-Chapter 10-

"Itadakimasu," I say quietly before opening my bento with both hands, careful not to touch the well-presented food inside.

I pretend not to notice the crazy person sitting behind me who's giving me dirty looks.

I reach for the salmon first, because it's my least favourite and I like ending my meal with a good taste in my mouth.

Of course, the meal isn't bad. Mother is amazing at making bentos, and works very hard to prepare them for my brother and me. It's the salmon's fault. It smells bad. I have never liked salmon in my whole life. But I eat it. Because that's what I have to do.

I drop my salmon in surprise when I hear a burst of giggles behind me. It's that girl again. The new girl who just joined my class. Who wears a boy's jacket, slurps yogourt and sings by herself.

I wonder what's so funny? I ask myself as I turn to look at her and find that she is in fact laughing to herself.

Huh, she's leaving. Apparently she's had enough fun laughing at/to/by herself. I watch her get up strangely slowly. Then, she starts walking my way. Oh no. Please don't come yell at me... please don't come yell at me... please come at me... please come at me? What am I saying?! Fshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I avert my gaze and focus on my umeboshi, the best piece in the entire bento.

I prefer viewing the weird ones from afar. A safe distance. Minimum 5 feet. She's right behind me now; I can hear her feet breaking the surface of the grass. She's getting too close.

I suddenly get a very frightening image of her kicking me in the head from behind, which feels so real, like a glimpse into the future, that I bring my hands up to protect myself. When the kick dosen't come, and I can hear her stop close to me, I hide my movement by tightening my bandanna and turn to face her.

I expect a tsunami to slam into me.

I expect a dark cloud to be hanging above me.

I expect a fire to scorch me.

I do not expect a monkey to be eating papayas. Nor do I expect a kind smile, humble bow, and sincere "Hajimemashite!" which is what I get.

A little bit shocked, I return with a slight bow and greeting.

"I'm sorry for being so rude before. May I sit and eat lunch with you?"

"Without knowing your name?" I point out her obvious mistake on impulse, which I hope she won't call me on 'cause it's even more rude.

"Oh, sorry again! Um...Miko-I mean, my name is Saura Miko," she says slightly awkwardly.

"My name is Kaidoh Kaoru. I believe we are in the same class."

"We are?!" I am slightly annoyed that she does not remember me.

"Yes."

"Then, please treat me kindly and I hope that we can be good friends!"

"Yes."

"So, um... may I sit?"

I think it over a moment, which is apparently too long for her because she adds a squeaky "Please??" at the end.

Might as well... "Yes."

She smiles and PLOPS down beside me.

"Whoa..." she stares at my bento, "That looks delicious."

"Thank you."

"Did you make it?"

Did I...What kind of a question is that? "No."

"Did your girlfriend make it?"

"N-no. My...Mother made it for me."

"Well, it is one tasty-looking lunch, if I do say so myself," she says and smiles like she deserves a reward for being good.

"Do you want a reward for being good?" I accidently say. Damn, I shouldn't have said that; I can't be more rude than her.

"Okay, how about the umeboshi?"

Yes, I knew it; there's no way I could be more impolite than her. "No."

"But you offered-"

"No."

"Even though it's my favourite?"

"It's my favourite too!" I find myself yelling for some reason. "It has the best texture and spice, and there's no way I'll let you have it, so stop asking!"

"Oh."

I immediately wish I hadn't yelled. And I'm officially being ruder than her. Maybe I should give her the ume as an apology?

"I'm sorry," I say softly, very aware of the wide space between us now.

"No, I understand," she looks at me with a serious face, which looks slightly familiar some how. "You want to enjoy your favourite part of the meal. I'll enjoy my yummy shake. Friends don't steal other friends' favourites."

It sounds a little bit like a threat. "Y-yes."

"Then let's eat!" She smiles happily and slurps her yogourt.

I feel okay about not giving her the umeboshi now. I pick up my chopsticks and look for that slice of salmon.

"Um...Kaidoh-san?"

"Yes?"

"Friends also tell friends when they have food stuck between their teeth, right? Well...you..."

I reach up to cover my mouth.

"You don't have food stuck between your teeth, but..."

"What is it?"

"You...have salmon on your pants."

It is only at this point that I realize that it's been sitting there during all of our encounter.

Yes, I am definately the rudest.

But she's still slurping her yogourt, so we'll call it even. And, really, who's counting?

Author's Note
That's embarassing...I got to show off my mad japanese skills in this one. (Go me!) Yeah sorry for butchering the language if I did.
Hm, I wonder who Miko reminds him of...? (Totally not slick, but I'm trying to start a review topic here. Please help me out!)
Listen people, if I hit 10 reviews, not only will I be really happy, I will also do something crazy in the next chapter!!
Can you tell? I really want reviews. ;)