Serendipity

First Meeting

Zarc smiled as he watched the hostess of the Crystal Cod walk a young man to his table. The young man had spikey eggplant-purple and black hair and onyx eyes. His face was remarkably similar to Zarc's own, and the closer he got to the table, the more it looked identical.

"Here's your table, sir!" the hostess said. The eggplant-haired young man thanked her and turned to look at Zarc.

"Hi, I'm Zarc," the silver-haired man said, smiling at the young man. The young man replied, "It's nice to meet you, Zarc. I'm Yuto."

"Have a seat, Yuto," Zarc said. Yuto sat down and looked around. "Nobody else has arrived yet?"

"Not yet," Zarc replied. "Yuri texted and said he'll be running a little late because of traffic, Yuya said he's almost here, and Yugo just left his house shortly before you arrived."

"Well, as long as they're here before Kairi arrives, things should go according to plan," Yuto said. "Then again, Kairi's late to almost everything, so I think we should be safe."

"Yeah, she says she likes being 'fashionably late', whatever that's supposed to mean," Zarc said, shaking his head. "I think it's just her having absolutely no consideration for other people's time. But it should work in our favor this time."

The hostess returned with another young man, this one with tomato hair and ruby eyes. His face, too, was exactly like Zarc's and Yuto's. He blinked when he saw their faces. "Huh, didn't think you guys would be my doppelgangers!" he joked. "I'm Yuya!"

Yuto and Zarc introduced themselves as Yuya sat down. Minutes later the hostess returned with a young man with tourmaline eyes and sapphire hair with banana bangs, and a face just like theirs. The blunana gasped when he saw them. "Any chance we're long-lost siblings?" he asked.

"Probably not," Zarc chuckled. "You're Yugo, I presume?"

"Yep!" the blunana grinned. He sat down and excitedly began munching on the free bread basket. "Ohhh, this is so good!"

"It really is," Yuya agreed, munching a roll of his own with butter and jam. "So it's just Yuri left, and then we wait for Kairi?"

"Yep!" Zarc said. "I actually told Kairi that our dinner reservation is an hour later than it actually was, just to make sure there was enough time for you four to get here in case there was traffic or something else that delayed you."

"Probably not necessary, since Kairi's always late for everything, but it's good to be safe, especially when we're confronting her about her affair," Yugo said.

The hostess came back with a young man with amethyst eyes and cabbage-purple and pink hair. He, too, had the same face as the others. When he saw them, he raised an eyebrow. "I guess she's got a type when it comes to faces, huh?"

"Probably so that she can pretend we're her husband just trying out a new hairstyle and hair dye if someone sees her with one of us," Yuto said. Zarc blinked in surprise. "You know, knowing her, that's probably exactly why she picked you four, so she wouldn't get caught cheating."

Yuri shook his head in annoyance as he sat down. "The best way to not get caught cheating is to just not cheat!"

"Yeah, well, she clearly didn't think things through," Yugo said. "I mean seriously, I may be as dumb as a box of rocks, but even I know cheating's a bad idea!"

"She really perpetuates the dumb blonde stereotype," Zarc said. He then glanced at Yugo's blond banana bangs and quickly clarified, "I'm not saying all blondes are dumb, and I'm definitely not saying you're dumb, Yugo—"

"Nah, it's cool," Yugo said, waving his hand dismissively with a grin, "like I said, I'm dumb as a box of rocks. I know that."

The waitress came to the table and smiled at the gentlemen. "Can I take your drink orders?" she asked.

"Yeah, can I get an iced tea, please?" Yuto asked. The waitress nodded, writing the drink order down.

"I'll have a sweet tea, please," Yuya said.

"Can I have a root beer?" Yugo asked.

"And I'll take a strawberry lemonade, thanks," Yuri said.

"Alright I'll be right out with your drinks," the waitress said. She then turned to Zarc, who had already drunk most of his own drink while he was waiting for his four dining companions. "Would you like a refill of your Ramune, sir?"

"Yes, please," Zarc said. The waitress smiled and took his glass to refill it.

"So now we just have to wait for Kairi," Yuya said, buttering another bread roll. Yuri grinned. "Oh, this is going to be fun!"