Hamazura and Hanzou entered a set meal restaurant where everything was worthy of complaint other than the price. They settled down at a table in one corner of the restaurant and Hanzou ordered a bunch of food that was seasoned so that it felt like it needed some beer with it to be complete.
When Hamazura had been in Skill-Out, he, Komaba, and Hanzou had gone to that restaurant together frequently.
A flat-screen TV was set up in a corner of the restaurant. Hamazura idly watched a talk show that was going on about a reorganization of the Roman Catholic Church that included the top position of pope changing from Matthai Reese to Pietro Yogdis. Hanzou then started speaking.
"Aren't you going to order something, Hamazura?"
"I actually just ate at a family restaurant," responded Hamazura and only ordered a few skewers of salted yakitori. "…You always order Japanese food, don't you? And you don't seem to care what kind of restaurant you're in either."
"Do I really?"
"You're the kind of guy that would order fish at a yakiniku restaurant."
After the food arrived, Hanzou focused on eating for a bit. It seemed he hadn't had any lunch yet. Hamazura disassembled the skewered chicken and ate the pieces one by one after carefully removing the skin.
As Hanzou continued to chow down on his food, Hamazura looked at him questioningly.
"What's with you? Did you not have any breakfast?"
"Oh, I've just been busy lately, so I haven't been able to eat a proper meal in a while. I just don't have the time, so I've been eating things like jelly and beef jerky. It's been a while since I've been able to sit down and eat."
"?"
"Hey, I haven't been able to get a hold of you recently, Hamazura. Where have you been?"
"I'm the End of the Century Emperor back from the battlefield."
"Ahn?"
Now it was Hanzou's turn to look puzzled.
Following that, Hamazura and Hanzou started exchanging information that could have been thing's they had actually seen and could have been mere rumors. One was about the customer that got so pissed at the stingy settings of a pachinko parlor's slot machines that he plowed into the parlor with a dump truck. One was about the strengthening of security on ATM's that made even going around and destroying vending machines a better means of gaining money.
"Hehh. So you've got a girl, Hamazura."
"Well, yeah. …But to be honest, I'm a little uneasy about it," said Hamazura as he stabbed the removed chicken skins with a skewer. "Y'see, with the way I've always done things, I can attack, but I can't protect. I don't want this to be a relationship that ends in a few months. And so I finally have to think about things long term when I act."
"Money problems?"
"…I was thinking of maybe using my lock picking skills. Not to steal stuff from cars, but to have a road service where I open people's doors for them when they lock their keys in the car or whatever. If I can strengthen my stealing skills in that direction, I can use them to protect, too."
"Nee ha ha," laughed Hamazura in embarrassment.
He pulled out a small reference book that looked like it was for a correspondence course from his pocket and put it on the table.
"I don't think that getting my skills up to a practical level will be easy. I tried reading a magazine that talked about security, but I had no clue what the stuff about electronic locks was about."
"…Well, at least you know what area you're interested in, right? Like with choosing between the fine arts and the sciences, you have to choose what you're good at. At the very least, there's no way it could end up being wasted effort. All the work you put in will add up."
"I'm not so sure."
"Hey, you're the guy who had the heavy machinery we needed to steal an ATM up and running in two minutes. I'd say going down the path of locks is a good decision."
That was when a cell phone started ringing.
Hanzou pulled his cell phone from his pocket, looked at the screen, and then put it away.
He grabbed the bill and stood up.
Hamazura looked puzzled.
"What is it?"
"A money making opportunity," Hanzou said with a bitter smile. "But this is what you were calling an 'attack'. You can't protect anyone with this. There's nothing in it for you now."
"I see."
"Well, I have to hurry. See you, Hamazura."
"Hey, I'll pay for mine."
"Didn't I just tell you this is a money making opportunity for me? The food's on me."
Finished speaking, Hanzou turned his back to Hamazura and headed for the register.
Hamazura felt a little left out by not being invited along, but then…
"…Oh? The cashier isn't here. I can make a dash for it!!"
"You bastaaaaarrrrddd!! Don't dine and dash leaving me behiiiiiiind!!"
He then drowned his faint feelings in Worcestershire sauce.