[ what's on his mind? where does he begin? he leaves izō to the bar for the moment, choosing to light a cigarette instead. it's become his nervous habit more than ever recently and everyone else just has to deal. not that he expects izō to care. ryouma glances down at the pack before replacing it in his pocket, making a face because he's not sure that's enough for this whole conversation.

well, whatever. he's faced a lot in his time, this should be easy by comparison. should being the operative word. ]

Well, not too long ago things sorta came to a head with Hizen and we had a long talk. Realised there's a lotta things that weren't real clear or outright misunderstandings.

He might not've taken after ya specifically, but it got me thinkin' anyway. Maybe it's the same way... 'cause it ain't like we ever talked about any of it.

[ he hates how that sounds, letting "it" just hang in the air. they both know what that means, he's sure. it's vague enough to be applicable to whichever particular axe izō has to grind at any given moment because ryouma is acknowledging the tangled mess of their shared history. ]

Ain't like I wanna drag this out, 'cause I think we'd both like it better never lookin' at it. [ just to call them both out, why not ] But I'm afraid I'll lose ya for good if I don't.