Let's....eat, perhaps [Megumi]

It was the usual winter day, snowflakes lazily dancing thorough the sky, gracefully falling down on the cold ground. In contrast to that, Hibiki's mood was anything but gracefull at that particular moment. He was a little pertrubed at the fact that he had nothing to eat as his attempt at cooking himself lunch had, as he sadly admitted, utterly failed. ''I really should stop trying to do everything...'' he sighed softly, mentally going over his options of how to solve this unexpected problem.

In the end, it narrowed down to either not eating anything or going out for lunch. The weather was pretty much passable at the current time and he swiftly picked the latter. Staying hungry wasn't a very favorable option, was it now? It was starting to get boring at the dorms anyway and going out might provide some distraction too.

With that idea, he set out towards Nadashiki, as that was the only place he was aware of that had decent food. Then again he didn't really know the places much as he only moved here recently. Hibiki walked around for a bit of time, examining the kinds of offers there were. The choices weren't that different and after a short while he settled on ramen. He couldn't say anything truly caught his attention, so it came to just a random pick.

Walking over there, he looked around for a good place to sit, while brushing the excess snow away from his ''bunny ears''. For some reason it always stuck there. ''Hmm, there's quite a lot of people in this place. Looks like ramen's popular.'' he mused, his gaze still flicking around, trying to find a nice enough sitting arrangement.

Still wintery in Ueitawa. It was shortly past Megumi's usual lunchtime. She was consulting her cookbooks she picked up at the Hakken Mall the other day. But everything seemed a little bit too difficult for somebody with absolutely zero experience in cooking like Megumi. "I should've bought some sort of a tutorial on how to cook or something or sorts..." she facepalmed. "I guess it's time to put on my jacket and go eat somewhere... I'm not calling the delivery again." she thought. Yes, people weren't all that happy that Megumi had something delivered every now and then, whether it was food or stuff ordered from internet. Grabbing her wallet and phone, she put on her winter jacket with beanie and headed out to hunt down some food.

After pondering a bit about where to actually go, she decided to go to Nadashiki. Megumi heard a numerous of times that Nadashiki offered a wide range of food stalls, restaurants and such. Once she arrived in the Moonlit Plaza, it was apparent that rumors were true. Hands stuck in pocket, Megumi made her way through the mass of people. Eyeing many different restaurants, she made her way to a ramen one. She wasn't in the mood to find a perfect place to eat and this looked decent.

Pushing the door open... THUD! She bumped into a person standing in front of her. Megumi couldn't possibly have noticed them in time. Regaining her posture, she spoke up immediately: "I'm sorry, I didn't know somebody was right behind the door!"

Ow, maybe he should have stood a little farther from the door. If only Hibiki thought of that a little sooner, but alas, it was a bit late for that when somebody literally rammed into him. He didn't even have a chance to avoid the collision as he had his back to the door and couldn't possibly see what was going on behind him before it already happened. ''That's one way to go, I guess.'' he noted silently, turning around to take a look at the person that almost knocked him down.

He blinked a few times, taking in the fact that it was a girl, probably around his age. What was slightly surprising, she definitely didn't wear girly things and that was kind of unusual. At least when it came to teenage girls. Besides that, he couldn't tell much more about her at a first glance, except that she was shorter than him, but that wasn't of importance. Oh, well, she was apologizing to him, so that meant she knew how to be polite. That was nice.


Hibiki offered a smile in return to the hasty apology, giving a friendly response. ''Hmm, It's alright, it was my fault for standing right behind the door, I suppose.'' That was actually pretty truthful, as he shouldn't have stood there, period. ''You okay? I hope you didn't get hurt from that.'' he added after a few moments, making sure she was alright. He wouldn't want to be the cause of someone getting injured, really. With that, he waited for what'd she say, still wearing the slight smile.

Taking better look at the person she bumped into, she noted that it was a male around her age, maybe a year or two older. And man, that hoodie! Love at the first sight. Kidding aside, he seemed genuinely worried about how she was doing. Which wasn't necessary, really. It wasn't that big of an accident, afterall. "I'm alright, don't worry about that. If anyone should be worried it would be me, since I could've slammed you against the ground by accident." Megumi answered him truthfully.

He seemed really nice. He had this kind of warm aura around him, one could say. However, they were still standing in front of the door, blocking it. "I guess we should move, though." Megumi advised, taking a look around for a free table. A moment later she spotted a pretty good table that was empty, as if waiting for them. "Shall we sit over there and continue our chat once we're comfortable?" She asked, stepping aside to free the door for a woman. However, before she stormed out, she made sure to glare at Megumi. Megumi felt pretty offended by that gesture, muttering: "So much for graditude, bitch..."

She did have a point, as he wouldn't have enjoyed having a personal meeting with the floor, but the way the doors were done, she had no chance of seeing him, so it definitely wasn't her fault. All in all, the most important thing was that no one got injured and everything was still in place. So, yeah, not a big deal at all. Besides, he should be glad that she wasn't pissed at him, not wondering who was the one at fault here anyway. That was a moot point.

''Sure, why not?'' Hibiki was never against some company, and this girl seemed pretty nice, at least at a first glance. And he wouldn't mind getting some small talk done over the food. It sounded like a much better opinion, as opposed to having lunch by himself, when he was already there. ''Don't let that discourage you, some people are just that way...'' he shrugged, after witnessing the scene at the door. That kind of thing happened so often these days, that he didn't even pay attention to it most of the time anymore.

With that Hibiki walked over to the table she was reffering to and took a seat. He waited till she did the same, then spoke up once more, with a slightly amused tone. ''So, is it often that you run into people by accident?'' She seemed like a pretty outgoing person, considering the circumistances and he opted for a lighthearted conversation in the case. He hadn't had the chance for anything humorous as of lately, so this was a nice change for a while. He realized that he hadn't asked for her name yet, but he guessed that it could wait a moment. They had time. He doubted the food would come very soon anyway.

Megumi had to admit that the male was right about the fact that such situations happen quite often. But still...! "I guess I should let it slide for now." she shrugged, following the young man. They got to the table Megumi suggested, as he asked her sort of a peculiar question. "Nope, I usually don't ram into people, unless I can't see them behind the door." she replied with sticking the tip of her tongue out.

As she sat down, she took off her jacket. Then an idea striked her. "The name's Megumi Mizushima, by the way." she wasn't completely sure if it was appropriate, but hey, she didn't want him to call her 'Hey you!' or whatever. The waiter interrupted their little conversation they had going, though. Even though it was quite soon for that kind of appearance, she didn't really care, as long as she won't have to wait for her order way too long. "Vegetable ramen with white tea for me, please." she swiftly ordered.

It appeared that Hibiki was at least partially right when he assumed that she was pretty easy-going. He could list quite a number of people that would have gotten offended if he asked them this sort of question. She seemed like one of the more friendly and sociable types. He could go with that. This meant that he probably didn't have to worry much about what to say next. Though, he knew he probably still would. It was sort of a habit.

''Makes sense. Doors can be tricky.'' That wasn't very funny, but he couldn't think of anything appropriate at that moment, so he just said the first thing that came to his mind and at least sounded legit. He was deciding on what to say next, when she suddenly started introducing herself out of the blue. Well, that wasn't actually a bad idea. Hibiki was just about to reply to that, but the waiter had interrupted them. A little sooner than he would have liked. No big deal, though. ''I'll have the same, but with green tea, please.'' he said quickly, right after Megumi. Then, as the waiter left with their orders, he turned his attention back to her. ''I'm Hibiki Nakahara. It's nice to meet you, Megumi.'' he said with a thin smile, as he rested his arms onto the table. This was progressing pretty well, at least in his opinion.

Megumi sure liked the young man's name, though. Hibiki. It somehow has a nice ring to it. As Megumi was about to speak up, her phone vibrated, signalizing that somebody sent a her a message. "The only person to message me at this time is..." ...Jared, of course. Englishman in action. She took a peek at the message, but not reading it all the way, since it would be really impolite thing to do to Hibiki. "He's actually a pretty cool guy... So far, at the very least." she nodded to herself.

Now it would be a good idea to come up with something to talk about, until the food arrives. Well, dang. "So..." Megumi started with an unsure voice. "I take it you're a student at Kizuna, right?" that was probably the most 'normal' question to ask for starters. Sure, she could ask something else, but for real. She believed that most likely any other question would be more than wierd.

As she was wondering for that little bit, the waiter came back with teas, giving both Megumi and Hibiki the ones they ordered. They smelled amazing. Megumi immediately took a sip, deeply regretting it. Not only it was really hot, it also had no sugar in it. It wasn't quite a rule, but for Megumi it was a must. "Serves me right for not asking for sugar..." she said in a dissapointed voice.

Hibiki watched Megumi take a look at her phone, probably reading a message. At least that's what he suspected. She seemed to do it pretty quickly. Either she was a fast reader or she didn't read it whole. He didn't really mind the interruption, so he didn't say anything and just kept quiet until she spoke up again. ''Yes, I am.'' he smiled, ''I'm in the 3rd year.'' Then after giving it some thought, he added. ''Let me guess, you study at the academy too?'' He was pretty sure she did. Why else would she have asked him about the school in the first place? That was the logical assumption. The question was there just to make sure, in case he actually was wrong, which again, was unlikely.

Before she could say anything to that, the waiter came back, bringing their teas. Hibiki took some time to just look at the cup, while Megumi seemed to be much more eager and immediately tried to take a gulp. He was kind of wondering if that was a smart move. The tea was quite hot afterall, and you could get pretty much burned if you tried to drink before it cooled down at least a bit. He looked up at Megumi when she mentioned she had no sugar. Huh? Well, apparently they had a forgetful waiter. He did get some, and he didn't ask either. ''You know what? You can have mine. Green tea with sugar isn't really that good anyway.'' he offered casually. He didn't fancy sweet tea very much. Black tea, perhaps. But with the other kinds, he didn't have the need to sweeten them. He didn't have a sweet tooth in general, so yeah. It wasn't a big deal for him.

All right, Megumi's guess about Hibiki being a student at Kizuna was right. Well, then again. Was there ever any doubt? However, as much as she tried, she couldn't recall seeing him before at school. Perhaps he transferred not so long ago? "The same as me, huh...?" she wondered. And yep, he guessed right aswell. However, his offer took her by surprise. "I hope he's sure about that..." she thought as she reached out for Hibiki's offered sugar. "Thanks a bunch, Hibiki!" Megumi thanked him with a smile.

Truth be told, Hibiki seemed like really cool guy to hang out with. Not to mention he was also kindhearted. Megumi felt like she wanted to find out more about him. "To answer your earlier question..." Megumi started, as she dumped the sugar into her white tea taking a quick little sip. It wasn't as sweet as she would want it to be, but she was thankful for Hibiki's 'gift'. "I too study at Kizuna. I'm still sort of new, since I transferred here not all that long ago." she replied him, adjusting her beanie.

Now to test her theory that he's a transferee aswell. "And even though I transferred here, I can't say that I've seen you before." Megumi said, pushing her glasses up her nose. True, there was a chance that she was wrong about this, since she hardly knew everybody who lived here, but Megumi somehow knew that she right about this one.

This was moving on a lot smoother than Hibiki initially expected it to. Megumi seemed to be quite happy about the sugar, which was good. It's not like he needed it in the first place, so it could even be put as convinient. He didn't really have a certain intention as of yet, though. ''You're welcome.'' he responded with a small nod at the overly happy thanks.


He had indeed been right that Megumi too studied at the academy. Not that he even considered the possibility of being wrong more than barely. It was just something like a common sense. There weren't many schools around to choose from afterall. ''Makes sense, right...?'' he thought vaguely, while listening to Megumi explaining. He had to admit that he wasn't extremely surprised. Kizuna academy was quite the popular school, so it was a normal thing for new students to come often. Well, in a way, he did too, did he not? ''Is that so?'' he smiled thinly, ''Perhaps it might be, because I've only been here for a few days myself. Hasn't been much time to meet everyone.'' While he had already visited a number of places and acquainted himself with a sizeable amount of people, he still had no chance to actually know everybody.

Hibiki took a sip of his tea before asking, ''Say, since you just came recently too, how do you like this place so far? From what I managed to see till now, Ueitawa is quite the intruguing region.'' He'd seen quite a share already, and he was wondering if he was just having a kind of luck for strange things and meeting, or if it was actually legitimate. Besides, it ought to keep the conversation going as well.

Yes! Another good guess. So Hibiki was indeed both student at Kizuna and transferee. Two for the price of one, grandma! If he by any chance lived at the dorm, that would be just perfect. But Megumi let that one slide for the moment. As for Hibiki himself... He seemed like a sociable person, which was more than fine with Megumi. "Hibiki sure is better than Mr. Grumpy Kaihei." she recalled the time she met Kaihei for the first time.

Then Hibiki asked about her opinion on the area. Megumi had to admit that this was a pretty cool area overall. There was a wide variety of food stalls, there was a giant mall, all sorts of things. And if there was something missing afterall, the Internet solved the rest for Megumi. So all in all, she was quite content living here. Everything was better... "Well, I came from the big city. And even though I'm far from seeing everything in here, I think I like it better here." she admitted.

As she said that, her phone started ringing. Somebody was straight out calling her, instead of messaging her. "Geez... Who could that be...?" she wondered as she took out her phone. "Wha-?!" she was baffled for a moment. Her dad was calling. She had no idea why in the world he was calling her of all people. She decided to not go away with her phone to not bother Hibiki, she didn't care. "Excuse me." she apologised, picking up.

"Yes?" she asked with stern voice. "Megumi? How are you doing? You don't send messages or anything." Megumi could feel anger boil in her veins. Now he cared? After she was gone? "I'm doing good, don't worry about that." she answered with same tone of voice, hiding her anger. "Well, your mother was worried about you-" "Then why are you calling if YOU don't care?" she interrupted him, with her stern voice. "Megi? That's not I meant!" "Oh, I'm sure I know what you meant by that... 'Dad'." she ended the call afterwards, not giving her father chance to fight back.

"There goes my whole fucking day..." Megumi thought with disgust as she put away her phone. "I'm sorry you had to see that..." she turned to Hibiki. Why did he had to call? Why now? Megumi then took a sip of her tea, looking into her cup afterwards, thinking.

So, Megumi came from a big city, huh? Briefly, Hibiki wondered just which one it was. Of course, he had been to a bigger city before, but never for a longer period of time, and he definitely didn't live in such a place. He couldn't quite put a finger on why was he interested in that particular detail and he let it fly when he got suddenly distracted by the sound of Megumi's ringing phone. He just gave a nonchalant wave of his hand as she excused herself. Hibiki didn't mind, really, as this has happened to him too before. Some people just had the worst timing for making a phone call. Or maybe it was just pure bad luck, Hibiki wasn't too sure on that.

He quietly listened to Megumi's part of the conversation, as he couldn't have tuned it out even if he wanted to. She sounded as if she was far from pleased by the call. He hadn't expected it to be her dad though. And he wouldn't have guessed is she hadn't said so before she hung up. It looked like she wasn't on good terms with her family. Was that the reason she came to study here? That would be a reasonable thing to do. While he himself wasn't exactly in a war zone with his parents, he couldn't say they got along very well. It was just, that they're views on man things were too different.

Hibiki closed his eyes for a moment, after he heard her apologize. ''It's quite alright.'' he looked at her then, ''It isn't like it was your fault.'' he said with a solemn tone. He didn't try to dig into it, as the last thing he wanted was to make her feel even worse about it. She seemed pretty distressed already, staring holes into her cup like that. Maybe he could try getting her into a better mood? He wasn't sure how that would go, but it'd be kind of depressing if she was gloomy for the rest of the meal. ''Cheer up. This isn't the end of the world, is it? I'm sure there are many people that care for you. Letting it get to you will just make it worse. There's always a bright side to everything. You just have to look.'' he said, trying to sound as sincere as he could. He hadn't really done anything of this sort before, so he hoped he didn't screw this up too much.

Somehow she felt like hugging Hibiki for his kind words for a second. But she quickly brushed off the thought. Even though she didn't 'believe' them 100%, she knew that he was trying his best to make her feel better. His words reminded her of Jared and his message. If there was somebody who gave an actual fuck about Megumi, it sure was Jared, the Englishman. Then another person came to her mind. Kaihei. "I bet Kaihei counts as a fucking quarter." as she thought about that, it made her smile a little.

"I guess you're right..." she looked at Hibiki, but they got interrupted by the waiter, who came back with their order or two Veggie ramen. "Thank you." she thanked him, taking a peek at the ramen. Megumi was glad it wasn't all soggy. "If I may, I'd like to change the topic, though." she said as she was about to eat a bit of ramen to test it out. It wasn't all that bad. "What do you do in your free time?" she asked shortly after the fight with hot ramen.

It actually worked. Good to know, because Hibiki wasn't so sure of himself when he said that. Turns out he mad a fairly good guess at what to say. Megumi didn't seem to want to be moping around, so his little speech wasn't a waste of time. Fuh, but this wasn't easy. He wouldn't want to do this on a regular basis. It could drain so much energy if you put yourself in it. Although, right now he had a feeling that the change of topic would be even more draining that that. He just hoped this wouldn't proceed like that one time at the dorm. That wasn't entirely pleasant.

He thanked the waiter too, when the order came, and proceeded to thoughfully stir the ramen around. He really wasn't sure how to answer her question. He didn't want to get tangled up like he did when this came up last time. Not an exciting thought. ''Well, nothing much, really. I mostly just hang out.'' he shrugged at first, but added a bit more after a few seconds, ''I guess I play the piano too, but there hasn't been much opportunity since I moved.'' Hibiki really hoped that would suffice, as he didn't want to say much more on that subject. ''How about you?'' he asked then, diverting the attention from himself for a bit.