Two

“Kuronomiya, hey!” Someone called out to me when I picked up my bag after packing up and stood up from my desk. I turned to find two of my colleagues standing near one of their desks and looking my way.

“Yes?”

“You’re finally done with your project, aren’t you?” Shirokawa Touma-san asked. He had joined the company around the same time as I had. We had gotten along pretty well from the start.

“Yes, I am.” I nodded.

“Ah.” Yamato Keiichi-san spoke up. “Then, my client-”

“Sorry.” I interjected before he could even place it on the table. “I’ve my regular work to attend to anyway. I’m not going to take up anything new for a while. Please, try to understand.” I smiled, lest it come off as mean.

“Fair enough. You deserve the rest too. You seem to be the busiest out of all of us here. To be honest, I’m glad you’re starting to say no.” Yamato-san chuckled. “Well then, since you’re finally free, how about a drink or two tonight? We can invite a couple of other guys too.”

Drinks, huh? It had been a while since I last went out for a drink with them. There was a time at the start when I used to accompany them a lot but after Aki-chan was born, I had found myself choosing to go home early instead.

I turned to them completely and nodded. “I’m in.”

“Cool. I have a little more work to do so I’ll finish that up and join you guys directly at the bar. What about you, Shirokawa?” Yamato-san turned to the other man.

“I’m done for the day.” Shirokawa-san fetched his bag and came over to me. “We’ll go ahead then. Kuronomiya-kun, let’s go see who else is available tonight.” He slung an arm over my shoulders and dragged me along towards another colleague’s desk, calling back to Yamato-san. “Don’t keep us waiting, Yamato-san!”

“Yes. Yes.” Yamato-san responded, then settled in and focussed on his desktop’s screen. He seemed determined enough to make it to the bar anyway.

We managed to gather four other men from our department and went to the bar we used to frequent earlier as well. Most of the other guys were still regulars there but it had been quite a while since this entire group had gotten together. As a result, once Yamato-san had also joined us an hour later, we were fully engrossed in idle talk, reminiscence and the drinks. I had sent a message to Hikaru-nii and Kaori-nee informing them that I would be late and that I wouldn’t be needing dinner.

Sometime into the night, the group of women at the table next to ours began talking to us. By the time it was 11:00 pm though, two of us and two of them had wandered off somewhere and the remaining people had fallen rather silent. There was sparse conversation here and there but the fervour from before had died down. It was still pleasant though- slow and easy-going. It felt like a much-needed slowing down of the pace for me, in particular. Finally, the girls announced that they were leaving and soon, it was just Yamato-san, one other guy and myself left at the table.

“Kuronomiya.” Yamato-san called and sat up on the couch to stretch out his limbs. “How are you going home?”

“Mm. I’m not sure.” I… had probably had a little bit more alcohol than I had intended to. “I’ll call my brother and see what the situation at home is like. Our place is nearby. If he can’t come, I’ll walk.”

“Walk? In that state?” Yamato-san laughed. “You’ll walk in front of a car.”

“Don’t say something so ominous.” I made a face at him and then proceeded to call my brother. He answered without much delay.

“Hello?”

“Ah, Hikaru-nii, I-”

“You’re drunk, aren’t you?” He sighed immediately.

He could tell that easily? How? “No. Not… drunk but… probably not entirely not drunk either.” I chuckled sheepishly.

“And? Where are you?”

“The usual place.” I replied. “Are you at home?”

“Yes. Can you hang in there for ten minutes?”

“Yes. You’re the best.” I smiled, genuinely meaning what I had said.

He laughed. “Yes. Yes. I know. I’ll come soon so don’t go off anywhere else, you hear?”

“Mhm. I hear you.” I nodded. “I’ll just sleep here till you come.”

“You… worry me sometimes. Anyway, I’ll be there.” He said gently. After I had hung up, I conveyed the news to my colleagues.

“So nice…” The junior recruit scoffed. “You have a brother who is willing to come and pick you up and I have a mother who is going to question every moment of today.”

I lay my head on the table before me. I was starting to really feel sleepy. The alcohol was getting to me. “It’s nice to have your mother around though. I haven’t seen mine in more than a year.” She and our father were back in our hometown after all. As to when I might see them again… That wasn’t an easy question to answer. I couldn’t quite say that we were on bad terms but we were not as close as any of us would have liked us to be either. Hikaru-nii never really brought the matter regarding our parents up and, frankly, I was on his side too. It wasn’t just our parents either. While matters had improved over the years, we weren’t too close to Kaori-nee’s parents too. Our larger family scene had been a terrible mess till a few years ago. Compared to that, I guess we were at a relatively better place now.

“Oi. Oi.” Yamato-san pat my shoulder. “Don’t pass out yet. You have to go home.”

I waved his hand away and groaned. I was feeling exhausted and sluggish. “My brother’s coming.”

“I feel bad for him.” He chuckled and stood up. “I’m going to leave then. Will you hang back till this guy’s in safe hands?”

“Yeah.” The junior answered. “I’ll be here. I live close-by anyway.”

“Okay. Good. I’ll leave him to you then.” Yamato-san said. “Kuronomiya-kun, I’m leaving first. See you tomorrow.”

“Mm.” I hummed. “See you.”