Hiruma glared at his beer glass, cursing the alcohol and what it's done to him over the past few days.

"The beer here isn't great, but it's not that bad."

"Oi!" The owner of the small ramen shop jokingly scolded Musashi from over the bar where the two men were seated. Musashi quickly apologized with a laugh.

Hiruma turned back to his food, choosing to eat rather than respond. It had only been a week since he last spoke to Mamori. The memory of it made his head throb and his fists clench. Of course she wouldn't fucking remember. He figured the reason she wouldn't look his way the day after was out of embarrassment, not that she just had no idea what her drunk ass did.

"Annoying," he muttered.

"Hm?" Musashi looked over at Hiruma, wondering why his friend so deep in thought today. He had sent Hiruma a quick text asking if he wanted to get some cheap ramen with him offhandedly. He hardly expected him to agree to meet, but now, it seemed his friend had other things on his mind.

Hiruma turned to Musashi. "You're annoying too," he grumbled.

"What did I do?" Musashi asked with a chuckle. Hiruma only responded with a quick glare before returning to his food. "Ahh," Musashi nodded, "Are you angry that I asked Mamori out the other day?"

Hiruma gulped down the remaining beer in his glass. As he finished, he locked eyes with the shop owner who gave him an understanding nod before going to get Hiruma another glass.

"I wasn't serious."

"I know," Hiruma hissed as he accepted his new full glass from the owner.

"Oh?" Musashi watched his friend carefully. "And what if I was serious?"

Hiruma said nothing.

"She's a good woman, you know. Kind, reliable, beautiful. I'd be a fool to let someone like her go, especially with how her last relationship ended." Musashi watched as Hiruma's eyes slid over to him. He bit back a smirk. "You didn't hear about it?"

"Of fucking course I did." Hiruma scoffed. Suzuna had babbled on about it while drunk, and it had made his stomach churn with anger. How could Mamori ever choose an asshole who would cheat on her? Apparently, it had not been common knowledge among the former teammates. She should have told everyone. The Ha-Ha brothers would have been enough to scare the little dipshit into never cheating on anyone again. Instead, Mamori smiled and shrugged through it, even though she was probably crying her fucking eyes out alone. It made Hiruma's blood boil just thinking about it now.

This would never have happened if he had been in Japan at the time. He took another long swig of his beer.

"So?" Musashi trailed off.

"What?" Hiruma barked back.

Musashi threw his head back with laughter. "Don't play coy. You know what I'm getting at."

Hiruma grunted. "You're a fucking meddlesome old man now."

Musashi rested his chin on his hand. He grinned at Hiruma. "Fine. You want me to say it plainly, so I will: you and Mamori should have gotten together years ago."

"I was moving to America after college."

"So you thought about it." Musashi's eyebrows rose.

Hiruma rolled his eyes. "I'm not a fucking idiot. We were…" he paused before taking another sip from his glass, finishing his third glass of beer now, "She never would have gone to America with me."

"I think she would have."

Hiruma's fists clenched. Of course she would have. She would have dropped everything, transformed her life, and adapted to living abroad. She would have done it perfectly—just as she always did when he asked something unreasonable of her during their college years.

And that was terrifying.

Hiruma rubbed his face with a heavy sigh. Shit, he was a little more tipsy than he wanted to be right now, especially while discussing this particular subject.

"And, you're here now so-"

"She kissed me."

Musashi's mouth was left agape. He blinked and after a beat, he slowly regained his senses. "What?" He asked slowly.

Fuck. He shouldn't have said that. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound. "She was drunk and doesn't remember."

The air was still, save for the faint sizzle of the shop owner cooking. "Holy shit," Musashi finally said quietly. "Is that—I mean… Are you going to tell her?"

"You want me to tell her that she drunkenly threw herself at me?"

Musashi stifled a laugh, "It can't be worse than keeping it from her." He leaned back in his seat. "Honestly, what's the worst that could happen?"

She could accuse me of taking advantage of her.

Hiruma huffed.


Mamori was pacing. She had a week's worth of work to keep her mind off of Hiruma, but the weekend's downtime offered a chance to overthink everything. Why was Hiruma so upset with her? Even though she had been set on ignoring him over dinner with the former 2nd years, the two had fallen into old habits. They talked, argued, and even laughed together over that dinner. But when they were walking to the station… he just shut her out again.

With a groan, Mamori flopped onto her cheap sofa. She grabbed a pillow and buried her face into it. How had he managed to worm his way back into her heart so easily?

She thought she was over him.

Yes, Mamori could freely admit now that she had fallen for Hiruma sometime in college (maybe even earlier if she was being completely honest). But, it never amounted to anything. Their partnership and commitment to the team meant more to both of them, and when they were graduating, Mamori knew Hiruma was leaving for America. They had run out of time.

Maybe that's why she had flung herself into a relationship as soon as possible, even when she had some reservations about her new boyfriend. The signs of his cheating had been there early on: secretive about his other friendships/relationships, consistently canceling plans, taking phone calls far away from her.

She was actually relieved when she learned the truth. She no longer had to pretend that she wasn't just using the relationship to get over a crush.

She sat up with a jolt, a sudden thought coming to her. If she couldn't use another relationship to get over Hiruma, maybe she could finally get closure from the man himself. He had moved on from whatever they had in college, so she just needed him to fully confirm it.

Mamori needed Hiruma to reject her.

Her heart stuttered at the thought, a dull ache already beginning to build. She shook her head. No, it had been years and he was back and it was time to move on.

She grabbed her phone off the coffee table. Taking one deep breath, Mamori opened up her messages. There wasn't a guarantee he would even respond, let alone agree to meet. Mamori spent probably ten minutes just typing out what she thought was the most acceptable text. Staring at the brief sentences, she pressed the send button before she could overthink anymore.

Can we meet tomorrow? Maybe lunch?

Mamori was back on her feet pacing. She tossed her phone onto the sofa and spent the next few minutes wandering around her apartment trying not to sharply attune her ears to the sound of her phone vibrating.

A few more moments of agony and Mamori finally decided to take a shower to avoid her phone. Maybe she would take a long soak in the bath.


Can't do lunch. 8 or 9pm works better

Underneath the short reply was an address to a small izakaya not too far from her home, and after a few more blunt exchanges, Hiruma settled on meeting at 8:30. Typical of him to basically order her around instead of, you know, collaborating. What if she wasn't available that late?

(Of course she was. Her social life had become almost nonexistent after graduating college.)

Mamori read over the text for the twentieth time, rechecking the address again. This was a big day, and she couldn't afford any slip-ups. It's not every day you plan for your first love to reject you so thoroughly that you never think about them romantically again.

She tugged at her sweater nervously, walking down the street toward the izakaya. Mamori had gone for a more conservative look this night. She wore a loose cream turtleneck sweater and black pants. She told herself that she wore her favorite ankle boots, which were only her favorite because Suzuna once said that they made her legs and butt look great, because they were the warmest pair of shoes she owned. The outfit said "I'm single but not ready to mingle". Mamori huffed with satisfaction.

Looking up from her phone, she spotted the izakaya up ahead by its bright blue banner hung out front. What she wasn't expecting was the familiar face waiting just outside. "Hiruma?" she called out carefully.

Hiruma turned and frowned. "About time," he grumbled. "It's too damn cold."

"You should have waited inside then," Mamori scolded.

Hiruma rolled his eyes before gesturing inside. Mamori pointedly turned to go in. Behind her, she could hear Hiruma click his tongue. Her stomach sank, but she quickly pushed the feeling aside.

The more annoyed he was with her, the greater chance at a rejection… right?

It was going to be a long night.


I'm so glad people are still reading fics for this couple! Thanks you for the lovely comments/reviews~