[... ugh. He really was one of those kind of guys that got under his skin something fierce, wasn't he? Zeke was one thing-- with his bombastic actions and occasional lack of boundaries, it was easy enough to pin his annoyance on that than anything deeper. But with Nikki... he couldn't exactly blame his dislike on being grabbed by the face or getting his eardrums blown out by ridiculous attack names. No... this was something else entirely, something he didn't quite want to look at too closely, lest it reveal something he didn't want to grapple with yet. Was it jealousy...? Envy...? Who even knows!! Hanako sure doesn't!!

He shrugs a shoulder indifferently in response, keeping his eyes still trained on the crowds of people around them.]

Oh yeah, fighting against a real monster is easy enough. You just attack it until it's dead and boom, problem solved. But you can't really do that with your troubles in real life, can you? It's not like you can beat up an illness or fistfight any bad feelings you happen to have and be done with it. We wouldn't have these problems to deal with if things were as straight-forward as that.

[He finally turns back to Nikki, the bright smile on his face wide and friendly and absolutely 100% customer service levels of fake.]

Ah-- not that you would know anything about that, right? Mr. "I'm So Happy To Be Me"? I bet you were probably one of those Dreamers who just happened to Awaken all on your own, weren't you!

[And you wonder why people complain about your personality, Hanako.......]