Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Yamashita didn't know how to react. This guy was suspicious. And why did he know his first name?
He wanted to ask the guy but then he saw Jun approaching and asking who the guy was.
Probably the guy wasn't very pleased by that interruption as he answered in a merely polite tune.
And all the time Yamashita was wondering if he knew this man. There was something familiar in his face, like from years ago when he was still a child.
“Who are you?”, he asked.
The guy cleared his throat and answered: “I am Ikuta Toma.”
Toma? He knew that name. But that was really... ages ago. When he was 12 or maybe 13 years old. He'd found him on the streets, brought him to his house and gave him some food because he said he was starving.
He'd wanted to meet him again, also since he'd promised him to meet again someday but his family moved away and so they had no chance to meet each other again.
“Could it be? It-it's been years... how have you been? It's ...wow...”, Yamashita said, smiled brightly and took one step towards Toma. He was so happy that he was about to touch his shoulder but then Jun barged in again.
“Wait, you know him? And he even calls you like that...”, he said in a very impolite manner. But Yamashita didn't really want to tell him right now. He'd just met Toma after so many years and he wanted to talk to him.
“Shut up, Jun. I'm sorry, sometimes he doesn't know how to behave.”, Yamashita said, slightly embarrassed by his old friend.
Excited, he asked Toma if he wanted to go and drink something with him in a bar he know and since Toma agreed, he said good-bye to Jun and left with Toma, heading towards the bar.
During the whole walk Yamashita wanted to talk to Toma but he didn't know what to say. It'd already been so many years and he didn't want to scare him off.
When they reached to pub, they sat down and ordered some alcohol since this was probably the only safe method to get more relaxed.
“So... funny, isn't it? It's been years... I...”, Yamashita began.
“I just... wanted to thank you ... I mean... back then... you saved my life. You really did. If you hadn't helped me that day, I wouldn't be sitting here now... ”, Toma interrupted him and sounded so serious.
“N-no, I didn't... I... I was just a kid back then. I didn't even know what I did. Really, you don't have to...”, Yamashita answered rather embarrassed.
“Yes, you did... you...” “No, I didn't!” “You did!”
And they would have continued arguing like that if Yamashita hadn't suddenly burst out into laughter. And after 3 seconds of obvious confusion Toma started laughing as well.
“Feels like back then, doesn't it?”, Yamashita asked, still grinning.
“Yeah, it really does.”, Toma said and smiled. Yamashita felt his heart skip a beat when he saw Toma's smiling face. He imagined how his face would have looked like when the child-Toma would have smiled like that.
“S-so~... what are you doing now? Work? Your suite looks expensive.”, Yamashita said.
Toma looked down at himself and said: “I'm working for the East India Trading Company. Those old guys just now were new clients. It's not really fun buttering them, but hey, somehow life has to go on, doesn't it?” And he smiled again. But this time it was a business-like smile that didn't seem really convincing.
“Yeah, somehow.”, Yamashita said, leaning back and sipping on his scotch. “I'm a police officer now.” He wanted to say something, a comment on his work, that maybe it was tiring or exciting, but after all it was just normal work to him. Nothing you would chat about in a private conversation.
“I'm glad I met you again.”, Yamashita said. And he really was. Sometimes he'd imagined Toma had already died. He'd been a dredger back then, after all.
“Me, too, Tomohisa.”, Toma replied, and again Yamashita could see one of his true smiles. But then he realized that Toma'd just called him by his first name, which was quite embarrassing since nobody had called him like that for almost 5 years. Since he'd moved out they only called him Yamashita (and Pi of course, which didn't please him, but there was no chance to get that out of Jun). But it felt good, hearing his name again after such a long period. He somehow wanted to hear it again.
“And I'm glad you've got such an amazing job. I remember you telling me about stealing everything in order to survive, and now... You're doing this honest job and stopped doing illegal stuff. That's amazing. Somehow I'm... proud seeing you like this.”, Yamashita said and smiled, too embarrassed to look at Toma.
“Hey, let's... let's exchange our current addresses so we can meet again! I won't be moving in the near future, so let's not wait 12 years again, okay?”
Toma looked at him with a neutral expression on his face.
Then he said: “Sure. Let's never wait again.” Then he lifted his glass and spoke an old toast. “Kanpai, Tomohisa.”
