Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Add Reply
  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 2
Math used to be simple, then the devil said "Let's add the alphabet!"; [Emi's Intro; Open]
Topic Started: Dec 17 2017, 10:55 PM (339 Views)
Ket
Member Avatar

Emi's lips twitched into a small frown at his reaction to her words. Perhaps she was a bit too harsh? She tried to let him down easy with the "bad for you" song and dance. It was true. His reputation would get destroyed if he hung around her too much...Well, unless he already HAD a bad reputation.

Either way, it didn't matter to her. A good reputation equals ruined life for him. A bad reputation could spell disaster for her if he brings trouble with him.

So this was for the best for sure.

Yeah...

She finally gave a nod of approval when he picked Takoyaki. "Good choice." Actually, Takoyaki sounded pretty good. Without another word, she approached the counter and dug into her wallet. "Two orders of Takoyaki please." Within a minute she was holding two paper holders with Takoyaki spread across the middle. "It doesn't look like it, but this place has some of the best Takoyaki in Nagashima." She held out Sanjiro's plate as she spoke. "Anything else you want?"
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Parorou
Member Avatar

"Nah, I'm good." The takoyaki burned Senjirō's hand a bit when he held it. He lifted it closer to his face, giving it a discreet sniff. It did smell good, and a smile spread on his face. "Lucky pick then. Thank you, Haruno-san."
When Emi had purchased everything she intended to eat, Senjirō walked back by her side, his mind busy trying to think how he should tell her about the club. Remembering he had somehow managed to get himself a client -and later, friend- in the same mall a while ago gave him a little confidence. Maybe it'd be easier if he pretended his motivation was money...?

They weren't doing the whole assignment together, but any progress he could get done was good, so Senjirō sat down in the table and pulled out his notebook and pencil, setting his takoyaki on the side. After this innocuous series of actions, he finally did notice the whispered chatter of some people around them. Just perfect: more unwanted attention from dozens of strangers. Again his fault, this time for hanging out with a girl with a bad reputation. Senjirō crossed his arms on the table to try and keep himself calm.
"You know, I wouldn't come here if I didn't have to. But you pick this place to do your math homework... you're weird, Haruno-san." He didn't lower his voice to add, "Specially 'cause everyone acts shitty like this around you."
It hadn't been his intention, but some of the people sitting closer to them snapped their mouths shut.
Edited by Parorou, Dec 21 2017, 12:30 PM.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Ket
Member Avatar

Emi gave a slow nod in response to Senjiro. It seems he was satisfied then. She turned and walked back, her eyes staring straight ahead. She'd often ignore any stares unless she was in a particularly bad mood and, despite her previous attitude, she wasn't really in a bad mood at the moment.

As they sat down, she shifted some of the papers around to make room for Senjiro's stuff and their food. She glanced up just in time to see Senjiro lean back and cross his arms. He seemed pretty uncomfortable now that she noticed. It wasn't just her either. She finally understood when he spoke again. He didn't like crowds then?

"you're weird, Haruno-san."

There was a moment of silence after he finished his sentence. Her eyes had widened ever so slightly. Suddenly, a small smile tugged at her lips. She brought her hand to her mouth and let out a small laugh. "You got me there Chigusa-san." It took her a moment, but she regained her composure. "Listen, rumors aside I actually enjoy doing things. Going outside, shopping and the like. Plus...walking around helps me think when I'm having trouble."

She sighed and shook her head. "I won't let other's dictate my actions." The smile returned for just a moment as she spoke again. "Maybe this isn't the best place to do homework, but I was inspired and thought I could blow through it."

Clearly she'd been wrong.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Parorou
Member Avatar

Senjirō felt quite proud of himself: he had made his classmate laugh. Nice! And she wasn't making fun of him, either! He picked one of his now-cooler dumplings and popped it into his mouth. He made an appreciative sound to show his approval to Emi; it really was very good takoyaki.

He waited for her to finish talking, before speaking -still with some food in his mouth. "Ish cool that you don't care, I dhink." Another thing they had in common. Senjirō didn't care about what others did or said around him; he only really hated crowds. He swallowed before continuing. "I had this dumb idea that maybe you were doing this on purpose. Like..." Senjirō scrunched his eyebrows together for a second, "Like you liked people reacting like this to your uh, presence? Something like that." He laughed a little at himself. "Um, sorry. But there are people who do that, yeah? Piss off others on purpose. Some weird guys out there."

He started turning the pages of his notebook looking for the assignment, and grabbed another dumpling. "Numbers, numbers..."
Edited by Parorou, Dec 21 2017, 11:22 PM.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Ket
Member Avatar

Emi gave a sagely nod at his approval of the takoyaki. She'd lived in Nagashima her whole live, she knew the best places to eat. It felt nice that such knowledge was validated.

She pierced one of the dumplings with her chopstick and idly nibbled on it at Senjiro spoke. She couldn't help but let a sigh at his musings. It was agitating he had assumed that about her, but she wasn't going to get pissed at someone for drawing up assumptions...Well not normally at least. "It's not dumb. A lot of people are like that. It all boils down to feeling powerful." An almost annoyed expression crossed her face as she spoke...though that might just be her resting face. "People want to feel powerful but when they feel they're losing it or being challenged, they'll do the dumbest fucking shit."

She pointed the chopstick at Senjiro. With the dumpling still on it, it almost looked like she was about to feed him. "Hence why I thought you'd been dared. 'I survived talking to Emi Haruno.' It was like a fucking badge of honor in middle school."

As she spoke, something seemed to occur to her. She leaned forward, eyes locking on Senjiro. "Why did you come over here anyway Chigusa-san?"

While the problem had not been forgotten, this interested her MUCH more.
Edited by Ket, Dec 22 2017, 12:06 AM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Parorou
Member Avatar

Senjirō took a bite of the takoyaki, and chewed as he listened to his classmate recount her experience as a young girl with the reputation of a criminal. He raised his eyebrows and nodded, non-verbally telling her he understood. Oh, he did. Kids were terrible.

He flinched back when Emi almost poked him in the nose with the chopstick. Man, he was jumpy that day. "W-well, it wasn't a dare." That was evident by now, but he felt he had to reassure her. "Just trying to make friends, I guess? I'm... bad at it." He laughed akwardly; surely Emi thought he was pathetic. Still, she went ahead and asked him something more personal. Huh.
"It's uh, work. I shop for the landlord and some neighbors. Some things they don't sell on normal stores, so I have to come here." It was clear in his face that under no other circumstances he'd be there. "...I need the money, so yeah." He ate the rest of his second dumpling, not taking his eyes off the girl. At least the conversation was being effective in distracting him from the hell he was in the middle of.

Something the girl said before -and how she'd said it- had stuck in Senjirō's mind; the bit about her taking a walk when she was "having trouble". But it was probably too personal to ask about yet. Normally he'd blurt out anything that came to him, but his mind was still in a alert state that kept his mouth from babbling so easily. There was one thing he could ask. "Hey, Haruno-san. You like reading?"
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Ket
Member Avatar

"Friends?" Emi's eyebrow raised as she tried to even process just what he said. After a few seconds, her brow furrowed. "You realize you'd basically tank your reputation." She idly took another bite of her takoyaki. She was certainly taking her time on the first piece. After a second she suddenly stopped and tilted her head. "Wait, if you already knew about me then why try in the first place?" Emi seemed genuinely confused. Unless he was some kind of social outcast with no friends, being friends with her might as well be social suicide.

Emi nodded along and finally finished off her first piece of takoyaki as Senjiro spoke of his job. All in all it seemed pretty easy. Sadly for Senjiro, it seemed like he wasn't a fan of crowds. His mad dash to one of the empty tables around her would've made sense. Then he saw her and what...panicked?

Emi's speared the second piece of takoyaki as Senjiro asked a question seemingly out of the blue. "I guess? I mean,
I check out a few books every now and then. Why do you ask?"
Unless he was trying to suddenly make small talk, she guessed there was some kind of follow up to this.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Parorou
Member Avatar

Senjirō was thoughtful for a long moment after his classmate's warning, looking at Emi in the eye. He knew reputation was supposed to be a big deal, and his grandmother would not approve his associating with someone with hers. Of course, she didn't have to find out. He shrugged.
"Don't care. Not gonna run for prime minister, or shit." He bit another dumpling, intentionally avoiding answering her question; she probably wouldn't be happy knowing she was being used as a distraction. Hopefully Emi would take his words as the answer -it sort of was. "But if you don't wanna be friends, it's cool. Just classmates."

The girl said she did like to read, after all. There was hope! "Well, it's just that-" He realized in the middle of speaking that extending an invitation bluntly, like he was about to, would weaken his declaration of "just wanting to make friends". But it was too late to retract. Senjirō dug his eyes on the table, his confidence now gone; but he kept talking. "I uh, joined the literature club and wondered if you'd like to, too? At Reitaku, I mean." He fidgeted with the empty chopstick in his hand. "Don't think any member cares about your rep either, and uh-I dunno. Could be fun."
Edited by Parorou, Dec 24 2017, 06:33 PM.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Ket
Member Avatar

For the second time that conversation, Emi let out a small laugh. She wasn't entirely sure how to deal with this kind of dedication. Most people would've left by now. Still, it was amusing to say the least. As he spoke again Emi finally hesitated. The title of "friends" was still on the table after all. There were a lot of doubts on her mind regarding that word and the potential trouble it could bring both Emi and Senjiro.

She really wasn't sure.

After a long few seconds of silence Emi finally spoke. "It's for the best that we stay 'just classmates.'" It was the best course of action by far. "Sorry." She added in after a beat.

Emi titled her head quizzically as he brought up the topic of the literature club. "So what do you guys do? Just hang out and read books?" She leaned back and crossed her arms, forgetting about the rest of her meal for a moment. Another club would do her some good with her father. Maybe he'd let her out of his sight a little bit more. After all, he'd been watching her like a hawk since she started at Reitaku. "Who's in the club?" She definitely needed to make sure no one bothersome was in the club.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Parorou
Member Avatar

"It's okay, Haruno-san," he answered Emi with a reassuring smile. Friendship was a way more important commitment than just a school assignment, so he didn't feel that bad about it like with her refusal to finish homework together. To say that the girl's rejection didn't disappoint him would be a lie, though; but he'd survive.

Senjirō answered her question about the club with a little laugh. "Yeah, that's exactly what we do! But we're trying to think of new ideas for it, like writing our own stuff. Poetry or anything. You can help too." He leaned forward, and made a small pause to remember what classes the other members were in. "Um, there's Haru Amachi from 1-B. Short, cheerful, you've probably seen he-um, them around. And Yuki Harada from 3-C" he tapped his temple with a finger, "serious guy with a scar and a bike. There are other members but I haven't met them yet." He of course, left out the part where they would likely never meet them.

Senjirō smiled at her again and waited for her response, hoping Emi didn't have anything against those two in particular; that'd be extremely unlucky if she did. He picked his fourth takoyaki and was about to bite down when he suddenly remembered someone else. "Oh, um..." he lowered his head, fearing he would blush just thinking of that incident again. "Yuu Matsuoka, that tall girl. Senior. Blonde, with the white hat? She got in after me so I don't know her that well yet, but she's nice." He popped the whole takoyaki into his mouth before lifting his head again, he felt sure no embarrassing amount of red was on his face after all, and if it was he could blame it in the hot food he'd just shoved in.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Tanjiro Shopping Center · Next Topic »
Add Reply
  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 2