HA3 2.2 – Drinking with Hanna
Grilled chicken, fried calamari, chicken meat ball, omelet roll, French fries, and boiled edamame, those were the drinking snack that Hanna ordered. As for the drink, Hanna ordered two glasses of draft beer. Unfortunately, for Hide, she ordered a bottle of Kiss My Boss’s Wife.
“Why do you order a non-alcoholic for me?” Hide asked as he gave his beer a weird gaze. “Not to mention, it has weird name.”
“You are under 20, can’t have alcoholic beverage yet,” Hanna casually said before taking three big gulps of her draft beer. “Aaahhhhh…. This is so good.”
“Come on, no one will know,” Hide pleaded.
“Nope, nope, nope…. Nope,” Hanna cheerfully said. “I plan to drunk tonight, so you have to be sober and escort me home safely.”
After letting out a sigh Hide took a sip his beer. As expected, it was kickless like other non-alcoholic beer. Hide won’t mind to use it as substitute for real beer when Aizawa was with him.
But now, when he was with Hanna and was surrounded by sea of alcohol, drinking a non-alcoholic beer was no different than a torture.
Unfortunately, he had no other choice, and so he accepted his fate while taking a piece of fried calamari, put it in his mouth, and chewed it. Hide then waited until Hanna finished her first glass of draft beer before starting his digging.
“If you don’t mind,” Hide casually said. “Can’t you tell me why you were so upset earlier?”
“There are two things that piss me off,” Hanna casually said before taking a piece of grilled-chicken and chewed it. “The first thing is you.”
“Me?” Hide asked as his eyes widened.
“Yeah, you,” Hanna firmly said. “You have tricked me and it pisses me off greatly.”
“When did I trick you?” Hide genuinely asked as confusion filled his face to the brim.
“You never tell me that you are seasoned fighter,” Hanna casually said before putting another piece of grilled chicken in her mouth. “When I saw your sparring footage this morning, I feel like I don’t know you at all. You fought like a seasoned fighter.”
Once Hide comprehended the matter, the confusion in his face instantly gone without a trace. After a smile he then said, “Honestly, I don’t know how good my fighting skill because I never fight before.”
Hanna instantly squint her eyes as she looked at Hide straight in the eyes. “Really? You never fought before.”
“Really.” Hide happily said. “And don’t forget, you and Coach Kotaro treat me as newbie. I believe it’s because you two don’t find anything that shows I’m an experience fighter.”
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“What about the goons from Torra Security. How did you chase them away back then?” Hanna asked while maintaining her suspicious gaze on Hide. “Words won’t be enough to make them leave.”
‘I thought you already forgot it,’ Hide lamented before asking Hanna back, “I was lucky enough to catch them off guard. Ask them if you don’t believe me.”
After letting out a sigh Hanna said, “Their Boss only promised me his goons will never bother me or you again. He never tells me the detail.”
“I see.”
“Hide, tell me the detail, please,” Hanna said in a drop dead serious tone.
“When they tried to take you from me, I managed to stab them in arm and thigh,” Hide casually said. “They left after that. I also threaten them I will scream as loud as possible to draw some attention.”
“Goons from Torra Security are seasoned martial artist, yet you managed to stab them just like that?”
“Yeah.”
“Really?”
“It sound easy,” Hide said as he skillfully faked a traumatize eyes. “Because you didn’t see that after the goons left, my hand can’t stop trembling while cold sweats drenched my back.”
“I see.” After a short pause Hanna asked another question. “Fortunately, you have a knife at that time.”
“Actually, I bring a piece right now,” Hide said as he took out a small knife from his lower back and put it on the table.
“Do you always bring a knife with you wherever you go?”
“Yeah.”
“Where did you buy it from?”
“Online store for survival kit.”
“I see.”
Actually, Hide made the knife by himself, but it would create another complexity if he told that to Hanna, so he excluded this detail from his explanation.
Hanna then took the small knife and examined it. It was made of one piece dark cold steel. The handle was 4 inch long, it didn’t have guard but it was slightly curved and had a grip-hold for each finger. Therefore, the user’s hand wouldn’t slip when making a powerful thrust. As for the blade, it was as long as adult middle finger, two and half times wider, fixed blade, and had triangle tips suited for stabbing.
Overall the knife was light, thin, and easy to carry, but sturdy enough for medium work. It’s just that Hanna found one problem.
“Isn’t this knife too small for a fight?”
“But it’s serve you well when you want to ambush someone who coming at you. It’s also very easy to conceal carry it,” Hide casually replied.
“Who taught you how to ambush using this small knife?”
“Internet.”
“Have you ever ambush people other than the goons from Torra Security?”
“Nope.”
Hide could tell that Hanna did not fully believe his explanation, but she couldn’t refute it either. And so, Hide considered he had resolved this issue for now at least. Then, he changed the subject of the conversation.
After taking a sip of his beer Hide calmly asked, “What is the second thing that made you upset?”
After letting out a sigh Hanna said, “Today, I have appointment with Kamui Finance. They will help the investor I represent to broker some land in South Nichiko. But they didn’t show up and then I received notif that all Kamui’s top managements are very likely already dead.”
Hide’s heart skipped a beat when Hanna mentioned Kamui Finance, but he managed to hide his shock and faking a curious expression. “How could top managements from a company suddenly dead in masses?”
“Kamui is also brokering deal for underworld folk,” Hanna casually said. “Maybe they offended some nasty people.”
“I see,” Hide put a piece of chicken meat ball in his mouth and chewed before saying, “I hope metro police will find the culprit soon.”
“I don’t think it will be easy.”
“How so?”
Hanna ordered a lemon sour from a waitress who coincidently passed their table by before replying, “The incident took place in Kamui’s office. There is lot of blood and gunfight trace, but metro police forensic found that the culprit have made it impossible to find clue from it.
Not to mention, the incident was discovered only at noon when the cleaning service already mopped the floor corridor and lot of people have walked in it. So, metro police can’t even find the culprit footprint or what kind of footwear they wore.”
Hide slightly nodded before saying, “So, that’s why you were so upset earlier.”
“Making a projection cash flow for a big project in a metropolitan city is not easy you know,” Hanna sourly said. “When you have to start from scratch because the previous factor, option, and condition are not valid anymore, I guarantee it will drive you crazy.
And I have to experience such occurrence twice in row from the same project.”
“Wait a second…” Hide looked at Hanna as big question mark popped up in his forehead. “This is the second time you experience it?”
“Yeah,” Hanna sourly said. “The project is Sakura Project. We have to change the location after contractor who was responsible to acquire the land withdraw from the project. And now, the people who will broker the land acquisition are gone without a trace.”
“I see.” After taking a deep breath Hide said, “In that case, feel free to get drunk. I will ensure you arrive at home safely.”
“Good. I really need to get drunk right now,” Hanna said as her lemon sour arrived and she immediately took a few big gulps in one go.
At the same time, Hide took a sip of his kickless beer. Somehow, it didn’t taste as bad as before. Maybe, it was because deep down he felt a slight guilt as his action had cause immense trouble for Hanna, while at the same time he could not cancel it no matter what.
In the end, all he could do was trying his best to provide Hanna some comfort. If she wanted to get drunk, Hide would let her to get it as much as she wanted.
*****