Page 190 of Mercy Written in Blood

"You kept the leftovers."

"It would have been wasteful not to."

"You like my cooking."

Renji regarded him over the rim of the cup.

"Your need for praise is concerning."

"My confidence is healthy."

"Your confidence could survive significant injury."

"It has."

Renji's gaze dropped, briefly, towards Haruki's side. The wound had healed enough that most movements no longer hurt. Renji still noticed whenever Haruki turned too quickly or sat with his weight favouring one side. He tried to disguise the concern as clinical observation. Haruki had stopped pretending to believe him.

"Does it still ache?" Renji asked.

"Only when interrogated."

"That is not a physical activity."

"It depends who is asking."

Renji's expression flattened. Haruki smiled. He had learned that this particular look did not mean irritation. There was amusement beneath it now, held back with the same discipline Renji applied to everything else. Haruki wondered how manyexpressions had been mistaken for coldness simply because no one remained long enough to learn the difference.

The thought quietened him. Renji noticed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You looked at me strangely."

"I'm looking at you normally."

"No."

"You've known me for less than two months. You don't know what normal looks like."

"I know you have three ways of avoiding a question."

Haruki lifted an eyebrow. Renji continued.

"You make a joke. You ask another question. Or you become charming enough that the other person forgets what they asked."

"That sounds like admiration."

"It is diagnosis."

"You're not my doctor."

"You remind me frequently."

"Because you forget."

"I do not forget anything."