YEARS LATER.
"Hi," Kimiko greeted with good cheer. She thought she did, it was kind of hard not to let her lip curl vaguely.
"Hey," Jack said in return, seeming not to see it. She wasn't sure, but, then, she didn't really care either way. It had been years since they had come across one another and maybe she should give him a fairer chance, but the memories whirled as if anew in her mind, of all the slights and disagreements between them, and she found she couldn't quite.
They were older now, not the kids they used to be. Jack, surprisingly, actually had some fuzz on his chin, a dabbling of bright red against chalk-white. He was still wearing the dark clothing, but it looked far more normal than the Gothic ensembles he used to don. Kimiko herself went through many style phases, but never had she met someone who'd stuck with just one for so long.
He didn't appear impressed with her. She wasn't impressed with him. They went their separate ways. That was years ago, anyway, the wu were collected and the showdowns were over with, so she didn't expect the hand on the back of her neck though she could have sworn she never heard him move—
