Page 9 of Pandion

Harumine had lost his appetite but tried to force something down. Slowly, very slowly, he formed his next question, “How do you pay for groceries?”

The pile of chips in the closet hadn’t happened overnight, so, could there be anything left in Kagesawa’s bank account?

“I use my card.” Kagesawa only elaborated further after Harumine glared at him. “I do get occasional transfers from unofficial commissions. Sales or the odd jobs from people who don’t bother filling chips.” He shrugged.

“How long has it been like this?” Harumine asked. He was frustrated, but some of his dismay was replaced by worry.

“As long as I can remember… Ah, I know it’s stupid. I don’t know what to tell you.”

“We’ll go hand them in together on Monday,” Harumine said, purposely making an effort to let go of the remnants of his self-righteous indignation. He could blame Kagesawa for everything, live in misery for the rest of this sentence or try to work on himself and his own attitude. But it was, oh, so tempting to give the man a verbal beating.

“I can’t believe I sorted all that crap when we could have afforded to wait for something better. Wouldn’t have had to wait for long either, had you handed in all your credits.” Having voiced this, Harumine felt a strange sense of relief and resignation.

Kagesawa took a bite, stared into thin air until he swallowed and then looked at his can of beer. “It’s not as if I don’t know this stuff, but I just wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry,” he said.

“I guess it’s fine. I’ll survive.”

“In case I forget, there are more chips in my desk drawers.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“And probably in the bathroom. I should check the laundry hamper. There are usually some at the bottom.”

“Where else?”

“Might have a few lying around here and there… Are you sure the beer is fine?”

“Yes, yes. I know what to expect this time.” After today, he felt like maybe a beer was in order.

“All right. If you’re sure.” Kagesawa opened the can and sipped it in silence.

Go ahead and resta—Harumine set his plate down on the coffee table so as not to drop it or dive into it if he fell asleep where he sat. “Thanks for the food, by the way. ”

“You’re welcome.” Kagesawa took the plates away and returned to the sofa with another beer.

“You’re having another?” Harumine was too tired to calculate whether that would make a difference.

“I thought I might. Do you mind?”

“I don’t care anymore. It’s up to you.” The first one hadn’t done much since he’d known to dampen the link in time. Even if his concentration faltered, he found himself thinking that the worst-case scenario wasn’t even all that bad. “I’d advise against a third though,” he added to not seem too eager. Kagesawa chuckled.

Stop the, uh.Harumine shook himself.

“Maybe you should go to sleep?”

“I probably should.” It didn’t seem as appealing when he was forced to sort trash as soon as he closed his eyes. He glanced at Kagesawa, grabbed the fresh can of beer, cracked it open and took a tentative swig.Blech. He’d had an idea of how it tasted, but tasting it for himself was slightly different.

“That was for me,” Kagesawa commented but didn’t seem upset.

“I just wanted to try it for myself for once. Out of curiosity.” Harumine tasted it again, but a second try made it taste no better.

“You can have it. Maybe one was enough for me after all.”

Chapter 6

Kagesawa sat back and watched Harumine Satoru, an adult man of twenty-five years, have what was supposedly his first beer. What a sheltered life that must have been.

After over a week, it no longer felt as unnerving to be linked again, but this link was definitely significantly stronger than most of the previous ones before it.

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