"Good morning, Kakashi-kun."
"..."
"Why are you looking at me like that? Did I do something discourteous?"
Seeing Kakashi Hatake standing at the entrance of the Writing Room with that complicated expression, Aizen asked pleasantly.
"Today is the first day of the new year. If you want to go out and play with your companions as soon as possible, you should make the most of your time. After all, the research group only gave us seven days off after the new year. For those who cherish them, those days will pass in the blink of an eye."
"...You're this long-winded, so you really are the real thing."
"Hmm? What happened?"
"Nothing."
Facing Aizen, who sat properly in the Writing Room amid an imposing array of calligraphy and painting, Kakashi opened his mouth, then swallowed the question he had wanted to ask.
Originally, Kakashi Hatake had wanted to ask where Aizen had gone during the Spring Festival. Everyone had searched for ages without finding him. Female fans like Rin Nohara had practically been ready to block his door on the way home.
Yet after sleeping through the night and waking up in the morning, Kakashi found Aizen sitting back in the Writing Room as if an NPC had respawned. He had intended to ask, but then remembered that his relationship with Aizen was rather complicated, and the question got stuck in his throat.
Kakashi Hatake's feelings toward Aizen were truly complicated.
After spending so much time together, Kakashi had more or less realized that Aizen's claim of being nothing more than a Chunin was complete bullshit.
With all those theoretical studies, forbidden techniques, and secret arts laid out before him, saying he had researched nothing and only dealt in theory was as absurd as standing in the middle of a room