Woot, chapter 3 is finally up! Sorry it took so damn long, in all honesty I was just not feeling too motivated to write.
This is the edited new chapter.
After I left my house I found myself wandering in what I hoped was the general direction of the shopping district. Eventually, I found myself at the edge of a river. Looking around, I saw what I was pretty sure a bridge up a little ways in the distance, and there was a guy approaching it.
"Sweet!" I said, fist pumping, "Someone to give me directions!" Yeah, so I left (forgot) my map at home, bite me. I started toward the guy at a jog. "Hey! Excuse me, could you tell me where the shopping district is?"
"Me?" he asked, pointing to himself when I got within speaking distance.
"Yep!" I replied, deciding that a smart-ass remark about how he and I were the only ones there probably wouldn't be good for gaining favors. The guy smiled and replied, "Sure! I'm heading that way, I can lead you partly there."
I gave him a closer look. He was tall, like six-foot or something like that, and was wearing a black, long-sleeved button-up shirt with blue jeans. His hair was black and spikey, and he had some thin facial hair going on. His brown eyes were friendly, laid-back, and generally fun-loving. Most importantly, I wasn't getting any creeper vibes from him.
"Okay!" I agreed, "Thanks!"
As we crossed the bridge the guy looked over at me and asked, "You know, I can't remember seeing you around here before. Are you new to town?"
"Yeah," I replied, "My mom and I just moved here yesterday, so I'm going out to shop for my school uniform and other things."
"School?" he muttered, then beamed, "So you're in high school, huh? Maybe you'll meet my son! He could use some more friends…"
I laughed. "I'm sure he's got lots of friends!" 'That's the right thing to say, right?' "Besides, I'm not very good at getting along with other people."
"What?" he exclaimed, looking shocked and striking a weird kinda pose, "You seem like such a nice girl! I can't believe it!"
"It's fine," I said, trying my best to suppress the maniacal laughter threatening to burst out of my mouth at being called a 'nice girl', "I'm not a big people person." Then, before much more could be said, the guy announced we had reached his house, and I looked up. "A clinic?"
"Yep!" he announced, smiling.
"So you're the owner of this place then?"
"That's right," he replied, looking up at it fondly, "We live upstairs, and the clinic is on the ground floor."
"We?" I asked, and he explained he lived with his three children.
"Oh, I should introduce you to them!" he exclaimed, suddenly beaming, and I immediately knew he was one of those doting fathers. Before I could say anything he dashed inside, leaving me to stand in the middle of the sidewalk feeling awkward. Just as I was starting to get distracted by a passing butterfly Kurosaki-san –I assumed he was Kurosaki, given the clinic's name- reappeared with a young girl in tow. "Sorry," he said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "Yuzu's the only one here right now."
I looked at the girl –presumably Yuzu- and gave a small smile as I bowed. "Nice t' meet you," I said, bowing slightly, "I'm Takanada, Saika."
"Kurosaki, Yuzu!" she chimed, bowing as well, "Nice to meet you!" She wore a pink t-shirt with jean capris, and her short, light brown hair was parted heavily to one side and held back with a strawberry barrette. She also wore a yellow apron, and I figured she must've been baking or something 'cause there were some flour splotches on it. The smell wafting out from the house might've been a tip-off, too.
"What'cha making?" I asked, sniffing the air and practically drooling.
Yuzu smiled warmly as she replied, "Chocolate chip cookies. I found the recipe online and wanted to try it."
Kurosaki-san wrapped an arm around her shoulders and beamed proudly. "Yuzu's our little chef, we'd probably starve without her!" Then he held up a fist and added through tears of…pride, joy? "Daddy's so proud!"
An awkward laugh escaped my lips before I turned my attention to her. "Oh, hey, my mom told me a secret about makin' those. If you add a little bit of molasses to the batter, they come out amazing!"
"Really?" she asked, eyes curious.
"Yep! I've never had chocolate chip cookies that could beat my mom's! Oh, but don't tell her I told you," I muttered, dead-panning, "She'd kill me. Said it was a secret or somethin'." Yuzu giggled and agreed to my condition before excusing herself to check on the batch in the oven.
"Oh!" Kurosaki-san exclaimed, "That's right, directions to the shopping district." He pointed down the street and continued, "Just keep going straight that way and you'll walk right into it."
"Sweet, thanks!"
A short time later I found myself in what could only be the shopping district, ogling all the different stuff the stores were selling, oohing over the bright arcades with spunky music, and drooling over all the snack vendors. However, I was a good girl and managed to restrain myself; it was my mom's cash I was spending now, so I wasn't about to splurge. After a while I found a department store, and went in to buy myself cheap comforter set. After that, I had to ask around a bit to find the place that sold school uniforms. Walking in, I stared longingly at the boys' uniforms, but threats of groundation and other methods of making my life Hell from my mom prevented me from going for them. Instead, sulking, I proceeded to find skirts and blouses my size. Thanking God they were grey and white instead of some ugly-ass baby blue or pink, I paid for my crap and walked out the door, ruffling through the bags to grab my secret purchase.
Thump!
Stumbling a bit, I looked over to see a girl on the ground; she'd walked into me as I left the store. How the fuck someone gets knocked down hitting something at walking speed, I don't know.
"Crap, I'm sorry, are you okay?" I asked, offering a hand.
"Y-yeah," she stammered, accepting it and, with my help, standing. Then she bowed. "I'm sorry! I should have been paying more attention!"
Uncomfortable with how formal she was being, I waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, it was my fault, I was rummaging through my stuff when I walked in front of you. Sorry." The girl looked at me and smiled shyly, and I took in her appearance. She was a few inches shorter than me with long, orange hair and pretty grey eyes. She was wearing jean capris and a pink button up shirt and… holy shit. Those boobs!
"Ya alright, Inoue?" another girl asked, and I assumed they were friends. This girl had short, spiky black hair and chocolate brown eyes, and was about the same height as her friend. I could tell immediately by the way she carried herself that she was a tomboy, and she wore khaki boyish shorts and a dark blue t-shirt.
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Huh?" the girl hummed, looking at me curiously, "Ya new around here? I've never seen you before."
"Yeah," I replied, "I just got here yesterday and I'm doin' some last-minute school shopping."
"Oh?" Inoue started, seeing part of what was in my bags. She brightened up and exclaimed cheerily, "You're going to our school!" She extended her hand happily and said, "I'm Orihime, Inoue! Nice to meet you!"
"Takanada, Saika," I replied, shaking her hand, "Nice to meet you."
The girl's friend stepped forward for introductions. "Arisawa, Tatsuki." As she had just heard me give my name to her friend, I didn't bother repeating it and instead gave her a small smile. Arisawa then gave me a questioning quirk of an eyebrow as she asked, "Leggings?"
"I hate skirts," I explained, "And my mom would make my life a living Hell if I got the guys' uniform. Leggings make a good compromise, since I can run around and kick-ass if I need to without worryin' about giving the guys a free show." Arisawa snirked.
"Nice."
"Yep," I replied, "Well, again, sorry I crashed into ya guys. I gotta finish my school shopping, so…"
As I turned to leave while throwing a lazy wave over my shoulder, I heard Orihime pipe up, "Say, Takanada-san, since you're new in town and don't know anyone, would you like to shop with us?"
I turned to the orange-haired girl, somewhat surprised. This chick, who acted so formally and perky, and after having been knocked to the ground by me, who was anything but formal, was actually asking me to hand out of her own free will? Not something I was used to, but then again I did hear that people in Japan were a lot nicer than Americans.
"Uh, sure?" I replied, looking at Arisawa to make sure she was cool with me tagging along. She smirked and shrugged her shoulders, so I took that as a yes. With that, my adventure with Orihime, Inoue and Arisawa, Tatsuki began.