Secret Rendezvous

Before one could learn of how Ryuo and Jurie could explain themselves to the members of their respective student councils. It must be known what they actually were up to while their friends were on the lookout for them.

It began back at their respective homes, where they each made their way to the agreed upon meeting spot in their disguises. Which to them, they believed were enough to keep people from realizing their true identities, even if it did make them appear a bit ridiculous.

He was the one to arrive first at their secret meeting spot. It made for the perfect starting point as they could then head into the neutral zone properly as a couple. However he couldn’t help but get the feeling he was being followed. While Ryuo did take precautions to avoid the others from being suspicious, he did pull a few moves on his path here that was certain to throw anyone off. So there was no way they’d be able to find his private sanctuary.

A few minutes later, Jurie would finally make it there as well. She was adorn with the same exact shades as him, but with the addition of a head scarf to obfuscate her voluminous lavender hair.

“You’re late.” Were the first words out of his mouth as the boy pulled out his phone to check the time. “You know we don’t get enough time together as it is.”

“You know, a girl usually likes it when her boyfriend actually greets her on a date.” She retorted. “But anyway, I had to take a different way here. I don’t know why, but it felt like I was being followed.”

“Interesting.” He paused a moment to think. Was it just a coincidence or had their cover already been blown? Ryuo considered for a moment that they call off this date. It was too risky. But they both already came out here and were too excited over it to give up now. So he hid away his feelings and returned to the task at hand.

“So how about the two of us head into the neutral zone and have some fun?” She spoke in a flirty nature and took his hand. “I bet you there’s going to be tons of things to do.”

“Actually, I already wrote down our itinerary.” He used his free hand and reached into his pocket to produce a piece of paper filled to the brim with his handwriting. “I’ve planned down every single minute of our date.” She took it and read through the entire thing. All of those words hurt her head. There was no way anyone could make some more dense than a boring textbook.

“Lame.” She crumbled up the paper and tossed it aside. “Come on, we can’t plan this like it’s some kind of field trip.”

“It’s not lame.” He quickly ran over and picked it up. “And don’t liter either. I want to keep this town beautiful.”

“Sorry.” She apologized for her actions, but not for her words. “But seriously, I want to go into town and see what’s going on. It’s tons more fun that way.”

“Don’t people usually plan out their date?” He worried they might fail to figure something out by acting so spontaneously. It would quickly turn their outing awkward, which they could ill afford considering the risk.

“Come on, just trust me on this, okay?” She took his hand once more and gave him a cute pout as her means of begging. Of course he couldn’t say no to her.

“Alright, fine.” He put the paper back into his pocket. “But let’s try to do one thing I wrote down on there.” Ryuo had ideas in his head on how their date would go. But with his fantasies stuck remaining so, he couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.

“Great.” She tightly gripped his hand and lead the way as the pair left their secret place and walked into the main area of the neutral zone. People were going about their usual day, none of them seem to pay them any mind. Which was good as they were both glad their disguises were enough to obscure their identities, but not too outlandish to attract attention.

“So, what exactly did you have in mind?” He asked as they continued to walk along the sidewalk. They passed plenty of buildings he thought would be fun to visit, but didn’t stop at a single spot.

“Don’t know.” Her answer didn’t fill him with confidence as she continue to lead him aimlessly. Suddenly, the sound of her stomach growling was enough to give them a direction. “Heheh, I guess we should find somewhere to eat.” She laughed sheepishly.

“How about a nice restaurant?” He figured that would make for a good starting point for a couple on their first date. He definitely had enough money on him to be able to treat the two of them somewhere fancy.

“Let’s go to the food court!” Instead she suggested a spot with much less decorum.

“Food court? I can’t say I’ve ever been to one before.” The only food court she could be referencing had to be the one in the mall. A location he rarely found himself in as the boy was not fond of just shopping for fun. Not to mention he didn’t bother with many of the options for fun there.

“Then it’ll be perfect then.” This response only served to rile her more up. “Me and my friends are always hanging out in the mall. We know it’s the one place in the neutral zone where you Monta stiffs avoid like the plague. No offense.”

“None taken.” He lied. Even though she didn’t consider him in the same league as his friends. She still insulted people he cared about. Not that he wanted to complain. After all, Ryuo did the same thing. “Anyway, we can go make a quick stop for a meal there. But then I get to choose our next destination. Does that sound fair?”

“More than good enough to me.” She quickly changed their direction towards that of the mall. “Since it’s a food court, there’s so many different stalls offering different kinds of food. So how about this? We both look around separately and choose our favorite food? That’ll be a fun way to learn more about each other.”

“Favorite food? Well I’ll try, but I doubt they have it here in this mall.” She couldn’t tell what he meant by this statement. Surely they’d have plenty of noodle bowls and rice options to choose from. What kind of food did Monta’s like to eat?

The pair separated once they reached a table they could reunite at and headed in opposite directions in search of their next meal. Jurie headed towards her favorite stall, which had boba tea and various kinds of udon. “Hmm, I’ll have beef udon and macha boba tea.”

For a moment, she considered lying to him and picking something lighter. It was admittedly embarrassing to be eating something with as much calories as what she had ordered. But she already put herself in this position by suggesting they go for their favorites, so she had no choice but to be honest with him.

As Jurie walked back to their table, she wondered what his favorite food could be. It obviously wasn’t udon, as that was where she went and he wasn’t there. Could it be ramen instead? Or maybe it was sushi? Though a part of her wondered from his concern if they’d even have it here in the mall. That it might be something gross like Natto.

When she sat down at her table, he still hadn’t returned. In fact, it seemed to be taking him a while to come back to their table. Jurie considered messaging him to see if he had gotten stuck with being unable to find his favorite. However she would soon see his strange meal choice.

“I can’t believe they actually had this in the mall this whole time.” He came in quickly, plopping down the plate with a personal-sized sicilian-style pizza. “It’s official, this place is the best!” After being so reserved during the beginning of their date. Ryuo appeared to have brightened up upon learning of this new fact in their town.

“That’s… An interesting dish you’ve got there.” For a moment, she thought this was some sort of prank, but there was no way someone like him would pull a trick like this. He was always an honest person to a fault. “I guess even the Monta president’s got a few surprises to him after all.”

“And I see the Capa president is eating pretty much what I’d expect.” He commented on her meal. Thinking that this was her favorite wasn’t a shock, though he almost would’ve figured there would be a flamboyant twist being having some boba tea because it was trendy. “Anyway, time to eat.” He took one bite of his pizza before realizing he had forgotten something. “Nearly forgot, I need to grab some bread sticks and some red pepper flakes.”

“Um… Okay.” She saw him walk off again as she tried to figure out the sight before him. Even though it definitely was the truth, it still was a strange pill to swallow. Jurie went to slurp up some of her noodles when a familiar voice sent chills down her spine.

“Wow, there you are!” She could hear Sumiwa calling for her. She had to think fast to come up with a plan, but there wasn’t enough to make one that would be foolproof, of even good. So instead she ignored the calls and quickly walked away. She’d just have go in the direction where Ryuo had walked towards and try to find him before it was too late.

Unfortunately she didn’t run into him, but there was no way to wait around to search for him. Not to mention there were too many people around for her to try and find him anyway. She was simply too short for that. Jurie had no choice but to use the crowd to her advantage to give the slip on her pursuers.

“Ryuo, please be careful…” She murmured to herself as she slipped through the crowed area to evade her friend.