the wild hunt.

It wasn't every day that Minoru went to a bar. Indeed, normally he very much preferred to not go to a bar. It wasn't that Minoru couldn't hold his alcohol, unlike his father he could hold it quite well, he simply wasn't a big fan of the taste of booze. One could say that it was out of nostalgia, when Minoru still went by his old name he occasionally went to bars with his friends. It was more of a social thing than anything else, though Minoru questioned why he had chosen to come here now.

It didn't matter now anyway, he was here and he would spend some time here. If for no other reason, it was simply to kill some free time that he had. Minoru walked in to the bar. He didn't get any looks from people, something that came as a sort of a relief to him. It seemed that since Minoru had changed his hairstyle people weren't recognizing him, that was good. He didn't want to attract any unwanted attention to himself and it was going well so far.

Minoru walked up to the bar, sitting next to a woman already sitting at the bar. When the bartender asked what he wanted his answer was simple, just some ginger ale. Ginger ale wasn't Minoru's favorite drink, but he chose it because it looked like gin. At least those who didn't hear what he had ordered would think that he was drinking booze. He drank it, going back into thought about what he wanted to do next. He had a home, a job, now he was pondering whether he should get an education. Of course, that was easier said than done. Minoru, being a goryo, couldn't exactly call up his high-school credentials when applying to a college.

Then Minoru was yanked out of his thoughts when he heard the woman sitting next to him coughing. Though she tried to hide it, Minoru could tell that she didn't enjoy the drink. He pondered for a moment if he should talk to her. Did he really want to? He didn't want to risk his true nature being found out. Then again, it wasn't like that would come out in a simple conversation now was it. This was also a bar, a social place. To Minoru, the decision took a while, even though it only took about a second.

"Not a fan of booze?" he asked. He was at a bar, he figured that he should at least try to make some small talk.

Minoru noticed how this person had been looking at him for a while, just looking and nothing else. For a moment Minoru wondered why this was so. Had she recognized his face? Minoru probably wasn't famous or anything like that, but he knew that he was in the background of at least one or two news articles when his father was running one of his campaigns for mayor. His face was probably also in the news articles about the yakuza's attack on his family's home. Minoru had changed his hairstyle to one with long hair that could cover the right side of his face in an attempt to make sure noone recognized him, but who was to say that would work 100% of the time?

Minoru forced his mind off of that train of thought. Even if this person did recognize him, Minoru could easily brush it off as a mere coincidence. No need to think things like that, unless he wanted to become a paranoid wreck that is.

When this woman finally did speak Minoru could understand where she was coming from. He regretted the first time his college friends had talked him into drinking vodka, from that day Minoru had decided that he wouldn't let a drop of anything that strong even touch his lips. It was for this reason that when the woman asked what Minoru was drinking Minoru answered without hesitation.

"Ginger ale," he said "if you'd like, I could buy you one." Normally Minoru wouldn't make small talk with someone, but there was something about this person. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something set her apart from the rest of the group. Then there was also the matter of just being police, Minoru was the one who started the converstation with his comment after all.