"Aoshi, let me pay!" Ayane insists.
"It's my birthday gift to you — there's no way I'm letting you pay!" Aoshi grumbles as he walks toward the register.
"I-I know, but... now that you've lost your job, even a few yen could make a difference — especially since you told me Eliss will be going home soon!"
"T-That's not something you need to worry about! I'll figure something out, you'll see!" Aoshi replies.
He still hasn't told Ayane that he'll soon be buried under a mountain of gold.
"Stop being so stubborn and let me pay!"
"Would you two hurry up already? You're holding up the entire line!" the cashier snaps.
Behind them, a crowd of increasingly irritated customers waits impatiently.
"F-Fine, you win. Now calm down..." Aoshi grumbles.
At a nearby table, two men are watching them.
One of them — Hiroshi, a tanned, muscular blond in his thirties with bleached hair — is looking at them with the same mocking expression as everyone else in the fast-food restaurant.
