Featuring:
Chapter 3: The Girl with the Straw Hat
After a sparring match with Bianca, Lock travels to a nearby noodle resturant.
Owner: What’ll you have?
Lock: Ramen with lots of pork…
Owner: Comin right up, kid.
Lock takes off his hat and puts it next to him. While Lock is waiting for his food, he notices someone sitting in the seat next to him. Lock looks over and sees a girl wearing a straw hat. She takes off her hat and places her sword against her seat.
Lock: (thinking to himself) A sword and a straw hat? She must not be from around here. (Aloud) She is cute though.
The girl begins to laugh and she looks at Lock.
????: You’re pretty handsome yourself.
Lock: Huh?
????: (laughing) You called me cute.
Lock: Wait, you mean I said that out loud?!
????: Yup.
Lock: (blush) Oh….my bad.
????: There’s no need for an apology. That was nice of you to say and you made me laugh, so thanks.
Lock: Uh…no problem.
Owner: Here you go, kid. Ramen with lots of pork.
Lock: Yes! Thank you!
Owner: And what’ll you have, little lady?
????: I’ll have what he’s having.
Owner: You got it.
As Lock begins eating, the girl looks at him and smiles.
????: So what’s your name?
Lock: (swallows noodle) Whew! I’m Lock Noire.
????: Lock Noire… Sounds like the name of a detective from a novel.
Lock: Well…I want to be a detective so I guess that’s a good thing. Oh yeah, what’s your name?
????: Kendra Welsh. I'd prefer if you’d call me Ken, though.
Lock: (Still eating) Okay then!
Ken watches Lock eat the noodles, scarfing them down at a fast pace.
Ken: That must be really good.
Lock: (Still eating) It’s awesome!
After lunch, Lock and Ken leave the restaurant and walk together.
Ken: I can’t believe you ate three bowls of ramen. Do you usually eat so much?
Lock: No but seeing as I gotta get back for combat practice, I have to be in good shape.
Ken: Combat practice?
Lock: Yeah I’m meeting an acquaintance of mine.
Ken: Oh you mean Bianca Snow?
Lock: Yeah that’s right. Wait…how do you-
Lock turns around to face Ken, but instead sees a sword being swung at his face. Lock barely dodges the sword by ducking. He then crawls backwards to gain some distance from Ken.
Lock: What are you doing?!
Ken: Just checking you out. I saw your little sparring match with that girl and I got a little interested in you two. But before I get to the main course, I want to enjoy you first.
Lock: (Stands up) So you want a sparring match, is that it?
Ken: Of course not. The best kinds of fights are when you think your life is at risk. Which means-
Lock: You’re out for blood. Then I guess I shouldn’t hold back.
As Lock reaches for his gun, his hand is grabbed by Bianca.
Lock: Bianca? Wait where did you come from?
Bianca: I got here a few moments ago to check on you.
Lock: Check on me? You mean because of her?
Ken: Bianca Snow. Nice to meet you.
Bianca: I sensed your presence at the warehouse but chose to ignore you because you didn’t make a move. But after Lock left and your presence disappeared, I knew you were going after him first before coming to me.
Lock thinks back to before he left the warehouse.
Lock (flashback): Crap…and I forgot my lunch. Mind if I-
Bianca (flashback): Yes I do mind. Get your own food. Lunch only lasts for 30 minutes.
Bianca lets go of Lock’s hand
Lock: So when you said thirty minutes, it wasn’t for lunch?
Bianca: No it was.
Lock: Oh…
Bianca: But you don’t eat as much as I do, so I expected you to have been back awhle ago. When you didn’t return, I went to look for you and found you with her.
Lock: Why?
Bianca: Why? We’re friends aren’t we?
Lock: Oh! Yeah, of course!
Bianca: Anyway, you there with the sword. If you want me, then fine I’ll fight you.
Ken: That’s fine. Either way I was gonna get to you eventually.
Bianca: What’s that supposed to mean? You thought you were gonna beat him that easily.
Ken: Well yeah. I mean compared to you, this guy’s a pushover.
Bianca: Then why don’t you try your luck? You and Lock will fight each other. Defeat him, and you’ll fight me next. Deal?
Ken: Sure. Sounds fair.
Bianca: Anything you wanna add, detective?
Bianca becomes startled when she looks at Lock’s eyes, which turned from black to yellow.
Lock: She’s a little too confident, so I’ll have to take her down a couple notches.
Owner: What’ll you have?
Lock: Ramen with lots of pork…
Owner: Comin right up, kid.
Lock takes off his hat and puts it next to him. While Lock is waiting for his food, he notices someone sitting in the seat next to him. Lock looks over and sees a girl wearing a straw hat. She takes off her hat and places her sword against her seat.
Lock: (thinking to himself) A sword and a straw hat? She must not be from around here. (Aloud) She is cute though.
The girl begins to laugh and she looks at Lock.
????: You’re pretty handsome yourself.
Lock: Huh?
????: (laughing) You called me cute.
Lock: Wait, you mean I said that out loud?!
????: Yup.
Lock: (blush) Oh….my bad.
????: There’s no need for an apology. That was nice of you to say and you made me laugh, so thanks.
Lock: Uh…no problem.
Owner: Here you go, kid. Ramen with lots of pork.
Lock: Yes! Thank you!
Owner: And what’ll you have, little lady?
????: I’ll have what he’s having.
Owner: You got it.
As Lock begins eating, the girl looks at him and smiles.
????: So what’s your name?
Lock: (swallows noodle) Whew! I’m Lock Noire.
????: Lock Noire… Sounds like the name of a detective from a novel.
Lock: Well…I want to be a detective so I guess that’s a good thing. Oh yeah, what’s your name?
????: Kendra Welsh. I'd prefer if you’d call me Ken, though.
Lock: (Still eating) Okay then!
Ken watches Lock eat the noodles, scarfing them down at a fast pace.
Ken: That must be really good.
Lock: (Still eating) It’s awesome!
After lunch, Lock and Ken leave the restaurant and walk together.
Ken: I can’t believe you ate three bowls of ramen. Do you usually eat so much?
Lock: No but seeing as I gotta get back for combat practice, I have to be in good shape.
Ken: Combat practice?
Lock: Yeah I’m meeting an acquaintance of mine.
Ken: Oh you mean Bianca Snow?
Lock: Yeah that’s right. Wait…how do you-
Lock turns around to face Ken, but instead sees a sword being swung at his face. Lock barely dodges the sword by ducking. He then crawls backwards to gain some distance from Ken.
Lock: What are you doing?!
Ken: Just checking you out. I saw your little sparring match with that girl and I got a little interested in you two. But before I get to the main course, I want to enjoy you first.
Lock: (Stands up) So you want a sparring match, is that it?
Ken: Of course not. The best kinds of fights are when you think your life is at risk. Which means-
Lock: You’re out for blood. Then I guess I shouldn’t hold back.
As Lock reaches for his gun, his hand is grabbed by Bianca.
Lock: Bianca? Wait where did you come from?
Bianca: I got here a few moments ago to check on you.
Lock: Check on me? You mean because of her?
Ken: Bianca Snow. Nice to meet you.
Bianca: I sensed your presence at the warehouse but chose to ignore you because you didn’t make a move. But after Lock left and your presence disappeared, I knew you were going after him first before coming to me.
Lock thinks back to before he left the warehouse.
Lock (flashback): Crap…and I forgot my lunch. Mind if I-
Bianca (flashback): Yes I do mind. Get your own food. Lunch only lasts for 30 minutes.
Bianca lets go of Lock’s hand
Lock: So when you said thirty minutes, it wasn’t for lunch?
Bianca: No it was.
Lock: Oh…
Bianca: But you don’t eat as much as I do, so I expected you to have been back awhle ago. When you didn’t return, I went to look for you and found you with her.
Lock: Why?
Bianca: Why? We’re friends aren’t we?
Lock: Oh! Yeah, of course!
Bianca: Anyway, you there with the sword. If you want me, then fine I’ll fight you.
Ken: That’s fine. Either way I was gonna get to you eventually.
Bianca: What’s that supposed to mean? You thought you were gonna beat him that easily.
Ken: Well yeah. I mean compared to you, this guy’s a pushover.
Bianca: Then why don’t you try your luck? You and Lock will fight each other. Defeat him, and you’ll fight me next. Deal?
Ken: Sure. Sounds fair.
Bianca: Anything you wanna add, detective?
Bianca becomes startled when she looks at Lock’s eyes, which turned from black to yellow.
Lock: She’s a little too confident, so I’ll have to take her down a couple notches.