"I was going to ask her to marry me."

The two men had been drinking in silence, honoring their fallen comrade, when Shigeru finally spoke. Tachibana, surprised at this sudden admission, watched as Shigeru withdrew a velvet case from his jacket and laughed bitterly.

"No, that's not quite the truth. I had planned on just telling her, once things were over. You know what I mean? I was going to walk up to her and say 'Yuriko! We're getting married!' and that would have been that."

Tachibana couldn't help but smile at the mental image. He was sure the woman would have been delighted.

"I think she would have made a wonderful wife."

Shigeru laughed, with less bitterness this time, at Tachibana's comment. He refilled his glass and pondered on the comment, letting out a long, wistful sigh as he took a sip of his drink.

"You think so? I bet she would have been nothing but trouble. I'd probably have regretted it in less than a week."

Tachibana couldn't help but throw his head back and laugh heartily at that. Those two had always been that type of duo, hadn't they?

"But what a week it would have been."

Shigeru raised a brow, then smirked, raising his glass. Tachibana clinked his own against it.

"Yeah... What a week it would have been."