"Well, are you here to learn, or are you here to earn points?" Kotetsu asks, tearing open the plastic encasing the hunk of prepared barbecue meat before placing it on top of a wooden cutting board, the pink food coloring smearing slightly against the grain. Snorting at the sight of Barnaby's expression, frustrated and put out, Kotetsu raises a thumb and brushes it along the line of Barnaby's brow, smoothing it out.

"If this is the look you gave them, of course they'd stop asking. This is the look you give your spouse after they've made you angry for the fifth time that week. Not the look you give a young girl who's put her heart on the line for you," he adds, flicking his fingertip against the furrow. "And it'll also age you prematurely. You'll end up looking like my age in a couple of years."

Reaching behind Barnaby and over to the knife block, Kotetsu selects a chef's knife before sliding back to the cutting board. "You're getting to that age, you know. Where you should really be thinking about who you want to live your life with. That apartment of yours back home really was too empty. You need someone in your life to keep you from getting lost in your own thoughts too much of the time."