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It had been a week or so since they'd gone to the human world for that class. Or maybe more.. Seiji hadn't honestly been keeping track of the days, and as much as he wanted to get this little meet up and talk over with, he was also dreading it. Which meant he may or may not have been putting it off. That could only carry on so long though, and eventually he made himself pick up his phone and type out a text.



He stared at it a moment or two. Swiveling back and forth in his computer chair, elbow resting on his desk so he could hold his head up in his hand. He wasn't looking forward to this, but knew in the long run it would probably help. There were a lot of unresolved things that had been left between Junko and himself, things that had been pushed aside or looked over in the heat of the moment in the cemetery. In the letter she'd left him she'd mentioned questions, and though she'd also said she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answers, he at least wanted to know what she'd wanted to ask him.

Sighing, he hit the send button, then set the phone on the desk top beside him.

Despite having returned the text late, Junko had showed up early. Seiji spotted her as he came striding up the side walk, the hood of his vest up, hands crammed into his pockets. He'd already not really been looking forward to this, but the closer he got, the harder it was not to notice what she was wearing, and he actually slowed to a stop across the street, chest tightening painfully. It wasn't fair, it really wasn't. She wasn't supposed to look that good. And what was she wearing?! She'd never worn anything like that when they'd been together. It left a muscle at the corner of his eye twitching as she waited for traffic part so he could cross the street.

He was frowning when he stopped in front of her, his tall frame casting a shadow over her and the phone screen she was currently staring down at. "Hey." He went for neutral, and actually managed it, despite the hard knot that was forming in his stomach.

Had she worn the dress on purpose? To rub it in his face that he didn't have her anymore? Probably not.. Junko wasn't really the malicious type.

He waited for her to look up, then headed for the door to Scarbucks, pausing long enough at it to hold it for her, then moved towards the counter. Fingers curling into tight fists in his pockets. All of a sudden he didn't want to be there, but he couldn't bail now. This had been his idea.

Besides, hard as it was, answering questions, getting some closure, was good for him. For both of them.

News flash to ex-ghoulfriend of 2 years, he would be mad at you for quite a while.

Sadly though, he couldn't ignore her when she asked him a direct question. Shoulders rounding slightly, he turned enough so he could look down at her. "Staying busy," he admitted, wondering just how much of an answer he cared to give her. He wasn't vindictive enough to mention that he'd been hooking up with a certain banshee. No matter how mad, how hurt, to say it just to hurt her was too petty. "Yourself?"

It was polite to ask, but he inwardly cringed. He could see she was doing fine. A verbal reminder wasn't required.

The line at the counter moved up, and the ghost had to give his order. A grade something that was more cream and sugar then actual coffee. He preferred tea, but as of late he'd started widening his tastes a bit. After paying he stepped to teh side to wait for both his order, and the ghoul, should she feel like ordering anything for herself.

He shrugged at her thanking him. "I asked you to meet me, only fair if I pay." He'd caught that unreadable look, and had returned it, before turning back to watch the baristas work on their drinks. When his came up he finally withdrew his hands from his pockets and grabbed it, holding it with both hands, happy for the heat.

He'd be loathed to admit it, to Junko, or Sarias, but he missed the heat..

While they waited for her tea he figured he could maybe expand a bit on what staying busy meant. She had offered quiet a lot in the way of an answer when he'd offered. "I'll be playing in one of the bands during prom. Roch asked me, didn't want to bother his usual drummer of bassist, since they're third years, and they'd probably want to spend their last prom with their dates." He shrugged. He had his own date, but they would hardly be attached at the hip.

He didn't comment on her difficulty in finding a place to live after she graduated. If they'd been engaged he'd have gotten a job, and any living arrangements would have been taken care of. Now? Not his problem any longer.

Junko's tea appeared on the counter in front of them, and he handed it over to the ghoul before claiming a table near a back corner. A little more secluded then most, and as good a place as any for post break up, awkward questions.

Grey lips twitched, almost a smile, but it faded just as quickly as she asked him if it was drummers or bassists that got the most tail. It made him blink at her, brows pinching in a clear indication that he hadn't expected that sort of a question, let along from her, of all people.

"Don't know, not worried about it," was his quick retort as he took his seat and rested his elbows on the table, hands still wrapped around his cup. He hardly believed there would ghouls flocking around them wanting to get into their pants. At least not random ghouls.

There was silence as they both sipped from their drinks, but Seiji would break it first, getting back to the reason they'd met up in the first place. "Anyways. I know you said you weren't sure if you wanted all the answers to questions you mentioned you'd had in that letter you left, but I think maybe it'd be good to just get it all out." He was staring at the lid of his cup, but glanced up at her. "I'd really like to know what those questions are." As much as he was beginning to move on, he still didn't fully understand what had happened to make their happy little life crumble.

"You're always so chipper, it's honestly hard to tell when something's bothering you until it's something big," he admitted, staring resolutely at his coffee cup. His brows were knit, and the more she talked the more agitated he seemed to become. Broad shoulders rounding as he finally looked back up at her. "That day I came to you about going to see my parents? It was right after Sharra had come back from his own trip home," he made the appropriate air quotes. "The one he told Yaya would only last a couple weeks, and ended up lasting over six months. The one he took after the island, after shutting himself away for a while cause he didn't know how to coop." Glowing eyes narrowed, not so much at the ghoul before him, but the situation he was retelling.

"After Fright Night Yaya and I waited for you and everyone else to come back from wherever you'd ended up. We waited for anyone that might have been hurt. We didn't see you, but Sharra came limping up the hill, and if you'd have seen to look on Yaya's face, after not knowing he was back, after not speaking to him for months, you'd have understood why I thought you'd be unhappy with me going back to my parent's for a couple of weeks." He shook his head, then forced his fingers back to comb through a few dark strands, pushing them out of his face. "I had already messed up by just shutting myself in when I was overwhelmed by everything happening, and I was trying so hard to get out of that rut and change things." It was an effort to keep his voice low, level.

Finally getting it all out, admitting that he'd known he hadn't been an amazing boilfriend for little while, but that he was trying to turn it all around and prove to her how much he cared. All of that, being so excited, and then he'd come home from his trip, and everything had shattered.

Having her say it, comparing him to her father, he could understand why she'd been scared, but he still didn't understand why she'd turned him down.

He'd looked down again, unable to face the pain in her face. It was too soon, too raw, and he felt that if she'd just.. Held out a little longer, he could have shown her how their lives would have been different, better, then anything their parent's had had.

After a moment of silence he did finally look up to meet her eyes, and there was pain there too, real and aching. It was incredibly obvious that what she'd done had cut him up and despite finally being able to let himself move he still carried around the baggage her leaving had placed on him. "I really tried," he admitted, voice quieter.