A Meeting with "Royalty" [Add, Blaez, Kogoro]

It seemed that Add did a good deed indeed. The girl was quite visibly shocked by the money he put down for the other to take. However, it wasn't just simply because he wanted to look good in their eyes. He knew how it felt to be on the bitter bottom. Even though he had the money to sustain himself, becoming a proper human being in the eyes of others was far more difficult. The Dynamo slightly shook, when he was asked for his name. There was something about him, but he couldn't put his finger on what exactly.

The young man was being asked a question, however. His name. He wished he knew his real name. "The name's Add. No need to thank me, though. I have plenty to go around." He would reply and put away his wallet in the inside pocket of his white coat. Revealing his name would have to suffice to the trio, as he had no intentions of revealing his face.

"You're very much welcome, Kogoro-kun!" Mae looked into his eyes, and smiled. The genuine gratitude given by the young man in front of her made Mae feel proud. "If there's anything else you need, don't hesitate to ask, ok?" She gave Kogoro a look that clearly said 'There's no need to thank me'.

"Nice to meet you too, Blaez-kun!" She stretched out her right hand for Blaez to shake. "That, by the way" She nodded her head towards the fries. "was really nice of you. If only more people were that kind, this world would've been a much better place, don'tcha think?" She tilted her head slightly, smiling warmly at the teen.

"Nice to meet you too, Add-san." Mae gave the man a deep bow, after which, she smiled warmly towards him as well, chuckling a bit. "Oh, come on! There's no need to be so modest! What you did was great!".

"So, where are you all from?" Mae asked the group of guys sitting at the table. Now that they were all talking, why not get to know eachother a little better...? At least, that was Mae's opinion on the matter. The other three could have different agendas entirely, but regardless, since there was nothing better to talk about at the moment, She threw this question out there as a sort of Ice-breaker. "I'm from Japan myself. I transferred over to Zela last sunday, so I'm still relatively new here."

"Uhm...It was nothing..."He the accepted the girl's handshake.Mae probably wanted to compliment Blaez's actions but ended up making him feel slightly bad for it,but Kogoro looked kinda suspicious despite being inoffensive,Blaez decided to lower his guard a bit until he had more hints of who is Kogoro.

"Is that so?I study at Zela too."In Blaez eyes that was enough information,he just met these people,besides his past and personal life was nothing of their concern and vice versa,he had the feeling that Kogoro and Add would also give minimal detail as possible about themselves.

Add. A strange name, but then again there are many strange names. He decided to make a mental note of this 'Add' and make sure to look into it more later on. He looked at Mae and nodded, showing he understood her gesture. She seemed like a person who was much too trusting or generous. It could even get her hurt; he knew it had hurt him. He watched as she went ahead and talked to the other more. He felt awkward again, surrounded by people he didn't know. They didn't seem to show any signs of leaving either. He took a deep breath and exhaled, keeping a blank face. He hoped the sigh hadn't seemed to show any of his annoyance. When the question was asked of him "where did you come from?", Kogoro had a group of bad memories surface.

He thought of the Orphanage, the single memory of where he had been at peace and somewhat happy. After that, though, the memories of the lab came back. The place where had been given many shots, and had taken many things that the doctors had given him. Where he began to feel...wrong. Finally, it came to the moment in that dark room, with the large black, masked figure looming toward him as it forced its way into his body. That figure is who he now knows as Argentum, the old shadow next to him and inside him. He shook his head slightly, pushing the memories away, and the view of the one caring doctor he had left behind. "No, that's in the past. Forget it, it will only make you weaker." He cleared his throat before answering. "I'm from Japan as well." He left it at that, taking another drink from the water in front of him.

Add-san? That was the first time he was ever called that. Not to mention that the bow made him slightly blush and also raised his ego a little bit. He was so glad that he was wearing a hood. The girl reminded him of Hyde so much, though. So enthusiastic but generous and caring at the same time. It's been a while since he was praised. He had forgotten how good it feels. However, his mood slightly shifted when the group was asked about their origin. The question made several memories faintly pop up, but he managed to shake them off. For the time being.

It appeared that majority of the group wasn't from the islands, but mostly from Japan. Unfortunately, he couldn't say where he was from, since he had no idea. So he decided to say what he always says when he is asked this type of question. "Let's say that I'm a roaming traveler. That's all you need to know." He was hoping that he didn't come off as rude, but he thought that it would be his business anyway. Sharing such information was maybe alright for them, but for a person like himself, it would be more of a detriment than just being friendly.

"Oooh, such modesty." Mae smiled back at Blaez, as she shook his hand. "Oh! Which class are you in?" Mae asked enthusiastically. Someone else from Zela. Mae had her suspicions that Blaez went there, but she needed to confirm it. Which Blaez did.

Now that was not very suprising for her. Kogoro was Japanese. She had known it the moment she heard his name, but again, best to be sure. "I'm glad to see more people from Japan! It's not like we're a rarity here, but it always comes as a pleasant suprise when someone shares the same nationality as yourself!" Mae hadn't really met that many Japanese students at Zela yet. Most students she had met so far were american with three in total. Jack, Julian and Eddie.

Add wasn't as forthcoming as the other two. The guy was hiding his face after all, so explaining where he was from would kind of ruin the purpose of hiding his identity. "Well, thanks for telling us, Add-san!" Mae smiled back at the masked fellow. He was a little bit difficult to connect to, but his sudden kindness towards Kogoro had piqued Mae's interest. Who was behind that mask? Why was he wearing it in the first place?

"2-A"He replied,and as he expected the others were vague and just gave small bits of information about themselves"What about you Mae?"Blaez asked,he had the feeling she would say it even if he didn't asked but he did it anyways trying to be polite.

"So,how you guys are adapting to the islands?"Blaez was somewhat aware of how the Japanese culture can be different from the western.It's weird,it seems like many japenese people have been arriving in the islands recently,it may be just his imagination.

Kogoro nodded at Mae. "Yes, not many people seem to be from Japan. So it's nice to meet people from there once in a while." He listened to the others and took into account their homes, or places of residence. Looking at Add, he tried to figure out where he was really from. He looked Japanese somewhat, but he couldn't tell for sure. He took more sips from his water, hearing a sucking noise as the last of the liquid left the cup. He looked at it and shrugged. He looked at the door and saw the weather. Still snowing, and the sun was still out. He wondered if the men from the Yachiru group were still there, looking through his "home". He wants to go back quickly, back to his solitude. But, he didn't hate the company of these people. He didn't feel safe, and he didn't feel happy, but....he could bear being around them. Maybe being alone was making him long for contact? He couldn't tell, but he knew if he got close to them they would be hurt, or they would hurt him. He sighed and let the thoughts pass into his mind.

It seemed that Add's reply wasn't taken as being rude, but he was sure that would like to know the right answer. It's not like he just lied to them. It was very much true, that he was a traveler. Against his will, but a traveler nonetheless. He thought that he would feel different replying the question if he knew where he came from exactly, though. There was no sense thinking about that, however, as it slightly distracted him from the reality happening around him.

Judging by the pieces of conversation he caught, the others were talking about japanese culture and adaptability to the region. The life here was surely quite different from other countries he was living in before. "I have no issues with adapting to new surroundings. Sometimes it takes longer than usual, but I eventually get used to the new daily life and culture." He replied to the teen's question. He wouldn't be able to survive this long if he didn't get used to different kinds of lives he had to live up until this point.

"From 2-A huh? I guess I'm your Senpai, then!" Mae giggled slightly before continuing. "I'm from class 3-A, myself." Mae answered Blaez with a bright smile on her lips. She turned over to Kogoro. "Yeah, I know, right? It really is nice to see people from Japan. I just didn't expect to see THIS Many of them. I was taken by complete suprise. At least 1/8th of all the students at Zela Academy are of Japanese origin. Or at least... So I've heard." Mae said enthusiastically.

Mae looked at Add, chuckling slightly. "Oh yeah? Well, I wish I was like that! It takes me quite a while to get accustomed to any new place. At least a couple of weeks... So, I'm not used to living here in Azores yet, but I like it so far!" The pinkette looked out the window, where the snow was still falling slowly. "Man... I really like the winter. Sure it's a bit cold, but the snow is absolutely beautiful..." Mae sighed happily. Winter was her favorite time of the year after all. "So, christmas is coming up in just a few days from now. How are you guys going to spend christmas?" She asked the trio. It was topical after all. Mae had some christmas shopping to take care of next week, which was the one thing she hated about december. Every single year, buying presents shot a hole through her wallet, and it was a stressful time to begin with. But in the end, it's worth all the hassle, as seeing the smiling faces of the recipients was more than enough of a reward in itself. At least, that was how Mae felt.

"Uhm,sure..."Blaez had no idea what the word "senpai" meant,he assumed it was some kind of honorific but no idea of it's purpose,for Blaez surprise Mae was from 3-A,he would never assume that she was on the third year due her stature"I wasn't aware we had that many Japanese students..." Blaez said.

"...For Christmas?"Blaez had no reason to celebrate the date anymore,he was always alone during that day"Nothing much."Or just nothing to be more accurate,Kogoro would probably spend it alone since he was a hobo.

He nodded as Add and Mae spoke. There were quite a large number of Japanese people in Azores. "Even at the academy? That is quite a large number." While he wasn't extremely interested, he made it seem like he was. He had to keep up appearances, as usual, around others. On the topic of Christmas, Kogoro felt a slight twinge of sadness, his chest tightening. He remembered Christmas, but hadn't celebrated it in years. He was poor, he couldn't buy anything nor did he have anyone to buy something for. Christmas for him was being given a piece of old stale bread close to molding by the stores around his home, or maybe a small item given to him by other homeless people. He sighed. "I'm doing nothing for Christmas. I do no celebrate it." He looked down at his hands and tried to remember the past Christmas' he's had before. Most were at the lab. But one was at his old orphanage, the place where he spent some of his life. He pushed it aside. That place was long forgotten, and in no way would be of any happiness. He looked down at his hands and sighed once more.

The young man nodded at the various information the teens shared. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but he did make a mental note of the japanese community at the local academy. However, Mae's question about Christmas suprised him. And not in a good way. It reminded him of the years he wanted to forget about. The question must've had a similar effect on Kogoro, judging by his reaction and response. Maybe the two of them had more in common than they let on.

The truth was, Add had no time for Christmas. Having time on his hands was priceless luxury. Unfortunately, he had very little time these last few years. However, this has changed, ever since he came to Azores. It almost felt like a dream come true, where he didn't have to run, hide anymore. He knew that he shouldn't be this careless, but his wariness was slipping and he couldn't afford that no matter how safe he felt. "I'll have to relate to Kogoro here. I do not celebrate Christmas." The young man would say after forming his answer. "I simply have no time to do so with all my travelling." He would add afterwards.

"Aww, really? That's sad..." To be honest, Mae had been expecting an answer like that from Kogoro, but the other two took her a little bit more by suprise. After some thinking, it did make sense for Add too, if he was a traveler. "So, since you guys don't have any plans... Uh, nevermind." Mae shook her head. Why would these three want to go anyway? She had been planning to ask them if they wanted to see her mother's concert on Christmas Eve. It was something she had been talking to her mother about on the phone.

"Oh, yeah, Blaez. Senpai is a japanese honorific. It's basically 'upperclassman'. " Mae scratched the back of her head slowly. "Sorry, it was silly of me to assume that you knew."

"It's fine,we all make mistakes."Blaez said,he really didn't mind it,the girl was just trying to be friendly"I guess you really are my senpai then...Don't expect me to call you senpai though."He had no intention of using that honorific with Mae,or any upperclassmen,he had no reason to do it.

"You were about to say something..."If you want to say something,just do it,that's how Blaez thinks at least.It was ironic in a way,a girl so social shying out all of sudden,she was definitely going to ask to hang out with them during Christmas"You're giving up without trying...Just say it."he encouraging the girl to speak up was an impulse,Blaez disliked acting by impulse but sometimes he ended up doing good things.