{ if he'd known he may not have spent all day agonising over his phone thoma?????

but as it stands, he just keeps sipping at his tea, trying to ignore how the air is slowly going back to feeling more awkward.

the only good point of all of this is that he left a note, neither of them texted ayaka, as long as he gets back soon she'll likely never know there was anything wrong to begin with. they won't get more awkward questions to answer.

he clears his throat and places the now empty cup down. }

I should probably get back to working on the proposal I'm planning for the government here. But... thank you for the tea and pastry. You should probably ensure you eat something as well.

{ he smiles as he moves to stand, if only because it's much harder to grimace if that smile is on his face already and he is doing everything in his power to not make things even more awkward than they already are. }

I'll see you tomorrow? { but he can't help how that definitely sounds like a question, rather than a statement. }