infinite_reflection | Casual: potential socializing with the deadpan girl

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Casual: potential socializing with the deadpan girl

It was a regular occurrence since the beginning of the school year. Every Tuesday and Thursday, Seung Mi stayed after practice to tidy up the music room. Sometimes she would even practice by herself; it wasn't uncommon for others in the hallway to hear the sound of a clarinet. Such behaviour quickly became routine for the girl. Her fellow club members admired her dedication, but the exchange student seemed to have an anti-social aura that deterred people from holding too long a conversation. Not that she minded. It was more time for work, and more time for practice.

Today, like most days, she would be the last one to leave the music room.

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Seung Mi's response to her schoolmate came delayed. Eyes focused on the stand in front of her, the music room was filled with the sound of her clarinet. It sounded like the song was nearing a close, though, and sure enough it was. A minute or so later the music stopped, and the girl turned to face Miho.

“Hello, Tanaka. What is it?”

“Aha, hello, senpai! You play really wonderfully.” The girl shifted her weight on her feet a tad nervously. Seung Mi always made her feel a little... judged! The girl was so quiet and deadpan, afterall. “I keep telling you to call me Miho, you know..” Pout, pout. “But that's okay! I was wondering if you wanted to walk home with me? Anddd maybe get a pastry on the way.”

“First names are too personal,” Seung Mi replied. It was an indication she didn't think very highly of her housemate yet, ouch! Then again, the exchange student was on a last-name basis with everyone... So at least poor Miho wasn't singled out.

“Hmm.” The upperclassman disassembled her instrument with ease, and carefully placed the pieces in its case. She made a mental note to clean it later tonight, and then spoke up again while clicking the case closed. “Sure. It's getting late.” She didn't say a word about the pastry, but surely she meant 'yes' to that, as well?

Ouch! Miho winced with the comment, rubbing at the back of her neck. Her expression shifted to a slightly more on edge smile.. But that wasn't any reason to take back her offer of walking home together! “G-good, that sounds good! Um, what type of pastry do you like? There's a bakery at the mall that sells really good cakes, but that's more out of the way.. There's a really cute one along the path home, too.”

Seung Mi picked both her schoolbag and case up, giving the classroom a once-over to make sure nothing was out of place. Good, everything looked fine. She looked to Miho from the corner of her eye, before turning around fully to join the bespectacled girl at the door. “I don't have a preference, and I hate malls.” Her blunt reply left only one option, it seemed.

“Oh, you hate... Well, that's okay! The one on the way home is pretty good, too. They have a really good banana spring roll. With a chocolate drizzle. Ever tried it?” Miho offered the much more bland faced girl a cheerful smile as she held the music room door open for her.

She shook her head. “Not around here.” Of course, it sounded like a 'yes' at the same time. She just didn't get out much, and often shut herself up in her room to practice or study. Whether she was out and about back home was a mystery, but from the way she acted, that was probably a no. “I hope they make it as good as you say.”

Seung Mi bowed in thanks to Miho – honest manners at last – and stepped out of the music room. “Thank you.” And with that, she was already walking ahead of the second year.

Miho had to boot it up to a slight trot to keep up with Seung Mi, but honestly... She was used to that! She was just naturally a slow walker. “It's really good, I promise. If you like banana and chocolate, anyway.” The walk out of campus took then around nine minutes, and passed in relative quiet. Fortunately, at least to the second year, it didn't seem too awkward of a quiet! When the bakery (about another ten minutes later) was in sight (it was really close to their apartment, too!) she spoke up again.

“Do you want to split one, or get one each? Maybe a smoothie to go with it, or something, hmm~.”

Miho's senpai wasn't the best conversational partner, for sure! Seung Mi was content to walk in silence, occasionally saying a word or two to the girl trailing closely behind her. Though, her steps slowed after she realized that she didn't know where the bakery was. On the path home, was it? Hmm, she decided to let Miho lead the way, and memorized the location in case... In case she ever wanted to come here, again? Probably wasn't likely, but who knew.

“We should split one. I'll go half-and-half with you on the price.” The third year had to be careful with how she used her funds. She didn't have a job, after all, so...

“No smoothie for me.”

“Are you sure about half and half? I don't mind just paying.” She had a big allowance and all, and sometimes took pay for her tutoring... Miho didn't mind spending her money on others, because of that. They'd arrived at the bakery, as well. A sweet odor drifted out from the double doors, and as the bespectacled girl held said door open for her senpai, they were both assailed by the scent of baking bread (and something like cookies, as well, if either of them had a keen sense of smell). “Mm, I bet they make the best buns here..”

“Positive. If we share the food, we split the price.” Poor Miho. Seung Mi would have absolutely none of this generosity business, today. “If you prefer a whole one, I can buy my own.” To the third year, it was a reasonable idea; even if it left a dent in her already low funds. Thinking back on it, a job would be a good solution, but... People. Eh, she'd think about it later.

The smell of delicious baked goods wafted to her nostrils, and Seung Mi was instantly drawn inside. She nodded a thanks to Miho. Huh, were those cookies she smelled? Perhaps this bakery would be promising after all. She quietly stood for a moment to look around.

“N-no, no, splitting is fine.” She nodded seriously as she floated over to the glassed counter. Mmm, so many baked goods! There were three rows on each counter and three full counter lengths of baked breads and goodies throughout the bakery. Talk about a wide variety, too. It ranged from plain old buns to jalapeno bagels. Vanilla cake to tiramisu to cupcake balls! “This must be Heaven~.” She remarked quietly. Her mouth was practically watering. It was a little embarrassing to act so childish in front of her senpai, but hey... Bakery!

The man behind the counter, a middle aged looking man, seemed to recognize Miho as well. “Mi-chan! Back again, are we? What'll you be havin' today?” He had an accent straight out of Osaka. “A big plate of your deep fried choco banana spring roll, please! For me and my um..” Could she call Seung Mi her friend? P-probably not. The result of that was an odd hang in the girl's sentence. “F..friend. For my and my friend, please.” THERE! She did it anyway!

A little red faced, she turned away from the counter as the employee went about preparing their dessert. “If you see anything else that catches your eye, I c-can tell you if it's good or not.” The employee scoffed. “Mi-chan, Mi-chan. Everthin' here's good. I keep tellin' ya that~.”

Apparently Miho was a regular in all bakeries around these parts, hmm.

Friend? The term didn't sit well with Seung Mi. It made her stomach churn for one reason or another – something she couldn't quite point out, but it was uncomfortable. Luckily for the Korean girl, she'd already perfected the art of remaining blank-faced, and so her discomfort didn't show through. She appeared to ignore Miho, and stepped towards the glassed counter.

“It all looks good,” Seung Mi admitted. It was the truth, so why not? Several pastries piqued the bland girl's interest, in fact! Particularly the ones with adorable decorations... Only one thing at a time, she told herself.

“Hmm.” There was an awkward pause in the girls' conversation, as the third year neglected to further answer Miho's question. Instead, she sat her clarinet case by her feet, and began fishing around in her bag. Where was it... Ah. It took a moment, but Seung Mi produced a small silk pouch, and counted out a decent amount of yen. She offered the money over to Miho with the explanation, “Half-and-half.”

This entire situation was tense tense tense! Down to Seung Mi’s bland faced browsing of the sweets to her offering of money. Poor Miho’s hands almost shook when she reached forward to accept the proffered yen, and the smile on her face was no doubt a hint ‘on edge’. Hanging out with her senpai was always like this, though. She wanted very badly to not do anything to annoy her upper classman, but at the same time she still wanted to hang out with her! The result was a lot of mental flailing around on the second years part.

“Half-and-half It is! It’ll be really good, I promise. They make good cupcakes, too. They’re s-so cute, ehe~.” She gestured at a display of them as she paid (halfn’half, of course) for their spring roll. The cupcakes were marvelously decorated, with all sorts of icing done in different and adorable styles.

“They are cute,” came the older girl's rather neutral-sounding agreement. She picked up her case, eyeing the desserts again. Seung Mi had an unspoken fondness for all things adorable, and the cupcakes definitely fit the bill – particularly the ones with pink frosting layered to look like flower petals. Ah, and were the centers chocolate? Before she could catch herself, Miho's upperclassman seemed to actually be showing genuine interest! (Who knew baked goods could do that to a girl?)

A most unusual response followed, “I'll have to try them next time, yes?” It was still blank, still bland... But the third-year had indirectly invited Miho out, again! And of her own volition, too.

Sadly, the spark of interest vanished as quickly as it had come. Seung Mi turned and, without waiting for an answer, moved to take a seat.

Progress! That was progress, wasn't it?! Miho's spirits momentarily soared from the one off-handed comment by her senpai. They didn't really drop either as the girl turned to find a table. Instead she happily smiled to the cashier, spun on her heel and trotted off after Seung Mi. She helped herself to a seat, carefully setting her dessert down. “Ah, senpai... Have you noticed anything weird lately? L-like, around town and stuff.”

“Weird?” Seung Mi blinked, setting her belongings to the side. Other than the reputation for crime Okachi seemed to be gaining, she couldn't say she had. That, and most of her days were spent studying indoors. The third-year looked at her housemate, studying her behind that indifferent expression, before responding. “No. Why?”

“M-mm, no, no reason. I was just wondering. ” She brushed it off with a bit of a laugh, but the third year would no doubt be able to notice something momentarily off about Miho’s expression. She looked worried about something. Worried, that is, until she tasted the banana spring roll in front of her! That unhappy face melted into something more along the lines of pure ecstasy. “Oh! Goodness, you have to try this! It’s so gooood.” She fore-went her usual manners and heaped another big ol’ spoonful into her mouth.

Seung Mi could see there was more to it than Miho was willing to tell – after all, why would she bring up an odd subject like that, and then dismiss it as nothing? The third year briefly wondered what the other girl's reaction would've been should she have said yes. More suspicious, perhaps. Though as it stood, things were already teetering on strange, and she was curious about her fr... housemate's behavior.

“All right.” Seung Mi decided to leave the subject be after the worry seemingly vanished, but she would remain extra vigilant. If Miho continued to act off, then it was question time! For curiosity's sake, she told herself.

“Let me grab a spoon for myself and I will.”

As Seung Mi stood to fetch herself a spoon, Miho let her chin rest lightly on her palm. While her senpai was distracted she seemed to tense up a bit. Her brows drew together, and she frowned at nothing in particular. Life in Okachi had been odd for her, lately, what with the 'shadows' and the death of her classmate... Seiya and two others had 'personae' now, too, and had to protect the city or something. It was all really confusing, and here she was not being a help to anyone. It was odd for her to be a little sad when the weather was so nice, and she was eating something so delicious...

When Seung Mi returned, she'd no doubt notice a state of thoughtfulness about her housemate. The girl perked up, however! “Try it, try it. It's really good, I promise.”

Hmm, strike two for odd behavior. The blank-faced upperclassman raised a brow, pausing to look Miho over. The shift in the brunette's body language was immediately noticeable, and something Seung Mi was very close to pointing out. Really, did Miho think she was fooling her, here? Anyone could see through the act, even if they weren't observant – in the third year's opinion, at least. Of course, perhaps she was giving her peers a bit too much credit there.

Wordlessly, she gathered some of the dessert onto her spoon and tasted it. Seung Mi was surprised to find it really was as delicious as it smelled; and the silence on her end lasted a bit longer while she let it sink in.

“It's good.” A bit of an anti-climactic response, but hey, since when did she ever seem excited?

“It’s the best. Um, there’s a bakery in the mall that makes carrot cake that’s on par with this. I’ll buy some and bring it home for dessert one day? Or maybe as lunch for school!” Miho scooped up another mouthful of deep fried dough, and banana, and chocolate sauce, with an oh-so contented sigh. It was hard to be worried about things when you had so much sweetness in front of you. “I-if you want to have lunch with me one day, that is..”

Seung Mi took Miho's words into silent consideration as she helped herself to another spoonful of delicious spring roll dessert. Lunch was a boring time of day for Seung Mi. She usually spent it writing in her journal, with a bite of food here and there. She wasn't entirely opposed to Miho joining her, either; they often ate meals together, the Tanakas being her host family and all.

“Sure. I don't mind.”

“That’s great!” Hooray, she didn’t miind! Miho was really making all sorts of progress with her upper classman today, wasn’t she? That alone put another smile on her face as she went about polishing off her banana spring rolls. Maybe one day, Seung Mi would even refer to them as friends. “Did you want to do anything else after school today? We could play some games at home.. Though I think we both probably have homework.”

The Korean girl shook her head 'no' at the offer. She had plenty of homework – particularly studying – on her agenda, and all this agreeing had been exhausting. “Sorry.” Was she really? It was back to being hard to tell! “I have a lot of work. We should leave soon.”

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Casual: potential socializing with the deadpan girl

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