One look in the mirror to make sure his Meijin costume was fine then Kawaguchi headed out of his room. It was almost lunch time, and he was supposed to meet up with Allan in the hotel lobby. He didn't remember there being anything else scheduled for the rest of the day, since his tournament battle for the day had taken place in the morning, and the next one wouldn't happen until tomorrow.

Passing by the open door of the hotel's Free Battle Room, he caught the sight of a couple of guys playing Gunpla Battle. He wouldn't have paid much attention otherwise, but one of the players looked familiar, and he stopped to take another look. While both the players wore casual clothes, a second of thinking later he recognized the darker-haired man as a member of the PPSE Works Team; what was his name, Bill? He wasn't entirely sure, but he didn't stop to think about it too deeply as the next thing that caught his attention was the gunpla those two were using.

The models were something he couldn't recognize right away; they seemed to be variants of the original Gundam, but the frame and color schemes were a little off, as was the design in general. They didn't seem too advanced - 1/144 First Grades, perhaps? He wasn't all that sure. They just didn't resemble any particular model he had seen before and it bothered him. There was the possibility of custom models, but the look of the gunpla seemed more like a basic straight out-of-the-box build than anything customized. It didn't hurt to ask, he decided, stepping closer right as the battle system voice announced that the battle had ended, and the Plavsky particles disappeared.

"Meijin," the Works Team guy greeted him before he managed to say anything. The other man in the room also bowed a little, appearing to recognize him. "What brings you here? Looking for a practice battle? We might not be much of a match to you, I'm afraid."

Kawaguchi shook his head. "No, that's not it. I was just curious about the models you're using. Those don't seem to be made by the Works Team, but rather..." He moved closer and looked at the other man's model, which had been snapped in half and now lay on the battle system. "They seem somewhat cheap. First grades? It makes me wonder, why would anyone from PPSE be playing with something like this?"

The Works Team employee looked a little embarrassed. "Ah, heh. Here we are, getting scolded by the Meijin himself. It's just that me and Acre," he nodded at the other guy. "He's from the Marketing Department. We're actually off duty today and here to watch the tournament. But we went out for lunch earlier and got these, then decided to try them in Gunpla Battle when we got back here. They do work, although the articulation is pretty bad and the weapons are weak. Still, you can play with them."

"I see," Kawaguchi said. "But... What exactly are they? Not an official release for sure, I'd know if they were."

Acre of the PPSE Marketing Department picked up his destroyed gunpla and laughed a little. "Doubt you'd be interested in such cheap models, Meijin, but they give these to anyone who buys a children's meal over at the nearby fast food restaurant. They're official, in the sense that they're of official make and PPSE tested, but they're really not much better than First Grades. Still, freebies. Not too bad a marketing idea during the tournament. They did this during the last year's tournament as well."

It made sense, Kawaguchi had to admit. "Ah. Well, thank you. Keep up the good work. Or I should rather say, enjoy your day off." He nodded to the two PPSE employees and headed out, thoughtful. Free toys with burger meals? He didn't remember there being such an offer last year - but then again, he hadn't exactly gone out to eat at any burger restaurants either. Then again, if they were PPSE tested, Allan might've known something about it, he figured as he headed to the hotel lobby to meet up with his lunch companion.

Allan was standing in the lobby looking at his phone, which he quickly put away as Kawaguchi stepped into view. "Oh, there you are," he greeted him. "I was almost starting to wonder what was taking you so long. Ready for lunch? Afterwards we can go watch the rest of today's battles, since company-wise there isn't anything scheduled. Although we could also check Kämpfer's performance and plan for tomorrow's battle, or if you want we could..."

That confirmed the schedule for the rest of the day, at least. "Before that," Kawaguchi cut in. "I'm curious about something I happened to hear just now." If Allan didn't know anything about this burger chain deal, he at least had the connections to find out. "Do you know anything about there being a fast food chain around here with an offer that gives you gunpla with a meal?"

"Hm?" Allan studied him for a second, looking almost surprised. "Wait, that? They're doing it again this year?" Well, it appeared Allan did indeed know what he was talking about, Kawaguchi thought. "They had that offer last year, and I got the two gunpla they had," Allan continued. "I didn't realize they have more this year! Not that they're anything great, but for collection's sake, you know. I need to get those! Which means..." He went thoughtful for a moment. "Say, Kawaguchi," he then said with a grin. "You mind if we change the lunch plans a little?"

At this point Kawaguchi had to admit he should have seen this coming. "You want to go eat fast food?" He questioned, not very impressed with the idea. There was the fact that he wasn't actually very used to eating fast food, at least not in the cheaper places, and the idea of going to one felt a little odd. Allan looked way too enthusiastic over the idea of some cheap toys, though. "It's just that..." He frowned then lowered his voice. "I don't really eat in a places like that. It's unhealthy and, well. My family background considered."

"Please?" Allan gave him the cutest look he could manage. "I just want the toys. Besides if you wear that, who's going to know it's you?" A valid point, perhaps, outside the part where Kawaguchi found himself thinking 'just about everyone'. "That and," Allan added. "I feel a little silly buying two children's meals if I'm alone. I went there on two different days last year, but I don't really want to do that again."

Kawaguchi sighed. He was in the end curious about the gunpla, and Allan rarely asked him for any personal favors. "I suppose," he agreed. "Let's just be quick about it, and afterwards we go get something else to eat, because a kid's meal doesn't sound like too much food."

"Deal," Allan replied, looking ridiculously happy about it. "We can just come back here to eat something proper afterwards. Come on, then!"

Not more than fifteen minutes later, they sat in a car outside the fast food restaurant. Kawaguchi still wasn't very impressed with the idea, but Allan appeared excited about it, and he wasn't about to back out now. Not like anyone was going to recognize him, indeed, except of course anyone paying any attention to the tournament. Might just as well since he had already agreed, he thought as he got out of the car. "You're taking care of the ordering," he told Allan. "I'm not saying a word."

"Fair enough," Allan said as he locked the car doors and headed towards the restaurant. "I'll pay for the food, too," he offered, glancing at his companion. "So you don't have to worry about that. Just follow me!"

At least he seemed to know what he was doing, and Kawaguchi followed him into the restaurant. It was as busy as expected since it was lunchtime, and the place was packed. Allan stopped at the end of the closest queue, and Kawaguchi stepped to his side and looked around. Nearby, there was an advertisement for the gunpla toys, a couple of tournament posters, and on a stand some distance away he noticed examples of the gunpla on display.

Allan tugged his sleeve and leaned closer. "There's a small table over there that just became vacant," he said, nodding to their right. "Go sit down and reserve that for us. I'll be right there with the food."

He couldn't say he was exactly happy with the plan, but Allan did have a point. Considering how busy the place was, if they were planning on getting a table it was better to grab one while they could, and Kawaguchi sat down where he had been pointed to. It was pretty noisy with so many people around, but he did his best to ignore everyone. He was in the end in the Meijin costume and required to look cool. He glanced in Allan's direction, noting that the queue was moving at a reasonable pace. At least the workers here were effective, he figured as he took off his gloves.

The occupants of the table next to his left, and a man with a pair of young boys took a seat there. Kawaguchi looked at them from under his glasses, noticing the gunpla they had. The boy sitting closer to him was looking at the gunpla box like it was something cool, at least, which almost made him smile. Almost. The older out of the two boys looked in his direction a little curiously, though, which he caught but didn't have time to react before Allan appeared with a pair of trays.

"Sorry for the wait," Allan said as he placed the trays down. "Here you go. I got both the toys too, so we're good." He showed Kawaguchi the two gunpla in their little boxes then put them on the other side of the table. "Let's just eat quickly and be on our way."

Kawaguchi stared at his meal a little dubiously. He slowly unwrapped the burger and took a bite, making a mental note that it was rather plain, at least compared to what he was used to. It was edible though and it would've been waste to not eat it, so he finished the burger quickly. The drink at least was standard cola, which was fine, and he poked at the fries the meal came with. They looked about as impressive as the burger, and after trying one, he concluded that he had definitely eaten better. Allan didn't seem to mind the food at least, and Kawaguchi ate a few more fries, idly watching as the younger of the two boys over at the next table was paying more attention to his new toy than his meal.

"How do you actually build these?" He heard the boy, perhaps five or six years old, wonder as he studied the parts on the runner.

The maybe a couple of years older brother shook his head. "I don't really know, but it can't be that hard. Or you could just ask him," he said, blatantly pointing at Kawaguchi all of a sudden. "That... That's Meijin Kawaguchi, isn't it? He's in the World Tournament! He's really cool and has beaten all his battles so far, just like the one this morning. Didn't you watch the Gundam battles on TV earlier? That blond guy was there too, build team something!"

The father of the boys appeared apologetic about the scene; the younger brother was now staring at the PPSE duo's table eyes wide as well, though, and Kawaguchi found Allan grinning at the sight. "Fans?" Allan asked cheerfully, pulling a pair of nippers from his pocket. "And you simply follow the instructions printed on the box there, young man! Just cut out the parts with these. You show him, Meijin."

The younger boy was already holding out the runner in his direction, so Kawaguchi, with his calmest face on, took the nippers from Allan and the offered runner. The kit quality definitely didn't seem to be much above that of a First Grade, but that was irrelevant. "Like this," he explained, carefully cutting out a part as both the boys stared at him closely. "Next you look up the other pieces needed from the instructions, cut out the necessary ones and put them together." He offered the nippers and the runner to the older boy, who took them. The kid studied the box's building instructions for a moment before cutting out another part. Kawaguchi watched as the boy snapped the pieces together while looking absolutely delighted about getting the idea.

"Whoa," the younger brother studied the completed part his brother was holding up then turned to the PPSE table. "You really are the Meijin!"

Kawaguchi nodded a little. "That I am. And you should eat your meals and leave building those until you get back home. Also," he suggested with a hint of a smile. "Perhaps after that, you should consider getting some proper gunpla. These will be good for a building practice, but they won't unfortunately serve you very well in Gunpla Battle. Trust me, I know. I am the Meijin, after all."

"We definitely will," the older boy cut in. "Thank you so much! Dad, can we?" The father of the boys still seemed a little bothered by whole scene, but he bowed a little and thanked Kawaguchi for the advice.

On the side, Allan stood up. "Well, we should be going," he said, smiling widely. "You keep the nippers, boys, I've got plenty more back at PPSE. Shall we, Meijin?" He picked up their freebie gunpla boxes and headed out, and Kawaguchi followed him, all the way to the car. "Careful," Allan whispered to his companion as they were opening the car doors. "For a second there, Kawaguchi? I thought I saw you having fun."

It wasn't until they had sat down and the doors were closed that Tatsuya replied. He took off the glasses and laughed. "You started it," he said. "Come on, what was I supposed to do at that point?" He took a deep breath and smiled. This fast food experience had turned out to be a lot more interesting than he had originally thought, and he definitely wasn't regretting the idea now.

"Hah. You can't claim you didn't want to do it," Allan pointed out with a smirk. "But enough fun for the day. We should head back to the hotel and consider getting that proper lunch. You were right, that really wasn't much food at all."

Tatsuya glanced at the gunpla boxes Allan had placed on the back seat, thoughtful. Low-quality freebie kits or not, he liked them now. Allan was about to start the car when he turned to look at him. "You know what, wait."

"Hmm?" Allan looked back at him. "What?"

"Proper lunch can wait just a little while longer," Tatsuya said. "We can either go to town and get something if you want, or eat something at the hotel. But right now? Let's not leave just yet." He looked over at the gunpla boxes and nodded then turned to look in the restaurant's direction. "We need to go back there. I want these toys, too."

His sudden change of mood made Allan laugh. "Oh come on. First you were against the whole idea, and now?" He shook his head and smiled. "Ah, well. You can have those two, you know. I can come get myself another set later."

"No, those are yours. Besides we're already here so we might just as well," Tatsuya protested. "That, and do you really want to eat that stuff for several days in a row? Weren't you the one who said you don't want to do it like you did last year?" Allan's expression said it all, and Tatsuya leaned closer. "And you're definitely not buying meals just to get the toys. Wasting food is bad." He leaned back in his seat and looked at the restaurant again, and he couldn't help but to smile as he noticed the family from earlier leaving the place.

Something occurred to him, and he looked at Allan. "Although," he continued, thoughtful. "Maybe we shouldn't go back looking like this after that little incident. Enough visits from the Meijin for one day." He pondered on the idea for a moment then removed his cravat. The coat soon followed, and Allan gave him a questioning look. "What are you staring at?" Tatsuya asked then went for Allan's tie. "Give me this. I can just pose as a normal PPSE employee, who's going to know it's me without the glasses and..." He ran his hand through his hair. "If I pull my hair down like this?"

The whole scene made Allan highly amused. "All right, whatever the Meijin says." He grinned and looked at his partner. "Or I suppose you're not the Meijin right now. But what am I supposed to do?" He wondered. "I already went there once today, so it's going to look a bit silly. Well, I suppose they're not going to care, and besides it's busy. We could just pick another register for ordering."

Tatsuya studied him for a second then picked up Allan's sunglasses from the top of the dashboard. "Well," he suggested. "How about you take off the PPSE uniform coat, roll up your sleeves and put sunglasses on?"

If Allan had been amused before, now he simply burst out laughing. "And you think," he managed to say after recovering a little. "That this is going to work? Seriously, now!" He couldn't keep himself from chuckling at the idea but shrugged and started removing his coat. "Oh well, why not! Don't think there are that many blonds around here, but..."

"It worked in Zeta Gundam!" Tatsuya claimed with a grin.

"Did it really?" Allan pondered as he rolled up his sleeves. "I mean, didn't Amuro know it was Char even before seeing him? ...Wait, this isn't the time to start analyzing that." He took the sunglasses and put them on. "Not that I know if there's much point to this disguise, but if you insist! I'd guess it actually is better if you don't go in with the Meijin look, though. Well," he looked at his companion. "How do I look?"

Tatsuya nodded approvingly. "It'll do. And I highly doubt there are any Newtypes in the restaurant, so you should be safe. Besides," he added as they were getting out of the car. "With the tournament going on, there should be plenty foreigners around, so you're not the only blond in town."

A couple of minutes later they were back in the restaurant, this time with Tatsuya standing in the queue and Allan wandering off to find a table for them. The place was still busy, but the workers at the registers were as effective as they had been before, and the wait wasn't all that long. "Two children's meals, please," Tatsuya made his order, giving the young man working behind the counter his sweetest smile. "And may I have one of each of the Gundam toys?"

He got the food and the gunpla boxes soon after and made it to where Allan, trying to look as nonchalant as possible, sat. "Mission complete," he stated as he sat down then picked up his burger, guessing it was about the same as the earlier one he had eaten. "Enjoy your meal!"

Allan laughed a little. "As much as enjoyment as these are," he said, studying his food. He ate a few fries then looked at his partner. "But you know? By now, if I didn't know you better I'd say you're actually enjoying this."

"Maybe just a little. I already told you, I don't visit this type of restaurants very often," Tatsuya admitted. He took a bite of the burger to confirm his guess - he had definitely had better burgers. It still wasn't bad by any means, and he took another bite, not that the small burger really offered much of a meal. "But really," he said, smiling. "You think I ever got to eat at places like this when I was a child? So who knows, maybe I am enjoying this."

Someone found a seat at the table next to them and looked at them curiously - and Tatsuya quickly realized said person was in PPSE uniform, and he had seen this person before as well. More Works Team? "Wait, Chief Allan?" The newcomer asked, studying the two of them. "Is that you? Almost didn't recognize you with the sunglasses and all, but..." Tatsuya almost laughed; partially for the fact this Works Team member saw right through the "disguise" so quick, and partially for the fact that the man had a children's meal on his tray, also with a gunpla box.

"Ah, heh," Allan grinned. "It really isn't much of a disguise is it?" He took off the sunglasses. "What brings you here, Howard? Or," he added, looking at the same thing Tatsuya had already noticed. "Should I really ask what got you to get out of the office and all the way here for lunch. I'm pretty sure you're not here for the tasty burgers!"

Howard the PPSE Works Team member nodded. "Guilty as charged, Chief," he said, looking over at Tatsuya's side, where the gunpla boxes lay. "Actually I had to take care of some business at the tournament area, and this just happens to be on the way back so..." He grinned. "Not too great quality gunpla, these, but hey, collection purposes. I don't think they're much use in Gunpla Battle, either."

"They aren't," Tatsuya confirmed. Howard looked at him with a thoughtful expression, pondering who the young man in PPSE uniform was. "I came across a couple of PPSE guys earlier," Tatsuya explained with a smile on his face. "They were at the hotel's Free Battle Room testing these gunpla. I was told they aren't very good, but they do work in battle, so maybe worth playing around a little with. Who knows, could be fun in the Works Team's after work parties."

Allan finished his burger and gave Tatsuya a little bit of a look. "Oh, so that's how it went," he said. "I mean, how you learned about these." He shook his head and smiled. "But then again, I wouldn't have even known they had the offer going on otherwise, so a good thing you ran into them."

"Really," Howard said. "Must've been Bill and that friend of his from Marketing; I think they went to watch the tournament today. I do suppose anything of interest for our team already happened, since the Meijin's fight was in the morning." He unwrapped his burger then stopped to look at Allan. "Speaking of that, I'm a little surprised to find you here, Chief. Wouldn't you usually be eating with the Meijin at this hour?"

At that point Tatsuya couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh he did that already," he stated with the most cheerful expression ever. "Didn't you, Chief Allan?"

"Oh yes, just around fifteen minutes or so ago," Allan confirmed with a sheepish grin. "Meijin decided to, ah, call it a day." He glanced at Tatsuya, who was obviously having way too much fun with the situation.

It took Howard a moment to pick up that there was anything going on, and he stared at the two of them as they continued eating for a minute before the realization hit him. "Wait, then you're...?" He studied Tatsuya for another moment. "I know now," he said, appearing almost embarrassed. "You're the one Chief Allan picked as a fighter candidate. Which makes you..."

Tatsuya smiled. "As Allan said, the Meijin's off duty at the moment. He'll be back later. Don't tell anyone, I doubt the sponsors would be too happy about this. But there's gunpla here, and it's the Meijin's duty to know all about gunpla, isn't it?"

"And this silliness could've been avoided had I kept better track of the Marketing department," Allan lamented. "He's right though, don't tell anyone we were here."

"I won't, chief," Howard promised. "Or do you think I want to tell anyone what I was doing here?"

Allan laughed. "So this is going to be exactly same as it was during last year's tournament, then? Everyone comes here to get the toys but pretends they didn't eat here. Hopeless gunpla fanatics, the whole team," he stated, grinning. "Can't blame them, since the Meijin himself wanted these toys, too. Gunpla is gunpla, no matter the quality."

"Speaking of eating here, now I think I want some real food," Tatsuya complained, snacking on his remaining fries. "These really don't seem to do much. The burgers were kind of small, and this has got to be the smallest portion fries they have. Maybe we should head back to the hotel and go stop by the restaurant for something after all?"

Considering Allan had already finished his meal, he was quick to agree. "That was the original plan, I believe. Later then, Howard." The man nodded to them as they stood up and headed out.

Tatsuya pulled the coat back on before taking his seat in the car, and Allan also took a moment to get his uniform back on. "That wasn't so bad after all, was it?" Allan inquired as they were getting their seatbelts on. "Maybe you needed a little break? Back to being the Meijin now, though. I don't dare to imagine what the higher-ups would say if they heard about this."

"It was nice," Tatsuya agreed, studying the Meijin shades. He didn't want to put them back on just yet; they still had the drive back to the hotel before he'd be required to wear them again. "But you're right. You have to admit the tournament keeps us busy, and I haven't exactly gotten many chances to relax lately." He picked up his cravat and put it back on then looked at Allan with a smile. "But if this was little bit of a taste what it could be later, I'm glad I became the Meijin."

Allan nodded. "Could consider it to be that, yes," he said. "All you just have to do now is to take care of this tournament. After that..." He trailed off, the usual smile on his face. "You're the Meijin. If you're the best, they can't complain."

"Let's do our best, then," Tatsuya replied as Allan started the car. He turned to look at the four gunpla boxes on the backseat and smiled. Allan was absolutely right; all he had to do was to make sure the higher-ups at PPSE didn't have any complaints about his tournament performance.

What came after that was for Meijin Kawaguchi to decide.

Author's notes:

Both authors fully admit to buying kids meals just because certain world-wide burger chain had Super Mario toys. We only wish they had gunpla here. But hey, Allan so would do this if they had Gunpla.

- Lady Harken & Elmina (June 2014)