So That's What You're Into? (Rukako)

[Akira Nakajima]

Akira was the sort of person to hold onto promises. Usually. Sometimes. If he felt like it. Anyway, he had a certain tentative Vice-President that would soon be a formal Vice-President that also just so happened to be a valuable partner in Shadow-related activities. She had grown from some of her nastier habits, as well, so she was showing progress that made the boy particularly pleased. That was why, on that Saturday, a day in which he could have played lewd games on his computer with other people across the city's network, or even gone out training, he decided to follow-up on his promise to help train the wannabe hero in regards to her common sense. It was a hefty chore, to be sure. No doubt, there would be numerous issues with his training due to her unique nature. Of course, beggars couldn't be choosers. That just wasn't the way the game worked.

The boy's clothes were fairly casual that day. A simple pink T-shirt with the English word “Boss” in red was his choice of top. A light jacket, gray in color, accompanied it. Black jeans and tennis shoes finished up the bottom side of things. Despite the casual nature of his clothing, it was obvious he was in drag due to the make of the clothes. More than that, though, it should have been obvious when he was sporting glasses and pigtails. Over his right shoulder was a pack filled with numerous boxsets. Complete animated series were within. In his right hand was a bag filled with various snacks, mostly salty or sweet; the types that had empty calories- the types he never really ate.

”Ruka.” He called before giving three knocks on the girl's apartment door. ”Ruka.” He called once more, giving the same three knocks. The pattern of beckoning and knocking continued until she arrived at the door.

[Luka Kurokawa]

Luka was at the stove preparing everything that needed to be prepared for dinner tonight. Though it hadn't been too far out of the girl's usual meal choices, Luka chose something a bit out of the ordinary for the night. She was more than used to cooking for just a single person every night. Tonight would be the first time she would be cooking dinner for two people. As such, many ingredients chopped up and ready to add ingredients could be found laying on the counter behind her. Luka herself was in front of the stove stirring the pot of broth while slowly adding ingredients as she went. Tonight's dinner was of course, hot pot. A large mesh of various ingredients thrown into a single pot for serving multiple people. Being able to serve multiple people was the reason she had picked out this recipe in particular. Though, she may have picked something that was meant for just a few more than two people. Not that it would be much of a problem.

She was in her sleepwear already, given what was planned for the night. Other than that, she wore an apron over-top of it, and had a kerchief in her hair. She looked like a regular housewife making dinner for her family. Of course, her plans were much different than that. Akira had proposed a meeting(?) at her place where they would be watching a large quantity of anime together. He would be providing anime and snacks while she would provide the location and dinner. And of course, the reason for the meeting was to teach Luka more about common sense and social logic. Even now, the girl was still skeptical of just how effective this method would be. Not to mention, that the boy had "punishments" planned should she not do well.

A good portion of the ingredients had been stirred into the pot already, with the entire dinner being nearly finished now. Just a minute or two more and she would be done. And that was when Luka heard a muffled voice call her name from behind her front door. A voice she knew. It was followed by three knocks in quick succession, and another call of her name. This was done repeatedly in a rather annoying fashion until Luka began to march over to the door to answer it. Quickly opening the door, the girl greeted her guest with a slightly annoyed expression. You don't need to knock like that you know. And calling my name doesn't exactly help. With a sigh, she signaled for the boy to enter.

As she returned to the pot that she was preparing, she made note of the bags in the boy's hands. Just as he said, he had a large bag of anime DVDs and a large bag of snacks. Dinner will be finished in a moment. Feel free to get comfortable and set up anything you need to. Aside from preparing dinner for the night, the girl had gone out to the mall earlier in the day to pick up a special purchase. Specifically, a second dining room chair.

[Akira Nakajima]

”Helpful, no. Amusing, however? Quite so. It got a reaction out of you, after all.” The boy in drag smiled and shifted inside the apartment, making sure the door was good and locked before making an observation. Luka was dressed like a housewife. A housewife in pajamas, at least. ”So there's dinner, a bath, or you. I see. That's very courteous of you.” He commented with a straight face. The girl likely would not catch his meaning if she lacked experience with typical lovey-dovey or perverse series. And she probably lacked experience with both. Oh well. His joke, he could laugh in his head, and it wouldn't be conceit. Strolling further in, he noticed something was off. It took him a good moment or two, but he finally put it together when he noticed the presence of new chair around the dinner table.

”I see you got some new furniture. That's good. I like it.” He honestly complimented the girl. That was a good step towards greater sociability. It meant she was expecting to have people over now. That actually warmed him up a little. She really was making progress. That meant he needed to buckle down and do his part. As President, he had to work towards assisting the student body to have good futures- or, at the very least, futures they could be happy with. It was a lofty, perhaps impossible, goal, but, with cases like this, even if he had to get his hands dirty with some hard work, it would pay off in the end. He let his pack slide from his shoulder, depositing it near the TV and player. Snacks? He dropped them on the couch. If they girl ate like he imagined she would, they'd be gone with time. No need to find room for them.

”So you're finishing up dinner. What's cooking? Want some help?” The boy asked as he drew close into the kitchen segment. He often helped with cooking at home. He had usurped his older sister's spot helping his mother any number of times. He was aware that this caused her and their father to bond more closely, though. ”I don't often say things like this, by the way, but you manage to pull off the housewife look pretty well. If the lunch from the other day is anything to go by, you'll definitely make someone happy to have you as a wife someday.”

[Luka Kurokawa]

Well, I suppose amusing is good too. Luka closed her eyes and raised her chin in annoyance as she walked back over to the stove. She was being purely sarcastic of course. Akira made a rather odd and confusing comment though. Dinner, a bath. . . or me? The bath and dinner were self explanatory, but "having her" was rather confusing. Well, the dinner you can have, I don't particularly mind you taking a bath, and I suppose you can have me as well. She turned back to him for a moment. Guess you'll have to choose carefully then. A straight expression. Evidence that she didn't understand the power behind her words. Turning back around, she pondered for a moment. Hmm. . . Actually, why choose? Just pick all of the above.

At last, all of the ingredients had been added to the pot and all that was left to do with stir it a bit more and serve it up. Tasting a sample of the contents of the bowl, the girl smiled. It smelled really good too. Needless to say, Luka was more than pleased with the results of her cooking thus far. As she continued to stir, she heard a comment over from across the room. It seemed Akira noticed the slight addition to the dining room almost immediately. She smiled, even though he probably wouldn't have been able to see it. I picked it up earlier today. I felt that the chair I had was probably lonely, so I got another one to keep it company. That wasn't the reason, of course.

With a sigh of satisfaction, the girl looked at the pot that was now nearly complete. She picked up the nearby ladle which would be used for grabbing helpings. Hot pot. And no need; it's already done. She turned off the stove and let some of the steam fade before she did anything with it. That was when the boy said something that caught Luka completely off guard. E-Eh? She lost her grip on the ladle, fumbling it around a bit before catching it with both hands. Quickly she turned to face the pot and put the ladle in. D-Don't say things like that so seriously. She kept her face hidden from the boy as long as she could. At least, long enough for her to "visually" calm down. G-Go set up the first video already! She seemed mad at him. That, and she really didn't want him hovering over her when she went to turn around and bring the pot over.

With a sigh, the girl picked up the large pot and began to bring it over to the dining room table. Jeez. . . Luka was just beginning to believe that she could truly make friends. That alone was a humongous step for her. For him to bring up something like "becoming someone's wife" was something she couldn't wrap her head around. The thoughts she had were only made worse by the way that he said it. Specifically, the fact that he thought she would make a good wife.

Placing the pot on the table, she moved over to the couch and television area. It seemed that the boy had brought an impressive supply of snacks. She also took note of the size of the bag that likely housed their entertainment for the night. So, what's the first show we're going to watch anyway? She leaned over the couch a moment as she spoke. Then, in a rather quick motion, she pulled off the kerchief she was wearing and stuffed it in the pocket of her apron. After that, she decided to hang up the apron itself. No need to keep this on. Definitely not.

[Akira Nakajima]

Once again, the boy had a sincere desire to ram his head into something. Just like every other time since he had met this girl personally, it was because of her choice of words. She really was insane. Fortunately, his intentions of the evening were to work on fixing that. He doubted it'd be done in one go, but they could at least scratch the surface. Probably. He hoped so- sincerely hoped so. She had given off amusing comments on other things though, reminding him of innocent excuses akin to those one would receive from children. Finally, though, something interesting happened. It seemed that his comment regarding her being a wife struck a chord. More than that, judging by her sudden panicking and immediate attempt at hiding her face, it was embarrassment that he managed to inflict upon the girl.

That was cute. It seemed that she did have hope for the future now- that right and truly sealed it, in his opinion.

"Hm. Yeah, sure, sure." He waved his hand slightly and spun on his heel before heading away from the kitchen area. He made a detour towards the door, though, to deposit his shoes near it. If he broke habit now, it'd be bad for the future, he decided. Then, heading towards the entertainment center, he shrugged slighty. "Though it seems a waste to focus on watching things when there's a pot of perfectly good, hot food just waiting to be consumed." Towards the end, his words became increasingly sing-song, showing that he was teasing just a bit.

"Anyway, we're starting with easy mode by going into a situational comedy. It's a slice-of-life, or everyday life, story revolving around students in a normal high school. No Shadows. No demons. No monsters. No magic, no wizards, no superhuman antics- minus what you might see in animation anyway, since that's par for the course- nothing that would be too out of the ordinary. Just a normal, invigorating story about youths enjoying their school life. Or trying." The longer he went on about it, the more he realized he missed those days, if only for the fact that he didn't have to constantly worry about himself or others suddenly up and dying.

"We'll get into other, more difficult, things as time passes. I have everything rated, in my head, on a difficulty scale for you, so we'll hopefully be taking it at a good pace." He nodded sagely before popping a disc into the player. With that, he stood straight and shifted towards the couch, smiling at his host. "Putting the set away? That's too bad. Guess I'll have to come over more often to see you in it." He spun almost mechanically, facing the television before dropping to the couch. "You're the host, but I'll be the guide this evening. And, Ruka, we're about to ride on a roller coaster here. Some things'll be funny. Others might be emotional skyscrapers. Whichever, there's two points to this. One is training, of course. The other? The other is to enjoy it. Relax and enjoy the downtime from slaying bad doom squiggles."

[Luka Kurokawa]

Luka huffed at the boy's easygoing comment. He was being way too care-free for what he was saying, in Luka's own opinion. Once again, the girl had a sincere desire to knock this guy into something. Just like every other time since she had met Akira personally, it was because of his choice of words. He really was an idiot. Fortunately, she would put up with it for now. One of these days. . .

The boy continued to tease her a bit, commenting on the pot of "perfectly good, hot food just waiting to be consumed." Luka didn't get angry at him for that one, at least. Instead, she smiled and suggested an idea. Well, we can watch things from the dining table while we eat. When we're done we can move back to the couch to get a bit more comfy. That seemed like a good plan. At most, it would take them two or three episodes to finish eating which would equate to just a small portion of that show.

And it would seemed that the first thing on their schedule to watch was a "situational comedy." From the way Akira described it, the show was about ordinary students that a younger demographic could relate to in an ordinary setting much like a normal person's life. In which, these students would do everyday tasks with a few additions here and there that are staples to Japanese animation. A story teenagers can relate to and feel enjoyment from. So it's a show about nothing. Okay. Luka moved to her seat after uttering her two cents in regards to what she just heard in the most straight voice possible. It was funny, really. Luka couldn't relate to such a story having never engaged in such everyday activities. Yet, she was still able to make a cover-glancing judgment about it. Just how right would she be about the show though? She would find out eventually it seemed. But now that she mentioned it, this was going to be the "easiest" of the shows that they would be watching. Maybe she shouldn't get so cocky? As for what the "more difficult" showed contained, she wouldn't think over it. Instead, she would take everything as it came.

Luka glared back with puffed out cheeks as Akira commented on her removing the apron. The urge to hurt was rising again. Hmph. Why not just bring your own outfits for me to wear if you enjoy seeing me get dressed up. You seemed to enjoy doing it last time. She didn't intend for her words to be taken seriously. She was simply still annoyed.

Narrowing her eyes apathetically, the girl listened to Akira's explanation for the evening. I'm afraid of roller coasters. A deadpan voice. She was really just trying to get at him with every opportunity he presented now. But by the end of his explanation, she couldn't really bring herself to do so. What he said was true. They were here to have fun. Moving back to the dining room table, she smiled, then readied two bowls to be filled. Come. Take as much as you want.

[Akira Nakajima]

Apparently, the boy had his work cut out for him. The girl honestly seemed to believe that eating at the table while watching these animations was a good idea. Nothing could have been further from the truth! To properly enjoy a meal, one must have been at a table, exchanging pleasantries with those around them! Granted, Luka did not have this grace, considering her lifestyle. This he could forgive. However, to properly enjoy something on the television, either no food or junk food had to be enjoyed, and the location had to be directly in front of the television! This girl needed to learn proper food etiquette.

Going further, the girl gave some rather ridiculous responses. The first was understandable, given her previous mentality. The second made him twitch, various pictures flashing through his head. The nearest hard surface was the floor. It'd be better to not trip. Instead, he thrust his palm onto his forehead. Except, rather than it actually being his palm, it was his knuckles. Not as effective, but it did the job. His focus was now on the pain. She was afraid of roller coasters? That was fine. Lackluster tone or not, he could fix her of that. Or greatly amuse himself with her screams of terror. Either one worked. He just offered a pleasant smile as he left the DVD at the menu screen, shifting to the table.

”We'll leave the watching for after eating, then. It's bad etiquette to eat a homemade meal, unless it's pizza, while watching television. That's what the snacks are for.” He calmly commented before noticing the bowls before him. He could deal with a bowl. Sure, that was fine. But he really did not like using things other than chopsticks for properly eating food. He retreated to his pack, having been prepared for such a situation, and returned with a package of chopsticks, popping the seal and retrieving them. ”Moving on, you just gave me something else to do. I'm sure we can work your efforts of conquering your fears into our schedule. After all, as a hero, you may find yourself in some strange situations.”

It was a justification he drew up on the spot, but with their primary enemy being Shadows, which defied all sort of common sense, it was entirely possible that they would find themselves fighting something unpleasant like that in the future. Either on a roller coaster or against a possessed roller coaster, he was really just counting down the days until it happened. To date, there were subway trains, reapers, apparently computers, and golems. He really was just expecting the gods themselves to magically appear and make asses out of themselves.

”So, Ruka, how was your day?” He calmly asked as he plopped in the chair and folded his legs together. He had to make this dinner as close to a dinner with family and friends as it could be. It'd be difficult with just himself and a socially-awkward girl, but he had done amazing things in the past. There was no reason he couldn't make it work now.

[Luka Kurokawa]

And it would seem the boy's habit of hitting himself in the head was far from fading. This would also likely indicate that she had said something "off" again. She wasn't in any mood to really give it much thought though, deciding to brush it off for now. Honestly, it couldn't have been that bad.

Akira did seem disagree with her idea of eating while watching. Supposedly, it was "bad etiquette." Not that Luka ever really learned etiquette past table manners, of course. Seeing nothing wrong with his idea, Luka nodded. Alright, we'll eat first. Of course, looking over all of this now, would the two of them really be able to eat both this dinner and all those snacks? Maybe. She couldn't be sure yet though.

Luka watched as Akira grabbed some chopsticks from his pack. I could have given you chopsticks if you asked, you know. Luka used to use chopsticks primarily, back when she was still living in Japan. As of now, she goes back and forth between chopsticks and tableware depending on her mood. She certainly had become quite a bit "westernized" since moving here, considering her fluent English. Meanwhile, this boy. He still had trouble separating "l" sounds and "r" sounds. She guessed that he probably didn't uses forks and such either.

A slight grimace overcame the girl's face when the boy mentioned helping to overcome the girl's "fear." Now, she hadn't lied when she said that she was afraid. it was quite the contrary. She was deathly afraid. Of course, him proposing such an idea didn't really have her scared. She was more annoyed by the proposal. Just when would she need to not be afraid of roller coasters anyway? And what did it matter to him anyway if she was afraid of them? He may have been training her to be a hero, but did this really qualify? She had a few questions swirling in her mind now. She held onto that thought for the moment, pondering it as she filled her bowl with the contents of the steaming pot.

As she thought to herself, the boy asked how her day was. She certainly wasn't expecting the question, nor much conversation for that matter. Fine. I went to the market and got plenty of stuff for dinner. After that I went to the mall. I found a kitten on the way there. I chased it around a bit, got bored, and continued what I was doing. Then I went home and played one of the new games I just ordered until just a little bit ago. From there, I started making our dinner and I suppose you can tall the rest. She neglected to mention when she donned the "cooking outfit" she was wearing. It was most likely on purpose. And yours? "Parroting" a conversation was probably the first thing Luka learned to do. Rather than continue a conversation, she simply asked the question she had been asked back at the conversational partner. It was cheap, but effective. Especially for a beginner.

Of course, Luka still had something else on her mind. Also, Akira. You don't have many friends, do you? She tilted her had as she looked at him. You've been making lots of plans to teach me to become social, but just how often do you do these kind of things with other people? There were a number of reasons that Luka could be going here. One, was that she may have been questioning Akira's overall "credibility" in this subject. This was unlikely, seeing as she had put her faith into him. But the other reason she could be asking, could have had nothing to do with him. I guess it's a weird question, but I'm pretty weird too I guess. . . A slight giggle escaped her, under a questionable smile.

Her reason for asking may have in fact been a result of her low self-esteem. Luka believed that she may have been cutting into his "social life" by letting him fix all these little problems with her. Basically, he had better ways to spend his time. Why was he wasting it? Hm. . . I guess I'm not questioning your social prowess, but why you don't go out and use it; rather than teaching me. Of course, she wholly expected some more "hero talk" out of him. She would be unsatisfied if she got such an answer, of course. She wanted something different. But then what if that's all there really was to it? She was not doing it on purpose, but Luka may have been trying to get him to agree that there were better things to do. Deep down, she may have wanted "justification" for her low self-esteem. Though she had made great strides socially thus far, there were still lingering doubts.

[Akira Nakajima]

The response he received from the girl was exceptionally unusual for a response to that question, but also so exceptionally “her” in terms of quality. Outside of her crazy comments that would turn on a normal, healthy male, which was borderline homicidal against someone like him, he was almost warming up to these awkward responses. It was somewhat endearing. He continued preparing his bowl as she went on to try to focus on him. His social skills were in question now? Or. . . was she looking for answers? Perhaps she was suffering from lingering doubts yet again. Whatever the case, the boy only smiled before situating his bowl in a very specific location. Then, propping one elbow on the table, he rested his chin in place, just smiling at her.

”Sounds like a pleasant, slow day. One of relaxation. Let's see here. My day was passable. Nothing amazing occurred. I lingered in my bunny-eared pajamas while organizing some paperwork I had brought home. Then I went off to negotiate an exchange regarding some materials I needed. I went shopping and educated a young man on the virtues of not bothering an uninterested girl. Returned home and got things together. Played with my sisters. Came here.” While he spoke, his expression was entirely innocent and light. The things he said, while not necessarily incorrect, could have been misleading due to certain details being lacked or exaggerated.

”As for your concerns, let me rephrase your question. 'Do I have many friends outside of Mosaic?' Prior to my relocating here, I had plenty of friends. I led by example as a Student Council President, even then, so a lot of people looked up to me. I took charge at every school I went to, effectively getting into the equivalent of that position at each location, so some in my circle had been around me for a time exceeding five years. My younger sister's friends looked up to me. My older sister's friends thought I was cute. I had plenty of friends before coming here, yes.” He wasn't bragging. He was simply answering. He made sure that his tone made this clear.

”I haven't put much effort into developing a larger social circle here for a number of reasons. For starters, I'm typically busy at school with classes and cleaning up my predecessor's mess. Fortunately, the latter is nearly complete. I've already begun working on things I wanted to do for the school now, so there's definitely progress being made on that front. Of course, now I'm juggling that, in general, with my family life and my activities as a Shadow-killer. Things haven't exactly been normal, so I don't really take the time to socialize like I used to.” He needed to word things carefully, lest he let a bomb loose. It would've been fine to talk freely with the random people he'd met, but not Luka. His smile was still present. His expression was still plenty bright.

”I still have contacts within this circle that I get in touch with online. Outside of them, and those I'm obligated to interact with as the President, the majority of people within my social circle are other Users. Granted, there's nothing wrong with this, as it means I can focus on the tasks at hand. Rather than worrying about the number of friends, I'm treating the lockdown as a chance to calm down and maintain stronger bonds with the people around me. Quality over quantity, you understand.” He slowly nodded, sitting straight as he shrugged slightly.

”Now, as for why I choose to spend my time with you instead of others. . . let me think. I could give a boring answer, like I'm taking responsibility and watching over you like a mother bird as you spread your wings and learn to fly. Of course, that response does have its merits.” He swayed in his seat a little, gesturing slightly to suggest the “so-so” nature of the answer. ”Or I could give a morbid answer, something like I'm entertaining myself with you.” Slowly, both elbows propped onto the table, and his hands folded together, just before his mouth. At that point, he stared dead on at Luka.

”Or I could summarize my whole point of this conversation and strike home with a singular, honest response. I'm helping you, sure. I'm having fun, sure. But perhaps I just want to foster a strong relationship with the friends I do have right now? If I help them get ahead in life, then that's just a sweet bonus on top of the main course.” He lowered his hands. His expression neutral. ”I trust you can understand my feelings behind this?” He paused, his expression becoming somewhat conflicted, almost worried. His actual mind was clear, though. This was just fun.

”Or. . . am I bothering you by calling you a friend and associating myself with you?”

[Luka Kurokawa]

Akira described her day as pleasant. Relaxing. She thought for a moment, going over her day in her head. A moment after, she felt that she could agree with him in that regard. She had no worries, after all. Looking back on her recent lifestyle, prior to the days of obtaining her persona, her days were likely still very relaxing. Perhaps some things were still the same, even after all of the changes she had went through? At least, she was content with things remaining like that. Relaxing. As for the additions to her life that were slowly making their way in, she would still welcome them wholeheartedly.

The boy had a rather interesting day, in Luka's opinion. Specifically, when he made mention of a certain type of pajamas. Her face was tinged with red as she tried to listen to the boy carefully. When he was done of course, she made sure to clarify what she heard. Bunny-eared. . . pajamas? To Luka, something like that was beyond wonderful. Maybe they were soft and snuggly? Maybe they were warm and cozy. Akira would really wear something like that though? Luka tried picturing it in her head, only to shortly throw the picture out immediately. Dangerous. Too dangerous to think about. She shook her head to clear the picture from her mind, pulling her hair slightly. This was likely her method of coping with dangerous things that she heard. It sounds like a nice day. At least she managed to remain coherent enough to respond.

And finally, the boy began to give the answer that Luka was looking for now. To begin, he gave her an idea of where he had come from prior to being in Mosaic. It was quite impressive, really. The boy had apparently become the one in charge of every school he had attended. On top of that, it seemed that he was quite popular. Luka wasn't really all that surprised on that note.

As for his current lifestyle, Luka could only summarize it in her head as "busy." He had to deal with school, student council buisness, shadow-related buisness, and personal life all at once. This was what Luka had been concerned about. The boy had the majority of his time occupied already. With what little he had left, wouldn't it be better spent elsewhere? But as he continued on, he explained that he made up for this by socializing with other persona users he had met. She supposed that this included her too. As for the idea of quality over quantity, Luka felt that she had the same idea as him. A few worthwhile friends that she spent a larger amount of her time with. It was quieter; more peaceful. And much like her lifestyle, relaxing.

Finally, the answer began to move towards Luka directly. It seems that he had a number of "ideas" as to why he was helping her; why he spent this time with her. She wasn't satisfied with the first few. It was when he decided to stare directly at Luka and give a singular answer that she was satisfied. She stared dead at him in return. Now, this would likely be the point where she became surprised by the words he would speak, but she wasn't. She was expecting them already. When, Akira asked if Luka could understand his feelings, she immediately, nodded. Definitely. She had listened to what he had been saying this whole time. She was able to completely understand why he did the things he did that way. I'm afraid I figured it out mid-way into your talking. The you gave, I mean. A small confident smile came from her as she tilted her head ever so slightly to the side. I used some logic of my own to piece together what you were trying to say. But I suppose "knowing" you played a part in it. She brought her hand to her face as a slight giggle escaped her.

She was satisfied with this answer. And honestly, it was something she could have figured out on her own. Akira ran on logic. His goal was to create lasting bonds with people. If that was the case, wouldn't it be logical to help them out along the way? But it does seem that you're getting a bit predictable. A smirk, and an almost pitying gaze was sent at the boy. Almost. She was nowhere near that level of teasing. Though, I will note that you never did actually say you were my friend before. She lowered her face in the direction her bowl so that it would be mostly hidden. She was smiling though.

[Akira Nakajima]

It seemed that he made sense to the girl. That was good. Akira was pleased. Of course, it did seem that the girl had become a little full of herself. He was getting predictable? He was always predictable, so long as he was not planning something. He developed another innocent expression, even while the girl looked down. His gaze didn't waver in the least. He was fixated on her. A good stare often broke down a number of walls. It made people anxious and fidgety. Sometimes, it broke on good results. Of course, it hadn't seemed to work on Miss Mason. Luka, too, would probably have been resilient. But that was fine.

"Some things don't need to be said." The boy calmly commented regarding the absence of him previously calling her something more than a colleague. In truth, he hadn't determined it, himself, until recently, but there was no need to let her in on that little fact, either. "That said, I have to be at least a little predictable. If I'm not, then how will others be able to act in my stead, should I be busy?" With a perfectly pleasant expression, he just shrugged. "The truth is, being unreadable just gets in the way of our line of work. But if I need to keep my motives a secret, I trust myself to not let you notice." Towards the end of that counter-statement, his tone became increasingly lighter, and his expression became impish yet again. He winked, even if she couldn't see it. "Gotta keep people on their feet, you know. It'd be boring if everyone could read me perfectly. It'd be boring if nobody could read me at all. There's a balance that ensures productivity and entertainment."

The boy let on more than he probably should have, but it was all in good fun. With his bowl prepared, he clapped his hands together quietly and mumbled some formalities before slitting the sticks and readying them in his left hand. Gripping the bowl with his right hand, he began to pick random pieces from his bowl, quietly and cleanly eating them. While one might not have noticed it immediately, the boy maintained a very special balance in regards to what he had in his bowl. Very little meat had found its way there, and the primary contents were vegetables. Even when he had prepared his bowl, it looked entirely random, but that was a skill he had developed over the years. It also helped that he had a sister that was fully willing to take his share of meat at home, though.

"How are you finding work on the Council? Enjoyable? Boring? Satisfying?" He threw another question out there, trying to feel the waters. It could have gone a number of ways, but the boy figured he'd receive some sort of positive answer. Probably.

[Luka Kurokawa]

The boy started off by saying that some things didn't need to be said. Luka felt that she could agree with this. Some things were just "implied" rather than said as they naturally occurred. A natural, social human instinct, rather. An instinct of hers that likely didn't get much exercise to begin with. Perhaps "being friends" was one of them? Now that she thought about it, it did seem kinda silly to suddenly declare one as another's friend. I suppose that is true. Just one more thing to add to my list of things to pick up on naturally. "Learning" to be social was proving to be quite a lot of learning. It wasn't hard learning, but there was certainly a plethora of information that went with it. These were things that Luka was supposed to have naturally acquired over time. She would learn them of course, with time.

A slight giggle escaped her as the boy began to explain his predictability and the lack thereof. I never said you were completely predictable. In fact, I would say you still surprise me sometimes. The exchange they had regarding her outfit as she answered the door this evening came to mind. I just find myself predicting "little things" you do, mostly. Or in this case, a bit of your thought process. It's silly I guess, but it's something I've begun to notice. I'm far from being able to predict even half of what you do. The girl continued to eat out of the bowl that she prepared, making a conversation in between. At least she had table manners down.

I think I understand that as well. Akira chose to remain slightly predictable, but not an open book. Well, more like it seems to be the human default to do so. Humans are social creatures, meaning if they keep themselves locked up, they can never reach out to others. Well, this was starting to sound familiar. But at the same time they have secrets, whether they be intentionally hidden or not. Luka decided to refrain from comparing a book to a human mind. If one person knows everything about another, what is there to say between two people? You may as well be talking to yourself. A few more bites in between, and Luka decided to summarize her idea. That being said, I'm content with the amount of predictability you have right now. Hopefully that makes as much sense to you as it did to me before I said it. Perhaps this was just another social obstacle for her to overcome; articulating her thoughts into words understandable to not only others, but to herself.

When presented the question of her work on the student council, the girl needed to ponder for a moment. How am I finding it indeed. . . She was clearly clueless herself, having not given it much thought in terms of enjoyability. Well, I guess I would say it's work, to put it plainly. Paperwork isn't my idea of fun, believe it or not. Her expression remained blank as it drifted over to the TV. But at the end of the day, I find myself relaxed. Being on the student council is a new experience for me. It's one I enjoy, despite it being "work." Why was that? She wondered for a moment. It's something that I hadn't gotten a chance to experience before. I suppose I'm simply thankful for that lone reason. It's just one of a lot of things that I do that let me be able to say, 'I'm living.' Again, the girl felt her cheeks turn a tinge of red. Perhaps that was something that could be considered, too much information? She could be wrong, but Luka wasn't sure if this was the correct "mood" to say something like that. She was simply embarrassed about possibly missing that social cue. It was sort of like being embarrassed about your stomach grumbling loud enough for people to hear.

[Akira Nakajima]

Despite the girl's words, the boy had no issues following them or taking the hints behind them. Smiling to himself as he continued to eat, Akira silence for a short time, even after the girl suggested that she might have said too much. Once he had a sufficient quantity of food going down his esophagus, the boy lowered his bowl, eyes closing. He slowly shook his head. Setting his bowl down, then his chopsticks across the bowl's rim, he sat back and folded his hands together, resting the palms against his chest. He was relaxed, for the most part. Even though he was alone with Luka, he doubted anything crazy would occur.

”No, I, for one, find it nice to get an idea of what you think about these things. If it makes you feel alive, then that's good. It would greatly displease me if you continued to do something that made you feel dead on the inside, you know. I'm glad you enjoy being there, though. With time, we'll hopefully fill the rest of the positions. This would make things a little more entertaining, I think, for all involved. Not to mention the fact that the work would be done much more quickly. Sometime soon, we'll be able to enjoy the fruits of our labors on the council. It's just going to be an investment of time right now, though.” He slowly nodded and slid his friends free of each other, reaching for the bowl and sticks again.

”I figure you've managed to continue doing well in class, so I won't go there. You're obviously still alive, so no need in asking about how Shadow-hunting went.” He dismissed both possible topics easily and readily. If the girl were having troubles with Shadows, she likely would have warned him about them, anyway. ”Is there anything that's proven to be annoying or bothersome lately? Not just around the school, mind you, but the city in general.” The question was shot out just to see if anything interesting or odd had occurred that the girl noticed. The inquiry was punctuated with a tilt of the head and a raised eyebrow.

”Of course, it's best if everything is going well. In a perfect world, everything would run like clockwork. This, however, is far from a perfect world.” The boy resumed eating, eyes focused on the girl all the while.

[Luka Kurokawa]

Luka smiled back at the boy seeing that her comments weren't as awkward as she believed. Of course, her expression soon became a bit more serious. She nodded at the boy's thoughts. Filling out the student council further would certainly be a big help to the both of them; in terms of workload and likely enjoyment. But again, she smiled when he mentioned enjoying the results that would come to pass. Luka was ready to carry that weight until then.

As for the boy's other concerns and questions, she simply blinked and listened as he went over different topics of her everyday life. She felt like she was talking to a therapist for a moment there. But when the first actual question directed at her came, she had to think a moment. Bothersome? Certainly not. Surprisingly, her life had begun to take an interesting turn, with no real part of that change being particularly unfavorable. Hmmm. . . Nothing bothersome. She took another bite of her food, noticing that she was almost done her bowl. As she chewed, she pondered over recent events. But I guess there's a surprising amount of odd people. Well. . . maybe "unique" is the best word to use? She gave the boy a half-confident, half-worried look to go with her answer. Why? Did you perhaps notice something? It was possible that Akira was asking the question simply for the sake of asking it, but it couldn't hurt to be sure.

Luka let out a satisfied sigh as she looked down at her bowl a moment later. Empty. In fact, she was sure that she couldn't eat another bite. (At least, for another ten minutes maybe. Those snacks looked rather inviting.) Well, I think I'm finished. You can leave your bowl here or take it to the sink. I'll take care of it later either way. I think. . . I'm gonna go make myself more comfortable.

Now. This has always been a lasting habit for Luka ever since she began to live on her own. After dinner, she would always snuggle up on the couch in her pajamas and usually doze off while cradling a pillow. This wouldn't be to far off from what she was planning, minus the dozing off part, seeing as she had a guest over and plans to go along with it.

Getting up form her seat at the table, the girl stretched and carried her bowl to the sink before depositing herself on the couch with a very light thump noise. From there, she snuggled herself into the crevasses of the couch for maximum snugness, nearing a fetal position in the process. With a stomach full of food and a warm and cozy position, the girl was ready for anything this boy was going to throw at her.

[Akira Nakajima]

”Just making sure nothing slipped past my radar.” The crossdresser calmly responded to the response to his own inquiry. Of course, he was staring at the girl while he responded. Luka called others odd, called them unique? That was a joke in and of itself. He knew better than to laugh, though. He continued eating while the girl seemed to have finished. With a slight nod, the boy picked up the pace, mostly having tried to keep a semblance of refined eating prior. After consuming the solids, he drained the bowl of its liquid content, nodding after swallowing. Overall, it was not a bad dish. Looked like she'd have plenty to put away for later, though. As far as he was concerned, so long as he could selectively choose what went into his body, he didn't mind eating from the pot. Heading off to the kitchen portion, he put his bowl in the sink and ran some water in it while disposing of his chopsticks. Flipping the water off and heading back towards the entertainment and living area, the boy stopped and stared. Luka was looking much too comfortable. Like, ridiculously comfortable. Like, comfortable-enough-he-wanted-to-bother-her comfortable.

Now, Akira was neither a cruel or evil person. Perverse? Yes. Playful? Of course. Twisted in all the right ways that made others attracted to him? Certainly. But evil? Cruel? Not at all. He was just a tease and a bit of a rough player at times. That was why, maintaining a straight face the whole while, he walked to the front of the couch and picked up the snack bag. One might have assumed that he was moving it to make room for sitting. Certainly, when he walked back around the back of the couch, that did make sense, even if the destination might have seemed a bit out of the way. Of course, the boy in drag had other intents. As he shifted behind her, he held the bag of snacks out before turning it over and letting the numerous packages of sweets, chips, and other things cascade down on the girl. Giving the sack a good shake or two afterward, one last package dropped on the girl, like the cherry on top of a sundae. Much like when Luka had released a sigh of satisfaction with the conclusion of the meal, Akira let out a contented breath before walking back around the couch and sitting down, seeming to be perfectly at peace. He then looked to the girl and smiled sweetly.

”You looked too relaxed. Had to keep you on your toes.” He casually explained his reasons before reaching for the remote. The packs were light, so he had absolutely no remorse for his actions. ”Now then. Are we good to go?” He asked innocently. Nope. No remorse at all.