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“You're buying me lunch, right Yagami-san?” Sugiura says.
Yagami raises an eyebrow. “I am? How come?”
“Call it a way you can pay me back for saving your ass more than once now.”
“Sure. I owe you that much. Only it's going to have to be a Smile Burger as I'm kind of strapped for cash right now. There haven't been many jobs as of late.”
“Cheapskate,” he scoffs but he doesn't mind.
Sugiura stretches, his arms lifting lazily above his head and behind him, and that movement dislodges his white hoodie enough to expose the band of bruised skin around his neck. Not as vibrant as it once was but still harsh and rough.
Yagami stares at it. It's from that moment at Shono’s lab where he and Sugiura were separated. Sugiura was captured and hung by his neck from the ceiling. If Yagami was just that little bit slower, if he didn't make it in time then…
“I'm so sorry, Sugiura,” Yagami tells him.
Sugiura blinks, confused at first then he realises what Yagami’s looking at. He quickly yanks his hoodie back into place, tugging the drawstrings tight. “You got me down, didn't you? Forget about it.”
“Sugiura-”
“The things we do to find the truth are dangerous. Someone's bound to get hurt.”
“Don't shrug that shit off. You could have died back there. Do you think that Emi-chan would want her little brother to be put in danger like that?”
At the mention of his sister's name, Sugiura’s face softens. “She wouldn't like it one bit. She was so over protective of me and I always used to be annoyed by it. Didn't know how good I had it. If she was here now she would be fussing over me and telling me to rest.”
“She sounds like a good sister.”
“She was. That's why we need to continue our investigation. She needs justice. It doesn't matter if I get caught in the crossfire. You’ll come and save me. Right, Yagami-san?”
Yagami smiles. “I will but I rather you wouldn't get in those situations in the first place.”
“No promises there, dude, and hey, who's the one who saved your ass from yakuza thugs multiple times now? I think you need saving more than me,” Sugiura grins back with his usual cocky bravado and the atmosphere relaxes.
He puts up his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, you've got me there. All I ask for is for you to promise me that you'll take care of yourself, alright?”
“Sure thing. And c’mon, are we having that lunch or not? I'm starving.”