Amidst The Dissonance

Ending off the Week

After Monday came to a close, the rest of the week seemed to fly by. Kaede made use of her free time by attempting to socialize with Shuichi as much as possible. During lunch time, while Miu was throwing another one of her temper tantrums, or while Tenko was going into another frenzy about how much she despised men, she would slip away and join Shuichi out on the courtyard. Conversation was a little difficult at first, as Shuichi wasn't very open with his own experiences and life outside of school. On Tuesday, they found themselves staring out at the courtyard in awkward silence, before Shuichi had to excuse himself to leave for his next class.

It was a little embarrassing to say the least, especially to Shuichi, but it wasn't the end of the world. The few times they were able to have conversation made up for it. Shuichi loved how interested Kaede was with whatever he said, no matter how awkward, stupid, or boring it sounded. He also loved the excited look in her eyes whenever she talked about something she enjoyed. Whenever she talked about how much she loved piano, her pupils would expand, color would come to her face, and her smile would glow. He felt creepy observing her face like such, but he couldn't help himself. He admired it. It was something that he didn't often see when he talked to other people.

Kaede herself simply just enjoyed Shuichi's company. Though she had difficulty getting any words out of him on Tuesday, she had much more success on Wednesday. He had his afternoon free of any classes, and was in a much better mood. He had ordered himself Chinese food and was enjoying it more than his typical lunches. After sharing the food with Kaede,--who refused at least three times before his puppy eyes won her over--he eagerly dove into the topic about some of his favorite novels. Amidst that conversation, he mentioned something about a camera, which sent him off on a tangent and into a new topic about his Photography class. She loved how much he talked about his teacher, as he was one of the few people that were fascinated with his detective potential. It was the first time she had seen Shuichi look genuinely carefree during a conversation. Ever since that moment, she desperately wanted to see it again.

Maybe if she played the piano for him, she'd get to see that motivated smile again. Just maybe.

Now it was Friday, and she had just left her Creative Writing class. She hadn't had the opportunity to talk to Shuichi much because it was an individual work day, so she was unsure whether or not they'd meet at the courtyard again. It'd be pretty embarrassing and disappointing if she walked out onto the yard and saw no one there.

Nevertheless, it was worth a shot. She made her way down the hallway, on the way to the cafeteria to pick up her lunch. She wasn't sure how she was going to be able to leave the table again without seeming suspicious, especially after having done it successfully for three days alone. Despite Maki having kept true to her word by not telling anyone, it was a matter of time before the others realized what was going on. And once they did? Miu wouldn't let her hear the end of it for days.

As she entered the cafeteria, the unpleasant smell of sauce began to waft its way toward her. She cringed at the unpleasant smell, instantly recognizing the source as Sloppy Joe meat. Then, she got angry. It had been months since they served Sloppy Joes on a Friday, but now out of all days they decided to bring it back on the menu? Besides, what had happened to the hamburger and Walking Taco selection that they would normally serve?

She let out an annoyed whine and instantly turned around. If the lunch line was going to serve Sloppy Joes instead of the Nachos then she wasn't even going to bother. She held her breath as she exited the cafeteria, trying not to inhale the strong smell of the sauce again. Oh well. At least now she'd have more time to talk to Shuichi.

But first, she needed to find something else to eat. If not the vending machine, then where? Asking others for food was out of the question, as she was way too embarrassed to even attempt something like that. That left the vending Machine, but she wasn't a huge fan of the food in there. Besides, she didn't feel like paying three dollars and fifty cents for a package of Ramen and a soda. She folded her arms and kept walking down the central hall to look for the Fine Arts hall intersection. Decisions swarmed in her head as she tried to decide what to do. Suck it up and go to the vending machine? Skip lunch and meet Shuichi early? Suck it up? Skip lunch? Go? Skip?