Page 187 of Mercy Written in Blood

Haruki exhaled.

"Four."

"Two."

"Three."

"Two, or I remove all of them."

Haruki considered.

"Two."

Hiroshi nodded approvingly.

"You negotiate like you're married."

Reina struck him with the spoon again. This time Ayako smiled. Only briefly.

Conversation resumed — not easily, but deliberately. The camera was discussed. Routes examined. Names assigned. Through it all, Renji remained aware of Haruki beside him: the angle of his body, the way he checked Renji's expression whenever another detail emerged, the fact that his knee rested against Renji's beneath the table and neither man moved it away.

Eventually, bowls were cleared. Hiroshi disappeared before washing began and was returned by Daisuke three minutes later.Renji removed the apron. Reina took it from him, folded it and placed it in a drawer.

"You'll know where it is next week," she said.

Renji looked at her.

"There was no discussion of next week."

"No."

She closed the drawer.

"Still."

Across the kitchen, Haruki stood drying plates while Ken washed them. He looked over. Their eyes met. Something quiet passed between them — not a promise, recognition perhaps, of the table, the hand beneath it, the possibility of another Sunday.

Renji picked up a towel.

"You're doing that incorrectly," he told Haruki.

Haruki looked at the plate.

"I'm drying it."

"You're leaving water near the rim."

"That evaporates."

"Then there would be no purpose in drying it."

"Take over, then."

Renji did. Haruki moved beside him to collect another plate. Their shoulders touched. Neither apologised.

From the doorway, Ayako watched them. She had gone unnoticed by everyone except Renji. Her gaze moved from Haruki's face to the towel in Renji's hands, then to the small distance neither man seemed willing to restore between them. She watched a beat too long. Then she turned and walked away.

Chapter Sixteen