sip of tea.
"Fine," he replied.
Another pause.
"It really has been a long time, hasn't it?" It's been fifteen years since junior high.
"Yes. It has." And I still can't get over you.