by Aishuu
Notes: Spoilers for 25. This is also an AU and future fic.
He had to learn to live with it.
As he sat in the coffee shop, nursing a cup of tea that he was using more to keep his hands warm than for any nutritional value, he stared at the door. He was waiting for someone who had once been one of the people he admired most. Now, though...
Kyu shook his head, dismissing the negative thoughts that threatened to overwhelm him. He had accepted that they could no longer be friends, accepted that their goals were too polarly opposite for them to ever see things the same way. Indulging in reflection would only hurt in the long run.
The bell on the door chimed as someone pulled it open, coming in. Kyu recognized the way the man surveyed the room; it was the same way he used without even thinking on it. It marked everyone for later if it ever became necessary, taking their positions into account. Two men by the bar, with the hands of blue-collar workers talking to each other ; a waitress hurrying between the kitchen and carrying what was probably stale coffee, since it was around three; a family group in the corner, whiling the day away... and Kyu.
The man moved without hesitation, his dark clothes still setting off that startling blue hair. Kyu thought it was unfair that someone so handsome could be as cold as Amakusa Ryu. There was no humanity in those eyes, for any caring he might have possessed had been scoured away years ago.
Ryu nodded to him politely as he took the vacant seat across from where Kyu was sitting. Both were quiet while the waitress, wearing a rather annoyed expression, came to take Ryu's ordered. She softened as Ryu asked for tea "at her convenience." It was ironic how she practically ran to fill the request.
They waited until after she had been and gone before speaking. It wasn't likely anyone would see them meeting here, but the possibility remained. It was a chance they had decided to take, because being too secretive was likely to garner more attention than anything.
Ryu sipped his tea slowly, frowning a bit as he found the brew in want. "What did you want?" he asked without preamble, dropping courtesy in favor of expedience.
"I'm on a case," Kyu said, idly toying with his spoon. Next to them, the voices of the family group rose in annoyed conflict. They were fighting about where to go next, he noted without much interest.
Ryu nodded. "And?"
"I think Pluto is involved."
A shrug. "If you think so, you're probably right. And?" Ryu didn't bother to create a smokescreen. They were way, way beyond that now.
"It looks like your work."
Ryu raised an eyebrow. "My work?"
"It's nearly perfect," Kyu said. The crime scene hadn't had any evidence, and figuring out how the victim had been strangled by her own clothes had made Kyu push himself harder than he ever had before. "I've figured out the trick, though."
"You've always been good at puzzles." Ryu was too canny to admit anything. "Do you have any evidence?"
Kyu's hand bent the spoon as he clenched his fist. "No."
"Then why are we talking?"
"Because... because... I'm going to bring you in." He had made the same vow ten years ago, and Ryu was still walking free. He had never been able to surpass him.
Something in Ryu's face became alive, a malicious satisfaction that spoke of confidence in his own skills. "You're welcome to try."
Kyu was tired of dealing with mourning families and dead bodies. "I will," he said determinedly.
Ryu just shook his head, like an older sibling dealing with their annoying kid brother. "Kyu, you're too idealistic."
"And you're too inhuman."
Ryu was quiet again as he considered the boy who had once been his classmate. "If it helps, I'm sorry about Megumi." It was the closest he had ever come to an apology.
Kyu remembered finding her, the horrible glassy look in her eyes. He remembered the helplessness as he realized, finally, that Q class wasn't invincible, and that the only one who could have killed her had been one of their own.
His hand shook as he took a sip of tea to calm himself. "Sometimes sorry isn't enough."