Intermission: At the Breakfast Bar

The waitress placed a plate of sausages, bacon, baked beans and slightly under-toasted bread in front of Corn and he didn't wait to tuck in, shovelling large forkfuls of food into his mouth hungrily. Boogie and Garam watched from the other side of the small diner table with a smile; Boogie clutching a black coffee in her large hands and Garam sipping a root beer and picking at a sandwich crust with his fingers.

"Good?" Garam asked with a smirk as Corn nodded in agreement, smothering the bacon with ketchup and dipping the crust of his toast in the sauce.

"Corn." A voice sighed from behind him. A slim girl with navy hair and a blue apron stood behind Corn's plastic chair, an open wire-bound notepad in her gloved hand. "I don't understand what's going on."

Corn finished chewing his toast and gulped heavily, turning to face the standing girl. "Rhyth. Shouldn't you be waitressing?"

The girl quickly spun around on her blue skates to face the counter, and, seeing it empty, turned back. "There's no customers, and besides, I'm scared for you." She sighed, her sweet voice filling the almost-empty diner.

"Well you shouldn't be." Corn smiled. "I'm fine…look." He flashed her a grin. "See?"

Rhyth screwed up her face, dissatisfied.

"One thing's for sure." Boogie muttered, placing the cardboard cup down in front of her. "You can't stay in that flat alone, at least for now. One of us should move in. And that liquor cabinet is as good as gone. We'll clear it out first thing when we get back." She sighed.

"Come on." Garam whined. "You really think that getting rid of a couple of bottles of booze is gonna stop someone from having a drink if they want one? Corn's an adult Boog…he can go to the store whenever he likes and buy a bottle of whisky or vodka or absinthe or whatever, and we can't stop him."

Boogie flashed the smaller man a cold look and Rhyth gasped. "Garam! Don't give him ideas!"

The man held his hands palm up and shrugged his shoulders. "What? I was just saying. Besides, I don't think paying Yoyo a visit would be such a bad idea either. After all, the little squirt did come to Corn looking for something."

Rhyth shifted about from foot to foot and Corn looked up from his plate of food.

"That's not a good idea. The kid needs to sort his head out by himself, what good would it do to see me?"

"It would get you out of that dingy little flat for starters." Boogie suggested, sipping her coffee. "It can't do you good staying in there all the time. You need more friends Corn. Find a nice girl maybe?"

Corn smirked. "Yeah, great idea." He said sarcastically. "I could show her my book of poems…wow her with melancholy…"

"Come on man." Garam interrupted. "You need some fresh air. When was the last time you put on your skates, huh? Maybe it'd be good for you to freelance for a while. We go out to the Heights sometimes…us three…spray a little…play some taggers tag…stuff like that. You should join us."

Corn placed his head between his hands. "I'm not a rudie anymore! And neither are you. We gave up that lifestyle long ago…what's the point in prolonging our torture?"

Garam pursed his lips together. "Spoken like a true poet."

Corn looked from face to face. Sighing "Look, if you guys want to maintain some kind of nostalgia that's fine. But I can't live that life again, you guys. I really can't." He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and produced a handful of bank notes, placing them on the table. "Keep the change Rhyth. I should be going…"

The three figures stood up to join Rhyth and said their goodbyes before heading out into the bright sunshine which consumed the Chuo district. Corn shielded his eyes from the rays, he felt better from the large all-day-breakfast, but his head was still thudding a little as the three of them turned a corner to head down the high-street; Garam and Boogie wearing skates, Corn battered brown leather shoes.

They were about to pass the old cinema when they felt a rush of air glide past them. They looked to see who had skated past and saw a large metal figure skating towards Shibuya, red and yellow and green lights flashing on its chest and carrying the slumped figure of a red-headed girl on its back. Boogie and Garam, who had crossed paths more than once with the girl, recognised her as Tame, a freelance rudie who hung around Hikage Street and sprayed tags of bright green and pink. They exchanged a frantic look over Corn who seemed confused in the bright daylight, and, without exchanging a word, dashed down the street, leaving the old leader of the GGs behind on the curb.