[center][h2][color=BFBFBF]Zenkichi Hasegawa[/color][/h2]
Esaka, The Tiered City
Lvl 9 [color=BFBFBF]Zenkichi[/color] (63/90) -> Lvl 9 (64/90) 
Word count: 455 words[/center]


Almost immediately after his message, Zenkichi received a response from Pit. [color=BFBFBF]”Oh, right. I’m…fighting in the Tekken tournament.”[/color] And oh god that was a thing that he just unironically said. It’d be one thing if he meant in an arcade, though that would indicate a…very strange trajectory that his life had went on, but no, he meant that he, Zenkichi Hasegawa, was going to fight in a Tekken tournament. Boy, Galeem sure had a sick sense of humor. 

[color=BFBFBF]”Yeah, that makes sense. Especially if we wanna get anything out of the Four Kings.”[/color] He added after a beat. As he made his way to the restaurant that he remembered Terry talking about (it was a little hard to miss, actually), a few others piped up, talking as he joined the assembled Seekers at their table and placed his order, for Korean-style barbecue and a glass of water.

Zenkichi’s reaction to Nadia joining the Mortal Kombat was more subdued than Band’s, but just as incredulous. His eyes near bugged out of his head, but her explanation had him nodding along. The deception wouldn’t last long, but he doubted the Heavenly Principles would outright kill her for…not dying? They wouldn’t, right? And anything else was little more than a slap on the wrist. The Seekers weren’t making a permanent stay here, so a ban from the tournament wouldn’t exactly be a real punishment. 

Terry’s arrival was met with a questioning look from Richard, the establishment’s owner, and Zenkichi winced when he saw how beat up the man looked. [color=BFBFBF]”Jeeze, Terry, you look like you had a bad run-in with a blender.”[/color] he joked, waving to him. [color=BFBFBF]”But I’m certainly not going to say no to being treated to food. Looks like we’re getting set up pretty well. I wonder how the kids are doing, though. I know they’re tough, but I’m wondering if just…letting them run off without somebody going to watch after them was a good idea.”[/color] His thoughts turned to Akane, and while the situations weren’t…exactly the same, he had to admit that he wasn’t exactly the most present parent or guardian. 

Shaking off the thought, he turned to the others. [color=BFBFBF]”So, I’m in Tekken, Nadia’s in Mortal Kombat, Terry’s doing King of Fighters with Captain Falcon, that’s already a good spread. We just go through the tournaments, then…what exactly? I’m just wondering what exactly that gets us, aside from money. Unless the Heavenly Principles are stopping us from just sneaking around or busting down doors…what’s stopping us from that to find the Guardian? We didn’t exactly follow the law in Midgar.”[/color] While he appreciated the relatively low-stakes break, part of him was itching to just get to the bottom of where the Guardian was.