SotFA Sidebar Story 2: Hustle

Willful Banner looked over to the older chosen of battles. Her purple bob was neatly maintained, and strange in the almost sea of her red haired fellows. Her glasses glinted occasionally when the light caught them, but the tell tale red of her eyes was unmistakeable. The traitorous Executive Administrative assistant herself, a middle aged woman with a cunning smile and a suspicious lack of armaments and weapons for a chosen of Mars, Hachiko Urazen. She glanced back to Banner and gave a chuckle, "Tough break having me as your sifu."

Banner gave a shrug in response. The truth was that it was awful. He wasn't entirely sure what she did, just that her name was mud in the department. Hachiko bumped his shoulder as she walked over and then sat on his desk. "Tell you what, take a break from the papers and I'll give yoy some free advice."

"Not sure I need advice from you, secretary." Banner said with a smirk.

Hachiko made a mock gesture as though she had been struck, "Oooh, what they teach you that on your first day? Listen kid, I'm your sifu whether you like it or not. Might as well learn a thing or two."

"Fine. What have you got to teach me?" Banner said with a roll of his eyes.


Hachiko crossed her legs and glanced over her glasses with a sly grin. "Simple. Just five little rules."

She held up her index finger, "There's two kinds of sidereals. Hustlers, and suckers. If you can't figure out which you are, it's the latter. First rule to being a hustler, always know the score, never do something for someone else if you don't know why you're doing it."

Banner opened his mouth to protest before the finger was placed on his lips, silencing him. "Rule two, if someone else is talking, shut up and listen. Most of us think we're the smartest in the room. You don't say anything, you learn everything they know."

Banner gave a slight nod before Hachiko continued. "Rule three. Always have an exit strategy. Doesn't matter who you go on assignment with and what you're doing. You don't want to be the one caught holding the idiot ball.  Getting caught, that's a sucker move. You wanna be a hustler."

Banner's expression grew severe before he gave a hesitant nod. "Good on you kid. Rule four, this one is one most people don't like to hear. Always look out for number one. It doesn't matter if your girlfriend, your best friend, your worst enemy, or even your sifu is in trouble. Take care of yourself first and everyone else later."

Banner scowled and looked at her, to which Hachiko responded with a shrug. "You're really gonna hate the last one. Rule five. The laws of Yu-Shan and Creation, they're more like suggestions. It's only trouble if you get caught, and only suckers get caught. If you wanna make it in this business, you gotta be a hustler. That means making sure you know what everyone else is doing, you always have a way out, and you always look out for number one. You do that, and you're gonna go miles."

Willful Banner stared at Hachiko for a moment. The mutters of office conversation around them, and the ring of spears that always seemed to be present in the Crimson Panopoly hung in the air around them. "Did you follow those rules?"

Hachiko gave a laugh and shook her head. "Nope. Fucked up on rule number four. Got a little too invested in a certain someone, and ended up a sucker."

Banner gave a small chuckle. "Well, nobody's perfect."

"That's why we have the rules kid. So maybe we can get close." Hachiko says with a giggle before sliding off the desk. "C'mon, we're going to review your Principle Imposition of Severance Katas. You're still sloppy."