At a coffee table [Megumi & Safirone]

It was snowing outsite again when a young female entered a semi-filled cafe. She sat at a free table in a corner, placing her bag beside her and taking off her jacket. "This place is really neat-o! I know where I'll be spending time if I really don't have anywhere else to go!" Megumi thought to herself. She then reached out for the menu.

Glancing over the stuff they offered and prices, she was deciding between a white hot chocolate and apple cinnamon tea. She chose the chocolate, she really wanted something sweet. Lately Megumi didn't have much time to even have one of lollipops. Moving, online stuff, school orientation and stuff, generally getting used to new place, learning about the new place and much much more... The waiter came shortly to take her order, leaving Megumi to herself.

Up until now, she didn't even really took a look around her. The cafe was pretty quiet, despite the fact it was in a giant mall, with local radio playing on low volume. It had this calming atmosphere, which made Megumi a little bit sleepy. She shook her head to shake off the fatigue and decided to check her bag, if everything was still inside. She was on a pretty big spending spree today, afterall. Everything in place. Good. Megumi then took out her phone, to check if somebody happened to send her a message. But then she remembered something. "Man! I totally forgot to send Kaihei a message! Geez, I'm so forgetful lately... Like, seriously." she facepalmed. "Well, I'll send him one when I get back to dorm... Who knows? Maybe I'll even meet him there!" she promised, hoping NOT to forget this goddamn time. She then continued to check on her phone, halfly listening to today's news from the cafe's radio.

The weather was being pretty crappy, with all the snowing and overall coldness, which made Kaihei effectively regret stepping a foot outside today. Oh, well, no pain, no gain. Wait, no, it's not like he came into the mall for a particular reason, so the gain part wouldn't really do.

''Man, this wasn't even worth my time...'' he thought sourly as he strode around the various restaurants and other non-important stuff. Although he didn't come her to buy anything specific, he didn't think it would be such a total waste of time, ending with him not buying a single thing and just aimlessly walking around and around. The only bright thing in all of this was that he practically got a work out form all that walking, which wasn't needed, but could at least be appreciated.

Eventually, he came to a stop near a cafe, which he already went past three times during his stay in the mall. Kaihei wasn't exactly pleased by the idea of mingling with others in such a small space, but it was cold and he could USE something warm to drink, and since he hadn't spent any money yet, it was a good opportunity. Oh, well, he'll just have to make sure not to stay long.

''Not too many people....that's good.'' his approving thoughts were abruptly cut off by the simple fact that he saw someone familiar in the corner. ''No way...'' he muttered under his breath, after his eyes confirmed that it was the girl that he talked to in the dorms the other day. He definitely didn't have a back-up plan for a situation like this, so at first he though he'll just evade her, but then..... He realized that all of the tables were occupied by at least two to three people which wasn't to his tastes. And she WAS sitting alone. Ugh, painful decisions. Then again his dislike of bigger groups was stronger than that, so he decided fairly quickly.

''Hey there...'' he mumbled dejectedly as he walked over to where Megumi was sitting, apparently too busy with her phone to notice anything.

As she was pretty much done with checking her fans' suggestion messages, Megumi heard a familiar voice. "Hey, that sounds like... Kaihei?!" was it really Kaihei of all people who could've wandered into the cafe? Her head shot up to look up at the person who greeted her and confirm that it is indeed Kaihei. Indeed, it was him.

This meeting was rather odd... She was just thinking about sending him a message later on, but now he's suddenly standing in front of her. However, she decided not to stare for much longer than needed. "Oh, hello Kaihei. Have a seat!" she said, pointing at a chair across her. "What brought you here? You sure look bored, though." she asked as waiter came back with her white hot chocolate. The waiter decided to wait for Kaihei to make himself comfortable and wait for his order, if he had any.

Heh, nothing really changed since their last meeting. She was just as chippery as she was before, which unsettled him a bit. He'll have to bare with it though, as it was HIS decision to come and speak to her, so he couldn't really just turn around and leave now. Okay, so he could, but that would be way too stupid, besides, he still wanted something to drink and leaving would make this whole ordeal a waste of his precious time. ''I really should stop making decisions before really thinking them through...'' he mused as he reluctantly took the offered seat turning his head to look at the waiter, who apparently seemed to be waiting for his order.

After a few seconds the waiter was sent off with an order for black coffee, as Kaihei had the feeling he would need it for whatever was to come. With that out of the way he finally turned back to Megumi, as he hadn't answered her question yet. ''No particular reason, but it was quite a waste of time...'' he said gloomily, throwing Megumi's phone a glance. ''Did you come here to spend the time playing on your phone?'' Kaihei asked afterwards, kind of curious as he couldn't imagine himself even bothering with a phone if it wasn't neccessary.

The waiter walked away with Kaihei's black coffee order. Megumi wondered for a brief moment if Kaihei was a coffee lover before he asked her a question. He made it sound a little bit mean, but she didn't really care. It was alright for him to be curious. She put her phone back into her pocket, since it would be really rude of her just to stare into it, while conversing with a person. "No, not at all, I was just passing time reading messages until my choco came." she said as the waiter came back once again, but with Kaihei's coffee this time.

"You see, I was shopping here for quite a number of things. Like an extension cord, I went to pick up my pre-ordered mousepad, I bought a couple of... cooking... books..." she said with a sheepish smile, pointing at her bag sitting beside her. She took a sip of her choco, scratching her head covered by her overly sized winter beanie. Megumi didn't really want to say all this, to reveal her "plans" on learning how to cook.

''The hell? Cooking...?'' In general, Kaihei wasn't against stuff like that, but it struck him as a bit of a weird 'hobby' for a student. It was true that she was a girl, which theoretically made it more 'normal' and yet, he still didn't think it was something usual for a teenagers. Duh, perhaps he was a bit behind on what was currently IN these times, or Megumi was a special case. Whichever of those two, it still baffled him. At that moment he sure was glad he ordered that coffee.

''Cooking books, hm? Why in hell would you need to cook, when you're still just in school?'' he asked a little absentmindedly, fiddling with his coffee cup in the proccess. It seemed wholly unneccesary to him as you could either buy something to eat, have lunch at school and a million other options. Besides, cooking was kind of bothersome in his opinion. Of course, he noted that she also mentioned some computer related stuff, but he sucked with these things so he let that breeze past. Although, he had a feeling, that cooking wasn't the best topic for a conversation either.

''Well, isn't this an adequate mess?....''

"Good question, Kaihei! I don't know either!" kidding aside, she answered him thruthfuly: "Well, I transfered here because my parents went to work overseas and I kiiinda don't plan on going back to live with them again when they come back... So as much as I hate cooking and woman stereotype work, I should slowly work on learning... One can't always rely on ramen delivery, can they?" she said with a giggle, taking a sip of her deliciously tasty chocolate. "Now we're talking!"

Just as she thought that, Megumi rememebered that she forgot to pick up her yearly membership and facepalmed. "HOW CAN ONE BE SO GODDAMN FORGETFUL?!" she was angry with herself. Normally her memory is golden. But lately... She just couldn't put her finger on what was wrong with her. She couldn't blame everything on the new place, right? Somebody turned up the radio volume a bit, interrupting her stream of thoughts.

"...The snow storm in Shibakuzoi area is gradually becoming more and more thicker and dangerous. All those who still remain outside their homes would do wisely if they returned straight away." just what Megumi needed. "Great, it'll be fun getting back to the dorm..." she mumbled as she was taking another sip.

At least now it made a little more sense. Learning how to do stuff can be useful at times. Although, attempting to learn from cooking books didn't strike him as the best way to go for it. There were just too many ways to screw up. Couldn't she have asked someone to teach her? It works better when you have someone to give you an example, because really, cooking can be dangerous when you're inexperienced. ''Well, I seriously hope I won't have the luck of being anywhere near when she burns a kitchen down....''

Ugh, he shouldn't be thinking that or he'll spoil it. With that, he tuned his hearing onto the radio, as it became too loud to ignore anyway. ''More snow....What are we in Iceland?'' sheesh, he really didn't need any more cooling down. Though karma, apparently wouldn't let him have his way today.

''If we won't make it, you'd at least make a good snowman.'' Kaihei deadpanned and drowned the rest of his coffee in one swig, set the cup down on the table and stood up. ''You coming or not? I'm not planning on waiting for it to get even worse. Although, if you'll manage to set something on fire with your cooking, the snow might just become useful.'' he threw over his shoulder as he made his way around to pay for the drink.

Megumi watched as Kaihei drank the rest of his coffee and followed his example. Even though drinking hot chocolate all at once wasn't as delicious as drinking it bit by bit, she had to admit that he had a point. The last thing she wanted was to get caught in middle of a snow storm in a place she's still not accustomed to. Upon hearing Kaihei's mocking she smirked at him. "You're really a charmer, you know that?"

Like, seriously. But despite that, Megumi knew that Kaihei didn't mean it literally. At least for now. As Megumi stood up she grabbed her bag and headed to pay for her choco. Waiting for her turn to pay, she took a look around. She noticed that most of the people are indeed leaving just like them. Most likely because of the radio broadcast. She was really hoping that storm won't be that bad and the lady on the radio was just exaggerating a little as she handed over her money. "Well then. Shall we head back to dorm? I hope that you won't mind if we stick together for this one."

Hm, Kaihei was kind of surprised that Megumi wasn't at all upset or anything from his words. He could safely assume she was an extremely outgoing person, who didn't particularly care what was thrown at them. He himself didn't give a damn when it came to such instances either, but in all honesty, recently, most of the people he met got insulted quite easily. Thankfully, it seemed that he wouldn't have to be all nicey with her, which suited his tastes just fine. ''Charmer, eh?...I wouldn't really put it that way...'' Kaihei laughed silently in his head as he absentmindedly paid for his coffee, his focus not really on that particular action.

''Do as you will. I'm going whether you follow or not.'' he stated with a shrug as he fixed his coat in place, his eyes flicking over to the exit. He didn't really care if she went with him, as long as she wouldn't slow him down. He definitely wasn't about to get caught in a blizzard just because someone couldn't keep up. Sticking his hands into his pockets, he walked out of the cafe, not really looking back if Megumi went after him or not.

Yeah, a charmer, alright. Kaihei put his hands into his coat's pockets, readying for the coldness that awaited outsite the Mall. Shoving her bag filled with goodies onto her back Megumi went after Kaihei.

The storm wasn't as bad as the broadcaster pictured it, but it sure was cold and vicious. Icy, spiky snowflakes pattering against her cheeks. Keeping up with Kaihei's relentless tempo. She was getting exhausted, but didn't want to fall behind him either. As if she wanted him to notice...

However, both of them managed to return back to the dorm safely. Saying their goodbyes' they went back to their rooms. As short this meeting was, Megumi was glad that Kaihei happened to be there. She was feeling a bit lonely lately and meeting somebody she knew sure made her day brighter.

As soon as Megumi got back to her room, unpacked, she finally sent a message to Kaihei.

-Exit-

And with that they went. The storm wasn't as horrible as it could be so they proceeded fairly quickly. Although, Megumi looked like she was struggling a little, Kaihei chose to say nothing, as it wasn't a neccessity and a small talk during a snow storm wasn't a preffered activity.

They got back to the dorms in one piece, if we ignore being cold as hell and then went their own ways. Kaihei was kind of glad that it was over. The day had been one turbulence over another and Megumi didn't really help his sanity either. Their personalities were quite different and it was mentally exhausting for Kaihei to keep on the same page with her. At least most of the time.

He came back to his room to find a message on his phone. ''Oh, well...'' He had an idea who it was so he didn't bother checking it immediately and went on with his business...

~Exit~