(Part of this was just written like ten minutes ago but I'm on a skedge now. xP The chapter was initially incredibly short so I appended like part of the next chapter with this one.)
Before you left on Saturday, you had taken time to finally get everyone's phone number. You were doing homework in your dorm room when the number exchange had paid off; Yuni called you some time after 3:00 P.M on Monday.
"Hey Souji," she said. "Do you wanna go out to the Asian restaurant like the other week? My treat!"
Shouldn't she stay in the mansion? You didn't plan on telling her to sneak out, or both of you may face Akira's wrath... come to think of it, he was actually nice when he wanted to be, but you were afraid of his size and stealth regardless.
"No, I got permission to go. Please?"
But was it all right to make her pay for you?
"Don't worry about that," she said. "I'm an actress; I've got money."
Well, she seemed to really want you to go, so you agreed to it and went back to that restaurant.
-.
You walked in the door and saw her waiting in the first room. She wore her pink shirt and dark skirt. You waved to each other before a woman asked Yuni where she wanted to sit. Casually, Yuni told her to go to the counter up front. She motioned you to follow her and you did.
"They know me by now," Yuni said. "I actually come here a lot. So, what would you like? Pick anything off the menu."
You carefully looked at your options. You scanned through the dishes and chose a meat and vegetable dish that sounded tasty. While you were waiting for your food, you asked Yuni why she decided to come eat here with you.
"Just thought it'd be fun," she replied. "I wanted to get out for a bit. Akira's been keeping me home ever since the incident. I told him you'd be with me, and he let me go by myself." She looked to the ground. "But uh... he thinks you picked me up. Don't tell him, okay?"
You chuckled nervously; you offered to take her back home if you needed to.
"Really? Thanks!" she said. "Um, wait, you don't have a car, do you?"
You shook your head, but you figured you should walk her back home, both to make sure she wouldn't be hurt and to make sure Akira wouldn't be angry.
"Well, if you insist," she said. "Akira's probably doubting I told the truth, anyway, so you coming would probably do some good."
They had an interesting relationship, it seemed. If she was a convulsive liar... was that good for the two of them?
"I don't know sometimes," she said. "I usually just sneak out... I kinda used you as an excuse this time instead of walking out dressed as a maid."
Why didn't she just let Akira come with her?
She groaned. "I don't want him coming everywhere. When I first became an actress and got a bodyguard, my friends thought it was weird having someone watch me all the time. He was so much older than us; it was kinda creepy. Then as I got older, so did my friends, and some of them even started flirting with him. He's just another reason for people to use me."
You pondered what you learned about their Shadows. You knew Yuni was usually lied to, but Akira never spoke of how he was often used. You asked if she ever thought Akira felt the opposite way: if people got close to him to get close to her.
She tilted her head. "I guess... I never thought about that. It's all so confusing!" She crossed her arms and pouted a little. "Ugh. But that's why I like the people at the arcade. I sorta disguised myself when I met Rage and Emi. Rage was so dense that he almost told the whole arcade who I was. I mean really, if I'm in a disguise, it's probably because I'm hiding." You two laughed from the story.
"They didn't use me; they just wanted someone to play with," she continued. "They're always honest with me, so I've tried to be honest with them. The same goes for you, Souji. I guess the bottom line is, I took you out part cause I wanted to do something nice for a change... 'cause you're a nice guy."
You chuckled, a tad embarrassed from the comment.
"Order!" you heard the chef say. The man handed one bowl of food to you and one to Yuni.
"Thanks!" Yuni said. You thanked him as well.
"And thank you for coming, too," Yuni told you. She smiled sweetly.
Suddenly, you could feel another bond; a link formed between you and Yuni. You felt the warmth of her sincerity and honesty as you became closer to your teammate.
"You know, you don't say much, but you're a good listener. Anyway, let's eat."
-.
You walked her to the door of her mansion, as you promised.
"Really, you didn't have to do this," she insisted, opening the door. "I mean, it's not like- hiiii Akira! Were you waiting for me?"
You were as surprised as she was to see that he had come to the door.
"Um. Really, what are you doing here?" she asked. "You weren't standing here the whole time I was gone, were you?"
"No," he said hastily. "I was just... well... you said you'd be back by 8:00, and it's-"
"Only like a half hour late," Yuni huffed. "So you were coming out to look for me?"
He frowned; she must've completely read his mind.
"I'm fine," Yuni told him. "I learned my lesson from the last time; I'll be careful, okay?"
"If you say so," he replied. As he let her in her house, he looked at you. "It seems I didn't have anything to worry about with you around," he said. "Thanks for looking out for her."
You felt it was better to hide the fact that you hadn't picked her up; Akira seemed relieved to see you, and you told him you were happy to help him with his job.
"I guess it doesn't have to be full-time, does it?" he began. "She would probably be fine alone, but... she's so young; I can't help but be a bit concerned when I'm not with her."
Well, she was... sixteen, probably? Teenagers like their space; you advised him to leave guarding up to her friends a little more often.
He nodded. "You're probably right. We're both lucky that she made several friends in this town that we can trust. I trust you'll keep an eye out, won't you?"
It sounded like a threat, but at the same time you could tell he was teasing you. From the way he smiled, you could tell that he was able to trust you more, and the bond between the two of you became stronger.
-.
Tuesday, you were back at the hospital. When you took your lunch break, you grabbed the blue bag you kept your lunch in from your locker and headed for the cafeteria.
The difference about that Tuesday was that you were able to sit with Zero. You previously asked him to meet you there, so when you arrived in the room, you saw him idly on his phone at one of the tables, still wearing green scrubs. You hastily walked to him, unsure of how long he'd been there, and greeted him. He waved back; the motion was so small it was more like a casual salute.
"What was it you wanted to talk about?" he asked.
Well, you didn't have a topic. Rather, you just wanted to have some sort of conversation.
Zero raised an eyebrow. He apparently expected some sort of reason for him to be there. For a second, you wondered if he was about to lose interest and leave. You decided to try asking him the first question to come to mind: how... was his day? It was unoriginal, but it was a start.
"Nothing out of the usual," he replied.
You didn't really know what "usual" was for a surgeon.
"I didn't think you wanted to hear about opening up a person's body and working with organs."
Yeah... it was kind of a stupid question. You found it too soon to ask about his Shadow if he didn't bring it up... what was he planning after work?
He shrugged a little. "Not much. I usually go home."
Did he ever practice at the arcade? You noted he was rather good at DDR.
He smirked. "I've only improved by going on Fridays. I usually expect at least one of the others to be there, and I avoid the arcade for that reason. I already know you practice on your own time."
How?
"You improve too fast. You've been here a couple months, but you've only gone to the arcade on about four Fridays. Surely, now that you have the ability to stay out of the middle of the mat, you've had to have practiced when we weren't watching." He leaned back in his chair. "When I said what I said before, I didn't mean I'm avoiding you; I'm trying to avoid the chatty dancers."
You chuckled a little, unsure of how to respond.
"So... was that all?" he asked, apparently eager to leave by this point. You awkwardly said he could go; you certainly didn't want to make it sound like he needed to go away.
"See you."
He got up and left. You enjoyed talking with Zero for a while, but it didn't seem like your relationship had strengthened by much. But at least you learned that he wasn't avoiding you. That was... almost reassuring.
(One moar pointless chapter and then stuff gets interesting.)