Page 239 of Mercy Written in Blood

"Answer me."

"You are behaving childishly."

"You had no idea your birthday was tomorrow."

"I knew the date."

"You knew it after looking at the calendar."

"That is how dates are generally verified."

Haruki studied him. Renji's face had settled into controlled irritation. It was not irritation. Haruki knew enough now to recognise what lay beneath it. Embarrassment. Not because he had forgotten. Because Haruki cared that he had.

"When did you last celebrate it?" Haruki asked.

Renji leaned back.

"I have work."

"So do I."

"Then you should return to it."

"When?"

Renji's gaze cooled. Haruki remained where he was. They had learned each other's methods. Renji used silence like a closed door. Haruki had stopped treating it as one.

"I do not know," Renji said eventually.

Haruki's chest tightened.

"How long?"

"I said I do not know."

"You remember everything."

"Not everything."

"You remember an argument about a hospital trolley."

"It obstructed a corridor."

"You remember a physician insulting your taste in wine nearly a thousand years ago."

"I read that in the journal."

"You remember dates of battles you weren't present for."

"They are historically significant."

Haruki lowered his voice.

"Is your life not historically significant?"

Renji's expression changed. The question had struck more deeply than Haruki intended. Or perhaps exactly as deeply. Renji looked away.

"This is not productive."