A Scene that Can Only Go Well

[Iwashima Yuki]

Time: 5:45pm
Date: 09th May 2003

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It was rather late in the afternoon, but early in the evening. Because of this, there was next to no-one actually there at the time. Yuki was in the streets near the shopping district... Looking at shops. There was one shop in particular she was looking for though, and that shop was a grocery store. She was low on groceries and had decided to come out to get some.

As she walked, Yuki took note of a machine. One machine in particular, it was a horoscope machine. She'd always been interested in the stars and things like them, zodiac signs, aura colour, things like that, but she'd never actually brought herself to look any further into the matter; she was interested, but not too interested. She was fine with cooking. Although she wasn't sure how that'd get her anywhere in life except for a chef, and she didn't really want to be a chef.

There was also a bookstore. It looked interesting... Yuki liked reading, her favourite genre of book was either action or fantasy and she'd happily read any book of those genres planted in front of each other. There were a few people in the store right now, she'd have to make a mental note to come and visit later on in the week, or if she couldn't make it then next week.

What was that store? There were jewels inside it... Pendants, amulets, bracelets, rings, necklaces, all with beautiful jewels in them! They looked breathtaking! Especially that red one... Yuki had always liked rubies, in her opinion they were far more beautiful than any of the other jewels in the world. It was just the dazzling, sparkling, deep red that you could see in the jewel. Beautiful!

Then Yuki realised that she'd been staring at random shops again. Oopsies. She hurried on, and there was the grocery store! It was a big white store with a huge blue and green banner. Yuki entered swiftly, and as soon as she saw one item she needed she was off. It was grocery shopping time, and although there weren't many people here the girl wanted to get this over with.

There were the cabbages! Yuki stopped, picked one up, and put it in her basket that she'd grabbed upon entering. It was then that she felt it. A small prickling sensation on her hand. As if some tiny thing was walking there. So, she looked over, and there... her answer. A sp-sp-sp-spider. A small, but scary spider. It was walking on her arm. Walking on her arm. A spider was on her body. Well, this could only go well.

"SCREEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAM!"

[/b] Yuki let out a harsh, high-pitched scream.

Hoo boy.[/size][/blockquote]

[Yasuda Erina]

Okonomiyaki. Her mother had decided to make okonomiyaki. There was no time to lose.

Erina scurried through the store, eagerly eying out her shopping targets with grocery basket in hand. The moment she had seen her mother’s request on her phone, she had dashed out of the gym with a gleeful squeal, almost forgetting to change out of her clothes for volleyball practice. Grocery shopping was never a bother. Not if it was for her mother, queen of the kitchen. Carrying out her bidding was a delight. It also ensured the inclusion of her favorite ingredients and the exclusion of others…

“I need cabbage~!” She called for the needed item aloud, as if commanding it to materialize before her, then made her way to the produce aisle when it didn’t, a bounce in her step. Spotting the leafy greens, she began to hurry over, her enthusiasm building with each step, but a sudden shriek made her jump.

“… Scream?”

Bewildered, Erina’s attention shifted to the source of the cry, a few feet away, and she moved toward the girl instinctively. “Are you okay?!” she inquired, mildly panicked as she looked the stranger up and down for the origin of her distress. “I don’t think cabbages are that scary, so- Ah, there’s a buggy on you!” Spotting the offending creature, she reached out for it with her right hand, seizing it between her thumb and forefinger.

“Don’t bother people, Spider-san~” she scolded it playfully before casually tossing it aside on the floor. “You’re okay now, right?” With a bright smile, she offered a small bow. This girl was wearing the same uniform. Why not make a new friend?

“Yasuda Erina of 1-A~! We go to the same school, don’t we?”

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[Iwashima Yuki]

There was a girl. She was a tad shorter than Yuki, and she asked whether the older girl was alright. Of course not, there's a spider! Yuki could only whimper slightly as Erina noticed the bug crawling all over her. How had she allowed that horrid thing to get on her anyway? Usually Yuki was incredibly careful about where she went, making sure not to step anywhere she would regret stepping. This was a terrible turn of events!

"I don't think cabbages are that scary, so- Ah, there's a buggy on you!" Erina noticed the monstrosity at last. Wait, she wasn't going to touch it, was she? No way, she couldn't be... who would? Definitely not Yuki. And yet here she was, with a spider on her person. Wait, no way- Erina had picked up the spider. How could you do that? And now she was joking about with the spider?! Well, at least it wasn't on her anymore, and Erina seemed to not be afraid of spiders...

"You're okay now, right?" The girl smiled sweetly as the spider scuttled away, to an unknown destination. "Y-Yes, I think I am... I can't thank you enough for getting rid of it... that was horrifying." Yuki sighed, and opened her eyes, watching Erina bow politely and respectfully.
"Yasuda Erina of 1-A~! We go to the same school, don't we?" She asked.
"It's very nice to meet you, Yasuda... San? Kun? Oh no, I can't remember what they mean or when to use them..." Yuki bowed back, but on the way up panicked. Her slightly British accent showed that she wasn't actually from around here, and she felt incredibly embarrassed. She'd forgotten some regularly used Japanese words and their meanings! This wasn't good.

"Oh yeah! I-I'm sorry for being rude! I'm Iwashima Yuki from class 2-B! It's a pleasure to meet you!" Yuki rubbed the back of her head whilst cursing herself in her mind for her shyness. Way to make a first impression, Yuki!

Oh yeah! There were still people around! Yuki turned to them quickly and bowed to them all, repeatedly stating how sorry she was for the disruption. "I'm so sorry!" She felt awful.

Great, come grocery shopping and ruin tour evening. At least Yuki got to meet someone new from her school!

[/size]

[Yasuda Erina]

“Eh?”

She cocked her head slightly, watching the girl curiously as she stumbled over her words. Was she not from Japan then? Her accent did sound a little strange. “Iwashima-sempai.” Repeating the name with a nod, she smiled again as her new acquaintance began to offer hasty apologies to nearby shoppers. Such a nice girl.

“It’s nice to meet you too~!” She returned the pleasantry happily, then, with a quick glance around the store, continued, “I bet they don’t mind~ Nothing very exciting happens in grocery stores. You made their days interesting for sure!” Emphasizing the point with a raised finger, she giggled.

“Ah, wait! Cabbages! Okonomiyaki!”

Suddenly, Erina’s focus was heightened once more, and she whirled about to face her original target. Picking up a head of cabbage gingerly, she examined it briefly before placing it in her basket. “You’re grocery shopping for your family too, right Iwashima-sempai?” She pointed at the other girl’s basket, eying the cabbage she, too, had taken. “What are you going to eat?” Her eyes gleamed at the thought of another’s meal, though she had her own to look forward to.

[Iwashima Yuki]

Hearing Erina tell her that what she'd done had probably made these people's day, she was unsure of whether to take it as a good thing or bad thing. On the upside, she hadn't badly interrupted anyone and had brought a little fun to their day. On the other hand though, the joke was on her because she had been the one screaming due to the spider. The spiders in Japan seemed to have a score to settle with her or something, that was the third one so far. Maybe she'd attacked spiders endlessly in the short time she was here as a young girl? Maybe, maybe not.

"Oh! I'd forgotten about the shopping..." Then, after the line had been spoken, Yuki realised the stupidity of what she'd just said. They were in a shop. And she had just said she'd forgotten about shopping. How funny. "That wasn't what I meant! I was just thinking of the spider that was just on me and it overruled the shopping thoughts!" She sighed.

"What are you going to eat?" Was Erina's question now. "Oh! I'm going to cook a nice roast dinner. My mum is feeling a little sick, so I thought I'd do her something special." Yuki replied vigorously. She smiled happily. Doing nice things was really fun. Incredibly so, in fact. It gave one a warm feeling in their heart that made them feel joy because of what they'd done.

(Would've been longer, had to come off laptopamabob. D:)

[Yasuda Erina]

Nah, it’s fine. ^__^

She couldn’t help but giggle. The girl’s flustered response was somewhat adorable. However, before Erina could dwell on this aspect of her new acquaintance, the next words she spoke claimed her attention, and her eyes grew wide as she gazed at her upperclassman with a new sense of admiration.

“Waaaaaah~! You’re going to cook something like that all by yourself, Iwashima-sempai?” Her jaw hung open, and she unconsciously took a few steps toward her, hovering around the girl and her grocery basket. A roast dinner… It didn’t sound like something that would be easy to make, like instant ramen. Cooking was an enviable talent, and no one knew it better than the girl with the insatiable appetite.

Her mind began to wander back, searching in vain for a memory of something she had cooked herself. Nothing. Unless that riceball last year counted… It had come out oddly shaped though.

“That’s so cool~!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms out to express her amazement. “Ah, no!” Her cabbage rolled about in her basket, and she hastily lowered her arms, giving the vegetable a once over to make sure she hadn’t damaged it in her excitement. Safe. Immediately, her interest went back to Iwashima.

“You’re very, very nice, Iwashima-sempai! My mom makes lots of yummy things, but I only know how to make rice! If I could make those sorts of things, I would eat them alllll the time~! Um, let’s see… What would I make first?” She was talking a mile a minute, enthusiasm building as she discussed her favorite subject: food.

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[Iwashima Yuki]

Oh boy. As Yuki watched Erina's eyes widen in... what was that, amazement? Why amazement, she hadn't said anything special. Anyway, as she watched that an odd feeling came over her. Now that she looked closely, it was as if Erina was charging up for something... like a volcano, building up then erupting...

"Waaaaaah~! You're going to cook something like that all by yourself, Iwashima-senpai?" There it was. So it had been amazement, question answered. "Th-Thank you!" Erina stepped towards Yuki then, her excitement obviously getting the better of her. To be honest, in any situation other than this is probably would've been creepy. The difference was, Yuki knew why she was so amazed. Well, she semi-knew.

For most of her life Yuki had cooked things, her skills regularly depended on in her family. She'd also entered quite a few competitions, but hadn't won any of them. There's always someone better, eh? Then you had to bear in mind that the opponents in these competitions were full-grown men/women that had much mire experience than the teenager, and had practised their chosen dish all through their lives.

"That's so cool~!" Erina was genuinely overjoyed by the fact that Yuki was cooking a Roast Dinner. Overjoyed enough to literally swing her arms around everywhere. In fact, the girl had never seen anyone get as excited as this. Granted, they were delicious, but... wow. It was impressive in it's own way.

Suddenly, Erina bumped her cabbage around a bit. Well, no matter. It looked alright anyway. Yuki thought of Erina's reaction to her claim of cooking a roast. "It really isn't that special... I usually do one every Sunday anyway. Ehehehe." She smiled happily. "I love cooking, it's very fun."

"If you don't mind me intruding, what're you going to cook?" Yuki asked, looking at Erina's cabbage and still holding the warm smile.

Yep, she'd asked that. Well, she was a tad slow, mind!

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