Katsuya never thought he was good at romance. With his life’s purpose in front of him, his eyes were barely able to drift from work, even when trying out a new relationship—in retrospect, it’s likely why it all went up in flames so badly, when the woman in question yelled at him and poured expensive wine on him at a date. He wasn’t one for flings anyway.

Katsuya tips back the last sip of his first beer. Parabellum wasn’t crowded, but the noise of other patrons would’ve been welcome to drown out the strange thoughts uncomfortably stirring his mind.

He’d agreed to go drinking with you after you offered to make him feel better about his breakup, yet Katsuya couldn’t bring himself to get anything off his chest. He didn’t believe in neither kotodama nor karma, but… the truth buried beneath the surface seemed too rooted to pull out. And he didn’t want to jinx what he has with you.

“It’s not that big a deal,” Katsuya murmurs into his glass, before sighing as he puts it down, clearly trying to brush the situation off. What else could he say, when the person who ruffled his thoughts at night was sitting next to him? “I already got the shirt dry cleaned, so there’s no issues.”