Momo was frozen to her spot as the two of them stared at one another. It couldn't be him. But it had to be. White hair was a rare enough trait, but the look of recognition in his eye was unmistakable. What was he doing here? When did he come back? Where had he been all these years? Questions swarmed in her mind as whatever spell that seemed to keep him still broke and he closed the space between them.

His eyes were intense as they looked her up and down. "Hinamori?" He said again.

"Toshiro."

His jaw was clenched tight as they continued to just stare at one another.

It seemed neither one of them knew what to say. He was the first to break away, looking towards the other end of the bar where a few people were waiting. He began to turn away, "I have to—"

Her hands shot out and across the bar, taking hold of his forearm. "Don't," She said. Not again.

She felt him stiffen under her grip for a split second as he looked back at her. Relaxing, he gently pulled her hands off him. He looked once more around the bar as if he were looking for something in particular, then pulled his phone out and glanced at it for a moment before returning it to his pocket. "Come on," He sighed, cocking his head in a gesture to follow him. Momo stood up from her seat and waited for him to come around from behind the bar before jogging over to catch up to him. He led her to the small bar along the back wall currently occupied by only two patrons.

The bartender was leaning against the back wall, staring up at the ceiling with a bored look on his face. "Yumichika!" Toshiro called, shaking the bartender from his stance, "Take over for me, will ya?"

"Wha— me?" Yumichika's eyes went wide as he pointed a finger at himself. "Shouldn't Ikakku get the main bar before me?"

"Normally, but I'd rather not clean up whatever mess he's making." Momo turned to glance at the other smaller bar where the billiards table was located. A group of men were huddled around the table cheering and jeering at one another and the bartender was sitting on the counter, seemingly having as much fun as the patrons.

Yumichika took a moment to fix his hair and the feather extensions he wore on his eyelashes. "Alright then, this boring corner is all yours," He said, switching places with Toshiro.

Momo took an empty seat as the end of the bar while Toshiro leaned on his forearms resting on the counter. "I don't get off for another three hours," He explained.

"I see…" She wasn't sure where to start her line of questions, instead just taking in his presence for the moment. The way he held himself was so different from the boy she remembered. His shoulders were tense, and his fingers twitched almost nervously but his face was more telling. He'd always carried a scowl on his face as though nothing bothered him but now it looked as though he was just waiting for something bad to happen. His eyes were tired, and he looked as though he was just barely holding on.

"Toshiro—"

"Hinamori—"

They spoke simultaneously and shared a brief laugh. "Would you like a drink?" He asked.

"Surprise me."

His brow arched in that warning way when she left herself wide open for a smart ass remark or when she would stumble into one his horrible pranks. What had she just agreed to?

Toshiro moved expertly around the bar, with a mixing cup he added mint and freshly cut fruit, free pouring a little clear liquid into the tin. He muddled everything together, then turned around perusing the bottles on the shelves. He reached up and grabbed one of the bottles off the second highest shelf, and it was only now that she realized how tall he'd gotten. He had to be at least a head and a half taller than her now. With the bottle of liquor, he free poured a bit of it into the tin and topped it off with crushed ice.

Moving back over to where she was, he placed an old fashioned glass on the bar top with two perfect cubes of ice. He interlocked his mixing tin with another and with one hand off to the side, he shook the tins for a few seconds while his other hand picked up the strainers. He double strained the drink into her glass and topped it all off with a garnish of mint and sliced peaches.

Momo smiled and raised the glass to her lips, she could smell a bit of the fruit the sourness of the lemon and the sweetness of the peaches. The drink was tart with a little bit of the acidity from the lemon but it was well balanced with the sweetness of the peaches and the dryness from the whiskey. She looked back up at him as she put the glass down. He glanced between her and the drink curiously. "It's really good," She said, reaching for her wallet. "Um, how much—"

He held his hand up and waved it off, "It's on me," He said.

She sipped at her drink, waiting a few moments for the alcohol to kick in, feeling a slight need for something to calm her down and maybe give her a bit of courage to ask all she needed to know.

Toshiro looked down at the other end of the bar, checking on the two men slowly drinking their laggers, commiserating in some shared troubles. The tension she had noted earlier was still prominent. It was obvious he expected her questions but it didn't seem like he was ready for her to dive straight in but the fact he hadn't run, indicated he likely would answer. If Momo was honest with herself, she wasn't ready yet either. All of this felt so surreal that she was still coming to terms that he was here. That he might have even been here the last time she'd been down to this side of town just a block from where she'd been.

"I've missed you," She settled on saying.

"Can't say I felt the same, Bedwetter," His eyes rolled slightly and it took her a moment to realize he was joking.

"You're still so mean, Lil' Shiro," She shook her head and he smirked.

"I still hate when you call me that. And you can't call me little anymore," He countered, standing to his full height.

Momo sighed, "Guess Granny was right about little kids who sleep well." His face fell for a split second, the emotion unreadable to her, before he hardened his face, guarding whatever had slipped through in that moment. He then started moving things around the bar, putting things in the wash bin, moving some of the bottles around on the counter; occupying himself with menial tasks. "How… how long have you been here?" She'd wanted to ask how his grandmother was, but changed her mind just as she'd begun to speak. It had been more than a decade since she'd seen the kind old woman and there was the chance that she'd possibly died in that time. She wasn't quite ready to pick at that point just yet.

Toshiro shrugged, "About three years, or so. I wasn't allowed anywhere near the bar until I turned twenty though. So my first year was just an inconsistent mess of jobs and shifts no one else wanted."

She cocked her head to the side, "How'd that work with college?"

"… It didn't," He said. "Took a gap year. Worked. Saved some money. Studied for the courses I'd take later."

"So you're in college now, then?"

He shrugged, "Sort of. But what about you? I'd heard gone to Kyoto."

"I… dropped out," She said, a little resigned. "It just… didn't feel right." She shrugged her shoulders up a little, "I took a bunch of courses, did really well and everything but… I honestly still have no idea what I want to do. And I don't want to waste my time working for a degree I might not like in ten years." She took a large gulp of her drink, squinting a little as it was a drink meant to be sipped. "What are you studying?"

"Computers."

Momo waited for him to elaborate and sighed when he just stared at her blankly, "Computer… what?" She prompted.

Toshiro rolled his eyes, "Mostly cyber security stuff. Some AI development and ethics, but I don't really care for any of it."

"Why study it then?"

He shrugged, apparently not sure himself why he was studying it or perhaps like her just uncertain what he wants to do. "So it's… passwords and personal data stuff?"

He hummed in the back of his throat, picking up a bar spoon and twisting it between his fingers, "Personal data, networks, phones; basically anything that has digital storage or a Wi-Fi connection."

Momo nodded, her understanding of such things rather minimal with most of her knowledge coming from Rukia complaining about how Momo was horrible when it came to passwords, always using the same one for everything. "That sounds useful. I imagine there has to be a huge demand for those skills."

He cocked an eyebrow, "I guess. I never really looked."

"Eh? Really?"

Toshiro busied himself polishing the row of high baller glasses neatly lined up under the lip of the bar top. "Between classes and work, I don't really have a lot of free time to waste looking at vague job descriptions," He said. "Besides, I assume most jobs are looking for people who know the TCP/IP and can work with HIPS software."

Momo nodded, taking a sip of her drink,"That makes sense," She said, avoiding his eye for a moment. Looking back at him, she caught a faint but familiar tilt to his lips that he'd always get when he figured something out. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

She laughed and shook her head, "Not a clue," She admitted.

His fingers tapped slowly against the bar, a small glint in his eye as though an idea had just come to him. "And I take it you don't know about two-factor authentication?"

"…No?"

The smirk deepened and he pulled out his phone, tapping away on the screen. Momo tried to peer over at what he was doing, but with the dim lights and the bar top between them, she was completely blind to what he was doing until he turned the phone so she could see it. "I could do so much just from here," He said, showing her her own social media profile. Logged in and ready to make a post that anyone could see. The smirk on his face was downright evil in that moment as she felt the color drain a bit from her face.

"You hacked me!"

Toshiro scoffed, "I didn't have to," He said. "But this is basically the kind of stuff those jobs are. Keeping people out of things they don't want others messing with."

"Okay, that makes sense. Are you done then?"

He shook his head. "No…" His fingers moved quickly across the screen, "I think I'm going to edit your profile and change your name to… let's say… Bedwetter Momo?"

"You will not, Shiro!" Her hands flew across the bar but he held his phone away and backed up.

"Change your profile picture," He took a couple quick snaps while she flailed her arms at him.

He typed something else on his phone, "And… Done." Turning it back to her she tried to snatch it from his grip but he held tight, only allowing her to read the status update he made. "Best drinks ever ❤️" the post had a picture of her drink, and tagged the Ice Ring as the location.

Momo visibly relaxed but still glared up at him. "I hate you."

"No you don't," He said, showing her that he was logging out of her account and stashed his phone back in his pocket. "You need to stop using 'BunnyChappy02' as a password."

Despite herself, she couldn't help the smile on her face. He still remembered her password. With the mood clearly lighter now, she decided it was time for some of the harder questions that had bothered her for years to finally be answered. "Toshiro… when… when did you come back here?"

He was quiet for several moments, his eyes taking on that unfamiliar look from earlier. He swallowed thickly then finally spoke. "I never left."

Momo opened her mouth to ask another question, but was cut off when a furious scream drew both of their attention to the bartender from earlier. Yumichika's eyes were furious as he marched over to them, disheveled with the sleeve of his shirt ripped up to the elbow. "I hate that woman!" He shouted. "I hate her! I hate her! I hate her!" He pointed an angry finger at Toshiro. "You! It's your turn to pry that fat cow off of Hisagi. It's not worth working up there when you have to babysit her."

Toshiro groaned and stepped aside to Yumichika could take back his bar. He gave Momo a reluctant smile and scratched the back of his neck. "I have to…"

"I can come back here tomorrow," She offered.

He shook his head, looked back at the main bar for a moment before glancing up in thought. He was quiet for several seconds, before he sighed. "Day after tomorrow," He said. "In the afternoon." A glass smashed, and he groaned. "The old park by the swings." A crowd started to form over by the bar, and she barely heard him curse under his breath, nor the quick "I'll see you there," before he quickly started to move towards the commotion leaving her standing there alone.

With a heavy sigh, she sat back down and played with the rim of her glass for a moment. She hadn't even gotten his phone number. Pulling her own phone out, she went through the old routine that she hadn't tried in ages and tapped on Toshiro's contact and tried to call. Pressing the phone to her ear, she listened as the familiar robotic voice informed her of the number being disconnected. She glanced back over at the main bar where she could just barely make out Toshiro from his hair as he picked up the intoxicated blonde and dropped her in a chair and helped the other bartender up from the ground. Both of them made apologies to the customers and went back around the bar, working quickly to get through the backed up orders. He probably wouldn't be able to speak much to her now. Turning back to her drink, she finished the last of it off, deciding to call it a night.