Chapter Text
"Are you walking alone tonight?"
You stared over your shoulder, a brief chill invading your body with the evening air— along with the shock of surprise, spotting the lawyer.
Those downturned eyes of his settled plainly on you, unamused, almost bored.
"Yes," you said. You shifted on your feet. "I didn't think anyone else was at the office at such an hour." You smiled, attempting to turn up the charm.
Higuruma stared blankly at you. His lips didn't move from their placid pose.
"I tend to stay into the early hours," he murmured. "But I forgot something at home."
Your head tilted. "Case files?" You guessed.
"Correct," he replied with a nod. He blinked tiredly.
"Tch," you scoffed.
His drowsiness quickly dissipated at the sound of your dismissal. "You should know I take my job very seriously. And you should too," he critiqued.
"Oh, no, no, I meant— well, you practically live at the office," you anxiously snickered, "I'm just saying, you don't seem like the type to leave things behind!"
Higuruma sighed and rolled his eyes. He began to walk, and you panicked, falling into step only a pace behind him.
"Listen— don't you think you should just take a break? Why not head down to the bar for a drink or two?" You offered. "I never see you around town, either. What's up with that?"
"I don't have time for that," he said simply.
You sighed in frustration. You attempted to speed up your steps to walk beside him, but it proved difficult with how long his strides were.
"Come on, just one drink!" You exclaimed.
Higuruma was a mystery— hardworking, definitely— to the complete extreme. You never saw him take breaks with you and the others. Despite this all, You didn't exactly mind so much his work ethic. In reality, you just wanted to get to know the man. Day to day, he worked in his office, ate in his office, slept in his office— forget about any water-cooler gossip. You couldn't recall if he ever spoke to anyone besides his assistant, save for the few times you attempted to force small talk with him. He was more of a recluse than anyone else you'd ever come across before.
He definitely wasn't shy— you'd seen just about every case of his, and he was far from simply being any type of 'nervous.' He was quite the opposite, actually. Despite his icy demeanor, you admired him, no matter how many times the others called him 'strange' or 'unrealistic.' Some rumored that he made some pretty impossible promises to his clients, but you had room to believe that's wasn't completely true. He took on hopeless case after hopeless case and worked through them thoroughly—working with those guiltiest to the public eye, so it seemed. To many, and even to you, it appeared he'd dragged himself through the mud reputation-wise, but not because of laziness. Not at all. You wondered why he tortured himself this way.
You screeched to a halt when he whipped around to face you. The many lights from nearby buildings shaded his face in artificial, yet vibrant, flashing color— it clashed with his still, very expressionless visage.
"You passed the subway," Higuruma muttered, expressly pointing behind you, "you'll miss it if you don't go now."
You looked over your shoulder, staring at the sign that you had indeed missed while following him. He was correct— there were the stairs that led down to the subway you had to get on. But you didn't plan on going home just yet. You turned, looking back where Higuruma was— only for him to be a fair ways ahead of you. Guessing from it, he seemed to be speed-walking.
"Hey!" You called, running after him.
You couldn't believe how he was acting. Why would he feel the need to run from someone like you? You didn't think you were that annoying— perhaps a bit arrogant, uppity, sure, but not a complete nuisance. Eventually, you caught up to him with some effort.
"I'll even go for ramen, if alcohol isn't your thing!" You said.
He ignored you. You grumbled with frustration. You marched after him, grabbing his arm.
"Will you just stop and listen to me?!" You shouted.
Surprisingly, he abided. He eyed you curiously, staring at your hand on his arm. You pulled back, anxious.
The two of you shared a very long moment of silence. Curiosity didn't ebb from his face— rather, it only amplified, forming a concoction of strange perplexity and light vexation.
"I'm just going to be honest," you began, "I think you work too hard— just as a, er, coworker, you know, I mean, well," you stammered, "I think that maybe… uh…" you trailed off and glanced up at him. He stared at you with that same expression, silent. Your words got caught in your throat, and your hands grew clammy. You surrendered, eventually taking a deep breath and exhaling laboriously.
"Can you just let me treat you?" You asked, shifting your eyes. The only sound that polluted the air between you were the rumbles of passing, rowdy cars. The sound alone grew suffocating.
"Fine."
"Huh?" You blinked a couple times.
"I said, fine," Higuruma repeated.
You exhaled, but not out of relief. You were not so sure now if this was a good idea. "So, uh… ramen?" You offered once more.
"I'm not very hungry," Higuruma shook his head. "Just a bar would be fine."
You cagily nodded, bringing a hand to the back of your neck.
"There's a nice place about a couple blocks from here… er… you don't mind walking, do you? Em, we could take a taxi, if y—"
"No," Higuruma interrupted, raising a potent hand. "It's fine." He motioned ahead of the two of you. "Lead the way."
You nodded, awkwardly taking a step forward, getting the momentum you needed to begin walking. Higuruma strayed behind you. It made you uneasy. You stared over your shoulder, meeting eyes with him. He blinked silently at you, as if he were trying to convey a message— but one you couldn't decipher.
"So uh, tell me about the case you've taken up," you began.
Higuruma paced quicker to meet you at your side, speaking. "A murder," he said.
Your brows raised. "Really?"
"Mhm."
You scrambled for words. "Are you nervous? I mean…" you trailed off.
"I can't say," Higuruma said. "Nervousness wouldn't describe it," he explained, "I have enough evidence to make a point— but it's important to remain vigilant."
Your smiled lightly. "I'm sure you'll do great."
He stared at you, his eyes wide and unmoving. He murmured a simple "thanks" after a moment of silence. You nodded, and the conversation ended there. Your smile dissipated a tad. Higuruma sighed, looking away into the road. You lightly frowned, a sinking feeling growing in your stomach.
The two of you approached the entrance to the bar you suggested. It was a tame club under an old restaurant. The doors that led to the basement were opened only at night.
You walked past the open, thin plated-metal doors and down the thin stairs, pacing to the door at the bottom. You stared up at Higuruma, noticing how he remained unmoving on the sidewalk above.
"Are you coming?" You asked.
He looked around the area for a few moments before nodding quietly, but his steps were slow.
The interior of the bar was warm, seasoned with the light chatter of a few men in the corner. It was a place you've seen a million times. You could easily walk around this place with a blindfold on. You seated yourself on one of the stools, and Higuruma joined you a stool away. You raised a brow at the distance he set, but you didn't comment on it.
You fiddled with your hands, growing more and more neurotic as time went on. This entire situation seemed to be a bust. You hardly knew a single thing about Higuruma. He gave you no substance— you didn't know if he even had any hobbies! You weren't sure whether or not you were doing something wrong, or if this is simply just how he was.
Maybe he's just boring.
Maybe he just didn't like going to places like this.
Maybe you were being too pushy.
Maybe you jumped at him too quickly.
Maybe he thought you were a nuisance.
You rested your elbow on the counter and placed your forehead in your palm, contemplating whether or not you should just walk out. At the very least, maybe you could make a break for the bathroom just to get your bearings. Already having to play charlatan at the office has left you without any energy to go on.
"Tough day?"
You flinched when the bartender appeared in front of you. Sachiko was on shift. A familiar face, thankfully. You raised your head and shook it.
"Ah, heh, no," you laughed, fanning your hand at her. "I'm just thinking about the girl I met at the café that I told you about," you bluffed. "Oh, and by the way, I'm with him," you urged your thumb at Higuruma, whose stare was just as intense and silent as before. The gaze made your façade quaver yet again.
Sachiko eyed the two of you and shrugged. "Sure. What can I get you?"
"Just a beer for me is fine," you said.
"Same here," Higuruma spoke.
Sachiko nodded, grabbing a nearby bottle opener. She bent down to grab a couple bottles from under the counter and popped the caps off. She placed one of the beers in front of you and the other in front of Higuruma.
"Put it on my tab," you nudged your brows at her.
Sachiko rolled her eyes before leaving to polish some of the glasses behind her. You turned to Higuruma.
"So, what do you think?" You asked.
"About what?" He replied.
"This place? Isn't it nice and... uh... quiet?" You motioned around in an obvious manner.
He shrugged. "It's nice, I suppose."
You grunted in reply. What a bother. Normally, it's so easy for you to talk to people. Everyone at the office would laugh at your jokes— you were a pretty funny guy— at least you thought so.
You met lips with the bottle in your hand.
What an intellectual prude.
You couldn't prevent yourself from returning to your previous, slouched position. You took a glimpse at Higuruma once again. He was staring around the bar, focusing on the guys in the corner while nursing his own bottle.
You scowled. Abruptly, you stood and marched straight towards the bathroom, having left your bottle behind. You walked into the furthest stall from the door, locking it behind you. Surrendered, you slumped against the toilet.
Ridiculous, that's what it was. Who does he think he is? Does he think he's better than you or something? Surely, if he's taking on extreme case after extreme case— not bothering to tell you all the details. If it were anyone else, they'd run their mouths to you. That's who you were. You had the right to know everything. But for some reason, not with him.
Why did you care so much about a man you didn't even know that well? You sunk and sighed in exasperation, cupping your face in your palms. Your leg bounced impatiently, and all of the sudden you couldn't think of anything new to be angry about. The same thoughts cycled through your head again and again— you were more irritated by that fact than the man causing them.
You jumped when the door to the bathrooms opened. You assumed it was one of the men sat at that private table. You slumped again, resting one of your arms across your knees. You closed your eyes and held your head in your hands.
A couple shuffles of feet meandered around the bathroom, and you raised a brow in confusion. A knock or two on your stall's door startled you.
Your eyes opened and dropped to the thin space beneath the door. A pair of simple loafers stood idle.
"Can't you leave a man in peace?" You snapped.
"You seem irritated," Higuruma's calm voice echoed from behind the door.
You stilled and bit your tongue.
"Ha, me? Irritated?" You stood from the toilet and meandered to the door, opening it and poking your head past the stall. An awkward Higuruma greeted you. He remained as expressionless as before. "Never," you said. The statement was more of a promise of challenge than anything.
"Don't you have a beer to finish?" You eyed him strangely, moving to the sink to wash your hands.
"I'm not a big drinker," he said.
"No lawyer is 'not a big drinker,'" you smugly replied. He shrugged in return. You frowned at him as you scrubbed your hands.
"Well, if you're such a goody-two-shoes, why don't I bring you home?" You offered.
"But we just got here thirty minutes ago."
"We did?" You paused. "I—er, I mean, we did," you coughed, "but this place is boring."
Higuruma raised a quizzical brow at you.
"Why're you looking at me like that? Come on, let's get out of here," you said. You didn't give him any time to say anything before you sped out of the restroom. You mentally slapped yourself. You were acting like an idiot, but you couldn't get a hold of yourself. Your mind and body were working overtime in complete opposite directions. You tipped Sachiko without a word and rushed out of the bar, hoping that running away would save what little dignity you had left.
You felt lightheaded as you walked down the sidewalk, hoping to get lost in the crowd. But you hoped too late, it seemed. Higuruma grabbed your shoulder. You jumped and shrieked, turning around.
"What's up!" You wobblily smiled again. "Glad that you're keeping up," you snidely commented.
"Get a taxi," he demanded. You felt a shiver from your toes to your chest. You stared up at him nervously.
"Oh, uh… yeah, got it," you tried to laugh off your nervousness.
You paced to the curb, trying to wave down any passing taxi. However, you didn't seem to find any luck.
Higuruma stepped ahead of you and wagged a taxi down. Your face flushed with irritation. Damn, could you really not even do the simplest of things now? To rub salt in the wound, Higuruma opened the car door for you, allowing you to move over before following you inside. You stared out the window, tuning out whatever Higuruma was saying to the driver.
Higuruma slapped your arm.
You stared over at him. "Huh?"
"Where do you live?" He asked.
"I— eh…" you paused. You didn't want to speak— but the stillness he sat with was so intense, the words pulled themselves from your lips.
"The… apartment building," you murmured, "by the Suitengu shrine."
Higuruma turned and mumbled to the driver.
The car jolted to a start, and the hum of the motor peppered your thoughts. You felt shaken all around and turned upside down. You, a noble lawyer, reduced to some neurotic jerk.
What a joke.