"Because we're up North, the meat is better at places like this," I told the guys, opening up a large menu. "So everything here is good." Even though I didn't eat meat, I knew they'd appreciate how good the meat was in restaurants like Famous Dave's.

"What is this?" Haruhi asked, pointing towards a picture.

I nodded. "Those are barbeque ribs. They're suppose to be amazing here, though since you guys haven't had any of the sauces here, it'll be hard for you to try to guess what you'd like. Would you be interested in a sauce sampler, with potato chips?"

After receiving an array of yes answers, we received our drinks and I ordered the sampler tray. We were all sitting at a long table, all together, as opposed to our little arrangement during lunch while were were at the mall.

Tamaki took a sip of his drink, a brown soda. "Very sweet," he commented.

Hani grinned and nodded. "Yeah, it is!"

I frowned, looking between them. "Don't you have soda in Japan?"

"Yes, but they don't taste like this. It's amazing!"

It made me laugh. "You think diabetes tastes amazing? That's news to me." When I was younger, I had been addicted to soda and all things sweet. "I don't drink it that much."

"You don't drink soda, you say, and you're vegetarian. How do you know about this place having good meat, then? If you don't mind me asking," Haruhi said. It was uncanny how much it sounded like something I would say.

I shrugged. "I wasn't always vegetarian. It was a choice I made when I was fifteen, and so far, it's worked all right, though I do eat meat. Rarely."

"What made you decide to go vegetarian?" Kyoya asked, taking a sip of his water.

"We read a book in my language class that explained how animals were treated and killed in slaughterhouses. I hated it, and vowed never to eat meat again. Though I'll admit, a few times, I've caved and ate something that had meat. Like a pork chop, or a hamburger, or steak. Or bacon. But I try not to."

"Interesting," he said.

"Are you going to cave right now and eat some meat?" one of the twins, the one with the lighter voice, asked.

Humming, I just shrugged again. "I definitely might. It'll be the first time in a year.. But I might.."

By the time our waitress came back with our sampler, everybody knew what they were going to order. We ordered, and I ended up being pressured into getting meat. I settled for chicken tenders, the chickens were usually killed the most humanely.

While we waited for our food, I noticed that the twins were playing with a children's menu and little crayons. They were trying to figure out how to play the games. How hard did they seem to foreign people?

"You draw a single line in each turn, you take turns, and then if you complete a box, you write your first initial and are allowed to make another line," I explained, looking at the game they were trying to figure out.

"Ohh… It should say that, then! It's a kids' game?"

"Yeah," I snickered.

Five minutes passed, and most of us had drank most- if not all- of our drinks. I looked around for our waitress. She was nowhere in sight.

Kyoya, put his hand down on the table. "Is our food going to be here soon? I need my drink refilled."

"Me, too," Hani said, nodding.

"I don't know where she is," I said with a frown, turning in my seat. The dark haired waitress was nowhere to be seen. Time drifted passed, and soon enough, the waitress came back with all of our food.

The waitress set our food down, wished us a good meal, and left. It was only a few seconds before we realized that none of us had silverware.

"How are we supposed to eat this? Haruhi, do commoners eat with their hands often?" Tamaki asked, nudging the girl.

"No, they usually don't. Not this kind of food," she shook her head, looking at me. "Do they?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "Maybe she just forgot." Even though I was irritated, it had been a long wait for our food and we couldn't even eat it, I tried not to show it too much. They seemed antsy enough.

When I found her again, I flagged her down with my hand. "Hey, could you get us silverware? Our food is getting cold."

"Sure thing," she replied, then wandered off to the complete other side of the restaurant.

I turned back to the table with a nervous smile. "She's getting it."

"That certainly isn't the direction to the front desk, where the silverware is," Kyoya stated, a slight bite to his tone. "Should I go point her in the right direction?"

"No," I said quickly. "It'll be fine. She probably has other tables to wait on."

As it turned out, she did, but they were all in our area. There was a group next to us, three guys and two girls, all in leather jackets. It seemed that our waitress wasn't just skimping out on our dining experience. It was quite the bonding moment.

Finally, Kyoya stood up. "I'm going to find her. I'm tired of waiting for poor service," he said, setting his napkin down on the table. "Excuse me."

Sighing, I stood up. "I'll come with." There was no need for him to get bothered by a poorly paid waitress who was probably stressed out as it was.

Instead of finding the waitress, we found the manager. After explaining our situation, he brought us silverware, and apologized numerous times. The food was delicious, though a bit less warm that I would have liked. The meal ended soon enough, and the waitress appeared to give us our bill. There was a smiley face written on it.

"Oh my goodness," I groaned. "She put a smiley face on it."

"Why does that matter?" Tamaki tilted his head.

"Studies show that if a waitress puts a smiley face on the bill, they'll get a better tip," I explained. "I'll bet my life that is what she is aiming for. No way in hell." I got up, taking a last sip of water. "Come on, I'll take the bill this time."

The motley crew followed me to the front desk, where I made a point to pay the manager right in front of the waitress. I gave him the usual fifteen percent tip, thanked him for the meal, and left promptly. On the bus ride home, all they talked about was the service we received.

"Is that kind of thing common here?" Haruhi asked.

"No, it usually isn't. But it's always the bad experiences that get noticed, and not the good ones," I said. "The bad always seems to overshadow the good. Do you think I handled it okay?"

"Better than you could have. Kyoya looked like he wanted to kill her." She let out a soft laugh.

Let's hope his majesty is in a better mood tomorrow.