On The Way To The Canteen

Trudging my way out of the classroom, I was followed by a blonde bundle of energy who continuously kept saying I needed to meet her friends. The bundle of energy was Kaori. I assumed she meant Kousei Arima and his friends, Ryota Watari and Tsubaki Sawabe, so I had no intention to do what she wanted.

I even said that to her face. But she just kept jabbering on about it. If I didn't know what she was suffering with, I'd have probably told her to fuck off, but alas, I decided to humor her.

I know, I know, how compassionate of me, right?

Jokes aside, I made my way to the canteen. As I thought about food, an outright massive growl burst forth from my stomach, making Kaori and most people around us turn to look at me.

"T-Tsugami-san?" Kaori looked at me with a little bit of disbelief, presumably wondering if there was some wrong with me. But when she saw the neutral expression on my face, she must have figured I was fine and it was just a 'normal' thing for me and with the determined steps I was making toward the canteen, it didn't take much for her to figure out that I was hungry.

And then she started laughing.

"You must be really hungry, Tsugami-san!" she started, laughing in between words, "Is it like that because of your size? Or because you waste a lot of energy exercising?" hearing her I turned to her and saw her looking at my body - not in a perverse way, but in a curious way - seeing the muscle that was hidden under my uniform.

Sighing, I answered her question, knowing she'd just keep waffling on about it if I didn't, "I guess it's mainly because of my body and the natural upkeep it needs but also because of 'training'," I lied a little, knowing that most humans, normal ones at least, don't naturally develop physique like mine, but I was giving her the truth - my appetite was because I am a Saiyan and because of that my body has an insatiable need for nutrients.

Kaori went into a thinking pose while she walked but before she could reply I carried on, squinting my eyes a little mockingly.

"Also, Miyazono-san, you can't judge someone's appetite off of their stomach growl. Maybe the growl was loud because of my big body, when compared to the meager growl your smaller stomach lets out--" though as soon as I said this I heard a deep rumbling next to me, like my earlier stomach growl but a little bit lighter. I looked Kaori dead in the eye, my mocking eyes increasing in their intensity and she simply looked away with a red face.

"Shut up!" she harshly shouted while looking away from me, though I could still see her pouting despite her efforts to hide it, "Don't say a word!"

Hearing her embarrassment and seeing her face lit up like a red bulb, I simply couldn't help myself:

I laughed.

It was surprisingly pure and genuine laughter. At least compared to the usual laughter of a person like me. Looking down at the fuming blonde, I couldn't help but think about what I was thinking about earlier - this girl entire aura makes it easy to let your guard down. She's not even trying, she's just being herself but she's already made a person like me laugh, someone who had done horrendous things back in my previous life.

Looking at her glaring at me, I brought my laughter to an end before I smirked at her and went to respond but as I was--

*Grwwlll!*

Another growl came from her stomach and I just started chuckling again. I wasn't laughing at the fact her stomach was growling but rather at the youthful, cute, and embarrassed look on her face. I guess in my last life I was slightly deprived of such sights, so seeing them now made me...appreciate them, I guess.

"Stop laughing!" Kaori, in her embarrassment, got aggressive and started raining down fists of fury (embarrassment) on the arm, though they felt more like a child tapping on my arm. Which only led to my chuckling becoming laughter, and her embarrassment to become even higher.

We continued this gimmick for a while longer as we walked, and I could honestly say she was growing on me. Her innocence was something I wouldn't see a lot in this world, soon at least. I did entertain the thought that she could be an Avatar who relied more on manipulation, schemes, and deception to win their battles but...I could sense her Ki.

She was dying just like in the Anime, and her Ki was just so...pure. Not as in it was powerful but rather that she, as a person, as a human being, was pure and good in her desires. Everyone's Ki is affected by who they are and how they are. If someone's a murdering psychopath, their Ki gives off an eerie, sinister feeling. But if they're a normal, decent human being? Their Ki is like Kaori's - Pure and good.

Ki Sense didn't need to be practiced - you just needed to know how to do it. I had Vegeta's knowledge on how to do it, so I could pull it off just fine.

As we were getting used to one another, a scoff was heard behind us, to which we both stopped. I glanced behind, barely turning my head to see who scoffed at us, while Kaori fully turned around with a curious look on her face.

I saw who it was and I was both surprised and not so surprised.

"You're both buffoons - learn some tact when walking through the school building. You're disturbing people," Yukino Yukinoshita spoke out with a cold voice to which I furrowed my brows and scoffed. She looked at me with a glare in response to my reaction, but I didn't care and spoke anyway.

"Shut it, Yukinoshita-san," I started, my words biting, and it seemed to have an effect her as I felt Yukino's Ki flare up a little, which surprised me. But it was in such a little amount that I carried on, "If we're really bothering you that much, walk past us or back up enough so you can't hear us. Seriously, grow up, you brat," I glared at the girl and she stepped back a little, flinching from my words and I knew at that point - my words had hit home for her.

Kaori went to speak but I just walked off, not caring enough to look back at the girl (Yukino) I knew hadn't moved since what I said. I also sensed the tension in Kaori, who was unsure about whether to apologize to Yukino or whether to just follow me.

In the end, she picked both and hurriedly apologized to the black-haired girl before rushing off after me.

When she got next to me she kept glaring at me, so in the end I quirked an eyebrow up at her, "What?"

As if the match that lit the fuse, my words seemed to bring out whatever was annoying Kaori.

"You didn't have to be so harsh to her! She was probably just asking us to keep it down, is all," she turned away from me, her admonishing gaze turning into an unsure look.

Seeing her like this, I just scoffed before replying, "And she didn't have to be so harsh to us. She complained about a thing she could have changed if she actually wanted to - she didn't need to stay around behind us. She could have overtaken us and gotten away from our 'antics' or whatever she thought they were. The point is, she was being unnecessary, so I fired back," looking at Kaori looking so uncomfortable with what happened, I let out a sigh before rolling my eyes and carrying on, my voice full of slight annoyance and helplessness, "Listen, Miyazono-san...you don't have to put up with someone's shit just because it'd be the nice thing to do. I admire you for your forgiveness of Yukinoshita-san's behavior but...that's just not possible for me, okay?"

She slowly nodded at what I said and she slowly but surely returned to her earlier behavior of being energetic and full of joy.

"Do you like classical music, Tsugami-san?" she asked out of nowhere as we were nearing the canteen. I looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I like it when I'm in the mood to listen to it. Why?"

She went a bit fidgety before coming to a stop. Seeing her stop, I turned around and tilted my head at her. Seeing me stare at her, she closed her eyes before taking a deep breath and then opening her eyes and staring at me.

"Do you want to come and watch me play at a Violin Competition?!" she half-shouted this at me, some kind of weird pleading mixed in with her voice. I, on the other hand, was shocked by her asking this.

It seemed weird and a bit suspicious.

Thinking along this line, I looked at Kaori with squinted eyes and answered her, "Don't you think that's a little personal, Miyazono-san? We only just met today, after all. I'm sure your friends are already going...I'd just be in the way and make things awkward," I spoke with a half-smile on my face.

But Kaori seemed to disagree as she rapidly shook her head.

"I've experienced moving to different schools a lot when I was in Junior High, Tsugami-san, and I know it's not always easy to make friends a-and...and I know that back then I wished someone tried to reach out and make friends with me," she stuttered out her words with a bit of a flustered tone but she didn't break eye contact with me as she continued, "...I guess I'm just trying to be friends with you, Tsugami-san, and this is the only way I know how."

Hearing her voice, I could feel an underlying determination to befriend me.

Maybe this had something to do with her limited time left? I really don't get it. Or maybe she's just the type of girl who tries to be friends with whoever catches her interest, just like how Kousei Arima caught her interest.

Seeing me in thought, Kaori spoke up again, trying to convince me, "It's this weekend, which is a few days away, and if you don't like it...I won't bother you about this kind of stuff again," she tilted her head down a little, trying to hide the complex look on her face. I was honestly a bit confused, so I put on an uneasy smile and answered her.

"I appreciate the sentiment, Miyazono-san, But you don't have to worry--" as I was finishing I felt a few people coming up behind us, approaching us, or rather Kaori.

When they got close enough, I turned to them just in time for me to hear the one of the forefront start speaking playfully.

"Why don't you just say yes to the cute girl asking you hang out with her?" his cheeky remark earned a gruff grunt from me as I squinted my eyes at him, feeling his teasing grate on me a little. Seeing me like this, the boy held his hands up with a sheepish smile, "Just a joke, just a joke..."

Easing up on my glare, even if the annoyance was still there in my eyes, I looked at the three people and couldn't help but look at them with surprise in my mind.

You see, in front of me was Ryota Watari. Behind him was Kousei Arima and Tsubaki Sawabe. All three play a big role in the anime Your Lie in April. But the thing is, that anime is set when these 4 are in Middle School. Right now, from what I could see, they were older than their original ages. Ryota was taller and much more athletic in body, Tsubaki had developed much more physically than she had in the anime, and Kousei was tall and slender, even a little taller than Ryota.

Turning my head to Kaori, I, for the first time today, took in how she seemed different. She looked more mature, more beautiful, but also more fragile. Like she'd been living with her disease for a longer time than she had in the anime.

These thoughts made me think - What else has changed? Not just with these people but with every Anime that had been added? So many series stuffed together and some waves should have been made, right?

Questions, questions, questions...guess I've gotta start looking for the answers at some point.

Continuing to look at Kaori, I realized she'd noticed me staring at me and was staring back at me curiously. Covering up my staring with a chuckle, I smirked and asked Kaori something.

"Who's this? Your boyfriend?" as I said this I turned back to Ryota with a discerning gaze, "Hmm...He looks like a bit of a play-boy, Miyazono-san, you should keep an eye on him," this quip gained a smile from Kousei and an outright laugh from Tsubaki who looked curiously at Kaori, asking with her eyes about who I was.

Kaori saw the look but ignored it momentarily as she turned to glare at me, "He wishes he was," she made a 'hmph' sound before turning around and doing a 180 in mood, smiling at her friend, "Tsubaki, this is Hayato Tsugami. He's a transfer student and I want to be his friend," she glanced back at me, pouting slightly, "but he's being an idiot about it," she huffed, gaining a laugh from Kousei who interceded for my sake.

"Miyazono-san, I feel like you're being a bit unreasonable. Maybe he has something to do on the weekend or maybe watching Violin Competitions isn't his thing?" he spoke in a cool, well-composed voice and it upped my opinion of him compared to the playful Ryota. But Kaori seemed to think otherwise.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Arima? Stop using '-san' after my name!" she huffed even more before putting on an indignant look, "I was just asking him if he wanted to come...I wasn't trying to force him or anything--" she stopped when she heard me sigh, looking up at me dragging my hand over my face.

Before she could speak, I spoke up in a slightly tired voice, "It's this weekend? What time? The morning or afternoon?"

Kaori's face lit up and she hurriedly replied, "Yes, this weekend, Saturday, 2:30 pm. There's a park near here where we can all meet and then head to the place the competition is being held. You know where that is right?" she looked up at me and I nodded, remembering a park on my way to school today. As if thinking of something, Kaori put her finger up in the air, bouncing on her toes a little before fidgeting around in her bag with both hands, "On second thought, we should add you to our group chat! What's your Line Account?"

Hearing her, I blanked for a second before going to tell her I didn't have a phone when I felt an extra bit of weight in my school blazer pocket. Reaching into the pocket I felt something and pulled it out:

A phone. The notification light was blinking on and off, so I pushed the power button.

When I pressed the power button, the screen flashed on, coming out of standby mode and showing me the message that had been sent.

[You're welcome, Hayato~!]

From a mystery sender, but I could full well bet on who had given me this phone. That nameless woman. I guess there was always the possibility it was someone else but I'm guessing this kind of coincidence can only be down by the God you're an Avatar for.

When I went to click on the contact, it deleted itself and I found myself with an empty Line Account.

A light cough brought me back into the real world and I saw Kaori with her hand out, motioning for me to show her my account information. Covering up my embarrassment at being caught out again by this girl, I pointed my phone's screen her way and she rapidly tapped in the information, leading to a ding notification to come from my phone.

Turning my phone back to me, I saw the notification which said I'd earned a new friend or whatever. Clicking on the profile, I saw a picture of Kaori and Tsubaki both holding cats while having cat ears and whiskers drawn on their faces. There was a Bio about Kaori but ignored it and added her back which quickly got accepted and I was added to some kind of group chat.

Now that was done, I put my phone back in my pocket before looking at Kaori, "Can we go and get something to eat now? I'm really hungry and we've wasted so much time already."

Kaori nodded and looked to her friends who nodded as well and we set off, with Kaori speaking to both me and the others, sometimes even breaching the gap between us. She really could be seen as a social butterfly, huh?