'This is your place, Shiki?'
'Yep. My parents are out now, so we can chill here until around eight o'clock in the night.'
Regulus entered Shiki's house nervously, placing his shoes on the floor next to the other pairs. Compared to his house, Shiki's house was smaller, fit for two people, but in one room there was a king-sized bed, enough for two.
To him, it felt "normal" in a sense. He had been living in that house for five years. He moved when he was ten and his parents were with him. Now, the only thing Regulus receives from them is money, though that is legally required.
Shiki invited him upstairs to his room. Opening the door, he was able to see his room. Shiki was a messy person, either that or he hadn't been bothered to clean up. Clothes, shoes, socks and the like were spread out across the floor. Even underwear.
Unlike Shiki, Regulus' room was clean and tidy the majority of the time. He hasn't been in another's room for so long, so he forgot what a normal room was. (He started thinking that he was more normal than Shiki.)
They both sat on cushions, each, facing each other.
'So, should we get straight onto the topic?'
Shiki said with a smile.
'Hold up, before we do...'
Regulus turned his head toward the mess of clothes.
'Will you do anything about that?'
'I was trying to change the subject!'
He shouted at Regulus. Of course, Regulus didn't get the idea of changing subjects since he hasn't done it. Ever. Even when he was leading a normal and happy life.
'Anyways, we're here to officially start the meeting!'
'What will we name this meeting?'
The boy put his hand to his chin and thought for a small amount of time. Once he got an idea, he pointed upward and his expression lightened up. Shiki quickly got a piece of paper and a pen and wrote words down in English.
'Amende honourable.'
'What's that mean?'
'Synonym for an apology. Searched it up yesterday. Sounds cool, doesn't it?'
«So creative.»
He thought to himself.
The reason the two of them are hanging out together has many reasons to it. One reason is that Shiki is trying to help Regulus fix broken relations with Kiriyama. Another is that Shiki just wanted someone to hang out with. And the final one, in Regulus' case, is to check whether Shiki is a black exorcist or not. The way he would check whether Shiki is a black exorcist is there would usually be a mark on the individual's body.
'So, first, I think we should try and address the problem first.'
Shiki wrote in English once more. He wrote Kiriyama's name and circled it, writing "PROBLEM" in capitals. Or at least he tried. He spelt problem like this: PROBLUM. Regulus found it a bit embarrassing.
'Shiki, why're you trying to write in English?'
'Why not? I mean, it makes it all look cooler.'
Regulus groped the air, prompting for the pen and paper. Shiki gave it to him, confused. He then turned the paper around and wrote Kiriyama, in caps in the middle. Turning it into a spider diagram, he wrote "PROBLEM" correctly in capitals and underlined it three times.
'Oooh! Regulus, how did you do that?'
'Do what?'
'Write in English.'
The boy sighed.
'Well, I am half-British myself. My mom taught me how to speak, write, and understand English.'
The shining in Shiki's eyes was bright. He looked like a bright light shining on an idol, while they were singing on stage. Before questions would begin bombarding Regulus, he continued, trying the "changing the subject" technique.
'So, for our problem, it would be... "Unable to apologise without reason and unsure whether apologising would fix things."'
Regulus wrote down what he said. It looked like Shiki didn't understand it, so Regulus wrote the Japanese translation for Shiki underneath the English sentence.
'Why are you unable to apologise?'
'I think I said it before, but there are just some things surrounding myself that I wouldn't like getting Kiriyama involved in. Plus, I don't know what problem may be surrounding her.'
'Okay. When you say problems surrounding yourself, what do you mean in particular?'
'The most basic thing would be my reputation.'
Regulus' face looked apathetic as he finished his sentence and Shiki looked serious. Seemed like he knew what Regulus was talking about.
'I'm sure you've heard, but because you're hanging out with me, your reputation among the girls are worsening. I feel bad about it, but there's nothing I can do about it.'
'To be honest, I don't care, since there's one girl I like and she'll never hate me for hanging out with you. Anyways, as long as we're going along these lines, why do you attempt suicide?'
The boy sitting opposite Shiki started thinking. He wasn't sure whether this would be a question that may reveal his identity as a Demon Summoner. Even if it was, Regulus answered truthfully, since it wouldn't reveal too much, if any.
'I guess you could say because of my parents. They destroyed my life and abandoned me. At that point, I thought there's no point in living.'
'But you can live now, right?'
Shiki seemed desperate. Maybe he had a close connection to Regulus, despite only knowing him for three days or so.
'I'm still going to commit suicide.'
'What?! Why?!'
'So far, there hasn't been a major reason as to why I need to stay alive. Sure, I've met a few more people but they're not my most important reason. Be it finding love, or taking on a long-term goal, that may be my major reason. But since I haven't found that, I'll still be committing suicide.'
After he finished speaking, Regulus wrote down a couple of things. Around Kiriyama, he wrote "MAIN REASON–SUICIDE." He wasn't able to apologise because he was afraid of ruining Kiriyama's reputation.
Regulus' meeting with Shiki would take a while to address the problem and discuss what they could do. Amende Honourable carried on.