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[He can hope, okay? He can always cling to the false hope that this would all be over quickly, and they can get on with never talking about it again. In fact, all of this could be settled simply, with one quick explanation. All of this could be easily waved off with the truth, and there'd be no more questions asked.

Unfortunately, this is Tetsuo, who never met a situation he couldn't complicate.]

I just do.

[Tetsuo only looks at his hand as he answers, fingers flexing possessively over his breakfast in quiet acceptance for that extra touch of 'entitled asshole'.]

[Unfortunately, that's not really going to fly with your big brother, Tetsuo. There's a million reasons to why YOU would demand money, and none of them lead to a road he's sure he's comfortable with. The fact that Tetsuo's being so secretive after everything sends up all the warning flags, and he doesn't make a move to fish that cash out of his pocket.

Not yet.]

Okay, what'd you break.

[It's the first thing that comes to mind, honestly, as he goes back to making another rice ball.]

Edited 2016-03-14 17:53 (UTC)

Nothing.

[Well... maybe some things, but that's unrelated to this issue. Tetsuo sounds honest enough, and more importantly not suspicious levels of defensive. To punctuate that, he starts in on his onigiri.]

...It's drugs, then.

[His second choice, and the one he hoped it wasn't, honestly. He could take property damage over drugs.

Granted, a few months back he wouldn't have thought anything of it. He'd done drugs, Tetsuo had done them...it was recreational, and if Tetsuo needed it for his head pains? Then it was win/win.

But now...after seeing how Tetsuo could cope without them...how much he HIMSELF had sobered up....]

It's not!

[That's a very reasonable guess. Even now, two and a half months sober, Tetsuo still misses them more than is healthy. But this time, it's not what this is about.

Come on, Kaneda. If he was getting it for drugs, would he even bother with money to start with? Where did you think he kept getting it back when he had absolutely nothing?]

[That's a good point. Tetsuo clearly had the means to get the drugs by himself--he'd seen that firsthand back home and here. Hell, Kaneda himself had been somewhat of a supplier back then. And here he was...going to deny him for that now.

Huh.

He's a lot more sober than he thought he'd be.]

So what is it? I'm not saying 'No'.

But I need to 'know', you know?

It's nothing important- ...

[There should be a name there... It's gone now.]

Nothing important.

[He turns around, hips leaning against the counter as he bites into his own Onigiri.]

You want 'maybe eighty' dollars for 'nothing important.'

[If it's really unimportant, he never would have asked. Now that he's said it, he'll stand by it as long as possible either way.]

You gonna give it or not?

[... by trying to bypass what it's for altogether and cut to the question.]

Is it something I'm going to regret?

[Look, he's lowering his information standards for you, Tetsuo. You can at least answer that.]

If you're in trouble, just tell me.

It's nothing like that!

[Is that a good enough answer?]

...

[His head turns up, thinking this over for a long, quiet minute. It's a bit leap of faith, giving Tetsuo this much money (and honestly, to them it WAS a lot) just on blind belief in the other.

But they had to start somewhere, didn't they? And if Tetsuo said it wasn't damages, drugs, or problems with the local law enforcement...

He'd have to take his word if he wanted to get anywhere.

His hand reaches into his pocket, pulling out the wad of cash that he often kept there, softly thumbing out five twenties (and yes, he's sure on the number) before holding them out to Tetsuo.]

100. You know...in case there's that tax bullshit.

...

[Slowly, Tetsuo's hand reaches out, taking the bundle and looking at them each in turn himself. He didn't know what he'd been expecting. Less than that, by a lot. He'd been expecting to have to fight for it, and probably justify whatever decisions after as 'he tried, so it can't be helped'.

None of that happened... and he temporarily falters for a reply at all.

Before Kaneda can change his mind, he stuffs the whole thing in a pocket.]

Look...

[But he has to say something. He can't leave this at that and walk away. Not .. not after that.]

This is -

[How do you say 'thank you'?]

You're not gonna regret this later, or anything like that.

[That's about as close as it gets.]

...

[Well, good thing the person he's saying this to is Kaneda, because those eyes couldn't have lit up more if they were a Christmas tree. Suddenly...lending it out to Tetsuo seemed like it was going to turn out alright.

He wasn't being dodgy, or slinking off without a last word. It was reassurance, this time.]

100 bucks for something that won't come back to bite me...

[A hand rubs his neck, smiling to himself.]

Sounds pretty good to me.

[While that was completely true, Tetsuo's motives were not entirely pure. He'd said it in part to keep Kaneda off his back about this, or keep him from looking into what he was doing. But that reaction... he'd be lying if he didn't feel at least a little happy about it.

Too bad that's buried under more pure awkwardness, but the sentiment's there somewhere.]

Anyway. [He takes another bite of onigiri, then turns to go.] I've got stuff to do, so...

[Thanks for the money bro BYE HE'LL JUST BE GETTING OUT PRETTY MUCH NOW BEFORE YOU ASK MORE QUESTIONS.]

[Kaneda watches him go, slumping his arms against the counter as his smile fades. Sure, he'd probably given him money for something harmless. Or...he hoped it was harmless. That's basically all that this was riding on, anyway.

The onigiri remains in his hand as he rolls it in his palm, exhaling enough air to lift the bangs on his head.

If he wasn't going to regret it...why did he feel like Tetsuo still couldn't trust him with some things? Thoughts he shakes out of his head before going back to work.

Tetsuo wouldn't let him down.]

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