"Well, first of all?" you say, raising a finger. "I'm not actually a foreigner. Kind of." You pause. "Look, it's complicated. I mean, I speak flawless Japanese, no? And I'm not pitying you. Nor do I think you need concern."
Sasa - actually, come to think of it, Sasa's her surname.
Yuuki glares at you. "Then
stop bothering me."
She's the second Yuuki you've met, technically, after that
Inoue Yuuki in Ishinomaki. The one that Homura got her hacking instructions from.
You sigh, rubbing your nose. "Look, really... I was curious," you say. You're... not lying. It's kind of a stretch, but you're not lying. You
are mildly curious, at least. "I didn't really expect to see someone else skipping school-"
Yuuki pounces, a glint in her eyes. "So you
are skipping school."
"Uh?" You blink at her. "Uh. No, I'm not. Look, it's a long story, but I'm not enrolled in any schools here, so I'm not
skipping school, I don't have a school to
go to."
"Too
good for school?" she snaps.
"No, not really," you say. "I was just never registered."
She snorts. "What, you're here illegally?"
"It's a long story," you repeat patiently. She's... not
technically wrong, probably? You don't strictly
have a legal presence, unless maybe you do and you just don't remember. Or maybe Kyuubey decided to be helpful and cover your tracks, which is unlikely but not implausible?
Yuuki sniffs, scowling at you.
"
Yo, Sabrina," Kyouko's voice drawls inside your head.
Agh. Bad timing, Kyouko.
"
Hey, Kyouko," you respond to Kyouko as you sigh, running your hands through your hair. "
Not exactly the best time, what's up?"
Looking around, you find that you've... chased Yuuki nearly to the exit of the mall - you can feel the hot air from outside blowing in through the open doors. "OK, honestly, I happen to like meeting and hanging out with people," you say, trying a friendly smile for Yuuki.
"
Right, right," Kyouko responds. "
Works too. Was gonna tell you, gonna be late for lunch 'less you wanna hunt a Witch."
Her tone is... almost conciliatory. Which is kind of interesting.
"
Good for you," Yuuki snaps, still scowling. "You can go and hang out with someone other than
me."
"I... OK, look," you say. Does Kyouko want something from you? She'd have mentioned it if she did, right? "Can I buy you ice cream as an apology? I kind of feel like the both of us have gotten off on the wrong foot here - I happen to know a place, and it's my treat if you're OK with that."
Simultaneously, you respond to Kyouko. "
Uh, give me a moment, I'll get back to you?"
Yuuki's face twists into a confused, suspicious mask. "Why?" She
almost manages to hide the sound of her stomach growling.
"
Yeah yeah, it ain't goin' anywhere," Kyouko grumbles. "
Yuma 'n I can wait a coupla minutes."
"An apology," you say, not reacting to that. "I want to start us off again on an even footing."
"No," she snaps, turning and stalking out of the shopping centre and into the midday sun. "I don't want anything to do with you. Go away, go back to your 'complicated' life that has nothing to do with mine."
You stare after her as she practically stomps away, brown hair bobbing with every disgruntled step.
[] Write-in
=====
It's about twenty minutes past lunch, by the by.
