Lunch for Three... or Two?

I found myself waiting in the hallway outside Yukino and Emi’s dorm room alongside Emi, struggling to keep a lively atmosphere. Even Emi, a naturally outgoing and friendly girl, was shockingly quiet. I guess it made sense, all through middle school I didn’t exactly have people, let alone cute girls, eager to talk to me. We stood together in the hallway waiting for Yukino to finish showering before heading into town to grab lunch. Normally we could have waited in my dorm room, located conveniently right next to Emi’s, but Honoko was currently showering as well, and she pretty much forced me into agreeing to ridiculous room rules. One of those rules happened to ban me from the room whenever she was taking a shower. Honoko probably wasn’t in the mood to see anyone anyway, especially Yukino’s roommate, after what transpired at the courtyard.

“So Nakamura,” Emi said, finally breaking the silence. “How are you liking school so far?”

I was thankful that she broke the tension, and with such a softball question to boot. She left me pretty zero room to botch my response.

“It’s been interesting to say the least… definitely a big change of pace from the schooling I’m used to.”

“Oh yeah, your parents are engineers, right? Magic is way different from science!”

Emi’s energetic personality was starting to return. It amazed me that she remembered both my parents were in engineering.

“Yeah, they’re both engineers, so this kind of environment is completely new to me.”

I was impressed at my ability to hold a conversation about adjusting to a magic high school when I was nothing but a complete fraud. I didn’t have an ounce of magic running through my body.

The door to Emi’s room opened. I think my jaw legitimately dropped at the sight of Yukino standing in the doorway.

This was my very first time seeing Yukino in clothes other than her school uniform, she was truly breath taking. Her outfit perfectly complemented her modest yet proportioned frame and her hair was up in a ponytail rather than down and free flowing like she wore it at school.

“Is something wrong with my appearance?” Yukino asked extremely calmly. I guess my staring was pretty obvious.

“Oh… uh… no. I just… um…” I fumbled through my words, undoubtedly making a fool of myself.

“You’re so pretty, Yukino!” Emi shouted joyfully. “You should wear your hair in a ponytail more often!”

“I find taking the time to put my hair up nicely to be wasteful. My time could be better spent doing something more productive.”

Of course Yukino had a calculated reply for that comment. Everything she did seemed calculated. Although, I’m not sure how time was much of a factor, to keep her long hair neat and perfect while letting it hand down must have taken a long time too. Oh well, she would know better than me.

Emi’s stomach let out an audible growl. Rather than be embarrassed, Emi let out a cute laugh.

“I guess I’m really hungry! Let’s go eat!”

She grabbed Yukino’s hand and dragged her to the elevator. I followed closely behind.

It was a picture perfect spring day. Not too hot, not too cold, not a cloud in the sky. Somehow this man-constructed island still had an authentic air to it. The gentle breeze flowed through Emi’s short cut hair, Yukino’s practical ponytail perfectly kept her hair in place.

At Emi’s insistence we agreed to go to the ramen shop for lunch. When we arrived, there was a line out the door.

“Looks like we’re going to have to wait a little,” I commented. “Are you sure you can wait, Ichinose?”

“Mhmm! This place is so yummy, it’s worth the wait!”

“You’re a high school student now, Ichinose,” Yukino remarked. “Try to expand your vocabulary to use a word more age appropriate than ‘yummy.’”

Ouch. Even to Emi, Yukino pulled no punches. Frankly, Yukino came off as extremely elitist in addition to her icy demeanor.

A ringtone cut off our conversation. Emi took her phone out of her handbag. She quickly flashed us an apologetic smile before answering the call.

“Hey Chi!”

Yukino and I watched Emi in silence.

“Oh crap! I totally forgot! I’ll be there soon!”

“Uh… you’ll be where soon?” I asked, concerned about Emi’s over the phone proclamation.

“I totally forgot I was supposed to grab lunch with my middle school classmate Chizuru and some of her Class C friends! Is it okay if I go?”

Part of me wanted to blurt out “no stay here!” If she left, there was an above zero chance I’d be left alone to have lunch with Yukino, a frightening prospect no matter how pretty she was.

“You can go. If you made a prior commitment it’s important to stick to your word,” Yukino responded before I had the chance to say anything.

“Okay thanks! Sorry again, we can go out to eat again another time!”

Emi took off running. Now would have been a great time to use her wind magic, but school rules prevented her from using such easy transport.

“Where are you going?” Yukino asked with the slightest inflection in her voice as I turned to leave.

“Oh, I figured out lunch plans were scrapped now, so I was going to head back to the dorms.”

“We came here and decided to wait in line, at this point the trip would be a waste if we didn’t eat.”

She had a point. It’s not like I wasn’t hungry wither. I just figured she wouldn’t want anything to do with me now that Emi was gone. After all, she was reluctant to come in the first place, and she didn’t exactly exude friendliness.

“You’re right. Plus, we’re close to the front of the line now.”

A waitress guided us to us to our table. The place was packed, both by students and staff. The ramen must be as good as Emi claimed. In a poor attempt to avoid awkwardness with Yukino I buried my face in the menu.

“Can I get you two started with something to drink?”

I looked up to find a waitress at our table. She must have shown up while I was getting intimate with the menu. She looked quite young, probably a student at the School of Magic or School of Alchemy. I guess some students worked part time jobs to make ends meet.

“I’ll take a coffee,” Yukino said.

“Just water is fine for me.”

“Okay I’ll be back with your coffee shortly!”

The waitress scurried off towards the kitchen.

“So… pretty nice weather today don’t you think?”

My first attempt at conversation revolved around the weather. How stereotypical and pathetic.

“Yes, I find the weather to be quite comfortable.”

Silence. And more silence. What was I supposed to say now? How long would it take the waitress to bring us our drinks?

“So, Yukimura, have you ever eaten here before?”

“No. I’ve only been on the island for a week. I usually eat at the school cafeteria anyway.”

She definitely struck me as the type to eat conservatively like that. The cost of eating out in the city frequently would stack up quickly.

“Here are your drinks.” The waitress placed my glass of water and Yukino’s cup of coffee on the table. Yukino gently grasped the cup and brought it to her lips. Somehow, even watching her drink coffee was mesmerizing in a way. She really was the textbook definition of cool and collected.

The judgment filled stares of the other patrons beat down on me. Or, that’s what it felt like to me, at least. In reality, there were probably a few passing glances at most. What is a guy like him doing with a girl like her?

“Nakamura, I have a question.” It was now Yukino’s turn to try and initiate a conversation.

“Ask away.”

She placed her coffee cup back down on the table and looked me in the eyes. It felt so intimidating I almost wanted to look away.

“No one has talked about it since last weekend, but what really happened at The Spot?”

I explained to Yukino how I bumped into Ryu and that small act led to our miniature kerfuffle. She hardly seemed amused by my lackluster recollection.

“I see,” she said. “It sounds like Takanashi has quite a short temper.”

“Do you know anything about Takanashi or any of the others in that group?”

She seemed to ponder, like she were accessing the far reaches of her memory.

“I know that Sonozaki is Adachi’s roommate.”

We all knew that already, of course. Shun was the one who told us. “Anything else?”

“No. Although, Iwasaki confuses me. I am not sure what to make of him.”

Yukino didn’t exactly have stellar people skills, but I felt the same way. In fairness, I didn’t have stellar people skills either.

Our waitress returned to the table. We both placed our orders and within minutes, giant bowls of ramen sat before both of us.

“Well, I can only speak for myself, but I’m hungry. Thank you for the meal.”

We ate together in silence, neither of us taking more than a few moments in between bites. Emi really missed out, she recommended this place and it was fantastic. But like Yukino said, commitments are commitments. After we finished eating, Yukino still had some coffee left, so we stayed around a bit longer.

“I’m sorry if this is a rude question,” I said. “But how come you take such a strict attitude with Ichinose?”

I feared for the worst. It was extremely rude of me to question someones personality, I knew that. But, I couldn’t stop myself.

“I am unsure what you mean,” she responded.

“Well, take when we arrived to the restaurant, for example. You critiqued her vocabulary. I don’t see what’s wrong with saying ‘yummy’. I sort of found it endearing.”

“You are entitled to your opinion of course. I disagree, but that’s okay. We are at this school to further our development towards our professional lives, so I believe we must act in as professional a manner as possible.”

She did have a point. For the students here who actually possessed magical abilities, they were refining their skills for a future in the magic field. But at the same time, we were all still kids. 15 year old kids should not be forced to act like adults at all times. Yukino was just far more mature than I.

“As one of the top ranked students I’m sure you’ll be fine, Yukimura.”

“Just as I said to Takanashi, our rankings are merely arbitrary metrics assigned by the school. To say I am the second ranked student in our grade is wrong. There may be far more capable students, not just in Class A, but other classes as well. We must work hard to prove ourselves. Just because you are the 14th ranked student in Class A does not make you any lesser than I.”

Was that… a compliment? I definitely didn’t see that one coming. As endearing as Yukino was trying to be, little did she know I couldn’t hold a candle to her as a magic user.

“Well, I appreciate that.”

Yukino finished up what remained of her coffee. We each paid separately for our meals, and went on our separate ways. Yukino had a couple more errands to run, so I headed back to the dorms. Although the conversation was awkward at times, I appreciated being able to speak with Yukino casually. It gave me valuable insight into what drove her to work hard, and what it would take for anyone, even someone like me, to really succeed at this magic high school.