Katsura stared into the dark liquid that shivered in his mug with every movement Hana made across the table from him, wondering silently to himself, replaying those ever-quickening hands over in his mind, again and again, still in awe over that player's movements. He occasionally bit his lip as a particular thought crossed his mind, though ultimately relinquishing such ridiculous ideas, returning his inattentive eyes back up toward his daughter every time he realized how flighty his attention became, though Hana was far more ensconced by the patrons of the tiny ice cream parlor, slumped in her booth with her cup of ice cream held up to cover her face to allow her eyes the ability to wander.

"Fifteen…" she quietly whispered to herself.

"Huh?" Katsura asked in astonishment, as if just realizing he might be on the ill-side of a discussion that had been going on without his knowledge.

Hana didn't reply, but she did take another bite of ice cream before her brow lowered once more, examining the dark faces across the small diner of a parlor, "You think we could try the other one next time?"

Her father's eyes fell drolly atop his daughter, "No. I don't even frequent that place."

"But its got such a cool name! 'The Most Dangerous Bar on Earth'! Sounds like a-"

Katsura frowned, "First off, that's the subtitle; it's called 'Secret Breeze', and second, you- What?"

Hana had smirked at him intuitively, "I thought you said you'd hadn't been?"

Sighing, Katsura dropped his shoulders, "Second, its reputation precedes it; it's not a half mile out from Gwangalli Beach. So no, we're not going."

His daughter frowned only momentarily, having gone into the discussion already aware of her father's response. Instead, she simply returned to her previous activity, whispering to herself once again as the bell atop the parlor door went jingling.

"Sixteen… Why is it so dangerous, anyway?"

Katsura's eyes rose up attentively, "Gwangalli? That's where the omnics come ashore."

A chill ran down Hana's spine. Omnics- the monstrous machines that had become the boogeymen of so many children's bedtime stories, with the only stipulation being that these monsters were far too real. Despite the many omnics that walked among humans, there were many more who wished to do harm to their creators, Hana knew.

"The bar overlooks the beach, so if you're lucky- and that's a disgusting term to use in this situation- you might catch an armada of omnics, crawling out from the Korean Strait, meeting the bravest men and women you'll ever meet, ready to repel them from killing us all," Katsura explained darkly, lowering his brow in reverence, "That's why I do what I do, though. Trying to save lives."

Slightly shaken, Hana slid further into her seat as her father looked on. Katsura slowly began to slip out his phone to check on any emails, unable to watch as Hana suddenly twitched at her neck in realization, plopping her cup onto the table before reaching into her own coat pocket, the tense air forcing her mind to recoil in slight worry. Such things often made her remember her mother.

"Oh, I forgot about mom."

She pulled a small picture from out from her thick coat, readying its stand before reaching out and placing it onto the table, smiling solemnly as she took a moment to admire her mother's face. Being on a slip of glossy paper behind glass didn't do it justice, Hana knew; her mother had a smile that immediately brightened a room. She remembered feeling warm just within its presence. Her mother truly was in contrast to her father; for all the help her father offered, Hana was readily aware that her father was busy, and any help that she was afforded was often to his detriment- she often figured she was more a hinderance to him. Her mother, however, it seemed so natural coming from her whenever Hana needed help growing up, as though it wasn't a question. Even now, the sight of that picture eased a lot of Hana's anxieties.

Katsura's eyes jumped up as he noticed Hana's arms retreating, leaving the small frame atop the table, her voice echoing quietly, "Sorry…"

"For what?"

Hana frowned sadly, "Being so weird…"

Katsura sighed, "You're not weird, sweetheart. Even if you were, everybody in Busan has their eyes glued to televisions, cell phones- nobody would notice anyway."

He gently sent a foot over beneath the table, tapping at his daughter's leg, "Why did you think I chose to live here, hmm?"

Hana giggled silently before grasping her ice cream once again, staring at her mother's picture as she took another bite, this time smiling as the ice cream melted atop her tongue. Her counting of new arrivals to the parlor had stopped, leaving her wholly content with being beneath her mother's loving gaze, even if it were a picture. Katsura returned to his phone, writing out an email quickly enough in order to return his attention to his daughter, though she spoke up quick enough.

"What will happen if I can't graduate?"

"Hmm?" Katsura mumbled inquirously as he went on typing.

Hana's brow sunk, "Never mind."

Katsura's thumbs flew, darting from key to key before he finished with a sigh, placing his phone down before turning to his own cup of ice cream, his eyes narrowing suspiciously as the trails of melted vanilla coursed down its sides, "Well what happened here?!"

Poignantly enough, Hana grinned, "Well, you gotta eat it fast!"

Katsura grunted in disbelief as he took his spoon and dunked it into the soupy ice cream, "Well, I need to catch up then; here."

He reached over to offer his dripping spoon to Hana who immediately darted back into her booth, giggling, "No!"

"C'mon! I need help!" Katsura goaded as Hana quickly tried to keep from the dripping vanilla that threatened her coat.

"No!" she yelped again amidst her giggles, reaching up for only a moment before realizing such a thing was endangering her more, "Get it-! AH!"

Katsura chuckled before retreating, allowing his daughter to shake away the rest of her laughter as he took a bite, shaking his head, "Well it's not so good melted!"

"Then- Then you should've been paying attention!" Hana instructed, wiping away her tears.

Chuckling himself, Katsura quickly turned toward the bar to catch the owner of the parlor eying the two of them with a fierce glance, her index finger rising up to her lips to quiet them, leaving Katsura with a guilty frown, raising his hand in apology before returning to his daughter.

"Okay, no more fun and games apparently," Katsura noted, "It is late, though, so-"

He paused, watching Hana staring at the picture of her mother, a lonely sort of frown managing to rest upon her face. Katsura's heart fell, sighing longingly as he sat his ice cream down.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, "I know you miss her."

Hana shrugged, "It's not your fault."

A quiet settled in, one set more in solemn silence rather than an awkward air, though Hana reached out first, "I do miss her though."

Katsura nodded, reaching to take hold of the picture frame and turn it more toward himself, nodding to himself, "Ah, you know when this was taken? Senior year of college. I wasn't a stalker or anything, but I had her friend take it for me; I was so, uh- I guess shy, but it was bit more than that; it was like a crippling shyness, I suppose. Her friend, I guess, misunderstood what I wanted, and after taking this, she straight up told your mom that I liked her. She even set up a date in her mind- some random place outside of town that I didn't even recognize. For that night, even! I had to find a suit and that place in, like, four hours!"

Katsura wrangled in his laughter, shaking his head, "I never knew why she'd said yes. I wish I could have asked her, but- I read something that asking that sort of this isn't becoming of men, so I just never did. I don't know. There's a lot of things I wish I could ask, now."

"Like what?" Hana asked.

Shrugging, her father answered, "Stuff about you, mostly. I don't know if you've noticed, but- I'm not the 'parenting' type. Your mom was fantastic, but- I kind of hate that you have to deal with me instead of her."

"Wait, I'm dealing with you?!" Hana questioned in wonderment, "I thought you were dealing with me!"

Katsura chuckled, "My dear, I'm honored just to have such a wonderful daughter. Not once would I ever think of you as a burden. Sure I'm busy, but that's- Everything I do is because I want you to be happy, and if it means cleaning up this world, while also helping you with your schoolwork and getting three hours of sleep- Believe me, not once have I ever thought it wasn't worth it."

He lowered his head, his spoon easily sinking into his ice cream as he muttered quietly, "I've done my part in making this world a horrible place for you. It's about time I change that."

Hana watched her father's downtrodden face, a look she'd come to know rather well, though one she couldn't fully understand. If he wanted her mother there to help better understand his daughter, Hana would have liked her mother there to help her understand her father more. To help her be more of a help to her own father; a man so lost in his work, such complex and tiring work. The kind of work Hana knew she'd never be able to understand, much less help with.

"I'll be honest," Katsura suddenly spoke up, catching his daughter's attention as he lowered his head, "I'm so guarded, you know. Your mother was…different. She always wore her heart on her sleeve; I always thought the opposite made you stronger. I kept to myself, refused to allow anybody to gain any insight into myself that might come back to haunt me. But your mom- she was the strongest person I knew, probably because she was brave enough to put herself out there; her heart tempered and strengthened by weathering so many storms."

He shrugged, "Just another thing I think about often."

Hana's eyes wandered, just catching her father's sudden grin as he returned to his cup, "But that's just me being an old man, thinking about the past. The point is, I'm trying. really hard. I hope if I turn out to be a crappy father, you'll at least know that much."

"You're not crappy," Hana assured weakly, more because of her own insecurity than uncertainty.

Katsura smiled, "Most fathers don't uproot their daughters and move them clear over to a different country when their friends are what they need."

Frowning at his words, Hana's brow fell unamusedly, "You're making it sound like I wouldn't have become a shut-in back home…or a bad student."

"You are who you are," Katsura grinned, "That's how it's supposed to be. If we were meant to be perfect, we'd be constructed and built in labs, thrown away at the slightest inconvenience and replaced by updated models. Besides, it may require a bit more tempering, but- You're so much like your mother in ways; you may become as strong as she was."

Such comparisons brought a warmth to Hana's heart, as if such things brought her closer to her mother in some ways. Her eyes shifted toward the picture frame, wondering how the strength her father described could have been within such a beautiful, care-free looking woman. Sinking back into her booth, Hana's eyes refused to leave her mother's as she took another bite of her ice cream, the warmth welling up in her heart seeming to melt the delicious taste of frozen chocolate all the quicker.