And here is chapter 2!

Well, then again I managed to get it out this soon because I kept harassing Archer for him to edit it. Don't worry he's getting paid in Crusch and Pris art pieces so it's not slave labour...Technically.

If this gets popular enough I might even draw little art pieces or comics about it.

I'm taking it slow and simple with this story. It's slice of life and mainly focused about these two, so don't expect to see a ton of side characters to show up. There will be a few of course, but not the entire cast is what I mean.

When he had finished taking his shower, his feet couldn't go past the door of his bathroom.

The couple of minutes he stood under the water pouring down on his head seemed unending now that he thought about it. It felt relaxing, and he didn't need to think about the mess he had just forced himself in.

In all ways, shapes and forms, the feat he had just accomplished–that is of bringing his college's ice queen to his apartment–was something as ridiculous as it was scary.

This was the first woman he ever brought back to his place, yet out of nothing but reasons outside of his will, so even bragging about it would be completely useless.

How should he proceed? How should he behave? All these questions made him seriously regret avoiding the relationship talks every time his mother tried to advise him.

"Damn it…" He whispered as he opened the door, stepping back into his living room sporting a fresh set of clothes.

Priscilla was exactly where she was when he left. Sitting on the couch with her phone in her hands. She gave him a brief look as she gazed over her shoulder, and turned back to her screen.

It was impressive, really. Even with such unrefined clothes, Priscilla still managed to appear radiant, untouchable. It was definitely a strange feeling to have someone he had invited over himself and yet feel so distanced from her.

"...Hum, you want something to drink?" He ended up breaking the silence, which had Priscilla raise a brow in surprise.

"And what would you propose?" She turned to him.

"Um…" He walked towards his kitchen counter, "water, orange juice…Or tea?"

He looked back, seeing her gaze at him silently.

"I guess we'll go for a tea," he replied as he prepared the kettle, trying to avoid eye contact with her.

It was the first time he ever invited a girl home since the beginning of his college life, an objective every young man of his age pretty much had and it was in the realm of impossibilities for that girl to be Priscilla herself.

He had forgotten about any interactions he previously had with her, as antagonistic as they were. His entire frustration was solely based upon the fact that he had no idea how to behave around a woman his age in his home.

Any wrong move would effortlessly lead to the death of his social life.

When the water finished boiling, he poured it into two cups with tea bags, and brought them over the coffee table in front of where Priscilla was sitting, along with a recipient of sugar.

"Here you go…" He tried to remain calm, sitting at the opposite end of the sofa.

"..." Priscilla took the cup in her hands, pulling up the tea bag from the tip of the string, "what…is this?"

"...Tea?" Subaru seemed confused, but Priscilla was the one who still couldn't process what she was saying.

It took a moment for Subaru to finally understand that Priscilla was actually estranged with what she was holding by the tip of her fingers.

"That's a tea bag, priscilla…tea leaves are in there," he explained, to which Priscilla widened her eyes.

"These are tea leaves?!" She seemed almost outraged, looking back and forth between Subaru and the tea bag.

Seeing Subaru's clear surprise–showing her something that seemed perfectly normal for him–Priscilla brought the cup to her lips, and gave the tea a taste.

"...It does indeed taste like tea…" She commented, frowning, "however, it is of poor quality."

"I thought I was making a stretch when I thought of this, but…You actually never saw a tea bag before," Subaru shook his head, not knowing if he should be shocked or not, "Are you really that much into the rich girl cliché? Making tea with the most expensive leaves directly infused into water and all that?"

"..." Priscilla glanced at him, genuinely showing her curiosity, "so this isn't simply the norm…Hm."

"God help us all…" He let himself fall back on the sofa, smiling in tiredness and eyes upwards.

The room went quiet after that, both sipping their tea before Subaru turned on the television just so there could be a background noise.

"Ah, so it still works…" he commented in relief, "I guess channels aren't impacted by the network being down uh…"

Somehow, her silence felt worse than when she was actually speaking.

"So uh…You got a hold of anyone?" He spoke in a meek voice.

In reality, he was just begging for any kind of interaction which would put an end to the unbearable feeling of discomfort he was going through, forcing him to think back and forth between what would happen next, and what would happen after what happens next, and so on.

"No." Priscilla replied, taking a look at her phone again, "I do not believe there will be any chance of it tonight."

"Oh come on, it can't be that ba-" He replied, before he was cut off by the lights going off, turning the room pitch black.

"...Nevermind." He sighed in despair, letting himself fall back on the couch.

Priscilla however seemed particularly unphased by it. Her only reaction was to glance towards Subaru–as if she could see him in the sudden darkness–and renew her focus on her teacup.

"I suppose that's not how you expected to end your Friday evening, Priscilla?" He chuckled, feeling like almost giving up on maintaining a good image considering the world was clearly not with him.

"Is this kind of thing common in these areas?" She wondered aloud.

"...Not really, no. I'd say it's just unique circumstances since there's a storm outside…"

Priscilla didn't respond but with a hum, the room falling into silence once again. Seeing as the discussion wouldn't go further, Subaru decided to lit up his phone's flashlight and try to navigate towards where the switch box was, until, as if to mock him even more, the lights turned back on.

"That's going to be a loooong evening…" He grunted as he put his phone back in his pocket and went towards the kitchen.

Priscilla eyed at him, keeping a curious look as she saw him reaching for the drawers up the counter, and pulling out a cooking pan and pot. He then opened the fridge, and got a couple of vegetables.

"How hungry are you?" He asked her as he took out some meat out of the freezer.

"Decently enough." She replied, her eyes still focusing on what he was about to prepare.

Subaru's apartment was mostly as common as they come in Japan. The kitchen was in the same room as the sofa and the television was, only separated by a counter. So, from where she was Priscilla could perfectly see what Subaru was up to.

Contrary to what she expected, Subaru seemed more than capable. There wasn't a hint of hesitation in the steps he was taking. He began to cut the vegetables as the pan was heating up, the sound of the sharp knife hitting the wooden board in a constant, satisfying manner. The meat was put in water for it to defrost, all the while another pot was filled with water to boil to prepare the rice.

Priscilla stood up, coming closer to the kitchen counter to better observe his cooking skills. It surprised Subaru at first, but he thought that it was perhaps her attempt at socializing.

"It seems like you know what you are doing," she ended up commenting, before taking a look at the clock up the wall.

"I know it's kinda early, but if we have more power shortage I figured it's better if dinner's ready for then…"

"And what are you preparing?"

"Nothing much you know...Just some rice and meat." He tried to not think too much about her gaze, scrutinizing his every movement.

It would be a lie to say that Subaru didn't have his epiphany earlier, realizing that Priscilla would be used to anything but some quickly made food that only people of his caliber could afford. Even though he didn't want to follow the assumptions of the cliche rich girl, Priscilla wasn't really doing a good job at pulling him out of that hole.

She wasn't hiding her obliviousness, or rather she couldn't hide it, as her eyes focused on Subaru's every movement while carefully keeping watch of the food he was preparing, like a child fascinated by the sight of their parents doing something they could never do.

"So you do the cooking yourself in this house? Hm...I see." She concluded as she kept watch over Subaru's kitchen skills.

As he had already made up his mind, Subaru couldn't even be surprised. So he simply snorted at her comment.

"I should warn you beforehand that it'll probably taste nothing like what you're used to...But that's the extent of what I can provide. Sorry."

Priscilla glanced at his face, "no need. I understand these circumstances quite well. However, make sure the food you are making is edible at the very least."

"Hey! You think what I eat in general is not edible?!" He shot back in outrage, "I meant the food wouldn't be as fancy as what you're used to! Not that it would give you stomach aches!"

"We shall see then," she smiled, leaning over the counter as she kept gazing into his eyes, "if on top of being edible, it is good enough so my palate can appreciate it, I might even reward you."

"..." Subaru stopped his movements for a second, blinking as he glanced at her.

Priscilla didn't move from her initial position, her beautiful red eyes staring deep into his. He couldn't ask her to be specific about what she meant by 'reward', as much as he wanted to.

But as would be expected from anyone his age, there were very well a thousand interpretations possible on the table, and way too many of them would probably have him dead before he would try to speak of them out loud.

In the end, he simply cleared his throat, trying to hide the visible blush all over his face, and went back to his culinary duties, as Priscilla-visibly happy with the reaction she got out of him-went back to sit on the couch and wait patiently for this exotic dinner.

When she took her phone back in her hands, she could see a couple messages appear as notifications, one after the other. The speed with which they came one by one could only mean some sort of urgency, and Priscilla obliged the people visibly worrying over her by swiping these notifications away and not giving it a single second thought as she installed herself more comfortably.

"Well, I think that's ready..." Subaru voiced aloud as he began to arrange the food in the plates.

Rice, chicken meat with sauce and vegetables, a composition that he tried to set right next to the other on the plate so it could give a professional look to it, maybe more familiar to the ginger beauty sitting in his living room.

As he brought the plates over to the small dinner table in front of the couch, he could notice from a quick glance the wide eyes Priscilla gave at the sight of what he had prepared.

"There you go," Subaru sat down at the other end of the couch, putting down a pair of chopsticks right next to her plate, "be sure to tell me what you think."

He smiled as he invited her to eat, and yet screamed internally since Priscilla didn't give a single reaction since her apparent surprise at the food brought to her.

Is it looking good? Is it not? Is it the smell?

Subaru couldn't tell what she thought over the absolute neutral face she was giving, and thus didn't know how to react himself.

His frustration kept rising until she finally decided to grab her chopsticks...And couldn't hold them properly at all.

"...OH!" Subaru let out a yelp as he rushed towards the kitchen counter, opening the drawers as he looked for something, and as soon as he found it, he rushed back to Priscilla's side holding a spoon.

"I'm so sorry, I forgot you were of foreign origin..." He handed the utensil to her in an apologetic way, even though Priscilla didn't seem like she was blaming him one bit.

She picked up the spoon from his hands, and put it down next to her plate, before presenting him the chopsticks again.

"Show me." She looked at him eye to eye with only these two words spoken.

Subaru blinked as he slowly processed what she just asked of him, but quickly pulled himself together as he picked up her chopsticks and began to show her the way of holding them.

"You have to use your index, your thumb and your ring finger," he explained, tapping the two sticks together, "it has to be comfortable to hold, and also give a proper grip like this..."

Focused on his hand movement, presented her hand laid out, "place them in between my fingers properly. I shall understand once I have a hold."

Now this seemed like an impossible task. Him? To touch her hand so nonchalantly? Just how could this be allowed? How could she even propose that?

Now, it was not like touching a woman's hand was an act so indecent only engaged folk could even dare to think of it. But more than a man touching a woman's hand, it was rather the whole aspect of someone like Priscilla Barielle requesting of her own, for someone like Subaru Natsuki to perform such an action.

This was the woman who was deemed completely untouchable and had no qualms into destroying a man's whole reputation and belongings would he act in any way she would deem improper towards her!

"What are you gawking at?" She raised an eyebrow, still waiting with her palm open towards him.

"R-right..." Subaru was pulled out of his inner thinking once more, bringing his hands towards Priscilla's.

As soon as he touched hers, the only thing he could think of was how soft they felt. Compared to his, they were a bit smaller, thinner, and way more delicate. Strangely, he was over the impression that any wrong or sudden move would break it.

"S-so...You put the first stick here..." He tried to hide his trembling voice as he moved her fingers with his, "and the other one right there."

When he was done positioning them, he looked back up to Priscilla, who was contemplating the chopsticks in her hands. She began to tap the tips together using her fingers, and smiled in satisfaction.

"I see. Quite an unusual way, but it surprisingly fits the movement of the hand properly," she commented, looking back at Subaru, "you have my thanks."

"...Yeah, glad to be of help." He breathed out quietly as he got back up and regained his seat.

Now that Priscilla was familiar-or rather satisfied-with the knowledge of eating as the japanese people would, she effortlessly picked up a piece of rice with meat on top of it. It was such a clean pick that Subaru had to double check to make sure he didn't just dream half a second.

But no, the piece of food she was bringing closer to her lips was as real as it could be. The thought of her lying about her inability to use them crossed his mind, but it simply didn't make any sense for her to do so, and quite frankly, why would she showcase herself failing to do something in front of someone like Subaru? So it was exactly as it seemed; she truly had mastered the way of the Japanese chopsticks simply by holding them for the first time.

But quickly, it was another matter that arose for the young man, as Priscilla began to chew on the food he made with her eyes closed, as if to make sure to focus on the taste so she could spot anything wrong with the taste.

She kept her silence until she swallowed, and opened her eyes before turning towards Subaru, waiting for the final verdict to fall down like a hammer on ice.

"It is...Better than I expected." She concluded in a rather surprised voice, as she swiftly took another bite.

Subaru immediately felt like tons were just removed from his back, leaning back onto the couch while hiding his relief behind a satisfied smile, enjoying his own food, "you're welcome."

In the same motion, he turned the tv back on, "is there anything you want to watch? I got Netflix."

Priscilla glanced at him, "and what is Netflix?"

"...Oh wow, really?" He couldn't help but chuckle as she once more showcased her obliviousness to the common world. Just how sheltered was this girl?

"It's an app on TV that allows you to watch a bunch of movies and series. There's a bit of everything really...What genres do you like?" He asked, prepared to type using the remote.

"I do not watch much of these, so I could not answer." She replied, "why don't you choose? Find something that will entertain me."

Subaru felt like another useless weight was put on his shoulders, "wait...That's quite the tall order if I don't even know what you like to begin with. What do you even do in your free time at home?"

"I read books."

"...Why do I feel insulted?"

"You should."

"...Anyways, the books you read. What are they about?"

Honestly, Subaru felt like he was just maneuvering over a minefield, and he didn't like it one bit, especially since things seemed to be going so well as of now.

As much as in his mind, this would be the one and only moment they interacted together, he didn't want it to be dismissive about it and have her retain a bad memory of her time with him. He didn't understand quite well why, but the idea simply didn't sit right with him.

"Mostly of world history, business ethics-"

"What?" He couldn't help but cut her right in between, "those are...Not stuff you read in your free time, it just seems like homework..."

Priscilla huffed, leaning over her fist, "these are precious pieces of knowledge everyone should strive to obtain in order to succeed."

"Yeah ok but...Come on, there has to be something you like other than that? Something that's more about fiction.

Priscilla smiled, tapping the tips of her chopsticks towards him,"well, this is why I told you to choose, did I not? I am quite interested to discover more about your commoner world."