A Delicious Shake (Kazuya)

Cyril had to get outside. He needed an excuse on a Friday night to at least do something, or to at least walk. Sometimes that was all he needed to be in a good mood, to just go out and take a stroll. This time he decided to take a tram to the strip mall in Nadashiki, one of the more popular places in that area.

He remembered meeting that one girl there, who was cool enough to him. But that wasn't why he was there. He liked going there to just hang out and people watch. As he walked into the mall, out of all places it was this moment he craved something sweet. Luckily he listened to his mother's constant reminders of him before he left the dorm to take his wallet.

He checked his wallet and saw that he wasn't broke. He never really checks it often, and he doesn't have a job, so he conserves usually. But tonight was different, to him food was practically a mission. He walked around the food court, and saw a shake stand. 'Perfect,' he thought to himself, turning his passive face to a very light smile.

He went up and ordered what he thought would be a good tryout and then took a seat. While enjoying his treat he sat there silently and just looked at people. He had put his glasses on before he left to possibly block his heterochromia from being viewed. Usually worked, and really people needed a better look to notice. His mismatched brown and grey eyes lightly wandered before looking at the table to enjoy the delicious shake.

So it wasn't every day he went to the strip mall. Normally since he had to be careful when he chose to go the place, in both day and hour, otherwise he'd end up with a horde of assholes trying to rip him to pieces. Sure, Nadashiki's Strip Mall had their own security, but rent-a-cops weren't exactly law enforcers so much as statues of apparent authority to discourage wrongful acts. And then, it would take a while for the real cops to haul their asses over to deal with whatever it was that went horribly wrong.

So, given his caution when venturing out in these parts, considering he had garnered a reputation that just wouldn't go away, it was kind of surprising he futzed up early on. How did he do this? By immediately catching the attention of the "Junkyard Scrappers" who were a bunch of ditzy assholes that held grudges forever, and while relatively small compared to the most notable gangs, were all long-term residents of Nadashiki and known for excessive violence.

What ensued after being spotted by a couple of those assholes who were probably enjoying their own time spotting him and giving chase, at which point they were immediately rushing about the rather bustling mall at this time in the afternoon.

"GET BACK HERE YOU HALF-BREED BRAT!!" the now doubled in size gang of four roared in unison.

"MAKE ME!" he shouted back indignantly, having no intention of sticking around to deal with those asshole.

-
Interlude of a few minutes
-

Just as the fateful future companion would be getting his order and relaxing in the food court, Kazuya had managed to slip out of his pursuer's line of sight. He probably had a few moments, as he rushed into the food court, before they eventually caught up and saw him again. Fortunately, a few moments were all he needed. Without much words, he reached one table that had a lone individual wearing glasses who was enjoying a shake. Without much a word, the younger male had already opened up the backpack he had carried with him today, and hurriedly extracted a jacket, a cap and what appeared to be a book then made use of all articles before positioning his back relative to the entrance of the food court.

"Please don't say anything for now." he muttered quietly, while his hasty disguise ended with the thugs cross over and looking about the food court, trying to spy him. Whether they were actually looking for him, or were just trying to find someone running away from them was unknown to him, but considering the people around stared for a bit and then resumed back to normal (along with their cursing starting to trail off) probably meant if he stayed put he'd be safe ... ... Maybe? He couldn't see them after all.

"So ... lovely weather ain't it?"

He coughed a bit after jumping a bit when a new person showed up at his table. He didn't seem to scary, but then the moment he showed up he seemed to very poorly, yet quickly disguising himself. He imagined it would work. However it didn't make him look any less odd to him. He almost chuckled when he made his comment about the weather.

"Um...am I part of a movie now?" he said making a small joke towards him. It really was confusing to see him do that. He didn't seem to notice anyone near them, except maybe a few people shouting in the court. It was incredibly tense. However they got quiet. They looked like gang members, and he hated profiling, but he also hated gang members. So he kept quiet and let him stay. The suspense of the gang made his face turn a bit red in nervousness.

"If the movie were "Short young boy gets chased and murdered by gang members" ... maybe? Not that I have any intention of letting those assholes catch me ..." he responded politely to the clearly older and taller male. It was at this point that the ruckus had calmed down enough that he was willing to crane his neck to take a look if there were still thugs, and lucky for him the coast seemed to be clear.

"Maybe I should think about leaving Nadashiki if thugs keep seeing me every day and want to break my bones into pieces ... haaa well. Thanks for playing along ... er ... sorry. My name's Inaku, Kazuya, may I ask who you are?" Despite his propensity to swear so often, he was a polite person at heart. Or at least, though that acting polite was an ideal way to throw off as many people as possible and keep the facade running smoothly. So it seemed polite to introduce and then ask for reciprocation.

Then again, if this person asked him to leave, he would gladly stand and leave. After all, whoever he was, he was clearly older than him, which meant politeness was another key here ... unless this person didn't believe in social conventions.

He nods. "I think they are gone now," he responded looking with him to confirm the situation. He didn't want to pry, curiosity might overpower him at any moment. But he didn't seem to be that bad of a guy to him. He smiled at his thank you and nodded. "My name is Cyril," he responded with no animosity.

He was confused at his circumstances and ultimately his curiosity took over. "So what happened? Do you need help?" he asked sipping his shake which started to melt a bit. He couldn't afford to let that delicious shake ruin.

"What, those guys? N'aw, it's not much a big deal. I jumped their leader the other day and broke both his legs, so they're trying to get revenge for him on me. Small fry compared to most of the usual stuff I deal with, really." The 'child' responds nonchalantly while removing the cap he had put on and setting atop the book he had been reading earlier, which was apparently in English.

"It's been getting harder and harder to get a moment's peace and quiet around here, though, since there's only so many gangs you can get into scraps with and piss off in the process. But, ah well. It's my own problem and I'll figure it out soon enough." This was about the point he realized he was dipping into a subject that was not only a bit personal and impolite in normal conversations, but was bound to raise a few eyebrows considering he had been so casual in discussing it. So much he hurriedly tried to clear up any possible misconception about how he was treating the subject matter.

"Oh ... uh ... yeah about what I was just talking about? I'm not a gang member, but I do tend to get mixed up with them since they're usually annoying loud-mouthed crass insufferably dimwitted assholes." And now he was nervously waving his hand about, as though trying to dispel any ill thoughts about him. Was this the correct course of action? At this point, he had no idea and hope the conversation wouldn't veer much more into it.

"Anyway, Cyril-san, forgive me if I assume too much, but you aren't a resident of Nadashiki are you? What brings you around here besides killing time?"

He laughed enjoying his response. He won't deny he was a bit nerved and at the same time in disbelief at his statement. Not that he didn't believe him, but if the nervousness didn't show in his voice, it showed in his face as even in this air-conditioned environment he was sweating slightly. But it wasn't enough to notice really.

He smiled at his mention of gangs. He couldn't agree more. "Eh, I am sure that is how the gangs are. Luckily apart from just a second, this place is usually quiet. So you can hang here," he said. He finally finished his shake much to his disappointment and put it down. 'Maybe I will get another before I leave...' he thought to himself.

He loosed at him when he asked his question. He nodded and gave his plain, ordinary answer. "Oh, I live in Yoro. I was bored and everyone in my dorm was gone. I wanted to do something," he said.

The signs of nervousness didn't go unnoticed by 'Kazuya' ... given his habits, it was sort of an compulsion to keep track of everything that went on around him the best he could, and at times he wished he could just forget about it and let things continue on their natural course. But that wasn't something he could afford to do, considering his identity depended on it.

But moving on from that, the older male gave some interesting responses. Sure, they were straightfoward, but the mention of the dorm ... Yoro didn't have such facilities, only Kizuna Academy did. So, did that meant that this guy was also a student? In which case, that begged the question of either his age or the class he was in, and from there, determine the likelihood of having met him. Chances were, no. His face was not at all familiar, so he was most likely an upperclassman, but that angle for the conversation was best to pursue if only to confirm the lingering thought.

"Dorm? ... Are you a student then? So am I, but ... I think compared to you, I'd be your kouhai what with being a first year." He responded cheerily, again with that polite if measured tone of voice that suggested rigid mastery over the spoken language. It was a bit odd, so far. He was used to interacting with those who were more ... animated, I suppose is the right term, and thus his habits didn't stand out as often. But with a passive individual like this one, it seemed he was much like an aggressor.

Troubling, was what came to mind. Did he need to revise how he carried himself about? Was he being rude? ... Was asking if he was being rude also rude? Or impolite? Or something? ... who knows.

"Oh, by the way? Are the shakes any good? I was thinking of getting one" And then his politeness broke down into a more bubbly form at the prospect of getting something sweet.

He chewed on his fingers a bit. A habit that he couldn't help himself. He couldn't stop until he noticed he bled a bit from his thumb and quickly put it down as he spoke. He hated that habit.

The man himself was probably younger than him. How much younger he could not say. So far he was a bit surprised his eyes went unnoticed. But he didn't make any move to his glasses or make it apparent. That way it provided less distractions away from a nice talk.

"Yeah, I lived in Yoro I meant. I go to dorms for school at Kizuna," he said. He looked back at him with a face that seemed to suggest a bit of surprise. "Oh, I didn't think you looked that much younger, just younger," he said smiling a bit. He couldn't say it wasn't a surprise. But hey, it was something.

He sat back in his chair almost having it fall backwards before grabbing the table and sitting properly again. "Never doing that again.....as for the shakes-" he suddenly covered his mouth and stifled a burp. It wasn't that noticeable, but surely Kazuya must've noticed it. He then laughed at himself. "That should be your answer."

"Ha ha, what's that supposed to mean about how I look?" he responded good-naturedly with a bit of a laugh, but he was a bit confused at what his response really meant. Either way, conclusions drawn so far about this one was that he was a strange glasses-wearing sempai who was a nice guy, if not really talkative. Not a lot of sempais out there who didn't make use of social status to basically impose authority on the underclassmen, whether in school or not. Kizuna WAS a school primarily for the privileged after all, with the fortunate ones that managed to pass entrance exams from the less notable areas like Nadashiki being able to piggy-back their way into the place.

So, let's just say it was a rare occurrence for not only someone who didn't live around these parts AND was an upperclassmen from the Academy who was willing to just have a casual, if probably goofy conversation about ... well, whatever came to mind it seems.

That was about the point in which Cyril nearly fell backwards, alarming Kazuya since it seemed like he was actually going to tumble down before he caught the table and pulled himself back into proper position. Given how quick he'd done that, the younger teen was unsure if he had done that deliberately or not, which led him to look dead in his eyes. Something he opted not to do since people tended to get unnerved when he did this, and he disliked making people nervous after all.

'Are his eyes ... different?' he mused before being distracted by realizing that Cyril had begun speaking again, had brought his hand up to ... stifle something? Laughter? A cough? ... No wait, a burp. Wait, he burped? After a shake?

"Hahah, probably better than one of those online reviews I guess. Satisfied customer, in the flesh!" Silliness wasn't something he liked to show, considering it could be interpreted in so many ways, but then again it was an aspect he couldn't keep in check and one he'd much rather let out than the other habits that kept generating questions. "So, what're you up to now? Since I might tag along with you, if you'll let me, so the assholes don't find me as easily again. Not as likely to bother a pair, then they are a lone person."

He nodded. He seemed like a calm guy. Albeit about as passive as he is, if it weren't for that business with the gang members. "I didn't mean to make fun of you, I didn't mean it that way, sorry," he said rubbing his head laughing a bit.

he smiled at his compliment. "Oh yeah, I enjoyed myself. I got a chocolate peanut butter shake. I may now have a new addiction," he said. He started to look around for things to do. He was perfectly willing to have him join up. It made the night more fun and less solitude-y (if that is even a word).

He stood up looking around. "Yeah sure you can join. I am looking for something to do. Do you have any ideas?" he asked. There was the club, the theater, a music shop, so many places to explore.

"HUZZAH!" he spoke in a most enthusiastic tone. Now he had a meatshield ... er ... friend around to help him if needed! Maybe. Sort of ... okay, not really but who cares! He had managed to reach out to yet another person, and this was a remarkable accomplishment for him. SO HE WAS HAPPY, SHUT UP!

After that uncharacteristic jubilation, he then decided to offer his suggestion! Not that he spent time with friends, mind you. He was a strange lonely nut, stop judging him! "I hear there's some new movies playing at the theater this weekend. Wanna go check it out?" He inquired cheerily. It was interesting, to say the least, to be the more giddy or excitable one.

"Still plenty of time to catch a movie, and then you'd still be able to catch a train back to your dorm without it being too late, too!" he smiled, after all, even if it was Friday night, it was still a school night unless some magic holiday was invoked just in time for tomorrow.

He thought to himself as he looked at the theater. It could help Kazuya take a load off perhaps and get us out of sight from the gang members. He checked his phone. The time was 8:47 P.M. 'A good time, sounds good,' he thought to himself.

He turned to him and nodded. "Yeah sure, I can go," he said looking to the theater again. Without really checking to see if he was coming with he started to walk. However he slightly tripped over the chair he was just sitting at. He didn't fall over but his glasses tumbled to the ground.

"Shit..." he said aloud. His mismatched grey eye was more revealing in contrast to his seemingly normal brown eye. He reached down and picked his glasses up. He had no trouble picking up the glasses as if his vision was not affected by him having them off. He checked them and saw the lenses were fine, he just had to be more careful. He put them on and turned back to check on Kazuya to see if he was with him.

"H-hey, don't get wiped out by a chair! Otherwise people will think Nadashiki furniture is dangerous as well as the people around here." he blurted out in an attempt to be funny. Really, it didn't seem like Cyril was hurt, or in any position to be hurt ... just caught off-balance by the Ueitawa-famous "Killer Chairs of Nadashiki." Which, was true since chairs, particularly folding chairs, were a favored weapon of the younger delinquents in the area. Second only to student desks pilfered from Kizuna.

Are you alright, though, Cyril-xiānshēng?"

...

' . . . ah, fuck.'

This was about the point in which Cyril was bent over to pick up his glasses, and Kazuya clamped his mouth shut after realizing what he had said. Even if this fellow seemed pretty laid-back and accepting (I mean, he was surprised but didn't seemed that phase earlier), he always tried to keep the rest of his heritage a secret . . . in fact, when was the last time he slipped like this? Was it because he had been so passive in the previous conversation that, in an attempt to maintain normalcy, he relaxed his reservations slightly too much? That term was his equivalent honorific for -san, a term he used primarily for politeness (unfamiliarity) and deference (age difference), and now the use of which had frozen him in place.

There was now an awkward pause as Kazuya had ceased putting his forward act on and was now fidgeting slightly. This slip-up was clearly causing him more discomfort than being chased by a pack of thugs that would probably break his legs if they caught him.

'How strange we accept each other to some degree, and then struggle desperately to keep things hidden from one another' a less flustered part of his mind mused, a bit on the current situation, but more so in general. After the noticeable silence, it occurred to Kazuya, considering how the conversation was going, that if he didn't mask the error, the silence would persist. This little mental note also triggered a deep mental sigh.

"Y- ... your glasses alright, there? They're not scratched or anything, are they?"

After regaining his balance he smiled at Kazuya. He didn't exactly laugh at his joke. But he caught his drift. "So those....people are natives to this area? I don't go out too often, so I wouldn't know," he said. He looked out at the people in the mall just roaming not particularly in an obvious manner.

He turned back to him obviously noticing his addon to his name when he said it. He couldn't pronounce it nor spell it if he tried. He only knew America apart from where he lived now. He had never heard an accent like that before. Nonetheless his curiosity got the better of him. "Nice accent, are you foreign?" he asked. He knew that was obviously a standard default question, but he didn't know what nationality he was, so that was all he had.

When he commented on his glasses he smiled and took them off exposing his mismatched eyes again, one brown, the other grey, and looked at them. "These are just for show. It doesn't matter too much if they get scratched," he said showing the glasses to him. And upon closer look, the lens weren't scratched but there were plenty of small nicks on the handles of the glasses.