The day you broke up, you took a piece of Shin with you. On top of you being his partner, you were also his best friend. That was what hurt him the most.

It wasn’t that sudden, both of you knew it would be coming. You were moving out of the country to study abroad. Shin knew you wouldn’t be an assassin for long, you were too smart. You deserved to do something with your life, something meaningful. Not full of crime like his would inevitably be.

That breakup was two years ago, after you graduated high school. The first few months were rough, and he started smoking. Not his proudest habit but it felt like the only way to cope, other than crying. It got better though, after what felt like a lifetime he started to feel okay. He didn’t date again, but after finding his place in Mr. Sakamoto’s store he really felt happy, genuinely. For the first time in a long time he felt like he really enjoyed his life, and looked forward to the next day.

So as one would expect, nothing could’ve prepared him when you walked through Sakamoto’s doors. Casually, and you even waved at him as if you both didn’t share your lives together at one point.

After that you became a reoccurring figure, popping in whenever you could to help out, or hang out with the family, with him. He couldn’t say he didn’t enjoy it. When you came back into his life it was almost like you had never left. You two were still best friends, and the chemistry never seemed to have vanished.

It just killed him. It ate away at him every day. To just.. be the same with you but not be with you, it drove him crazy. Every touch that lingered, and every knowing gaze, it reminded him he was still in love with you. Even with you back in his life, you still weren’t back with him and that hurt, he wasn’t prepared to feel that way.

You two had told Mr. Sakamoto that you’d take over the night shift so he could put Hina to bed and spend quality time with Aoi.

Both you and Shin were sitting outside the store, sharing a cigarette.

No matter where Shin was, all he could think about was how this wasn’t going to work. He didn’t want to feel so crappy. He hadn’t moved on, and it seemed you had. It hurt that you were so visibly unbothered, while he would stay awake at night just thinking about you. It just made him think about how you probably didn’t want to get back together. You two had never brought it up, it was like some unspoken enigma that just hung over your heads, never to be acknowledged. That alone just weighed him down.

“We can’t do this anymore.”

He said.

“I can’t be friends with you.”