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Kazuma was just getting ready to leave the office at the end of the day when the door opened. Albert Harebrayne stepped in and looked around in apparent confusion.
“Lord van Zieks will be back in a minute if you’re looking for him,” Kazuma said.
“Oh! Yes, thank you.” Harebrayne smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. “We’re supposed to spend this evening together, but I wasn’t entirely sure what time I should show up, and I didn’t want to distract him if he was busy with work.”
“Really?” They’d met briefly in passing yesterday, when he showed up at the office for the exact same purpose. “Didn’t you and Lord van Zieks spend yesterday together?”
“Yes, but we have so much more to do!”
Kazuma stifled a laugh. “Better you than me.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Well, hanging out with van Zieks sounds like a miserable way to spend your time, but it’s your vacation.”
Harebrayne blinked several times, and then he straightened his shoulders. “Y-You take that back! Barok is a dear friend of mine, and there’s no one I would rather spend my time here with! It’s bad enough hearing all those dreadful rumors of the Reaper when we’re out and about, s-so I won’t listen to people slander him here!”
Kazuma stared at him in astonishment. The other man was visibly trembling with fury. He’d never seen Albert Harebrayne angry before, and it made him feel like he’d done something wrong. He’d gotten so used to exchanging grumbled complaints about van Zieks with people like Gina or Sholmes that it didn’t even occur to him someone might take offense.
“He is a sweet, kindhearted man! He might be shy, but that’s no reason to say such terrible things about him!”
Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t hold back a startled laugh. “Shy? Shy?” The growing indignation on Harebrayne’s face just made it even harder to keep his composure. “Look, Professor Harebrayne, maybe Lord van Zieks was shy back when you knew each other in university, but that’s definitely not true of him now.”
Harebrayne shook his head firmly. “No, it is.” A troubled look came over his face, and he began to chew his thumbnail. “It’s not the same sort of shyness as back then. I… I think perhaps he’s forgotten how to reach out to other people. It never came naturally to him, but now it’s like there’s a… wall around him. He barely said a word while we were together, and I must admit he’s quite different now. Still, he seemed so happy—especially when I asked about spending time together again today! So no, Mr. Asogi, I’m afraid I’m confident in my hypothesis.”
Every word he spoke shifted Kazuma’s amusement into a sick sort of guilt. “Wait… you’re serious? You think Lord van Zieks… wants to reach out and have friends and isn’t sure how?”
“Oh yes, I’m quite certain of that. I know him very well.”
But then… that meant…
The door opened, and van Zieks stepped inside.
“Oh, Barok! Are you ready to go?”
“Albert.” Van Zieks inclined his head. He crossed the office to his desk and set down some paperwork, then returned to the door to grab his hat and cloak. He paused and looked at Kazuma. “Good day, Mr. Asogi.”
Kazuma only nodded, stricken into silence by that sense of guilt. He stared at the doorway as the two men departed down the hall.
His hatred of van Zieks had faded months ago. Nevertheless, he found the man to be cold and distant. Though he respected him and admired his skill as a prosecutor, he felt no need to seek a personal connection with someone who so clearly had no desire for any such thing.
Except… if Harebrayne was correct, that wasn’t true at all.
#
The following evening, Harebrayne was busy. Van Zieks stood up at the end of the day to retrieve his hat and cloak, and Kazuma watched him through new eyes. Something in his movements—a tiredness, a slowness that hadn’t been there when he left with Harebrayne yesterday—brought to mind the scientist’s words.
Kazuma had always imagined that after van Zieks left the office for the day, he retired to his manor to brood and enjoy the silence now that he was finally alone, as icy and unfeeling as ever. Now… now all he could picture was the older man sitting alone with a chalice of wine, drowning in his own loneliness, cut off from the world by a wall of his own creation he no longer knew how to lower.
It never sat right with Kazuma to let someone suffer without trying to do something about it. He always tried to fight for people who couldn’t protect themselves. Van Zieks didn’t normally fit into their number. He was strong and capable, and Kazuma’s mentor on top of that. Yet if Harebrayne was right, he was suffering in his own way.
Van Zieks reached the door, but then he paused and turned to him. “Asogi, do you have any interest in the theater?”
Kazuma blinked, startled. “Err, I suppose so. Why?”
“Albert and I are attending a show tomorrow, yet we have ended up with three tickets. I purchased our tickets, yet Albert also bought his own without realizing I intended to handle it for us both. Naturally it would be preferable if that third ticket could go to someone who might enjoy it, and Albert suggested I offer it to a colleague.”
He stared. Had Harebrayne really made a mistake, or did he intentionally buy his own ticket without consulting van Zieks in the hopes that it would leave them with an extra—and therefore give van Zieks an extra nudge to reach out to someone else? That man might be shrewder than he appeared, at least where his old friend’s happiness was concerned.
Van Zieks avoided his gaze. He seemed uncomfortable, but not in the standoffish manner Kazuma normally associated with him. More anxious, or awkward. As if, like Harebrayne claimed, he hadn’t been very good at this sort of thing in the first place and had forgotten how to do it since.
The fact that he’d made the offer had to mean something, too. At the very least, he didn’t find being with Kazuma unpleasant.
“Sure,” Kazuma said. “I’d love to go.”
#
Harebrayne cast a worried look in Kazuma’s direction when they met up outside the theater, as if nervous about him being the additional person invited to attend with them. That was a bit irritating, but he supposed he’d brought it on himself with his insulting words about van Zieks the other day.
Inside the theater, they presented their tickets while Harebrayne gushed about the architecture with such excitement that several people turned to stare—and quickly looked away when they noticed van Zieks standing next to him. With their tickets taken care of, van Zieks led them to a private box, where they sat down together. Van Zieks took the middle seat, with Kazuma on his right and Harebrayne on his left.
“So this is what being a nobleman gets you.” Kazuma stretched. “I should go out with you more often.”
“Behave, Asogi.”
“What are you talking about? My manners are impeccable.”
Van Zieks snorted, and Kazuma glared at him, but the other man stared straight ahead, his face all but expressionless.
He rolled his eyes and flopped backward into his seat instead of trying to argue. The theater chairs were comfortable enough, but he just hoped the show wasn’t too boring. He didn’t exactly mind spending time with van Zieks, but he had a terrible feeling the man might have horribly boring taste.
On the other side of van Zieks, Albert was staring up at the ceiling with a look of wide-eyed excitement. “Barok, look!” He pointed to a mechanism above the stage. “They have a crane set up; I assume it will be used to simulate flight during the performance. I’ve studied the mechanism involved, and I believe if the same principles were applied…”
His mouth was running at such a rapid pace that it was hard to follow his words, let alone his actual train of thought as he leaped from one idea to the next. Half of what he said seemed to be speculation rather than science, and it sounded like he was developing new theories as he spoke.
Yet van Zieks’s expression softened as he listened to his friend ramble on. The change was almost imperceptible, but he looked… content.
One more piece of the puzzle that was Barok van Zieks, to be mulled over later.
Then the play began, and Harebrayne stopped talking.
…Which was unfortunate, because the play was the most miserably dull thing Kazuma had ever been forced to sit through. He glanced over at van Zieks to commiserate and instead found the man watching the stage with a rapt expression.
“Oh come on,” Kazuma whispered, “you can’t actually find this interesting.”
Van Zieks shot a glare in his direction. “This happens to be a very good play.”
“The dialogue is awkward, the plot is contrived, and on top of that, it’s boring. I can understand you wanting to punish me, but what did Professor Harebrayne do to deserve this?”
“Don’t blame me for your lack of good taste, Asogi.”
Kazuma looked across him for help, but Harebrayne was now staring excitedly at the stage lights as they swung around to focus on the actors from a different angle. It wasn’t clear if he was paying attention to the actual story at all, or just the technology involved.
Meanwhile, van Zieks had resumed watching it as if he were actually enjoying himself.
“That’s it,” Kazuma whispered, “find a way to take a few months off from work later this year. I’m taking you to Japan so you can see good entertainment.”
Van Zieks glanced at him, eyebrows raised. “Leading with an insult is hardly the most conventional way to invite someone to your homeland.”
“This isn’t an invitation, it’s a necessary intervention!”
The other man snorted and looked like he was about to deliver a pointed remark, but Harebrayne grabbed his arm and pointed toward the crane, which was now carrying one of the actors through the air. “Barok, look! If I were to incorporate this sort of technology into my next experiment—well, it would hardly be the same as instantaneous kinesis, but—”
A few people in the theater looked up at the box to see who was making all the noise, and van Zieks shushed him. Nevertheless, he didn’t really seem displeased. In fact, Kazuma couldn’t remember ever seeing him this relaxed before.
It almost made it worth sitting through the boring play.
#
The next day, Harebrayne was busy and Kazuma once again noticed how van Zieks seemed a bit more subdued and sluggish as he prepared to leave. They hadn’t spoken casually since returning from the theater, but all these little details kept nagging at the back of his mind now.
It still seemed doubtful that van Zieks disliked his self-imposed isolation, much less that he’d want to be friends with Kazuma of all people, but just in case he did, it couldn’t hurt to reach out to him. Then he could be sure.
“Good day, Mr. Asogi.” Van Zieks walked past his desk and opened the office door to leave.
“Wait a minute.”
He paused and turned back to him. “Is something the matter?”
“Not exactly, just…” Kazuma hesitated. “I thought you might like to grab a bite to eat.”
Van Zieks stared at him.
“With me, I mean. Since you don’t have plans with Professor Harebrayne today.”
“I… Why?”
That was the sort of response he’d normally take as dismissal and drop the whole subject. Now, it just stood out to him that the other man hadn’t actually refused or said he wasn’t interested. His reaction might be as simple as confusion over why anyone would want to spend time with him, which gave Kazuma another pang of guilt as he remembered what he’d said to Harebrayne.
“We’re not enemies anymore,” he said finally. “I’d like to get to know you better.”
“Very well. Where do you wish to go?”
#
Dinner was somehow even more stiff and awkward than Kazuma feared it would be. Neither of them said much as they ate. They mainly stared at each other in silence or focused on their meals, with van Zieks on high alert as always for any sign that someone might attack them.
Kazuma picked at his food. This was his own brilliant idea, but he didn’t have clue how to interact with van Zieks in a friendly setting without someone else along. Maybe he should have known better than to lend credence to Harebrayne’s wild assertions, even if he thought he saw some evidence of them at the theater.
After a few more awkward minutes of silence, van Zieks sighed and looked away. “Forgive me. I am aware I must be miserable company.”
“It’s not your fault,” Kazuma said. “I just don’t know what we’re supposed to talk about.”
That didn’t make van Zieks look any happier.
“It’s nice getting to spend some time together like this, though.” Sometimes blatant lies were necessary in the interest of friendship. “You probably know me better than anyone else in London.” The necessity of blatant lies aside, as the words left his lips, he realized that part wasn’t one of them.
“I find that hard to believe.”
“It’s true.” Kazuma looked away. “You’ve seen me at my worst… yet for some reason you’re still willing to take me to dinner.”
“Is that a hint that I’m paying for our meal?”
He gave the other man a sharp look. To his shock, the slightest hint of amusement glimmered in his eyes. Van Zieks, joking around? It didn’t seem possible.
Kazuma leaned forward and grinned. “I was going to pay for my half, but now that you’ve so graciously offered, I think I’ll take you up on that after all.”
“Do I get no choice in this?”
“It’s a worthy exchange. I get my dinner paid for, and you get the pleasure of my charming company.”
“Shall we move to a larger table?” van Zieks asked. “I daresay there is not enough room here for the two of us and your ego.”
Startled, Kazuma laughed. “Hey, did you sneak wine in here when I wasn’t looking?”
Van Zieks folded his arms. “My sense of etiquette is not so poor.”
“Well you sounded almost human for a minute there, so I thought you might be drunk.”
“Is this another example of your ‘charming company’?” van Zieks asked dryly.
Kazuma grinned. It felt so natural now. He’d been wondering how to treat him, when the obvious answer was that he should harass him just like he did at the office. “I’m serious about taking you to Japan, by the way. You need to experience some proper culture.”
“I would feel greater enthusiasm if I did not have such doubts about your taste.”
“My taste is fine,” Kazuma said. “You’re the one with awful taste.”
Van Zieks snorted and said nothing, but he seemed… oddly relaxed. Still alert for potential danger, but more relaxed than he had been a moment ago. He didn’t quite smile, but his expression was softer than usual.
This new piece of the puzzle fit together with his demeanor in the theater, and the truth came into clear view.
Whether it was Kazuma’s jabs or Harebrayne’s rambling, listening to them brought van Zieks a sense of contentment. Maybe he didn’t know how to reach out to people anymore, and maybe he didn’t always show his feelings. But he appreciated their company. There was no other way to interpret the look on his face. Van Zieks was happy that Kazuma had invited him to dinner—at least, as happy as he could be these days. That would improve in time, as long as he had people to reach out to and people willing to reach out to him.
“Hey,” Kazuma said, “the next time you see Professor Harebrayne, will you pass on a message from me?”
“A message for Albert? What is it?”
“Tell him he was right.” He smiled. “He’ll know what it means.”