Chapter Text
Uesugi Ritsu sat in what he now considered to be his corner stool, inside the recently refurbished Kumai’s Ramen. Two years had gone by in a flash and a lot of things had happened. The last time he came here for a graduation party, Hayashisaki had been with him. This time, the brat had conveniently excused himself altogether, to go on a date with a girl he had met on a train. Other than Hayashisaki, Uetsugi realized now just how much he had drifted away from his Aoyama High cohorts, and he didn’t know how to feel about that.
Sawada, on the other hand, didn’t seem to drift away from anything, he thought bitterly.
This time, they weren’t celebrating their graduation or any successful passing of any form of exams; they were after all, trainee lawyers, glorified gofers. They were at Kumai's to instead celebrate a ‘graduation in life’: one of Sawada’s delinquent friends—Uchida something or other, was getting engaged.
A petty part of him could not comprehend how a textbook delinquent from the quintessential school for delinquents could get such a refined fiancée from Elise High—long straight black hair, a demure downturned gaze, a serene and secretive smile. He had seen her all over the news lately—a much sought after special effects makeup artist who had a big break in Hollywood recently, what with the spate of Western adaptations of Japanese horror movies.
Sawada plopped next to him, sighing as he checked his phone.
“Where did your girlfriend go?” Uesugi asked. She had given a lengthy speech for the happy couple, cried buckets, hugged everyone's stuffings out, and promptly dashed out of the door.
“Police station,” Sawada answer came quickly and rather offhandedly, one thumb swiping the screen so quickly it looked like he wasn’t even reading anything off it.
“Bailing out another student?” Uesugi couldn’t help but smile in amusement.
“Not really.” Sawada was one of those people, Uesugi decided, who were economical with their words, obviously a natural-born lawyer if there ever was one. There was a long pause as Sawada continued to swipe up and down his phone, until he froze at one screen and frowned, then smiled. It was fascinating to watch. Uesugi hadn’t fully given up living vicariously through Sawada Shin, after all.
Soon, Sawada was up on his feet. Uesugi watched Sawada gave well-wishes to the happy couple, spoke to some boys, and laughed politely with some girls. Sawada was barely out of the door, loaded up with more food than an army could finish in one sitting, when he made a call. Uesugi could tell that it connected immediately too.
“I know, I know. I’ll be right there.” Uesugi heard Sawada spoke hurriedly, even as his voice grew fainter before disappearing altogether as the door slid shut behind him.
The large shop window was a bit fogged up, but he could see Sawada walking away, nodding and laughing into the phone wedged between his cheek and shoulder.
Uesugi looked down and found his beer bottle sitting forlorn and empty next to his half-finished bowl of charsiu ramen. At the other end of the table, Sawada’s abandoned oolong highball was sweating rather nonchalantly onto the formica table, next to an uneaten bowl of edamame. What a waste, Uesugi thought, claiming the food and drink as his own. Uesugi threw back half a glass in one go, coughed a little, and wondered about older women and love. Peeling off an edamame, he thought maybe he should give it a try.
Tomorrow, he decided, he would ask his Training Instructor out for lunch.