90/Melonpan Mishaps

From Radiant Heart MUSH

Melonpan Mishaps
Date of Scene: 14 July 2023
Location: Radiant Heart Academy
Synopsis: Before Kazuo can catch a rabbit with his trap, there's someone else that the bait is practically tailor-made for. Wako does not get fed. Wako does get a promise for later, at least!
Cast of Characters: Kazuo Saitou, Wako Agemaki


Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Hallways after classes. Students rushing. Students chatting. Students rushing into students chatting. And ...

... a tall, white-haired figure leaned against the wall in a hallway corner, just out of the flow of traffic, with ... melonpan.

This is an excellent plan for what he is trying to do. There are, however, Other Factors Potentially Involved, of which he as yet knows nothing.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
A new school, in a new city, is an adjustment in a lot of ways. Some of them expected, and many of them welcome. At the same time, there are a lot of factors that Wako honestly hadn't planned for in her various preparations for attending RHA, to her current regret.

No popping over to the Shindou estate for an extra breakfast, for starters. No stopping in at the bakery on the way to classes. No Ruri on hand to share generously out of her bento at lunch break.

Classes are letting out, and Wako Agemaki is starving.

Which is how the tall white-haired boy leaning against the wall in the corner finds himself - or rather, the melon bread he's holding so enticingly and pointedly not eating - the subject of some very fixed attention.

The girl holding her school bag close to her side and staring intently at the melonpan is petite, yes, and blonde, but she does not have nearly enough hair to be his intended quarry.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
... this could be a problem. If only because if his intended quarry does show up, the girl staring at his bait like she would like to devour it and also possibly his arm up to the elbow might scare her off - or make her decide that it'd be impolite to try to get in on the staring.

"Hey," Kazuo says in the Wrong Petite Blonde's direction. "Are you all right? Did they make you skip lunch?"

Wako Agemaki has posed:
The girl startles a little, abruptly made aware of just how visibly she was fiending for his melon bread. "Uh?" is Wako's initial, very intelligent and articulate reply. Her cheeks turn faintly pink. "--Oh! No, nothing like that..."

She's just in the process of scooting out of the way of the flow of hallway traffic before someone runs her over, when her stomach lets out the loud, rumbling gurgle of an irritated predator. Immediately she folds her arm over her abdomen and turns several shades redder.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Well, that's a way to make sure people are aware of one's presence. Not one that's necessarily good in the long term, but ...

"I can't give you this one," Kazuo says, firmly dismissing anything embarrassing to the Wrong Petite Blonde that might have just happened from his personal universe. "It's for somebody else. But. Where can I find you, afternoons?" Because it is clearly unfair to taunt someone with melonpan who wants it that much. (Or possibly any food that much, but the nothing-like-that suggests it might be melonpan-specific.)

Note to self: in future attempts to trap a rabbit, maybe don't spread the net quite as wide.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"It's okay, really!" She waves a hand hastily in the air in a largely useless attempt at dispelling the awkwardness that Kazuo seems immune to anyhow. And carefully directs her attention away from the melonpan and up (and up, and up) toward his face. "I can go and get something when I leave here."

The question checks her, a bit, and her brows lift quizzically. "Um, well - drama club, some days, and I'm signed up for Inai-sensei's self-defense classes for the others."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
At least leaning against the wall means he's slouching a bit. So it's not as far up as it could be. That's a plus. Right?

He nods back toward her, and then there's a momentary frown. "Inai's teaching self-defense?" Guidance counselor. Guidance on ... punching, apparently. Well. There's a brief shrug, as if it's not quite so important. "And who can I ask for? I'm Kazuo Saitou. Eleventh-year." Second-year in any reasonable school, but this one has a distressing number of them all in a row, so.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako nods confirmation: yes, the guidance counselor teaches self-defense. No, she doesn't seem to think there's anything odd about that. "She actually approached me about it. I guess she must have thought I seemed like I needed it." She is, perhaps, oddly cheerful about this.

"I'm Wako Agemaki," she offers a moment later, introduction for introduction. "Tenth year, but it's my first year going here - I just transferred."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
"Welcome to the school, Agemaki-san." Leaning against the wall isn't a good setup for a polite bow, but Kazuo manages a nod of the head. "Don't let the swarming hordes put you off. I hope drama club's fair to you." There's a note of amusement in that last - not a warning, not mockery, just an offering to share a laugh at the universe. All the same, he's glancing away from her for a moment, checking those swarming hordes. Melonpan target ... not yet acquired; he looks back to Wako soon enough that most people might have missed the lapse altogether.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"Well," Wako replies with a grin. "It wouldn't be drama club without some drama, would it?"

The direction of his attention does not escape her. A tilt of her head, and the amused grin turns into a warmer sort of smile. "But, you're waiting for someone. I'll get out of your way." Before her stomach gains a will of its own and tries to climb up her spinal cord in search of sustenance, perhaps. "Nice to meet you, Saitou-kun. Hopefully I'll see you around!"