]]>Rei felt that he was doing pretty well at the whole 'having a partner again' thing, especially after several years of human interaction that was almost exclusively business. But sometimes he still couldn't help showing how long it had been, or, he suspected, the echoes of who used to be his anchor to human connection.
]]>"There are no 'should's, for us," Shuuichi said, soft and steady over Rei's ragged words, fingers sliding slowly through his hair. "Only what can be done. Of the two of us, I'm the one who can make this promise, right now. So I do."
]]>"You see so clearly, most times," Akai said, very softly, almost a whisper between them. "Remember what you saw, Furuya-kun. He didn't do it on his own, no. Think about what he would have seen and heard, up on that roof. Already sure that the Organization would be coming for him, what did he hear right before he shot?"