After having wandered for some time in the station, he eventually found himself venturing into this crowded place.
The air was filled with clouds of smoke coming from an army of cigarettes, enjoyed by a battalion of ever thirsty miners.
They were coming here to have some fun time after a troublesome day... Or night.

How could one even relax in that constant noise and toxic atmosphere?
He considered to turn around and just retrace his steps to the quarters he had reserved for the time he would spend here. But instead, he repressed a sigh and elbowed his way through the bar to reach a relatively quiet corner on the main counter.

"Hey there." said a woman from the other side of the counter after he had waited a few minutes. She was obviously juggling with the orders with a skill that could only have come from habit.
"What do you order?"
"Hmm..." He muttered, considering his options "A tea, please."
She gauged him with a swift gaze.
"Sure. But i can't guarantee it will satisfy your oh-so-high standard, Mr. Kusari. We have good ale, though."
"The tea will do."

It took a while for her to return with his beverage. He attempted to smell the vapour coming from the teapot to get an idea, but it was obviously mission impossible to smell anything but grime and tobacco here.
"Thanks. Is it always like this, here?" He asked politely.
The woman laughed without any trace of humour.
"Oh no.. It's actually quiet at this hour. Just wait till midnight."

She then quickly left him as several clients were demanding her full attention, begging desperately in unison to get their ale.
The man absent mindedly nodded, playing with his tea spoon as he was drawn back to his concerns.

"Ehh. What's an handsome Sahhree like you doing drinkin' alone an' looking all sad like that?!" asked someone with an awful accent right near him. With all that surrounding noise, he didn't even notice someone took a seat there.
"Nothing. Just trying to enjoy a tea.." he answered coldly, struggling to not get his tea spilled on the counter as some customers were generously pushing him to reach the counter.
"Ohh... You drink 'dat thing. C'mon, be a real man and drink somethin' real with me."

The voice was familiar. Too familiar. He finally gazed at the pain with curiosity.
She smiled puckishly.
"You.."
She simply nodded sagely.
"What.. What are you doing...?"
"Were you waiting someone else? Oh, please accept my sincere apologies." said the woman with a sorry expression while doing the pretence of a bow.
"I didn't want to interrupt some kind of secret romance affair."

"Junko... What are you doing here!" rumbled the man.
"Isn't that obvious?" She asked, tilting her head to one side in a mildly disappointed way "I'm having a drink, of course. I will always be boggled by your observation skills."
"No." The man sighed in anger. "I mean -here-."
"Oh.." she emitted, as if she only understood his meaning just now "Well... You aren't very hard to follow..."

He puts his tea away and frowned at her.
"You said you'd rest."
"I said I'll try."
"This doesn't look like trying to me."
The woman rolled her eyes in an annoyed fashion.
"Oh come on. Do you know how boring it is at home? I would get mad if I stayed there."
He apparently had no intention of just letting her have her will.
"You will fly back to Kusari again."
"I won't."
"You will."
"I won't."
"I'll order you to fly back again."
She grinned.
"I'm not on duty. You can't order me anything. I'm just here as a.. Civilian." She points at the drink infront of her. "Just to enjoy a nice drink."

He sighed heavily and turned away. Staring intently at his cup of tea he was apparently somehow trying to ignore her presence.
Seemingly, no other customer of the bar had noticed their little argument.

"Hideaki.." She said sweetly and he noticed her moving closer to him. He just grumbled.
"Now.. why don't you tell me what you are doing out here, hmm..?"
He frowned again. "I already said I won't tell you. And it's really not your business."
"Well, then I'll follow you until I find out myself. Just telling me would be easier."

He turned his head to stare at her.
"I'm on a mission that's supposed to be secret and I'll make sure I won't be followed. Even if that means I'll have to tie you up."

"Tying me up? Do you really think you have the strength to do such a thing?"
She smiled softly after having taken a sip from her glass.
"Do i need to remind you how that training we had in your parents' house ended?"

She swayed her head a couple of time as he wasn't answering, contenting himself with staring at his cup of tea.
"If i recall correctly, you ran away in shame like a poor little thing. It was somewhat cute to watch, that said.."
"But you are still injured. Not knowing your limits will get you killed one day."
"Really? Try your luck then, if i'm such an easy target!" she replied point-blankly with a moderate amount of anger.

He chose to ignore that.
"Why did you follow me?"
"Told you. It was getting too boring. And Amaya is quite annoying these days. Something must be wrong with her."
"Hmm... Naturally. And nothing is wrong with you. You should be at home, resting. Not following someone trying to achieve something important, thus potentially ruining his chances to succeed."

She didn't reply, grabbing his arm instead to pull him.
"Come! Let's dance!"
"Junko... Junko!"

He finally forced her to stop as they were about to enter in the small space that seemed to be dedicated for dancing.
Taking her head between his hands, he waited for her to look into his eyes. She just looked feverish.
He was knowing her enough by now to see through those barriers, uncovering a torn apart nature he never came to see before.
"What's wrong..?" asked in a reassuring tone Ishikawa "I don't recognize you..."
The woman looked away, biting her lower lip.
"It's just..."

"hm? Tell me."
She finally sighed and mumbled. "You don't know how hard this is."
He tilted his head and decided to puts his arms loosely around her.
"What do you mean? What's the problem?"
She turned his head back to him, looking at him quite seriously.
"I've been disappointed too much already.. and yet.. and yet I did it again. I opened myself to somebody."
Ishikawa just stays silent and listens for now.
"And now that somebody.." She frowns at him as she says that. "is trying to get himself killed. And he's obviously completely helpless without my help. Look how easily I was able to follow you!"

"Oh." He just said, quite surprised by that little outburst. "I didn't know you were that worried."
"Well now you know..." She mumbled and looked away again, obviously uncomfortable with the situation. She shifted around uneasily, thinking that telling him all this had been a pretty stupid idea. Angrily she noticed that she was becoming soft.

Ishikawa suddenly smiled. "That's actually pretty sweet."
"hmph." She decided to not comment that statement, thinking hard about how to save this situation somehow.

"So, would you still like to dance?"

"No. Not in the mood for it anymore." said Junko after having released herself from him.

She stood there is front oh him, gazing around angrily, until she finally said :
"I.. Nevermind. You were right. It was stupid of me to follow you."
"Junko..." Started Ishikawa.

But she ignored him. Fending the crowd, she then walked away in order to leave the bar.
The man sighed heavily. As if he didn't have enough things to worry about.
Resigned, he finally made his way towards the exit, attempting to not lose sight of her.