Is This Seat Taken? (Blue)

[Akkii]

Tarao wondered how he'd gotten dragged into shopping at the mall. Oh, right, Kisa and Momiji had wanted to go. Hiro had gotten dragged into this too. He watched the two youngest of the group, Kisa and Hiro. Really, they should just get together and be boyfriend and girlfriend already. Everybody knew those two liked each other. Of course, Akito would not like that much at all. Momiji was skipping with them, talking to Kisa. Tarao wondered why the kid always wore such girly-looking clothes. And nailpolish. And flowery earrings. He knew for a fact that Momiji wasn't gay, but Momiji always dressed like a girl.

Tarao knew he must be getting bored to be thinking about this stuff. Then he got an idea. He'd ditch the group and watch a movie or something. Besides, Momiji could watch the preteens. He was fifteen after all, even if the blonde boy didn't look like he was.

"Hey guys, I'll be right back," he lied.

"Okay, Tarao-nii-san,*" Kisa replied.
"Whatever," Hiro said in his usually sarcastic voice.
"'Kay!" Momiji chirped.

Tarao left and headed for the food court. He'd get something to eat there.

After getting himself some shrimp terriyaki (anything else seemed bad to have. Chicken? Steak? No. But there was nobody cursed with the Shrimp!), he searched for a table. Most were full, so he headed over to one that just had one other person and a free seat on the other side of the table. The person was a girl, and he felt nervous for a moment, but he knew that it wasn't like she was going to jump up and hug him, so what was there to worry about?

"This seat taken?" He asked the girl when he got to the table.

((*Nii-san is basically big brother in Japanese. Nee-san would be big sister. They sound exactly the same, just different. People tend to refer to their older friends or older family members as Nii/Nee-san. Or, in some cases, Onii-san or Onee-san.))

[/Blue/]

Aime had been picking at some rice (she was vegetarian) while listening to her bright pink iPod. She pulled her earphones out and paused the music. Without looking up, she shook her head. "Go ahead." she said brightly. After she had put her iPod in her (seemingly) bottomless purse, she looked her new friend over. He was clearly a little older than she was, maybe 15 or so, and he didn't look like a kidnapper or a creeper. "I"m Aime." she said cheerfully, always glad to talk with people. She held out her hand and smiled kindly, brushing her blonde hair out of her eyes with her free hand.

After watching him for a minute (or a second), Aime decided he was pretty hot. She wondered if he had a girlfriend. Suddenly, she found herself adjusting her earrings and clothes, making sure they looked perfect. Her bright blue eyes peeked at him as she pretended to look around, hoping he wouldn't notice.

[Akkii]

"Nice to meet you, Aime-san," Tarao replied simply. "Sohma Tarao," he added, introducing himself the formal way that Japanese people introduced themselves, last name before first. He took her hand and shook. Usually, in Japan, you bowed. But hand-shakes were common too. He took a bite of his food. He smiled slightly at her after swallowing.

[/Blue/]

Very formal. Aime thought. I should have bowed or something. "Sorry. I'm not all that . . . traditional." she laughed lightly, trying to sound innocent and girly. "Sohma . . . aren't you related to that guy who turns into a rat?" she asked, her eyebrows squished together as she thought. "Its a shame people found out about that, he must feel terrible." she said quietly. "You know, I ran into him the other day. He's actually really nice. Tell him Aime says hi." she wanted to hit herself when she realized she was rambling. "Sorry." she apologized quickly.

"So how old are you?" she asked non-chalantly, as if she didn't care. But she had to know if he was within dating range. She took a small bite of her rice, then glanced at his meal. Shrimp. Meat. "Oh, you like shrimp?" she said lightly. Some people thoght vegetarians were weird. It was all very cliche.

[Akkii]

"Yeah, Yuki? I feel bad for him," Torao stated. He wouldn't drop any hints that he turned into a tiger. "Mostly because he could get into a lot of trouble for so many people finding out. If I see him, I'll tell him. But he doesn't come around where most of the Sohmas live very much, for certain reasons." He shrugged.

"Anyway, I'm fifteen. You?" He asked. "And yeah, I like shrimp, it's okay. You a vegitarian?" He noticed the lack of meat on her plate.

[/Blue/]

15 . . . Close enough! she thought. "I'm 13. And a half." she added quickly, wanting to sound a little older. She glanced at the shrimp again and spoke. "Vegetarian, um, well you know on certain occasions and all. So yeah, I guess." she said nervously, trying to hide her cheeks as she blushed. "Sorry, some people think its kind of weird." she mumbled.

[Akkii]

"Nah, it's not too weird. I already avoid a lot of the meat. Steak, chicken, stuff like that. But I like fish. I can't give it up." Torao laughed lightly. "And thirteen? Cool. So when school starts up again, you'll be going into eighth grade?" He asked. He would be a sophomore in school.

[/Blue/]

Aime smiled, glad he understood. "I still eat bacon sometimes." she said with a playful smirk. Then she smiled shyly as she answered the next question. "Actually, I skipped sixth grade, so I'll be in ninth." she shrugged. "I guess I'm a little smart, sometimes." she explained modestly. Well, thats a year closer, TECHNICALY. she thought.

[Akkii]

"Oh, that's really cool. So are you going to Kaibara? That's the high school I go to. Yuki, too, along with most of the other Sohmas," Torao said.

"And I don't eat anything like bacon, either." Considering one of the zodiac was the boar, aka pig.

[/Blue/]

"Yeah." she said. "So do kids really shove people in lockers, or is that just in the movies?" Aime asked, smiling brilliantly and holding back laughter. "Because if they do, I might want to think about taking up karate or something." she said, letting a laugh escape her lips.

[Akkii]

"Not really," Torao replied, laughing. "There are fights sometimes, but usually the girls don't have anything to worry about. But..." He smirked at her. "...I could have Yuki, Kyo, or myself teach you martial arts. A lot of us Sohmas know how to fight fairly well, 'cause we've learned from one of our relatives Yuki's the best, though. None of us can beat him in a fight." He chuckled a bit.

[/Blue/]

Aime laughed with him. "I just might take you up on that offer." she said. It was just an excuse to spend some time with him. And learn something that could come in handy. There was an akward silence. "My cousin said whenever there's an akward silence, people usually think of Abraham Lincoln." Aime said, her blue eyes sparkling with amusement. "Its completley ridiculous, I think."

((My cousin actually told me that.))

[Akkii]

((Which one? Jay? XDDD))

Torao laughed. "Your cousin's funny then," he said with a smirk. "I don't think about Abe Lincoln, though. He was one of the American Presidents, right?" You couldn't blame him for asking. It's not like they were in America. This was Japan.

[/Blue/]

"I know, right? I seriously think someone dropped her on her head when she was little or something." Aime replied. She shrugged. Suddenly, some gilrly pop song blasted out of her purse. "S'cuse me." she said, grabbing her bright pink cell phone and flipping it open. "I have to go. We should hang out some time, though. Whats your number?" she asked, being pretty bold. She usually was very shy about that kind of thing, if you can believe it.

[Akkii]

Torao smiled. "Ah, my cell number..." He told her the number. "Want me to write it down for you? Just to make sure?"

He didn't want to give her the number for the Main House. It wasn't likely he'd be the one to pick up. More likely Hatori or one of the maids. Or maybe, on a rare occasion, Akito. He shuddered inwardly at that thought. If Akito answered, he would be in all sorts of trouble. Aime might, too.

"You think you could give me your number too?" He asked.

[/Blue/]

"Yup." she took a deep breath. "1-800-588-2300 EMPIRE. TODAY!" she sang the number of the carept commercial, and then laughed. "No, actually its 1-234-567-8990." Aime recited her number, and remembered his in her head so she could add him as a contact in a minute.

[Akkii]

"That'll be easy to remember," Torao said with a laugh. "I'll call tonight. If I don't call, you're welcome to call my cell," he told her, just in case he somehow forgot, though that wouldn't be likely.

"Well, I guess you have to go no, hm?"

[/Blue/]

Aime nodded, a bit sad to leave. "I'll call you or something." she said bightly, and then turned aound and wove through the crowd until her blonde hair was just another head following the current of people.

And then Aime was calling her friends, telling them about the hot 15 year-old she had met, and that she ahd his number, and that he was super nice. They all squealed in delight with her, and she texted him when she hung up. Just wanted to make sure you didn't give me a bogus number. she typed quickly.

((So . . . what now?))

[Akkii]

((Hmmmmm...))

Torao got the text when he was back with his cousins, Momiji, Kisa and Hiro. All younger than him. Well, Momiji wasn't younger than him, but he sure acted like it.

I didn't. By the way, my cousin says 'Hi,' he texted back. Momiji had been questioning him about who he was texting, and had then concluded all by himself that it must be a 'cute girl' (which was very true, in Torao's opinion, not that he admitted it), and told Torao to say that his cousin said hello.

Of course, after Torao got the chance to send it, Momiji took it out of his hands and started adding a bit.

Hi! Here's his cousin. Sorry, I just wanted to say hello, even if he already said that. I'm Momiji. And I'd bet you're cute. He was being his normal childish self, then hit send before Torao could take the phone back.

[/Blue/]

Aime read the messages, Momiji's popping up before she finish replying to the first one. She laughed as she read it, and replied You would win that bet. She smiled and then finished reading Torao's. You're cousin is very . . . 'out there' she texted quickly, her fingers knowing where each letter and symbol was so she didn't have to look at her phone unless she was reading a text already.