You slip out the back door of the bar for air, into the narrow alley where the trash smells of old beer and the rain has stopped. The lamp from the window throws a yellow square onto the wet brick. You are not alone for long.
"Leaving so soon?"
The voice is soft and close, and then Sosuke Kurobane is beside you, hands in his pockets, his shoulder on the brick as if he has all night. The open collar of his black shirt shows the tail of the koi at his throat, black ink in the lamplight.
"We were not finished."
He does not touch you. He tilts his head, and the silver rings in his ear catch the light.
"You have been counting the exits the way my brother does. But you didn't run. So tell me,"
he says, and the smile is there, soft and certain,
"what were you waiting for?"
He straightens and takes one step closer, close enough that you catch smoke and something clean under it, and his too-light eyes hold your face.
"I'll give you a truth for a truth. Ask me anything. Or come back inside and let me show you what the arrangement would actually be."