1st Bowl

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     Gazing out of the window of the train, Tawara Souta silently watched as the scenery morphed from its industrial city-scape to wide, open skies.  The place he left for a different life in the city.  Watching things speed by as he got closer and closer to his old town, Kagawa, he was filled with melancholy and repressed memories. He never really planned to go back but...something came up. What brought him back to the place he left behind? Unfortunately, the death of his father.

~~

     "I'm not-" *slurp* "-going to run a noodle shop." Souta declared to his inquiring friend across the table. Souta had met up with his friend, Shinobu, after the funeral and the two decided to get some food to catch up for a bit. Although, his friend got into the uncomfortable topic of taking over his father's shop but the conversation quickly took a back seat at the change of topics.

"Geez! You're so cold!" Shinobu exclaimed with exasperated. "You know, I bet if I hadn't happened to have called ya, you wouldn't have even told me you were in town."

"I mean, we saw each other at the funeral anyway..." Souta weakly tried to justify.

"That's not the point!" Shinobu screeched as he slammed his bowl of noodles down.

The two soon ended their 'catch-up' and thanked the chef before exiting the building. As they started to say their goodbyes, Shinobu offered Souta a ride. "I can drive ya." He said while he slid into the driver's seat.

Souta just looked back with an assuring smile before rejecting. "Nah, it's okay. I feel like walking. Besides, my sister asked me to make a stop at a place called..." He paused to pull out a scrap of paper from his pocket and looked at it with a scrutinizing gaze. "...(Flower Shop Name)." He noted before shoving the piece of paper back where it came from.

     Shinobu perked up, oddly eagerly, at hearing the shop's name.  "(Sh-Shop Name)?!  A-Are ya sure you don't need a ride?!" He was trying to play cool but was practically stumbling back out of his car, trying to persuade Souta to reconsider.  "Do ya even know how to get there?"

     Souta sweated nervously at his friend's suddenly spastic nature.  "Geez, when did he get so into plants?" He thought to himself before responding, plunging his hand back into his pocket in search for the paper again. "I've got it writte-" he stopped, seeing a blur of smudged ink.

~

     "Shinobu, why did you insist on driving me to this place so much?" Souta pried in a slightly raised voice to overcome the sounds of riding in the convertible.

Shinobu just looked away nervously with an embarrassed flush rising up to his cheeks. "I-It's just a good s-shop.  My mom has me pick up her orders for her." He spurted out as he forced his attention on the road in front of him trying to deny the pink dusting the tips of his ears.

     Souta just gave a long, thoughtful stare before looking out the window.  The ride didn't last long though. "We're here..."  Shinobu mumbled.

     "Oh?"  Souta perked as he exited the car.  He looked around and saw that is was near some familiar roads and landmarks. "It's just on the way home.  You should've just told m-"  He looked over to speak to his friend but he was already pushing his way through the shop door.  Souta released a sigh and gave a look of exhaustion.  "This guy..."  He murmured as he trudged up the porch.

     ~Ring-Ding~

     A bell chimed, signaling the arrival of a new customer.  It echoed lightly off the walls of the shop and charmed it's way through the wealth of flora to the ears of the one who holds the entire scene dear to them.  They pushed their way past the dangling leafs and plants. Lightly combing out the dusting of blossoms that gathered in their lovely (H/C) hair, they greeted the familiar face greeting them at the counter. "Oh! Shinobu! I wasn't expecting you!"

"Y-Yeah...well-" Shinobu started to explain but the second chime cut him off and stole the attention of the beautiful shop owner .

As Souta walked in, interrupting the two, both him and the woman got lost staring at each other with surprise.

    "(Y/n)..?"

     "Souta?"





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I'm so sorry this took so long! Stuff kept coming up.
Anyway, this was the first chapter and it's a little slow.  I'm trying to keep Souta as the main character so your character's intro was a bit prolonged but should pick up.  I'll leave more story details and explanations on a different page because I HATE "A/N"s  so any updates will be there!

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