Soshi Amori had not intended to be in an awkward situation, but there he sat at the dining room table at his friend Shogo’s house, staring at a woman he’d hoped to never see again. The shinobi commander was the best in the village he came from (the village Shogo had also come from) and had taken the night off to attend dinner with his best friend, as per his request, but he hadn’t suspected that she would be there.
She was still as beautiful as she had been when they’d started dating; just as beautiful as she had been when they’d broken up. Now, sitting across the table from her, his heart ached with sadness, regret, and forlorn-ness of what could have been- what still could be…
…but none of this showed on his face.
Shogo was smiling as he sat between the two at the table, folding his hands over his plate before he spoke. “Sooo…how’s the weather?”
Soshi closed his eyes. “…will you excuse me for a moment?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“No,” Soshi said, “you’re coming too.”
With his long, ebony hair swishing behind him, he stopped near the bathroom in the only hallway of Shogo’s apartment. He lowered his voice before he said anything, and he kept his tone businesslike, “You didn’t tell me Danielle would be here.”
The blonde blinked. “I didn’t tell you my aunt would be coming?”
“No.”
Shogo paled. “Whoops…”
Soshi sighed deeply. “I…maybe I should just-”
“No way, man. Don’t leave me alone with her.” Shogo whispered harshly. “Dude, I love my aunt, but she treats me like a little kid.”
“You technically are one.”
“And so are you, ya dick!”
“Look, just…” He sighed, leaning back as he pushed his bangs away from his forehead. “I’ll stay. But if things get awkward, I’m leaving.”
His best friend eyed him a bit pityingly before nodded. “Mmkay.”
As they sat back down, Danielle rested her head on her left fist as she pushed some peas around her plate. “Having fun whispering about me, boys?”
Immediately Soshi’s cheeks flushed. “…we weren’t whispering about you.”
She smirked. “I can smell a lie a mile away. You think this is going to get awkward, right? Well…it won’t. Not as long as you decide it won’t be awkward.” Danielle leaned back a bit before taking a piece of chicken from her plate and popping it into her mouth.
Sassily, he replied, “You aren’t the one who can see the future.”
“Oh, and you see everything?” She snorted.
“I see everything.” He bluffed, returning her smile.
“Then what did I have for dinner last night?”
“You know it doesn’t work backwards.” They grinned at each other and laughed, though his smile faded as quickly as it had come. It was almost as if they were still together. This revelation caused him to lean back in his chair, closing his mouth as he did. A hint of bitterness buried itself inside of his heart before he remembered that one of his squads had brought in a rogue ninja for interrogation. He relaxed a bit. I can unwind with that later.
He closed his eyes. “So, is anyone going to the Masquerade tomorrow night?”
