We meet in the best places, don't we? {Kaoru+O?}

[Tsukimori Ryosuke]

Outfit Here

For the winter season, and considering they were in Japan and near the water, it was actually fairly warm out the Saturday Ryosuke decided to make his way to the town's shopping center. It couldn't hold a candle to the city he remembered was once his home in terms of variety, but it suited. He'd come to the shopping area plenty of times in the past, and though it never changed and rarely grew, it never quite got old either. So that was enough for him.

Normally Ryosuke went to the Shops with Wataru and the gang, but today was different. He'd decided to meander off on his own for a bit, sort of just wander around and think--a lot like Kiyama, maybe--and then pick up a few things he needed that he didn't really want to bother his parents over. He'd found himself off on his own a lot lately, in fact, and he was beginning to wonder if this was more of a sign that he was becoming more independent, more trusting in himself over something like falling out with his friends. He loved the boys....he loved the Tumbling team. Falling out with them would be just like falling out with family. Or, well, his sister anyway. They might fight, but they would make up later like nothing was wrong in the world, because at the end of the day, they still loved each other.

After the long walk to the shopping plaza, Ryosuke decided to busy himself in the plaza's Book Off. There were other things he needed to do and buy, but the fangirl and boy-oriented shop was the nearest in sight, and fairly inviting looking too. Now that he thought about it, Ryosuke decided he wouldn't mind giving in to that slight otaku side he imagined most guys had, and maybe looking at some of the old robot and anime toys, see how much they were worth. He had a collection from his childhood at home that hadn't seen the light of day in a very very long time. It would be nice if he could make a bit of extra money and sell them.
Maybe he would browse the used movies and stuff too. He wouldn't mind sitting back at home tonight, watching a good movie.

Ryosuke eyed the shopping baskets as he stepped inside. He typically only saw the female shoppers carrying those......Then he shrugged. Whatever. If someone thought he was less of a man for carrying one, he could show them easily.

Moving further into the store, Ryosuke extended a hand back behind him, somewhat blindly, to pick up the nearest basket and begin his shopping. But...

It wasn't....budging? A bit frustrated, Ryosuke began tugging even harder on the rim of the basket, trying to pull it out.

Until he saw that someone else actually had their hands over on the handles and was also trying to get the same basket at the same time, though they were looking behind them at something and seemed to not have noticed that they were currently failing to share one of the store baskets.
Ryosuke stopped fighting now and raised an eyebrow, surprised that both of them, he and the other basket-grabber, who by clothes alone he could see was probably a high school girl, had failed to notice what they were doing wrong.

"So, uh...you gonna take this basket? Or do we get to stand here playing tug of war all day?"

Ryosuke took his hands away from the shopping basket itself in wait of the girl's answer, instead allowing them to retreat into his pants' pockets as he usually did.

And then she turned around. It took a moment, just a moment, for Ryosuke to realize who he'd been talking to.

"Hello....Kaoru."

[Uchida Kaoru]

Every other weekend, Uchida Kaoru had this little ritual.

Early in the morning, before her parents would even wake, she would grab her bags and her little list of things to do and rush out the door.

For every other weekend, Uchida Kaoru would forgo her usual practices. She didn't straighten her hair, so a somewhat frizzy little mop of black hung from her head and was tucked behind her ears and fell into her eyes. Her makeup was expensive and really a hassle, so her face was left naked, flushed with read. More than concealer, Kaoru really hated contact lenses, so she opted for an old pair of thick, plastic framed glasses that probably went out of style a few years back.

The first time she set out like this, she noticed that a visage that had been spurred purely by laziness also served as a really good disguise. This was a good thing, because the purpose of her biweekly trips was to do research (search the department stores for the recent "trends"), gather resources (buy whatever clothes or beauty products were "popular"), and amass the strength (cram for whatever examinations were coming up or put in some extra practice for gymnastics club). It was of the utmost importance that no one recognize during her missions, as it was of the utmost importance that no one knew that Uchida Kaoru wasn't naturally pretty, stylish, talented, and smart. As petty as it was, she prized her reputation more than anything else.

It was on one of these afternoons that Kaoru found herself toting a bookbag stuffed with today's haul back into town. Walking from the train station, she found herself in the shopping district of the hometown. Now, most of the kids she knew avoided that area like the plague because of the terrible connotations and... if it was anything worth a kid getting, they'd go to the city to get it. And if it was something like food, it would be their mothers in the market. But for Uchida Kaoru on every other weekend, the shopping district was her refuge. No one she knew ever went, and even if they did, who would recognize her?

Not quite wanting to go home yet and finding herself a little hungry, she stopped by the local bakery and got herself a fresh serving of curry pan, which was had way too many carbs for any other day of the week. Quickly unwrapping the treat as soon as she exited the store, she continued walking, approaching one of those hobby shops she wasn't was supposed to give a second look.

But today was her day! It wasn't like she'd get a chance to do anything fun until her next weekend outing, anyway. She might as well seize this opportunity...

Sure enough, as soon as she entered the shop, she felt like she was in another world. Her eyes darted from wall to wall, shelf to shelf, all stuffed with things she'd never admit she adored and coveted. Before she realized it, she'd once-overed the entire little shop, her eyes wide behind the thick lenses she wore, her lips parted just a bit in awe.

In spite of herself, she backtracked to the entrance to fetch a basket. She'd buy maybe one thing. Or a few things. But she deserved it, yes? Her eyes still not budging from a display on the back wall, she reached to grab one of the baskets from the stand at the front of the store.

Apparently the basket was refusing to be grabbed? Was it stuck on something? Was some karmic force telling her that she shouldn't buy anything?

She was quickly answered by a voice coming not from above, but from behind her. "So, uh...you gonna take this basket? Or do we get to stand here playing tug of war all day?"

At the sound of the voice, Kaoru looked up to a boy about her age, though very tall and with this ridiculous bleached hair...

"Hello....Kaoru."

What the--?

Kaoru might'be been horrible with names, but she didn't forget faces... particularly a face like that. It took her a great deal of effort not to recoil at the sight of it. His face, it annoyed her. It was a vaguely familiar feeling...

Hair boy?! her mind shouted. Did it really matter? He wasn't supposed to be recognized; she couldn't be.

"I think you're mistaking me for someone else," she mumbled, averting her gaze. He'd better not follow her, or she'd... she'd... well, figure something out.

While she moved towards the back, she held the basket close to her body and looked over her surroundings. Luckily, there didn't seem to be many people in the store, and no one she saw was someone she recognized. If someone heard her name, and would see her in the middle of the geek shop, looking like she was, paying mind to a delinquent... it would just be the worst. With a capital WORST.

She also thought a bit on how it taken that kid all of two seconds to recognize her; a boy she'd known for all of twenty minutes, a boy that she hadn't seen for what seemed like months. It meant that either her disguise was just that bad or that he was just that good.

Kaoru pushed that train of thought out of her head, turning her attention to the display now in front of her. It was a wall full of model sets from that robot anime show she watched obsessively as a child, and still sometimes watched to gush over. She was so taken by nostalgia that she didn't consider the fact that the hair boy was likely going to follow her anyway.

OOC: lolz, I never do this XD but I'd imagine dork!Kaoru probably looks and dresses a bit like Suzuki Anne's character from the drama "Stand UP!!" No really good pics but here are some screenshots (scroll down on the second link!)

[Tsukimori Ryosuke]

The funny thing was that Ryosuke hadn't really recognized Kaoru. Not by first appearance, not by the way she moved or spoke, not by anything. It was like he just knew.

And that's when the realization of where he was, who he'd run into, and how this all probably looked felt like a not-so-nice slap to the face. Not that there was ever a nice slap to the face, but this was close to some of the worst he'd gotten.

"Hello...Kaoru."

The look of supreme shock that crossed the girl's face would probably have been priceless, if Ryosuke wasn't aware that it was because she was probably just as embarrassed to be seen here as him, or maybe just embarrassed to see him, since the blonde Yankee got the deeply-embedded feeling that she hated his guts. Maybe that stung more than anything else, because he was positive he didn't hate her. In fact, he might just have felt the farthest thing from it....

"I think you're mistaking me for someone else," Kaoru replied, her voice barely audible.

She definitely seemed adamant to avoid him. Like the plague.

Ryosuke didn't really understand why. She'd dressed kind of.......female-Kaneko-like, but he got the impression her reasons for wanting to ditch him and quick were because she had a fervent dislike of him. That's what bothered him. Where normally he would just leave it alone and let it be, he wasn't entirely sure what he'd done to really unnerve her like that. She'd been the one pretending she was madly in love with him back at the Washizu Tumbling Team Headquarters, and she was also the one who'd helped him and Mizusawa hide from potential trouble.

Maybe what it boiled down to was that Ryosuke didn't believe someone who "hated" him so much could really hate him if she was at least kind enough to hide him and his friend from trouble. As far as the Yankee knew, she hadn't even tattled on them. Not even remotely.

Maybe that's what gave him the incentive to forget a basket of his own and follow Kaoru into the shop. His first instinct was to turn at the magazine section--girls liked magazines, right? But then he recognized the Washizu student and her big glasses rounding a corner.

"By the otaku stuff?" Ryosuke mused aloud. He raised an eyebrow and scratched at his neck. He'd been planning to look in the area anyway, but he hadn't quite expected to see the Washizu girl heading that way. Or maybe it was that she was just trying to lose him.

As Ryosuke peered around the corner after Kaoru, into an aisle of what looked to be old fashioned car, train, and robot models from some older anime shows he remembered as a kid, he found Kaoru looking somewhat dazed, studying them.

Holy crap, she is an otaku, he thought to himself, just watching her for a moment. At that realization, he felt a bit bolder. Clearing his throat, Ryosuke stepped fully into the aisle and walked right up to the girl, turning slightly when he was close enough to see what she was oggling.

"So this is what Washizu girls like?"

[Uchida Kaoru]

Which one would she pick?

The leader's machine was always lame... or sometimes excessively lame. The girl's machine was lame, too, and she didn't particularly care for pink mecha...

"So this is what Washizu girls like?"

Kaoru was so deep in very important internal debates and nostalgia-induced stupor that the sudden voice completely took her off guard. She literally jumped into the air, dropping her basket. Her hands flew towards her chest as she wheezed, and in took her a while to catch her breath once again.

Then, she was able to turn around to see him. Again. Couldn't he take a hint?

It didn't really make sense that he'd be following her around, not unless he didn't have something better to do. Didn't he have someone to beat up... some girl to go cheat on? Kaoru knew that on that day, she looked a complete mess, though it was for good reason. Still, it was a perfectly good Saturday afternoon, and there was no reason that someone like him should be spending his time bugging someone like her. Then again, those yankee types always seemed like they didn't have anything better to do (which was probably always true, when she thought about it) they way they always idly hung around certain parts of town pestering whoever passed them by.

It seemed perfectly believable that he did run into her coincidentally... this was his side of town, after all. But why wouldn't he just go away?

Today was her day, the only day she got to take a break and be herself and just breathe and this weirdo wouldn't leave her be... the more she thought about it, the more annoyed she found herself becoming.

Abruptly, Kaoru straightened herself and looked the boy in the eyes. "And I guess Karasumori boys like being creepy yankee stalkers?" she spat, maintaining the eye contact so this boy and his hair would not know that she not taking any crap from him because he was a particularly good-looking delinquent.

The thought that he'd just waltz right up to her and think that he could pull that kind of thing made her blood boil.

Letting out a cry of frustration, Kaoru began to march away from the hair boy. But after a few moments, she doubled back. She snatched a blue mecha model box from one of the shelves, as quickly and as aggressively as one can possibly snatch a box, eyed the boy and rounded the corner to another one of the aisles.

[Tsukimori Ryosuke]

While waiting for a response to his question, Ryosuke tried to find what Kaoru was studying so enthusiastically. Some of the robot models, it looked like....That felt kind of rare, a girl interested in that kind of thing. Ryosuke studied the models with her--the green wasn't so bad, he thought--as he tugged anxiously at the bottom of his shirt.

But the Washizu girl didn't seem to take the sound of his voice too well. Ryosuke took a step back, still playing with his shirt, as the girl flew a few feet into the air. Her basket came crashing down a few seconds after some kind of awkward calm had finally settled over them, like something out of a funny TV show. Ryosuke stared at it, nudged it with his foot for a second, then finally bent down to pick it up. Kaoru looked pretty pissed.

Ryosuke just stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out what she was thinking. The scared look on her face told him pretty much all he needed to know, though it hadn't been the answer he'd been looking for. She really did hate him. At least partially. (Partially being a huge chunk of her feelings for him.) In fact, the look she was giving Ryosuke made even him uncomfortable, embarrassed....and yet he felt suddenly even more determined to talk to her more.

Unsure of what he could do, Ryosuke raised his eyebrows and offered what he hoped looked like a peace smile.

At the same time, Kaoru seemed to come back to her senses very suddenly. "And I guess Karasumori boys like being creepy yankee stalkers?"

It was said fairly ferociously. Ryosuke had to give the girl credit for that. He imagined she could frighten at least a few Yankees with that attitude. Akabane, for instance. He watched in silence as the girl continued the TV-show-like-comedy of the scenario by finally storming off, then quickly returning again to grab one of the models they'd been studying before running off again.

Feeling daring, Ryosule started whistling to himself and grabbed the pink mecha, quickly starting around the corner after the pretty Washizu girl. It took just a minute for him to catch up to her, and when he did, he stopped just in front of her path and waved the pink model he was holding. "If you hung out with Karasumori boys long enough, you might find out that's not true. And if you're gonna buy any of those toys....you should buy this one." He waved the model again. "Everyone's got the blue one, and this color suits you better."

He dropped the pink model into her cart and snatched up the blue one, holding it to his chest and folding his arms over it as he waited for her response.

"So what do you hate so much...? All Karasumori guys, or just me?"

[Uchida Kaoru]

Kaoru turned the corner and when she saw what she saw, her frustration ceased almost immediately.

Yay, DVDs!

Slowly, she scanned over the aisle, eyes wide behind her glasses. Besides recent releases, the racks were mostly stocked with anime films, Hong Kong action flicks, and old horror films -- all her favorites. She began to move towards that one with the ninjas that went to high school when all the sudden, he appeared again, holding a few boxes in his hand. Kaoru tried her best to silence a groan, which ended up sounding like a guttural growl from the back of her throat.

"If you hung out with Karasumori boys long enough, you might find out that's not true. And if you're gonna buy any of those toys....you should buy this one. Everyone's got the blue one, and this color suits you better."

She watched helplessly as hair boy dropped the pink box in her basket, and took the one that she'd chosen, the cool one from that season, tucking it away in his arms. "What the hell?" she muttered, her eyes not leaving the model that he was effectively stealing from her. What was this guy trying the pull?

"So what do you hate so much...? All Karasumori guys, or just me?" Despite herself, and who she was talking to, she found herself really considering what the boy just said.

To be honest, Kaoru didn't know many Karasumori students. She knew a few kids from her middle school who opted to go to that school rather than Washizu. Actually, it seemed like the most contact she'd had with Kara High students had been that fiasco in the tumbling office. Like most Washizu students, she figured, she really didn't carry any animosity towards the other school in particular. Pity for a different socioeconomic status, maybe, but no hard feelings.

Wasn't it interesting that he would go blame his alma mater first, instead of the fact he was a very obvious looking delinquent? She narrowed her eyes at the boy.

"In fact, I'm starting to think that maybe you have something against me? I know our schools are rivals, and you probably think I'm some privileged snob, and... I don't even know after what happened in the boys tumbling office that weekend, but..."

She trailed off, thinking back to that afternoon. It had been crazy, awkward... but something she really hadn't given a second thought to after that day. Of course, she only treated the situation as she did because she was pretty sure that she'd never talk to the those boys again. Her mind flickered to the fact that she'd flirted with the boy that afternoon. Flirted badly, at that, and maybe he actually... after all that time...

Kaoru scrunched up her nose at the thought, and looked back to the yankee.

"Look. Today, I just want to be left alone. Why do you insist on harassing me?" After a moment, she frowned, and pointed to the box that hair boy was currently pressing to his chest. "And give me my freaking model back."

[Tsukimori Ryosuke]

Ryosuke felt like he waited a very long time before Kaoru said anything in response to him, which made him wonder if Kaoru really didn't dislike him and was just trying to find a reason to say she did, or that he ought not to be quite that cocky and that she was more speechless and at a loss for what to say. Which...still seemed kind of cocky, but Ryosuke didn't feel like trying to turn into a mega-philosopher and read into everything the girl did.

And yet.....he did want to. There was something about Kaoru that he really appreciated, and he didn't think it was the fact that she'd saved him from getting in serious trouble in the past. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, and he had to admit to himself that no, this time it wasn't just because he thought she was cute. There was just something about her. She was intelligent, kind of fun....she wasn't like the other girls, not just someone who wanted to go out with him or anything. She seemed to have her own determination....maybe that was why he was so curious about her? Because she was different from other girls...

As if to add to that thought, Kaoru finally spoke up. "In fact, I'm starting to think that maybe you have something against me? I know our schools are rivals, and you probably think I'm some privileged snob, and... I don't even know after what happened in the boys tumbling office that weekend, but..."

Ryosuke scrunched up his face. Of all the things she could possibly respond with, it had been that? He wasn't even entirely sure where she would get an idea like that, especially when those were completely opposite of his real feelings.

He sighed, still hugging the blue robot model to his chest. "Well that's all wrong. Maybe we got off on the wrong foot, but I don't have anything against you, I don't think you're a privileged snob, and nothing happened in the tumbling office. I went home after you left. Doncha think you would have heard anything about it if I hadn't?" He shrugged. Even if he was only a former Yankee, he was being too much of a softy now. "Whatever....maybe an interesting snob sounds better than a privileged one..."

Kaoru looked disgusted.

"Look. Today, I just want to be left alone. Why do you insist on harassing me?" There was something of a pause, then she added, pointing to his chest, "And give me my freaking model back."

Ryosuke's eyes widened. If she called harassment on him, he'd be the one who got in trouble, not her, even if he didn't really think he was harassing her or anything like that. Maybe he was....Maybe she really disliked him enough, to feel that way at all.

"Harassment....." He sighed again and half-rolled his eyes, dropping the blue model back into her basket. He didn't know what she would do next, but he figured that he needed to keep in mind, if she didn't want him around, then maybe now wasn't the best time. He couldn't keep following her through the store. He didn't want to anyway.

Unless he was invited to.....

Ryosuke adopted his traditional pouty face. "I still think the pink one is better. But if you insist...." He plucked the more girly model out of the basket, then began on his merry way to put it back. "I guess the blue one is good for you though," he called back, just as he was rounding the corner of the aisle. He went invisible to Kaoru for a moment, then, with his best sarcastic hurt face, peered back around the wall at her and added, "Fits your ice cold heart."

He disappeared again for the other aisle, dropping the model off where he'd found it. He was thinking he'd get a move on. He wasn't going to match prices for his old kid junk if Kaoru was around. He could just get the stuff he needed from the other stores, then head back.

At the moment, girls were as unfathomable as they'd always been. And that wasn't bound to change today.

OOC: I really love this post~ <333\(^u^)

[Uchida Kaoru]

It took a lot for Kaoru not to lash out at this kid. This boy, and his face, and his hair, and his big freaking mouth were the epitome of everything irritating in the world.

But something she said seemed to get through to him. He rolled his eyes, though he wore a defeated look on his face. "I still think the pink one is better. But if you insist...." he muttered, and finally, he switched the model in her basket back with the one he'd snatched from her earlier.

Kaoru watched as the boy turned to walk back to the model display -- damn, even the way he walked irritated her -- a flippant look gracing his face.

"I guess the blue one is good for you though," he said, and finally he was gone.

She didn't really care about his opinion at all, finally she'd be able to breathe easy and--

"Fits your ice cold heart."

Kaoru looked up just in time to see his stupid face slip back into view, looking more stupid than it usually did, apparently very amused by what he shouted back. Within seconds, he disappeared again.

The girl narrowed her eyes, still long at the spot that the boy had just been. Without really thinking, she called back, "why don't you take the pink one then? I think it suits a pretty boy like you!"

Groaning, Kaoru returned her attention to the DVDs arranged in front of her. She picked up the first one that looked interesting and gave it a once-over. "The Holy Order of Zombie Mercenaries," it sounded a bit on the cheesy side, even for her, but that one guy from the I'm not really cold hearted what gives him the right to tell me that--

She stopped herself, blinking. What was she thinking? Clicking her teeth, Kaoru put back the movie and picked up another.

Ah, the anime about the ghost robots was one sale, but she wanted to buy the box set of oh my gawd if the boy is still looking at me I swear I'll--

Kaoru wasn't the type who got annoyed this easily. Not on her day, anyway. It was the day when she let anything roll off her back and take it easy. She could snap at people and put them in their place with snappy remarks that would earn her admiration from her peers on those other days of the week, but she didn't want to do it that day. She didn't want to have to do that. Why couldn't see focus on one of the few activities she enjoyed anymore?

Sweet mother of a pickle farmer, this guy had completely ruined her day.

He was some kind of yankee delinquent, and it was probably very unlikely that anything she would say would have any effect on him, but... damn, she'd try. Uchida Kaoru didn't believe in universal justice, and if she wanted things to end right it was up to her, and her alone, to set things right.

Without really caring that she was just leaving it somewhere, Kaoru placed her basket on the floor beside her, and turned back toward the back of the little shop. Adjusting her backpack, she marched right back to the model area and stood by the blonde yankee until he eventually turned his attention to her.

Cold hearted, huh?

"And since we're judging people," Kaoru snatched off her glasses at this point, and looked that boy in the eyes again, her gaze as intense as it ever was. "I just want you to know that you're the most aggravating, sexist, shortsighted, excuse for a sack of bones I've ever had the misfortune of meeting."

Oh, of course Kaoru knew that she was speaking in hyperbole. But she didn't care, she just wanted to make a point.

In fact, while she was at it, she plucked the pick model that he'd just replaced from its spot of the shelf once again, and shoved it back into the yankee's arms. Then, she clasped her hands together and did her best imitation of the delinquent's grin. "Have a wonderful day!"

Huffing, she turned on her heels, walking down the DVD aisle and past her abandoned basket, in the direction of the store's exit.

OOC: This thread is fun! But I don't know how far you want to take this, particularly since in your phone thread you state that Kaoru rejects Ryosuke several times, and consistently. Just let me now! I'm trying to keep this up for as long as possible while staying in character~

[Tsukimori Ryosuke]

Ryosuke was already around the corner into the next aisle, the silly pink mecha model in his hand, when Kaoru called back at him. For seemingly wanting to lay low, she'd been pretty vocal.

"Why don't you take the pink one then?" He heard her say. "I think it suits a pretty boy like you!"

Ryosuke stopped for a moment, staring at the model in his hands, then called back, "I might do that. It'll match my pink Tumbling Team shirt."

He paused.

He'd heard that phrase before. Pretty boy. And while it wasn't one he normally liked to hear, he didn't mind getting it from Kaoru. She was responding to him, for one thing, even though she'd professed that she wanted him to leave her alone. And then there was the fact that she'd called him pretty. Girly word for attractive, but it still meant she had to think he was some kind of attractive to say something like that at all.

"You think I'm pretty, huh?" he finally responded, loud enough that he was sure she would hear. Instead of returning the pink model to its shelf, he was now leaning up against the opposite side of the one Kaoru was browsing, subconsciously examining the toy as he thought about things.

He wasn't sure whether to be surprised or amused that Kaoru came rounding the corner, back into the aisle he was standing in, a very determined look on her cute and currently geeky face. He straightened up, moving away from the shelf he'd been leaning on and reaching out to replace the pink mecha model where it belonged.

"And since we're judging people," the girl suddenly spoke up, removing her glasses in a sort of fierce, determined way that made Ryosuke's heart jump slightly, "I just want you to know that you're the most aggravating, sexist, shortsighted, excuse for a sack of bones I've ever had the misfortune of meeting."

The Yankee had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. It....stung, a little. Knowing that Kaoru thought he was aggravating, sexist, shortsighted--she was one to talk there--and a sad excuse for a sack of bones.....but it was equally amusing that she'd taken the time in her day to march back over to him to express her disgust, when she'd been adamantly saying she didn't want to be seen with him.

But before Ryosuke could respond, the girl took the pink mecha off the shelf again and thrust it into his arms. He wasn't sure what the crazy smile was about, but she was only making herself look cuter doing the whole hand gesture, cutesy thing. "Have a wonderful day!"

Ryosuke snorted, watching her storm off. He didn't want to chase her, but he didn't want her to think she'd won any argument between the two of them either. And then....her basket. So much for making him switch out the pink one. She'd even forgotten to go back and get her damn blue toy instead.

The Yankee turned to face the direction the girl was hurrying off in, and called, "Would it be rude of me to call you a four-eyed, littering, snide, hypocritical pretty girl, Snow Queen?" He hurried to pluck up her basket, then ran it over to her, grabbing one of her hands and putting the basket handles in that place. "If you're so insistent for this stuff, don't leave it for the store workers to clean up, yeah?"

He took a step back, still holding onto the pink mecha model. "And you think Yankees are bad." He tsk-ed. "We don't come in stores, do a bunch of shopping, then leave it for the clerks to clean up." Anyway, it wasn't even like he was a Yankee anymore.

OOC: Yeah, it's like something from a cute chickflick. ^^; But I like what you did throughout the post, like interchanging all her thoughts. That was really well done and fun to read! I guess in the phone call thread, he's been rejected maybe not in a truly harsh sense, but more like he feels like they just wouldn't end up together or something...For some reason, I'm not conveying this properly! >.< (I like pickle farmers too! O.O)

[Uchida Kaoru]

"Would it be rude of me to call you a four-eyed, littering, snide, hypocritical pretty girl, Snow Queen?"

Before Kaoru knew what was happening, the boy had rushed up to her, grabbed her fingers and wrapped them around the handles of the basket she'd just dropped. "If you're so insistent for this stuff, don't leave it for the store workers to clean up, yeah?"

Then the boy stepped back, the look on his face a bit... condescending?

"And you think Yankees are bad. We don't come in stores, do a bunch of shopping, then leave it for the clerks to clean up."

Kaoru just looked at the boy for a moment, stunned.

It was a joke. Was he really going there? Kaoru might not have known him personally, but everyone in town knew about the famed Karasumori gang members and the trouble they brought everywhere they went... and it seemed like tiny hobby shops on dreary Saturday afternoons were no exceptions.

He was comparing to her to a delinquent. Did he know what she'd been through because of yankees like him?

Kaoru felt her grip on the basket's handles tighten so much, that her knuckles whitened. Her eyes fell to the box that sat inside it. There was a time in her life when she could just be herself, and geek out and laze around and whatever, but those days were long gone.

"Don't you go patronizing me."

Kaoru took a deep breath before she continued; she would need it.

"I don't loiter around in gangs, beat up other kids, make trouble for no good reason, smoke, drink, shoot up -- whatever the hell you do. I don't screw with people. You think you're hot stuff. I can tell! But I'm no idiot, okay? If you're trying to make me your next Miss Friday, or Tuesday-chan, just to screw with with me until you find someone knew, you might as well quit right now!"

Finally, she met the boy's glance again, peering over her glasses. She looked so intensely, her eyes hurt; but then again, that might've just been her trying to not to look stupid and do something like cry.

"Just looking at you pisses me off."

There was a moment of silence. Kaoru stood looking, her eyes burning... but with as much disdain for the boy as for herself, for letting this weirdo yankee get under her skin so quickly. It didn't make sense. She'd supposed to be turning the facade off for that one day, and really, she wasn't an aggressive or irritable person in the slightest...

"Clerk!" she suddenly shouted.

She turned to the desk to see an elderly man who was more or less hiding in a corner, and probably had been doing that since he saw who entered the store... though, she supposed, the ensuing argument hadn't helped much, either. For a minute she felt bad, leaving her things for an old man like that to pick up after her. Before getting to taken with that thought, she marched up to the counter where the man stood and dropped her basket on top of it.

As soon as she set her things down, Kaoru immediately slipped her bookbag off one of her shoulders and started searching for her wallet. She was inclined to leave the store as quickly as possible, and to go return home and try to scrape together the fragments of her day.

"I'm ready for checkout."

OOC: After all the cute bickering, I feel bad for having her blow up like that! @_@ Though I now understand what you mean, it just felt natural to write her that way... boy, she's a tough cookie. And hahahah, pickle farmers... XD

[Tsukimori Ryosuke]

What happened next was....very unexpected.

Kaoru seemed to go through an intensely quick metamorphosis. One moment, a look of astonishment across her pretty face, only to be quickly replaced with one of a kind of anger Ryosuke was sure countered even the worst of the anger he'd ever seen, including that on some of the most ruthless gang members he'd met.

And then a kind of sadness, mixed in with the anger. Ryosuke wondered when he'd become so attentive to all these little things, Kaoru seemed to be the first person that he'd become so willing to look for all the little signs in, and he felt his heart sink. He hadn't been prepared for the magnitude of her anger.

"Don't you go patronizing me."

There was a small moment of silence.

"I don't loiter around in gangs, beat up other kids, make trouble for no good reason, smoke, drink, shoot up -- whatever the hell you do. I don't screw with people. You think you're hot stuff. I can tell! But I'm no idiot, okay? If you're trying to make me your next Miss Friday, or Tuesday-chan, just to screw with with me until you find someone knew, you might as well quit right now!"

She seemed to finally muster up the courage to look him in the eyes now, and the look she gave truly did portray how dark she was feeling. Anyway, after all that had been said, Ryosuke had been rendered speechless. He could do little more than return her gaze, and even that seemed to be difficult by this point.

"Just looking at you pisses me off."

Ryosuke found himself looking away.....

"Clerk!"

At the sound, Ryosuke's head snapped up, and he was surprised to find that Kaoru had already rushed over to the front checkout counter, leaving him behind standing there, looking dumbfounded. It was better than what he'd expected to happen. He'd thought she was calling the clerk on him....

"I'm ready for checkout."

Ryosuke felt thousands of little mini shivers coursing through his large frame. He....well, he hadn't thought any of what was happening was so bad. He'd been goofing off, and sure he'd still thought Kaoru disliked him, but her actions, following him and making silly retorts about him....hadn't that all just been a joke? He'd been about ready to laugh it all off. Now he was standing here, stunned.

Looking up, Ryosuke found that the older clerk ringing up Kaoru's basket seemed adamant to avoid any eye contact with him.

Was he really...so scary? He'd come to this place before with the other Yankees, but he could never remember causing any serious trouble. Akabane had done some *ssholish things before, but he'd never taken part in any of that, and he'd never been around when the worst of things had happened. Wataru was good in that he never allowed Akabane to mess around with innocent people when he was around, and Ryosuke stood firmly by his red-haired best friend. He didn't believe in bothering innocent people. When he did fight, it was against people who deserved it. People like him, in a way....

Kaoru didn't know he wasn't a Yankee anymore. She just saw him as everyone else did, a tall, dyed-haired, mischief-maker from Karasumori. Even if he ever said he was an Ex-Yankee, would anyone believe him?

But one thing was for certain. Something really terrible must have happened to Kaoru for her to flip like that. And most of all, that made him want to rethink things.

Ryosuke momentarily considered rushing up to the counter and offering to pay for Kaoru's products to show he'd intended no harm and meant everything in good faith, then refrained. One hand enclosed itself tightly over his wallet, though he knew he wouldn't end up using it. Kaoru would see it as him taking her for weak, she would call him sexist again, and she'd probably encourage the clerk to call the cops on him. Feeling dark and heavy-hearted, Ryosuke slipped his free hand into his other pocket and stepped outside of the shop.

Even outside, though it felt good to take a deep breath--it only then dawned on him that he'd been practically holding his breath since the moment Kaoru had snapped--he felt trapped. For once in his life, he'd experienced the kind of rejection that he both could and couldn't understand. He'd hurt someone unintentionally, in a way he didn't know how he could even avoid in the future. If future was even a word to be used in this case, because he was willing to bet Kaoru would make damned sure he didn't come near her ever again.

If she got a restraining order, it would be just another black mark on his record, though more importantly, and what bothered Ryosuke most now, was knowing that such a thing would mean that the girl truly did hate him. Probably just like everyone else who saw him and instantly assumed that he was the worst kind of Yankee.

He began to head in the direction that led to that not-so-homey place he'd been forced, all his life, to call home. Every thing else he'd come to the stores for seemed unimportant now.

OOC: I know...I kinda wanted to cry for both of them! Well, we know this isn't the end of that story anyway, haha. I put this as closed because I figured Kaoru's not running out after him, but please let me know if you want to put one more post in here or continue or something!!!

-Closed-