genessia | 008 | you're a stranger, so

Orihime had resolved to get her groceries by the day. Fresh ingredients were always the best ones, and since she didn't have school or homework to occupy the majority of her time, she could easily make room in her life for this 'luxury' (as she considered it to be).

And then, lo and behold, who should she see at the checkout register but Shinjiro Aragaki! "Shinjiro-san!" she called his name with a chipper smile.

No response, though. Well, it was pretty busy at that hour, and there was a lot of noise, so he likely hadn't heard her. She looked at the groceries she'd selected, then at the conveyor belt, and suddenly she had a marvelous idea.

The plastic bar separating the next customer's groceries gave way soon enough to Orihime's creation. A pair of small red radishes were placed a few inches apart. A bag of tightly condensed yakisoba noodles, a wrapped square of semisweet chocolate, and a block of orange cheese had all been arranged into a curving line beneath the radishes, and she'd effectively created a smiling face out of her purchases.

:)

Never before had anyone's groceries seemed so happy to see Shinjiro before they were bagged up. Orihime watched his face with eager anticipation just to see if he'd noticed her handywork, or if he wouldn't catch the design at all and bag it up like everything else. Either way, she said nothing to spoil the surprise -- the reward of well-planned comedy lay solely in the other person's reaction, and she was hoping for a good one!

For someone who didn't want to be lost in his thoughts and brooding, Shinjiro wasn't very good at paying attention to his surroundings. Paying attention to his job, sure. That was easy. A trained monkey could do it. But then ...

:)

... Shinjiro thought, at first, that he might be losing it. Well, it was a pretty good distraction from his thoughts if it was? Except going crazy didn't sound fun. He looked up.

And saw a familiar, cheerful face.

"Inoue," he said, blankly. Then looked down again. Noodles. Radishes. Cheese. Chocolate? It was like a weird puzzle. One of these things was not like the other. Absently, part of his brain tried to figure out what she would be cooking. Then, remembering Fuuka's "skills", he shut that thought process down. Nope. Did nobody teach kids how to cook, anymore?

"... This is all you're getting?" he asked, before he could really stop himself. But, still. If nothing else, it didn't really look like a balanced meal.

Darn, she'd been hoping for a little stronger reaction than that! Maybe if she'd had time (or just more groceries) to create something more complex...

Then again, maybe he was just the perfect sort of person for the 'straight man' role in her goofy comedy attempts. It was something to consider for later, she decided. For now, she was still half-occupied with emptying the enormous bag of flour out of the bottom of her basket onto the conveyor, huffing a sigh of relief now that the handles of her basket no longer dug in so heavily upon her elbow.

"Almost! I'd like this on a separate receipt, please," she requested.

The flour likely provided no further illumination on whatever her dinner plans might have been. The chocolate, noodles, and cheese were discounted, and the radishes were on sale. It was possible she was simply being thrifty, but she didn't seem inclined to start telling him every little boring detail of her mundane activities. (Mundane to her, anyway, her shopping had always been somewhat...unique.)

"I was surprised to see you here! How are you enjoying your job?" she beamed, dusting off her hands together before digging into her pocket for some red bills.

His lot in life, it seemed, was to be the straight man in the general craziness which went on in his friends' lives. But he wasn't thinking about that, now. Shinjiro was still attempting to puzzle out what the girl was making.

At least he could understand being thrifty. After all, Orihime hadn't probably gotten a job, yet. Still, noting the sale prices, he jerked his head back toward the produce.

"Carrots are also on sale," he muttered. Hey! They at least had nutrients, and would compliment the radish. Some sweetness to even out the sharpness.

Shinjiro affected what was (perhaps) the least convincing customer service ~~grimace~~ smile ever. "Work is going great. Just fantastic."

Edited 2017-09-21 16:45 (UTC)

"Really? I missed those." She tipped to the side, raising her chin to see the carrots he'd indicated. Those didn't cost too much, so maybe she could make use of them tomorrow. "Will the sale last through tomorrow? I don't want to buy more than I can carry home, ha ha!"

That big bag of flour was already pushing her limits, and she didn't own a car to tote her groceries home.

Judging his reaction, it seemed he didn't really like his job all that much. She smiled sympathetically. It must have been tough to stand on his feet in the same spot all day, it was likely very tiring. "You're fast, though," she noted. "And I bet you can learn a lot about other people based on what they buy. You're practically a secret spy!"

Ahhh, maybe she wasn't helping by pointing out the good points about his job if he was really that unhappy about it. And she kind of wished she'd bought more just so she had an excuse to stay and talk with him for a while, but she had to be careful with her spending if she was going to be fully prepared to open her own future business.

"Thank you for your hard work anyway, Shinjiro-san. Recommending the sale was excellent customer service!"

He tried to remember, but generally, sales ran from Wednesdays to Wednesdays. So, he felt safe in saying, "Probably. I'd grab 'em tomorrow, then."

Learning about people?

"Yeah, too much," Shinjiro muttered, but there wasn't a lot of heat in it. Until Orihime, all of his customers were the natives of Genessia. They seemed to be just as annoying as real people, but they didn't generally seem to be as weird as real people. Maybe it's because he didn't work in Attleton. Still, he really didn't want to know some of the things he was working out about the customers he saw.

He glowered a little at her, not really thinking about how it looked. "I dunno what you're cookin, but. On a limited budget, it can be real tough to eat well enough. Takin advantage of cheap veggies is something you shouldn't skip out on."

"Ha ha!" Okay, he had a good point. She made a note not to move into his checkstand if she had to buy anything incredibly personal, both for his sake and hers. Everybody wins!

She was taken aback by his sudden fierce stare. Really, he could be very intimidating with that kind of look! But it was at odds with his nutritional advice, and after a stunned blink, Orihime found the corners of her mouth pulling upward just a little.

"I'll buy twice as many tomorrow, then, so you won't have to worry," she promised. Now she just had to think of something she could make with that many carrots. Maybe if she stir-fried them with a little honey and topped it with a drizzle of mayonnaise... Over rice, that might be pretty good. And now she knew what to buy tomorrow with her next giant bag of flour!

"I guess you've had some experience too on thrifty shopping," she hedged. From one poor person to another, she could perfectly understand those kinds of challenges.

Belatedly, he realized he was towering over the girl, and stooped down a little, looking away. Some things were difficult to just turn off. He wasn't trying to be intimidating, after all.

Shinjiro was not going to really get into what he'd been through. Not only was this the wrong place and time, but. The girl didn't look like someone who should be troubled by that kind of thing. Last thing he needed was worry or sympathy, either.

"Tch, well, like you said. Bein a broke high school student is tough," he answered, shrugging. No big deal, nothing to see here. "Y'know how it is."

~~But he was the Moon social link, not the Tower, laugh laugh laugh!~~

There was at least one positive benefit of his scary face: the person standing behind Orihime gathered up her groceries and scurried away to find a friendlier clerk. That gave her more time to speak to Shinjiro!

She nodded agreeably to his remarks, unaware that there was more under the surface. Minato had said that his tall and intimidating friend had his own share of troubles, and it had caused her to look for an opportunity to find out the truth for herself. He was just way too good at keeping it hidden!

"It is!" she exclaimed. "My aunt sent me money for support so long as I got good grades. I had to make sure I lived frugally, just in case, ne?" Not that Orihime really had anything to worry about there. Her grades were the third best out of all others in her grade.

But that was enough about her. She had something way more important to tell him, now that her encounter with Minato was fresh in her mind. "Ne, Shinjiro-san! Someone else from Iwatodai showed up in the Bay last night, he said he was a friend of yours. Did you have a chance to speak with him yet?"

There had been an announcement over the radio, so he probably had, but she wanted to make sure the two didn't miss each other.

Good luck with that. Shinjiro was way too used to keeping his own problems close to his chest. It was best that way, he thought. He didn't want to bother strangers, and he sure as hell didn't want to trouble his friends. Some things just couldn't be helped.

He made a non-committal noise when she talked about grades. Her aunt sounded nice, maybe? Though he hoped that the lady didn't leave her family high and dry if they didn't perform to her expectations.

"Arisato?" he asked. "Yeah, I saw his message."

Considering what he'd been told by Mitsuru, he was surprised to see him. Perhaps he shouldn't have been. After all, he himself was here, wasn't he?

"It was good to see him again." A shadow of a smile flickered over his face. "Actually, a lotta people who're from my world are startin to show up."

It was nice, if he only looked at it from a selfish point of view. Aside from Minato, everyone else had a life they were kidnapped from, and a real home to go back to.

Aw, he had a nice smile! Faint as it was, it made her happy to see it. "Really? That's lucky! ...Er...that is to say, it's definitely good not to be alone if you don't have to be, ha ha!"

She wondered if her friends would believe her if she told them that she'd been kidnapped and dropped into a brand new life in a seemingly benevolent city structure. One would think so considering all they'd been through, but Orihime had a certain way of telling her experiences that made them seem...less than realistic.

"Anyway, I'm glad. Minato-san is a really nice person, so I'm happy I got a chance to meet him." She hoped the rest of the people from Shinjiro's world were just as interesting and pleasant.

She reached for the sack of flour to balance it carefully in her arms, then shuffled closer to Shinjiro as a silent request to have him place the rest of her groceries on top. "I'm probably going to get you in trouble if I keep talking your ear off, though, ha ha! Do you work the same time tomorrow?"

Shinjiro nodded, just a little. "Yeah, he's a good guy. Definitely worth havin 'round."

Unlike him, really. But he wasn't mulling over that kind of thing right now. Besides, Orihime had a good point. Today wasn't a good day to get fired.

Carefully, paying attention to both the balance of the groceries and the level of discomfort on the girl's face, Shinjiro placed the bag of groceries on top of the flour. Was she going to be okay with carrying it all?

He frowned. "Nah, they've got me on these random shifts. I'll be here in the evening, though."

Orihime seemed like she'd done this a thousand times before. She leaned further back to balance the heavy load, and though it did cause her a strain, it wasn't so great as to cause her limbs to start trembling. Honestly she seemed pretty confident about being able to carry her load just fine.

"Oof, thank you!" she beamed over the top of the bag. "I'll stop by at five, then, that should give me lots of time to pick out supplies for dinner. Are you working a full shift? Do you want me to bring you something to eat for your lunch break?"

Think carefully, Shinjiro. Answering 'yes' might enlighten him to the mystery of her cooking, but it might also result in terrible life choices.

Choose wisely.

With a sharp eye, Shinjiro watched warily as Orihime balanced herself and the load, lips pursed. Well. She seemed to have it well in hand? Damn it, didn't she have any friends she could call? He really hoped she didn't have to go very far.

Not hesitating for a moment, he shook his head. It didn't matter if she was the best cook, or the worst cook. Shinjiro didn't take handouts or help willingly.

"Nah, I'll be fine. Besides, 'till you get a job, you need to worry 'bout yourself," he pointed out.

There still seemed to be no visible signs of distress or alarming strain. She did rest the flour on the edge of the checkstand for the time being, however, so she didn't have to hold it while they talked.

What did register was a guilty little start at his mention of employment. "R...right. I'm still looking into that."

She was rarely secretive, but this was one of those times where she didn't need to immediately launch into an explanation of her circumstances. She was still embarrassed over this morning's application rejection, and hadn't made up her mind about what to do for a one-month interim.

Glancing up at Shinjiro's face, she immediately wiped away her flustered look and replaced it with a sunny smile. She had a feeling that he might get too invested and worried if she didn't seem like she had it under control. "I'll probably submit some applications on the weekend! I have enough to get by for a while, so please don't worry. I'm very good with money," she promised, and took a step back to curl her arms under the flour bag once more. "See you tomorrow night!"

"Hey, don't stress out about it," Shinjiro interjected, feeling a little badly. He wasn't ... trying to nag anybody. He was just pointing out a very good reason she shouldn't waste her money on him. "Five hundred bills is more than enough for most people in a month. You've got plenty of time."

He definitely wasn't going to quiz her on her current job applications, or question why she looked a little flustered. That wouldn't be like him, and. She'd been here for how long? She should cut herself some slack. It took Shinjiro more than two weeks to find his own job, after all.

Over-achiever, he pegged her as. Goes with the grades. He sighed.

"Take care of yourself," he said.

And then. Well. Time to go back to the monotony of work.

Okay, well, she felt a little better once it seemed assured that he didn't think she was being a slacker or a mooch. She nodded at him in farewell, since her hands were full. "Thanks! You too!"

And she was gone. There were no reports of young women whose arms fell off in the middle of the street, which should assuage his worries about her getting all her groceries home.

It was over.

But the next day, a new face greeted him on the conveyor belt. Most of it was made of carrots, save for the nose which was a squeezable plastic bear full of honey, and the 'hair' (if that's what it was) constructed of a bag of rice, a vegetable peeler, and a narrow tube of mayonnaise.

>:C

Then there was a plastic divider and yet another giant bag of flour.

"I hope I'm not too late!" she grinned, somewhat breathless as if she'd run all the way here, and then sought out her groceries at no less than twenty miles per hour. "I had to run home and check to see if I had the right utensil to peel the carrots. I couldn't find one, so I had to replace it!"

It was no more boring than the average customer conversation, she was sure.

"How's work going? Any better than yesterday?"

Edited 2017-09-21 22:38 (UTC)

If Shinjiro had thought about it, he would have expected to see another smiley face. As it was, however, he almost forgot about Orihime coming at all. Once again, he was rather preoccupied about his own issues. His expression, if nothing else, was even a little darker than before. Until ...

>:C

... His face twitched into a small, amused smile. For a few seconds, anyway. Schooling his expression into something more neutral, he looked back up, now expecting to see the energetic Orihime in his queue.

"It's going fantastic. Just like yesterday," he answered, but there was a hint of that smile still lurking in his expression. Even if it wasn't explicitly on his face any longer.

And he finally let his curiosity get the better of him. "What're you using all that flour for, anyway?"

Yes! A reaction! It was carefully restrained and lasted only a few moments, but considering his previous response? It was a victory in her book. If she ever got him to outright laugh, then and only then would she consider her efforts a true success.

"Ha ha! I see! That's too bad," she smiled, placing her money on the raised counter as she rolled up her sleeves and prepared herself for carting the groceries home.

To be sure, Orihime wasn't certain he was the type to ever let curiosity get the best of him. Her smile widened and there was a certain twinkle of mischief in her eyes. "It's a secret. If you wait for about a month, you'll find out what it is!"

He might very well figure out what she was doing based on the clues, but it was more fun not to blurt it all out just yet. He might be very surprised once it was time to reveal her plans! ...Unless he hated sweets, of course.

"Why did you choose this job above all the others?" she asked, for she let curiosity have full reign more often than not. "You don't seem to like it much. You could be a nutrition consultant, or a bodyguard...or all kinds of things!" He was smart, and he looked like he was probably pretty strong, too. There was surely very little he couldn't do for employment!

For whatever reason, when Orihime mentioned waiting for a month, whatever expression of a smile which had lurked on his face flickered and disappeared. He didn't frown, or give anything else away. But the lingering mirth was gone.

"I guess I've gotta wait, then," Shinjiro said, the joking tone not reaching his eyes. "Unless you'll give me a clue. Flour goes in a lotta stuff."

When she mentioned the job choice, however, he frowned. "A nutrition consultant has a university degree," he pointed out. "Or at least a high school degree. Places like this are pretty much the only ones which'll hire me."

Being a bodyguard, he figured, required liking the person he was taking hits for. That wasn't a job. That was just ... being a good friend.

Orihime stared at him, surprised. All of that was required? It seemed like it would be pretty easy to get around it, no one had any proof that he didn't have a degree or a diploma. As long as he was capable and competent, that should have been all he needed.

"*I* would hire you," she replied staunchly, almost sulking. She wanted to say more, but that would spoil the secret!

...The secret she was having second thoughts about keeping after seeing his face fall like that. Orihime held to the counter, leaning forward just fractionally. "Did you really want to know that badly? I thought it might be more fun if it was unveiled later, but I'll tell you if that's what you really truly desperately want!"

Don't make her turn that >:C into a <:C!

"Nah," Shinjiro said, and he looked away, feeling badly. She didn't even know him. Well, just more reason, he supposed, that he was pretty much a jerk. "How are you gonna surprise me in a month, you tell me now?"

He didn't want to spoil her sense of fun, after all. Even, well. He cursed himself down and back and around again. And then, sighed.

"Besides, half the fun of plannin something secret is the reveal. And I ain't gonna spoil that."

"You're sure?" she asked, raising herself onto her toes and tilting her head to try and view his face from another angle. She was usually very perceptive about other people, so why was she having such a hard time figuring him out? He could give her a run for her money in the Disguise Your True Feelings competition.

He seemed like he was telling the truth. The little frown turned into a little hopeful smile.

"That's true," she conceded. "I guess you'll just have to trust me to make sure it's a really good surprise. Unless there's anything in particular that you detest! If that's the case, better tell me now so the surprise I think is awesome doesn't turn out to be the worst thing in the whole tiny world."

When a person hides things from himself, it's easy to hide things from others, too. Shinjiro looked away from Orihime as she peered up at him. Man, did everyone have to be so nosy? He sighed again.

Better to try to lighten the mood, before she got suspicious again.

"... I'm not a big fan of durian?" Shinjiro offered. It was the only thing he could think to say.

"Ha ha!" That seemed to satisfy her concerns and she settled back onto her heels. One of these days she would have to try the infamous stinky fruit for herself. She'd never had occasion to buy one before, but now that she was here with a bright future of employment ahead of her...

"I'm glad you're not a picky eater. You'll probably like the surprise just fine, Shinjiro-san!" Of that, she was now fully confident.

"One month!" she vowed. "Then you'll have a job that you love so much you'll wake up every morning looking like that!" she pointed at the conveyor belt.

>:C

NO! That was the wrong face! Orihime quickly snatched up the carrots to turn the frown into a smile.

>:)

"..." This wasn't really what she had in mind for her stunning speech. "Er...just pretend it was the face I created yesterday instead," she grinned crookedly, rubbing the back of her neck.

Edited 2017-09-22 05:11 (UTC)

Actually, a >:) face was probably not a bad one to shoot for. If, Shinjiro supposed, he lived in an alternate reality which would allow him to see this opportunity. But. Again, he wasn't going to think about that now.

"... Thanks," Shinjiro said quietly. He didn't need the help and he didn't need the charity, but he wasn't going to argue against something which wasn't going to happen anyway. He could see the intention, and that was pretty nice of her to offer it.

He began to bag up the veggies and other assorted items, dismantling the face.

She laid her fingertips together, looking pleased. He hadn't followed up the 'thanks' with a 'but' so that sounded as if he were open and accepting of the idea instead of resigned to a dreary fate. Yes, she definitely needed to find out more about him and what he wanted, and what he liked. She needed groceries every day, and she'd need one big bag of flour or sugar to carry home too so she could get stocked up in advance, so the opportunities to talk to each other were definitely there!

And if all else failed? He had friends from his world who'd wound up here, so all she had to do was ask one of them. She wasn't afraid to dig if that's what it took!

Once everything had been rung up and the receipt for the flour carefully stashed away, she struck her usual pose - bag held at waist level with her arms crooked beneath it, extended slightly to receive the rest of the groceries on top.

"Thanks! I'll eat well tonight," she said, excited for the prospect of...well there was still really no way of telling what she was going to make with those ingredients, but she seemed happy about it. "See you tomorrow!"

And likely every day after that unless he could escape her by having a day off.

With the odd motley of ingredients she had, Shinjiro wasn't even going to guess what Orihime was making. He was still remembering Fuuka, and while that wasn't fair to this stranger's cooking skills, he was wary about inquiring too much after it.

He looked a little stern again, chasing away that underlying melancholy. "Keep gettin lots of veggies, not just starch and sh- crap. Get some meat or protein in there, but you ain't gotta go overboard. Lay off the oil. And watch the sugar."

... He wasn't going to tell her he wasn't going to work tomorrow.

Because she'd ask why.

Oh, she'd watch the sugar. Watch it go right into her mouth! Hopefully the addition of a bakery wouldn't make him flip out too much, but she decided she'd buy sugar in the mornings when he wasn't there. Big bags of sugar were a necessity for running a bakery, too.

"Okay," she agreed. "I'll keep a sharp lookout for any specials." It was the best she could promise, since really, nutrition wasn't at the top of her necessity list to make a good hearty meal for herself.

Even so...it was kind of nice to have someone worry about her like this. He was even struggling to watch his language! It wasn't necessary, since none of her other friends ever really held back, but she appreciated the effort for what it was.

She took a step back with a polite inclination of her head to express her gratitude before she was off to enjoy her future dinner.

008 | you're a stranger, so

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