Thank you all again for the lovely feedback; apparently I'm not the only one who thinks Naoto having thoughts of committing violence is hilarious. Glad to know we're all on mutual grounds. Most favorite Mental Note of previous chapter is… "Mental Note: Perhaps both kneecaps." And congratulations to the runner up.
Anyways! Enough of that, onto the next segment while the midnight oil is burning.
Step Six: Food For Thought
I can't fully explain what happened after a couple of days because I don't quite understand it myself. The first day after the event at the river, I arrived at school. Rumors were always something that circulated in school rather quickly. Mostly I don't pay attention to the gossip as more times then not, it involves something that is of no interest of me. Being a detective however, I always keep a trained ear tuned in for any specific details or names. Names usually tune me in rather quickly to gossiping teenagers; more specifically, names involving my friends.
It was about lunchtime that I picked up the first bits of the rumor. It was fragmented as I had barely been in earshot of who had been talking about the 'latest news'. It wasn't until toward the end of the lunch period that I managed to put together the fragments of the rumor. It was revolving around Chie-senpai and Yosuke-senpai and their current standing. My interest was piqued when the term 'dating' was tossed in the discussion.
While normally I would right things off as 'just a rumor' when it came to such things, I found myself interested. I contemplated messaging Chie-senpai to get confirmation on the subject but felt it rude to ask such things; especially, when in all practical sense, it wasn't any of my business. Had it involved a case I was working on then it would be my business but for once it wasn't. It would seem rather strange of me to ask about such trivial things as well.
That is why having Rise-chan as a friend is always a good thing in the long run. Rise-chan is like a network of information involving such things, a shadowbroker of high school gossip. The added bonus was that I never needed to initiate contact with her about such matters as she was always more then happy to message me the latest details on people whether I wanted to know or not. So in regard to that, Rise is always a valuable source of secondary information.
To: Naoto Shirogane
From: Rise Kujikawa
OMG! NAOTO-CHAN! DID YOU HEAR ABOUT CHIE-SENPAI AND YOSUKE-SENPAI?
Risette
To: Rise Kujikawa
From: Naoto Shirogane
I am assuming this is about the rumor that is progressing through the school.
Shirogane
To: Naoto Shirogane
From: Rise Kujikawa
TOTALLY! I'm so excited! It's about time too :/
Risette
To: Rise Kujikawa
From: Naoto Shirogane
Yes, I suppose it was inevitable.
Shirogane
To: Naoto Shirogane
From: Rise Kujikawa
Yep! So what's taking you and Kanji-kun so long?
Risette
I believed Rise had long since grown accustomed to not receiving responses back from my end. I took comfort in this fact as I promptly ignored her last message and made my way back to class. I used the time for the remainder of the glass to contemplate the situation between Chie and Yosuke. Clearly they hadn't been together when I was with Chie yesterday so I assumed the new development happened then or this morning. My detective instincts had tried to convince me to eavesdrop of the two of them yesterday but I had ignored it. Had I followed it, I would have a firsthand account of their current status as a couple. I also would have witness how it exactly happened.
Exactly what had transpired moments after Chie-senpai and I parted from one another? Did they simply see each other and mutually agree to give it a shot? Or, and this is a much more accurate theory based on observation of those two, did the two of them shout at one another until they both agreed to see what happened. Somewhere in the deep reaches of my practically non-romantic imagination, I wondered if they had been shouting in each other's faces one moment and fall into a kiss the next moment. I had no idea on what type of atmosphere or mood that must have been, like mentioned 'practically non-romantic imagination'.
Any doubts I might have had on the rumors were whisked away when school let out. I had been at my locker when the two had walked by. I was unnoticed but I watched them leave school together. They weren't holding hands or speaking in hushed whispers like I noticed some 'couples' do in the halls. In fact, very little appeared to change about them upon first glance. It's the subtle changes in how they carried on with one another that gave it away. Less space was between them as they walked side-by-side, like they had not grown to that stage in the relationship where they were comfortable enough to hold hands, but the closeness was still there. There was also the way they seemed to stare at one another while one was speaking. It was the subtle things that gave them away; however, a slip of the tongue from Yosuke, and a swift kick by Chie that occurred right outside the school door showed that whether they are dating or not, they are still very the 'Chie and Yosuke' that I and the rest of my friends know.
While this may not have been an important detail to pick up on for other people; for myself, it was a reassuring sight to see. Chie and Yosuke are still the same people as they were a day ago before they started dating. They hadn't changed and it didn't appear that either of them expected the other to change anytime soon. There had been a minor doubt in my mind that a relationship wouldn't work out with anyone and myself because relationships required change in character. Based on what I had seen from almost the rest of the population in school, people tended to be overly 'touchy' between one another once they started dating or that they would take special cares into doing something to please their partner. My stipulation for a relationship was that I'd still be able to put work as my primary concern without fear of putting the person off that I'm dating.
Other then the reveal of Chie and Yosuke, nothing too exciting happened that day. I didn't really see Kanji either. I knew he was in school but I didn't really seek him out either. I didn't really have an approach to him yet either so I waited a couple of days. It was following week that I decided to make an approach at him. Early that week I had caught wind of another ruler that had passed around. Mysterious costumes donated to the Drama Club for their performance of Hamlet appeared outside of their meeting room. There had been no warning and no note allowing them to know where the costumes had come from. The Drama Club doesn't have a budget, which is why they performed shows like Hamlet. They don't have to pay any money on the show because there's no royalties.
The Drama Club has little to no support from other clubs or the school. This leaves their treasury considerably much lower then other clubs. Usually they didn't wear costumes because they don't have the money to purchase the materials required for it. They tended to dress in black clothing and allow the imagination of the audience to fill in the rest. I had witnessed a few of their shows in my time here. While the actors weren't bad, the show clearly was missing the atmosphere due to not having any tools at their disposal to work with.
Needless to say, the Drama Club was ecstatic when they found a plastic tub outside of their classroom marked Hamlet. They were disappointed that they were unable to find out whom they were supposed to be thanking for the donations. Had they been desperate enough to find out, they simply could have asked me to look in the matter but they never reached that point. I had a fairly good idea on who and where the costumes had come from or rather who made them.
He had his reasons for wanting to keep things to himself and I respected that so I did not indulge the club by informing them that the costumes likely came from a student they are terrified of. They'd have likely thought I was lying to them to begin with; despite whatever sources I present.
That had been earlier in the week, before I decided on my next course of action. I settled on trying a different tactic. There was a phrase I had read in my research, 'A way to a man's heart is through his stomach'. It suggested that a girl try to cook for a boy if she wished to show her interest in him. While this seemed like a normal thing to do and I had told myself I would try to do things more normal, I settled for the idea. I didn't make anything extravagant or overly complicated. It was a simple tofu and fried rice dish.
To: Kanji Tatsumi
From: Naoto Shirogane
Please meet me on the roof during lunch.
Shirogane
Admittedly, I'd have rather called him but seeing how, at the time, we were both still in class, that option was impossible. Secondly, if he couldn't figure out where the roof was or when lunch was despite it being the same time every school day, then I'd have to reevaluate my impression on him.
He never responded back to my message though, but at lunch he strolled onto the roof with a small brown bag in one hand and looked incredibly confused as he made his way toward me. I couldn't blame him. To him it probably seemed odd that I had called him up to the roof.
"Shit. You ain't wearin' y'hat." I had tossed it into my shoe locker on my way to the roof.
"No, I'm not."
"You lose it or sumthin'."
"No. Simply not wearing it."
"Why?"
I decided to ignore the question. "Please, have a seat." I offered next to me. He shuffled from one foot to the other for a moment before he relented and took a seat next to me.
"So y'need sumthin?" He wasn't trying hard to have a conversation with me while not having to directly look at me.
"Simply your company. I did not wish to eat alone." That answer earned me a strange expression as a response. His face flushed with embarrassment. I liked to believe my face faired better for the moment. I didn't do anything for a moment. Admittedly I'm a bit nervous. I liked to believe I'm a proficient enough cook. I get by with not having formal training in the field of cooking. I definitely fair better then Rise, Chie, and Yukiko; however, cooking is not my forte. Being nervous is understandable.
I opened up my suitcase and pulled out a lunchbox for him and held it out. He looked at it as if it were a foreign object from another world. "I made extra, so I thought I'd share with someone." I explained and the subtle growth is speech speed was likely not caught by his ears.
"You… made me lunch?" He asked it with such uncertainty as if it was something he had never had done before. Surely one of our friends had shared their lunch with him before. Then again, maybe not. From my observations, Kanji tends to eat a lot so making enough for him would be rather difficult.
"More or less I'd like your opinion on it."
He seemed skeptical at my response and maybe a little afraid as he looked at the dish before him. I know he hadn't received favorable dishes when the other girls had tried serving him food. Yosuke had been more then happy to tell me the disasters of Mystery Food X when I had first joined the group. I didn't want that to happen with my food so I ensured it's edibility by following a cookbook word for word. I have good tofu and fried rice multiple times without a book's aid but just to be sure, I enlisted the book's aid.
"Uh…okay." Kanji took the offered dish and I sat back and watched. He pulled out a pair of chopsticks from his lunch bag and began eating. He was taking his time, obviously he was trying to show an interest in what he was eating rather then shoveling into his mouth like he does with other food. I watched for his initial facial reaction to see if the verdict would be bad but his neutral expression remained through the first few bites and didn't allow for interpretation.
"Well… do you like it?"
"It's…" He paused for a moment as he tried to come up with the right way to describe it. I continued to stare as I waited for the jury to come back. "…Tastes flaky." He finally answered with a mouthful.
flak·y
adjective, flak·i·er, flak·i·est.
1.
of or like flakes.
2.
lying or cleaving off in flakes or layers.
3.
Slang . eccentric; wacky; dizzy: a flaky math professor.
Not a proper word to use to describe taste. "Flaky isn't a word often used to describe how something tastes." Actually, I couldn't recollect any moment the word was used to describe the taste for something.
"Really? Huh…" He took a moment and stared down at the food in his lap. I'm not sure if he was trying to figure out another way to describe it that would be proper or if he simply didn't want any more of the food. I kept my lips pressed together an one brow raised to symbolize that I was still waiting on him. He took another experimental bite.
"In that case, it tastes like sadness."
"Where did you learn how to describe taste?" I might have snapped at him a little bit. Sadness? Illogical, improper, irrational; not to mention that was something that sounded pleasing. "How does it taste like 'sadness'?"
"Well uh.. what's in it?"
"It's tofu and fried rice."
"And?"
And? What did he mean and? What more is there to add to such a simple dish? "Aside from what I've listed, nothing."
"No spices, no herbs. Has no zest in it. Bland. Lifeless. Havin' no spark to it means that it tastes like sadness. If I felt that way, I reckon I'd feel pretty tasteless."
That… well… it wasn't an awful analogy and it did show that there had been some sort of intelligent connection to using the word 'sadness'. It still wasn't a good word to use to describe taste if he has to explain why in the first place. If the food lacked flavor it was due to the fact that I had been overly careful. While I am not certain to any food allergies he might have, I didn't wish to cause some sort of reaction if he did have any. Caution had been a downfall in this.
"Very well. Thank you. You don't have to finish it." I kept my voice even. I was disappointed but I wouldn't allow him to know that.
He continued to eat it regardless, "It s'not the worst I've had."
"Regardless, if you have brought your own, do not feel obligated to finish it."
"You made it."
What? What kind of response was that? "I fail to see how that should mean anything." Kanji just shrugged his shoulders in response. If he had an explanation, he wasn't about to share it with me. I pursed my lips together and turned my attention to the surface of the roof.
"Here."
I turned my attention back at Kanji and found him holding out his lunch bag. "If you didn't bring yourself nothing, and I'm eatin' this, you might as well eat what I brought. Otherwise it's going to go to waste." He wasn't looking at me as he explained, in fact, his head was comically turned away completely. "Uh… dunno if it's good or not, ma made it." He quickly ran off.
Wordlessly I held my hand up and he placed the bag into my hand. I had brought myself the same dish I served Kanji but based on his apparent displeasure with it, I hadn't planned on eating my portion. As he continued with the tofu and fried beans, I hesitantly pulled out the contents.
It was in a small Tupperware container. Inside I could see soba noodles and fried vegetables. Upon the lid being removed and a quick investigation, I made not of shrimp within the dish as well. A classic Yakisoba dish.
"Are you sure?" The food looked and smelled good; albeit, it lacked the professional presentation and likely taste that my grandfather's estate had. Still, it looked fairly decent.
"S'no big deal." He reassured.
I pulled out a pair of chopsticks that were also in the bag but discovered a second pair. I raised a brow and lifted the second pair up from the bag. "Do you often eat with two hands?" I wasn't joking or teasing, I was generally curious as to why he required a second pair. A simply miscalculation by his mother or if he had planned on sharing with someone.
"Huh? Oh. Forgot I... Uh… ma must've…" He scrambled for an explanation but came up short. Instead he just reached over and plucked the extra pair from my hand and set them down next to him. My eyes darted back and forth from the side of his head to the chopsticks between us. Eventually I turned my attention to the dish and began eating. Sitting next to Kanji, I likely appeared to be the slowest person who eats. He had a tendency to shovel food in his mouth as if he were from a starving family. I liked to believe that I eat at the pace of a normal individual.
"This is quite good. Your mother has talent."
"Huh? Hmm… uh, yeah."
I leaned forward a bit to gauge his face but he turned further away as he seemed to conveniently find something more interesting to look at. I knew he had been polite and concerned when he offered the food he made. It was likely something to do with the reason he hated people finding out about the sewing that he thought to say his mother made the dish. His concern that others would find it weird if they learned that he can cook.
I turned my attention back to the dish in my lap. I bit my bottom lip in thought as I analyzed the current scenario. We were spending the lunch together and eating the other's food that we had made. While past scenarios with Kanji had been fruitless and had turned awkward or ended abruptly, this one showed promise. The only problem was that if I wanted things to work out for the best, then I had to refrain from being blunt and encourage him to be the one to 'make a move' as I've read. I wouldn't wish to make Kanji feel less of a man for not having the nerve to ask me out himself.
Current situation shows promise. I just needed to coax him somehow. Subtly was never my strong point. I always preferred stating things point of fact. I needed to continue with light conversation first and hope for the best. Yes, that's what I needed to do. I released the lip I had been chewing on and flicked my gaze to boy next to me. I found myself starring directly at him as he seemed frozen in time. Apparently he had been starring at me for some odd reason. Had I been doing something so fascinating that warranted such attention? Was there something on my face? Why was he still starring? And is that…
"Kanji-kun…"
"Huh, wha?" He seemed to snap out of his daze and I lifted up a single hand and pointed at his nose. He brought a hand up and took a swipe at it to find a little bit of blood smeared on the back of his hand. "Fu—crap!"
I raised a brow at this. Did he hit his nose on something? I reached into my suitcase and pulled out a tissue and offered it up to him in silence. He was quick to snatch it from my hand to plug up his nose. I wanted to ask him if he was alright but I felt it was one of those moments where he'd rather not talk about it.
He kept his back turned while he dealt with his problem as I was left wondering if this incident had perhaps destroyed the 'atmosphere'. I opted to make a bold move and dropped a hand on his shoulder. There was no real purpose for me to do so other then to initiate physical contact of some sort. While I'm not a fan of physical contact, I realized that sometimes a little bit of it could help bring things together. When my hand landed on his shoulder, the sudden jolt that he displayed didn't go unnoticed but I didn't pull away. "Do you require another tissue Kanji-kun?"
"Uh uh…no, s'all good."
Then we both seemed to hear the sound at the same time. Snickering from a couple of boys nearby who had been minding their own business up until now. Kanji the tendency to have two affects on people normally. They either avoided him out of fear or ignored him out of fear. I pulled my hand away from him as if it had been spring loaded and reached up to grab the brim of my hat out of instinct only to find that it wasn't there. I settled with lowering my head considerably with my hands clasped together while I battled with maintaining composure.
Kanji chose a much less subtle approach to the situation. "What're y'bastards laughing at, huh?" He stood up shouted at them and even made a few steps toward them. While normally I would have raised an objection or two on his approach, I was silently thankful that the approach chased them off. Apparently, Kanji was still an intimidating boy to other people even with tissues jammed up his nose.
Mental Note: Lunch at a location popular amongst the student body does not make for the best locations to eat, look for private locations in the future.
"Friggin' damn idiots never mindin' their own damn stupid business." Kanji commented as he took his seat once more in a much more considerably fouler mood. He picked up his dish once more and tried to find the chopsticks that he had been using. At this point I had regained some composure and remembered the extra pair he had set between us. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Kanji seemed to gather the same idea as I had since we both reached for the pair between us. My hand landed first while his fell right into step and made to grasp. It took him a moment to realize his hand wasn't wrapped around chopsticks but my own.
It really had been unexpected. It happened so fast that my mind couldn't even work out the moment it happened. A noise that I had no conscious thought of wanting to make, came from my throat as I turned to look at him. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights and I likely mirrored his expression. I felt a lump in my throat and wondered if I should say something about the chopsticks instead of awkwardly remaining the way that we were. I opted to remain rooted to the spot and not make a move and Kanji seemed he was going to do the same.
Something tightened in my chest when my eyes tricked me into seeing Kanji inch forward a bit. It wasn't in character, I told myself, so he clearly wouldn't make such a bold move so early on without confirmation that I would even be interested in kissing him. It was the lunch bell that tore the moment and us apart. I dropped the chopsticks and quickly shuffled my belongings together. When next I turned toward Kanji to thank him for the meal, he was already gone. He likely hightailed it off the roof when I had been too wrapped up in myself. I could only stare at the spot he had just been sitting moments ago.
I ended up being ten minutes late for class.