Raizen stared at Eiden for a second too long.
The words didn't even feel real at first. They sounded like something you said to a student who got caught sneaking into a lab - not something you said to someone sitting in a quiet cafe with cats crawling all over him. Raizen's mouth opened, then closed again. His brain tried to find the safest answer, but all it found was a mess of half-truths and things he definitely couldn't explain in public.
Eiden watched him without blinking, calm and unreadable.
Raizen finally managed, "I -"
Eiden lifted one hand slightly, stopping him before he could dig a rabbit hole.
"Oh well" Eiden said, tone easing as if he decided the interrogation wasn't worth the effort. "I suppose she can't do anything with you, anyways."
Raizen frowned. That sounded like it should comfort him, but it didn't. It sounded like Eiden had been weighing Mina as a variable in an equation, and just crossed her out with a neat line.
