13 Hours Ago

The shrill sound of the alarm clock was the first thing he heard every morning. Startling him awake and roughly pulling him from a dreamless sleep. Toshiro groaned, burying his face in his pillow for a moment. He had class in about two hours which left him with time to shower and make some breakfast before he went to his stupid statistical data analysis course at the local college. Most days he didn't even want to go but a promise to Granny kept him going even though he didn't really have the time to do all of the work. Compared to how he did in secondary school, his grades were substandard. For the most part he was still passing but he wasn't excelling like everyone seemed to think that he would. It wasn't his fault really. Time and money were tight and it was a challenge to make time in his day to go to the lectures and do the required reading at the very least.

Turning off the alarm, Toshiro got up and began his day slowly. The small one bedroom flat wasn't much with only the essentials for living. The only luxuries Toshiro had were an old coffee pot, and a refurbished laptop that he'd been saving up for over the past several months. Boxes lined the walls of the main living area, sealed and gathering dust as they had for the past several years. He'd managed to sell most of the furniture from the old house as well as some pieces of no sentimental value to him but there was still a lot that he didn't know what to do with.

Toshiro finished his shower and scratched at his jaw, feeling the small prick of stubble coming in. His white hair sometimes made shaving a pain. If he let it grow for too long he started to look decades older than his twenty-two years, but if he shaved, he thought it made him look too young. Turning his head from side to side, he figured he could get away with one more day. Toshiro dressed, brewed himself some coffee, then grabbed his bag and left for class. On the bus, he reread the last section he'd finished last night. They were covering data extractions and prediction AI; the theory behind the topic made sense but the actual execution was something that he lacked the time to fully explore. Where most of his peers were running their own experiments and testing data sets, Toshiro occupied his time with other more important tasks. There were many times when the professors had expressed their disappointment that he wasn't 'taking the work seriously' but he was doing the best he could at the moment. The first time he failed an exam had been a major blow to his ego but now, it's happened enough times that he just brushes them off and if he has to retake a class, so be it.

He was one of the last people to file into the lecture. Taking up his usual seat in the back, he heaved a small sigh of relief seeing that it was the teacher's assistant lecturing today and not the professor. Nemu Kurotsuchi was what many other students considered… odd. It was assumed she was the daughter of the professor but no one knew for sure. Neither one of them looked alike and it was a well known unspoken rule that questions of any kind were not allowed.

Nemu was far from a prolific speaker. Her monotone voice could make even the most exciting topics sound dull and it was a struggle for anyone to stay awake longer than forty minutes. Fear was the driving force to keep the students awake. Despite being relatively quiet, she was fierce when it came to ensuring that no one dozed away during a lecture, with the many books stacked under the projector being her weapon of choice.

Having only the class lecture and maybe an hour or two at night to actually study or do course work, Toshiro paid very close attention in class. His notebooks were meticulous in their organization, detailed, and included a list of external sources mentioned in the lecture. This being his second attempt at this particular course, he already had his notes from the previous semester so this time around, he was only taking notes on the things he had struggled with.

Class went on for the next two hours. Nemu wasn't one of those professors who gave breaks and by the halfway point, Toshiro noticed some of the others starting to get distracted. Eyes focused intently on the clock as though willing time to speed up, or glazing over while staring straight ahead; Toshiro rested his head in his hand while his mind drifted to the photo album in his bag. He didn't like looking through photo albums but sometimes they helped. So, he bought a new album and spent the last week going through all the photos he had and put them inside, including labels, dates, anything he knew about the people and events captured. It had been hard to look through. The pictures from his childhood— of him and Momo as kids and later as young teenagers were the moments he treasured most and the ones he hoped would trigger… something. He had never been one to smile often but his grandmother had always talked about the pictures of him and Momo being the ones where his smile shinned the brightest. He didn't see it. He thought he looked goofy or like a snot-nosed kid, but if they could make his grandmother smile, he'd tolerate them.

Toshiro sighed, shaking his head to refocus. There wasn't much time left in class and he couldn't wait to get out of there, tapping down the seconds until 11:30 then, without delay or even waiting for the official dismissal, he gathered his things and left.

The bus always arrived promptly at 11:45 and Toshiro always made sure to get on that bus. Fifteen minutes to get to the extended care facility, and then two minutes to check in. He always kept to this exact routine. The exact timing. It was frustrating for him when one of the many moving parts that comprised this critical routine was late or delayed. It threw everything off. The bus was a minute behind, Toshiro checked his phone, and it looked like traffic was light, so that might make it possible to catch back up to the correct timing. The entire ride his leg shook nervously, keeping track of time and the landmarks that he used to determine if he was on time or not. Only when the bus stopped outside the facility, did he relax somewhat. On time. Toshiro entered and was greeted by the same friendly nurses that were there every day.

Isane smiled at him, greeting him as normal.

"How is she today?" He asked.

"She's good. She's been asking for you."

"Asking for me, or…" His voice trailed off, the question well understood as it wasn't the first time he'd had to ask.

Isane smiled sadly, "She's in the living room."

Toshiro nodded and passed through the locked door passed the sign in. There were a few of the elderly residents out in the halls, doing their daily walk with the help of a nurse. Most of them were very nice for the most part, all they really wanted was someone new to talk to or tell their stories to. There had even been a resident who had tried to set him up with her granddaughter but Toshiro had politely declined and the next day she didn't even remember she had a granddaughter.

The living room bisected the facility into the two main wings of the facility. Tables and couches were set up to allow residents to play games or watch television. His Granny was seated at one of the tables looking out through the large window into the courtyard. Her hands were folded in her lap as she stared outside. Toshiro approached and stood next to the empty chair.

"Mind if I sit?" He asked.

Granny looked up at him, "I'm waiting for my grandson," She said. "He said he'd come visit after school."

"Why don't I sit with you for awhile then? Keep you company while you wait?"

She thought for a moment, then nodded her head.

Toshiro sat down next to her, "How are you today?"

Her eyes focused on something outside, "I had a yard like that once."

"Yeah?"

"My grandson likes to play football in the yard," She said. "He's such a good boy. Smart; I think he could graduate early."

Toshiro's fists clenched under the table and he forced a smile, "That's… great." He said, the words still sounded forced to him, but she didn't seem to notice.

Granny looked at him, a slight furrow in her brow, "Do you live here?"

He shook his head, "No, I'm just here to visit." Toshiro reached into his bag and took out the album he'd made for her. "I have something to show you," He said, sliding it towards her.

Granny looked at the light blue colored album. The front picture was of the two of them in front of their old house. She ran her fingers over the photo once, then gently opened it to see photos starting from when he first came to live with her. Small trips they had taken together, holidays, school photos; she flipped through the pages with little recollection. She paused on a photo from about ten years ago. It was a photo of him and Momo sitting in their old living room. They were on the floor in front of the couch, neither one looking at the camera while they watched the television. Toshiro was wearing his Man City jersey which meant they were likely playing and he was trying to explain the rules (with little success) to Momo. Granny pointed at Momo, "I think I know her," She said.

Toshiro held back the pang of hope he felt and just kept his eye on her, "Yeah? Where do you know her from?"

She was silent a moment, gathering her thoughts, "She was friends with my son, years ago," She finally said. "Hiroto would walk her home from school, even though she lived on the other side of town."

Toshiro forced a smile, "That's nice. I had a friend like that once too," He said gently. She wasn't entirely wrong. From the stories she'd told him long ago about his parents, his father had lived on the other side of town from his mother and since they both worked in the same building, he'd walked her home every day. But even knowing her memories were still there in some capacity, it was still extremely hard not to correct her and just play along.

He does his best when talking about the past to be gentle when the memories don't come, and tries to engage her with talking about what he's up to now, but she struggles most days to hold a conversation, her memories a jumbled mess, and her thoughts flitting from one thing to another. Toshiro pushes down the pain he feels in his chest every time she looks up at him with no recognition of who he is. Pushing past his own feelings, he just stays and talks with her for as long as he can about whatever she wants.

The alarm on his phone went off, and after walking his grandmother to her room, and placing the album in a prominent place, he said his goodbyes, and promised to be back again tomorrow before leaving, well aware that she probably won't remember him tomorrow either.

He took the bus back to his apartment where he spent the next two hours reading his textbooks before he had to get to the bar. He had his Reasoning in AI course tomorrow which was probably the only course right now he wasn't worried about. Most of the course focused on algorithms which were fairly straightforward once the data sets and models were understood. The problems came mostly from the massive amount of reading the professor assigned in addition to having assignments utilizing MDP and POMDP models. But, having taken some online courses over the summer to further his understanding of the model types, all he really had to do was get a decent grade on the final project and exams.

His phone vibrated with a text and mere glance at who the sender was had him rolling his eyes. Rangiku had the shift right before him and while the bar was relatively quiet during the day, college students would sometimes stop by for a drink before their night classes. And Rangiku had made it her personal mission to get him a girlfriend to 'pull the stick out of his ass' as she would occasionally say. The text was a picture of a small group of four girls sitting at one of the low tables accompanied with the text 'take your pick' with a kissing emoji.

Toshiro quickly shot back a 'no thanks' in response. A second later, she sent him a crying emoji, which he followed up with a reminder that she's not supposed to be on her phone while she's working. Rangiku responded with a picture of the bar which had only two other tables besides the one with the girls. Drinks were on their tables, and the other tables and the bar looked spotless. Heaving a sigh, he put his phone down and ran his hands over his face. How the two of them managed to become… friends (if that is the word for it), is beyond him.

Leaning back in his chair, he glances at the clock on his wall, counting the few minute he has to relax before he has to get ready for work. He honestly doesn't care for the job and had never really liked to drink to begin with but the hours worked perfectly for him and he got very good tips most nights which made it worth having to stay out all night and deal with the patrons that drank more than their fill. As the last of his free time ticked away, he got up and changed into clothes he didn't mind getting dirty and headed out, sending a text to Rangiku reminding her not to clock out early again.

By the time he got to the bar, the regulars had begun to make their appearance. Ice Ring was popular mostly among young college age patrons with some overlap with adults looking to hold on a bit longer to their fading youth. The main bar was in the center of the room with the liquor display illuminated by blue lights made brighter by the mirror behind the shelves. There were two smaller bars along the back and side wall where tables and a billiards table was set up. The smaller bars were not quite as popular and only needed one bartender manning it. The drink list was shorter and in turn that typically left the lines shorter as well while the main bar attracted more people with the fancy lights and needed two bartenders at all times.

Toshiro saw that Hisagi was already refilling the ice behind the main bar while Rangiku was keeping the newly arriving regulars occupied with her… personality, making it so that he or Hisagi would be the ones making the drinks since she couldn't be bothered to do it for the last two minutes of her shift. The moment he stepped behind the bar, she bolted to the back, clocking out not even a second past the hour.

A glance at the small group that stood in front of the bar, Toshiro already knew most of their orders. There was a group of business men who always ordered the cheapest beer, a blue-haired girl who always ordered the same cocktail, and a man who always seems to bring a different girl each night and orders the flashiest cocktail on the menu for the two of them.

While there were not that many people here yet, Toshiro had Hisagi go about the restocking, and bussing tasks while he went down the line and filled orders. By the time everyone had their drinks in hand, Rangiku came from the back, wearing a cocktail dress with a deep 'V' neck that put her ample chest fully on display, drawing the attention of several men in the establishment. She plopped into one of the seats in front of him while he poured her a straight shot of sake and mixed her favorite drink, going light on the liquor knowing she'll be on her way under the table long before the night was over.

"You really know the way to a girl's heart, Toshiro!" Rangiku said, downing the shot with a content sigh. "Free drinks are the best!"

"Your drinks aren't free."

Rangiku let out an exacerbated gasp, "But that's the employee benefit! You can't deny me the only reason I work here!"

Toshiro rolled his eyes, "You missed the staff meeting yesterday," He said. "We can only get twenty percent discounts now because some people were using their benefits to get free drinks for their friends."

"Shiba did it too! It wasn't just me!"

"I didn't say it was only you," He said, moving down the bar to take the order from another patron. "And I don't make the rules." He poured the rum freehand into a mixer with lime and syrup, gave it a light shake and poured it over ice. Adding the mint and lime garnish, he traded the drink for the cash which included a small tip.

"I think she liked you," Rangiku said, wagging her eyebrows at him as he made use of the register. Toshiro ignored her and she shook her head. Taking out her purse, she handed over what was owed for her drinks as well as ordered another shot of sake. "Honestly, I get it if you aren't looking for a relationship. But would it really be that bad to make some more friends? Maybe experiment a bit?"

"I don't have time for any of that," He said, starting on the drinks for a table of men who just raised their empty glasses, silently ordering another round.

"Maybe if you just—"

"Hey isn't that Shunsui?"

Rangiku turned around and saw one of her favorite drinking buddies standing by the door, shamelessly flirting with a pretty brunette. His long hair tied back and the top four buttons of his navy shirt undone.

Toshiro slid her two shots of sake. "Better go get him before she punches him. I hate cleaning up his messes."

Rangiku bit her cheek, clearly torn between continuing their conversation and enjoying the company of her friend. With a sigh, she took the drinks and walked away.

With her gone, Toshiro was now able to work in relative silence. Being a weekday, it wasn't nearly as crowded as it was on the weekends but the flow of customers still kept them busy. It was always nice to have a reliable second on the main bar. Hisagi liked to talk to the customers, smiling at the pretty girls who'd come up and occasionally show off a trick or two but he still did pretty good getting drinks out correct and fast. Rangiku was another story. Working shifts with her could be anywhere from ideal, to disaster depending on the shift and if she's hungover. She wasn't a bad bartender she knew her drinks and she could get them out fast if she wasn't so lazy and didn't prefer drinking the product to making it. Regardless, he seldom had much choice in who he ended up working with and the only thing he really cared about was making sure his schedule was consistent.

After some time had passed, he heard the unmistakable voice of Nanao Ise as she found Shunsui visibly drunk at one of the tables. His head wobbled from side to side and he had a goofy smile on his face as his secretary yelled at him, smacking him with a folder. Rangiku, who sat in the chair next to the man broke out in a fit of laughter, watching as her drinking buddy was dragged out of the bar by his fuming secretary.

"That's not good," Hisagi said as he opened a new bottle of rum. Toshiro sighed. Without one of her friends to drink with, there was no telling where she'd end up. Normally, on the days she'd drink to intoxication, it would be a given that she'd end up on a friend's couch. But with Shunsui gone, it meant one of them would have to let her crash at their place.

He looked at the other two bars, wondering just how bad it would be to just leave her with Ikkaku or Yumichika… not good, he concluded. Toshiro pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'll go get her," Hisagi said, pointing at Rangiku as she tried to join a table occupied by a young couple.

Her cheeks were flushed as Hisagi dropped her into a chair on Toshiro's side of the bar. She laughed, and held up her empty glass. He took the glass from her and handed her a shot of water instead.

"Nooo! This isn't sake!"

"I know."

Rangiku whined, "Oh come on, Captain! Just one more teeny tiny drinkie-poo," She mimed with her fingers, making a squeezing gesture with her index and thumb. He rolled his eyes. The fact she was calling him 'Captain' was a good indicator for how much she's had to drink. He knew he'd only given her three drinks, but that didn't mean she didn't go to one of the others or if someone else had bought a few for her.

He slapped her hands down, "You've had enough. Remember you still have to open tomorrow." Toshiro took the glass and turned away to put it in a bussing bin.

"Pshhh, that's not until five!" She waved him off nonchalantly.

"Two," He said, holding up two fingers, "And you have to be in by twelve to change the hoses."

"Aw! That's not fair!" She pouted. "Hey why don't you switch shifts with me?"

"Not a chance, you idiot." She crossed her arms over her chest, and he stared at her for a moment, making sure she'd stay put before turning to take care of one of the customers at Hisagi's end. The girl's eyes were wide, as she stared at him. He was used to stares, but the way she looked at him was… different. Familiar. And then he heard her voice.

"Toshiro?"

He nearly tripped, as recognition hit hard. "Hinamori?"