Disclaimer: None of these fine characters belong to me. It's call Fanfiction for a reason ¬_¬

Summer finally arrived and everyone dispersed to their much awaited plans. I found myself at the Ueno train station which Erina-sama generously arranged a drop off for me using her family limousine. She had initially insisted to send me to the seaside restaurant but I somehow convinced her otherwise; I had wanted to take the time to enjoy the train ride's varied scenery that a car on an inland expressway cannot offer.

Plus, I had wanted to try the ekiben: all part of my summer bucket list.

… save the cliché that as a culinary student I should be preparing my own food: I'm on vacation.

With time to spare and trolley bag in tow, I proceeded to a popular ekiben shop near the station and appreciated the display case. There were bentos of various shapes and sizes, all beautifully arranged with colours, depth and variety giving each bento its own personality and theme; it was a wonderful treat for the eyes.

From the meaty yakinuku don, generously packed with glistening beef slices, targeted to the heartiest of men to the selection of frilly onigiris for the daintiest lady; everyone will be spoilt for choice. I would like to try them all but...

I'm partial to the bento with the of a generous layer of seafood bento with big pieces of uni as its centrepiece; I simply love the umami taste of sea urchin accompanied by sujiko, ebi and hotatekai which are bedded upon fluffy white pearls of vinegared sushi rice with preserved ginger slices shaped into tender flowers as garnish.

So happens, there was only one left.

As I reached out to take it, my hand came into contact with another person's which made us withdraw quickly.

Now at this point, like any stereotypical romance novel, you might assume that it belongs to the one and only Yukihira Soma...

Nope, not him but a young man, slightly older than me, dressed casually in a tasteful casual polo shirt and white Bermuda shorts... evidently heading to the sea side too. He was frankly rather handsome with his styled black hair on top of a pleasing face. He carried an air of confidence as a boyish lop-sided smile was offered to me with a courteous apology, gesturing for me to take the bento.

I graciously declined his generosity with a small smile as I thought it was fair that his hand was ahead of mine when we reached for the box; besides, my attention was caught by a similar seafood bento with a beautiful layer of succulent tamago on top. It didn't have the uni that I was hoping for but…. that's just how it is.

As I turned towards the register, I came face to face with that man again. We both broke into a smile. How can anyone resist such a charming man? We both excused ourselves and went our separate ways.

With my lunch and ticket in hand I proceeded to the platform to await the JR train. It is to be a 1 hour 5 minutes ride that I look forward to watching the scenery going by as I enjoy my ekiben.

The open air platform had a moderate crowd with a light summer breeze breathing in a comfortable tee-shirt temperature. I had opted to wear a loose fitting blue shirt and khaki shorts to fit the weather. Frankly: as my normal attire was my school uniform or a formal suit as I perform my duties as Nariki-sama's secretary, not wearing my uniform was one of the things I look forward to in the summer season.

Speaking of which, I wonder how is she doing now? I had seen her off at the airport before I was chauffeured here but I'm sure there will be scheduling concerns and the like that she might have.

I fished out my phone to check if she left me any messages and sure enough, there was one: but not from her.

Yukihira had sent me a pic. Hmm…

There he was, in a selfie with the sea in the background with the sand and surf so brightly lit by the summer sun that I had to lower my phone's brightness, with the caption: Yo! The water is great! Hope you remember the sunscreen!

Well, evidently he wasn't kidding when he said he's taking the early train. I closed the message and scrolled to Nakiri-sama's schedule after my return. Seems pretty straight forward with the giants like Lokka, and Reij Dairies for consulting of new products and meeting Asaharu Orimoto to discuss a business deal: arrangements worth millions each. Her gift never ceases to amaze me.

"The train to Mito Station is arriving. The train to Mito Station is arriving. For safety, please stand behind the yellow line, thank you." The announcement made me look up and checked the time: right on schedule.

I boarded a relatively full carriage with seats arranged in pairs, four per row; majority of the passengers were students heading out of Tokyo for the holiday season. Thankfully, I still managed to secure myself a pair of seats as the rest of the carriage rapidly filled.

Placing the bento on the small fold-down table by the window, I lugged by trolley bag up to the overhead compartment... lugged was too kind a word; more like 'struggled'.

Eh, I guess might have over-packed… yes, yes, typical woman, eh?

I grabbed both handles and huffed but the bag just would not get over the rails. I was getting conscious that my attics was attracting attention and that I may be blocking the walkway. It was then a pair of hands came up from behind me and helped the luggage into the overhead compartment. I turned around to find that man from the bento shop.

What a coincidence, eh?

"I hope you don't mind," he said, voice confidently charming with a million-dollar smile. His close proximity allowed me a whiff of this light cologne which was the scent of tropical breeze. It was funny how my mind raced to remember the fragrance; filing this moment in time for posterity.

Oh yeh, he spoke to me. Tongue caught in my throat, I could only respond with a slight smile and a nod in appreciation. He glanced towards both ends of the carriage, noting that it is already filled before asking me if I mind sharing a seat with him.

Of course I didn't; if anything, it was better than sharing it with a complete stranger… relatively speaking.

Taking our seats, we settled to our devices: I took out my light novel and leafed to my bookmark. This was a tale of an invasion of modern japan by a force which consist of units belonging in ancient Rome and mythical creatures which came through a portal. If you're wondering, of course the invaders were pushed back into the portal where they came from and the Japanese forces created a foothold on the other side of the portal. It was a story of interesting characters, multiple genres and intrigue that makes it hard to put down.

"I find it is interesting how similar we are," the person next to me remarked. I looked to him to find him waving the next volume of the series I'm reading now. "How far have you read?"

I was pleasantly surprised: what were the odds that I would meet with a person reading exactly the same series as I am now.

"I'm sorry if I seem forward," he remarked, mistaking my surprise as a snub, "but it's not common to meet someone who reads this too."

While I am a person who usually keeps to myself, I responded his question with interest because I found the appeal too. We discussed about past plot lines, the characters and I appreciated that he limited the discussion to the point I have read. We did, however had a healthy disagreement on our preferred pairings, bartering points on why our ship was the "OTP (one true pairing)" but it is all in good fun.

"Let's agree to disagree on who is the best girl. It's clear that each one is to fit a trope to keep things fresh. Although, I think the way their backstories were written makes them easier to empathise with them."

He nodded pensively. "You know, I think Tyruule story is the most sympathetic character," he remarked, "she was misunderstood by her people when she had willingly surrendered herself to save them."

"Even so, it's no reason to plunge the world into a war, have she not considered the people affected by her actions?"

He shrugged, "perhaps to her, even if she had to use all she had to get her revenge, her end justifies the means."

It could have been a trick of the light but I thought I saw his eyes harden momentarily… he then threw off a disarming lopsided grin. "but from what I hear, what happens to her for what she did went to two dramatically different routes."

"Alright, I have to stop you right there," I held up my hands with a smile to show my jest, "no spoilers, please."

"Oh, so you're the type who dislikes spoilers."

"Not really, it's just… well, I don't have much free time to read my novels; getting to read them is a luxury to me so I would like to take time to experience them as the story unfolds with each flip of the page."

"Ah, I see," he tilted his head a little with curiosity, "so what do you do that keeps you busy?"

I considered my reply for a moment, "On top of attending school, I work as a secretary for a very talented person."

"Working while schooling? That's impressive." His eyes lit up with interest, "Which school do you attend?"

"Tōtsuki: although I doubt you would have heard of it unless you're related to the culinary world."

"Tōtsuki…." He trailed off with a far off look as if that name is somewhat familiar, "I might have heard of it.

"So, you're in a cooking school? That's interesting… but one does wonder why would you buy an ekiben then." He glanced over to our bentos.

Ha! I knew that matter would be brought up. "it's my summer vacation." I rolled my eyes at that, "Since you mentioned it, would you like to tuck in?"

"You go on ahead… I'm saving it for someone special," he grinned, petting on the insulated carrier that wrapped his bento.

Huh, is that so? "Alright, I hope you won't mind," I said as I unwrapped my bento. Hey, I started my day early so excuse me that I got hungry.

"So, what's your speciality?" he restarted the conversation.

"I mainly focus on medicinal cuisine; it's quite a niche speciality to be honest."

"Medicinal cuisine? Seems interesting; what's it about?"

His interest was contagious enough to effect on me to I pattered on about the history of medicinal cooking and talked, more like lectured in retrospect, in length about the many different herbs that I use for cooking to my attentive audience; after all, it's not often I was asked about my style of cooking.

I had swelled with pride as I mentioned the fact that my family came from a long line of medical experts which can be traced all the way back to the personal physicians of the Japanese emperors.

"Next station: Mito Station; Next Station: Mito Station." the speaker system announced, cutting into my speech.

"Well, I'm getting off the next stop…I'm so sorry," I felt my cheeks warm, "I wasn't aware that I was talking that long."

"That's quite alright, it was quite an enlightening to learn something new."

"I just think it's just very exciting to share what I know to others, especially the emerging field of medical cuisine."

He nodded lightly, "Yeh, it sure is."

Just out the window, the city of Mito rushed passed the window. The tall buildings were a gentle reminder that I had another train to catch after getting off this one. A small comfortable silence fell between us as I prepared for my departure.

"Here, I would like you to have this." He held up his bento, that same one that I was hoping to get after I collected my luggage from the overhead compartment…with his help again.

"I can't accept this," I was taken aback by his act.

"It's for the lecture," he cocked an eye brow, "and I think you really wanted it, didn't you?"

My destination was approaching as I felt the gentle deceleration of the train. It's not everyday that someone gave me something out of the blue so I didn't know how to respond.

"Erm, perhaps was I too forward with my offer," he said with a little embarrassment in his voice.

"Oh, it's not that…I…" I began, only to be interrupted by the announcement that I have arrived at my destination and the train doors opened. "Thank you." I smiled at him as I accepted the carrier.

"Guess I'll see you around," he waved as I exited the train and I replied with a slight bow in appreciation of his generosity.

Well, that was…nice of him. I thought, hearing the hiss of the train doors closing while making my way to the transfer train. That was when I realised: We didn't even exchange our names!

I couldn't help but chuckle at the randomness of the train ride. I looked down at the carrier bag that he gave me that contained the bento we had both reached for…

'I'm saving it for someone special…' had he intended to give it to me all along? if this was a romance novel, I would have filed this as a beginning of a romantic subplot.

Wait…what?

A/N: And so the summer holiday starts with meeting someone new! If anything, it's already a memorable Summer for our Hishoko!

I look forward to your reviews on your thoughts over this development!