synergetic | Lunch Date

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flayn goes to rikkai

Lunch Date

Yukimura ascends the staircase to the south wing roof once the lunch bell rings. As expected, Marui jumped at the chance to be a model for him and Flayn. Yukimura shared that bit of news in art class, where they were then able to confirm a date and time for Marui to pose for them.

The other piece of good news he saved; art project discussion belonged in art class, but he didn't want to exacerbate the extra attention Flayn was receiving from talking to him (tempting as it was to actually do what Yanagi suggested as a solution). Besides that, if she was as delighted at her wish being granted as she was at its being floated, that was something Yukimura wanted to enjoy privately. His own misstep the prior morning was his, and at the same time, it wasn't something they couldn't have recovered from. It was the attention from the other students that made Flayn uncomfortable and put an end to their banter. Yukimura would remove that factor from the equation this time.

A heavy door seals the top of the staircase from the rooftop outside it. On reaching the top, he takes a peek outside to confirm two things: that he was the first there, and that the light sprinkle of rain last period hadn't left the space too wet for eating lunch.

What he sees instead brightens his anticipation, and with a small smile, he waits quietly for Flayn to find him at the top of the stairs.

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"They must have forgotten because they never tried to see it for themselves!"

With that established, she produced the alluded-to handkerchiefs to lay on the seats.

"It was so sweet of you to think of this!" Flayn exclaimed, head turning every few seconds to study something else that caught her eye.

"I'm not going to see everything up here before the period is over, and that's about the only downside."

"That doesn't seem like a downside to me," Yukimura said with a smile as he let the door close behind them and followed behind her, curious as to where she would choose to sit.

"It just means we'll have to do this again."

"Oh, this could become a regular thing..." she mused.

One particular bench is almost cradled by the boughs of a flowering tree, with petals gently fluttering to rest on and around it. It seems a shame to brush them aside, but Flayn does, a little less dismayed when she sees how they all gather on the ground around it, before laying down the protective handkerchiefs.

"How do you go to class every day when this is here, just waiting for you?" Flayn asked, sitting down to smell the blossoms.

"Looks like a sweethearts' bench." Were Marui's exact words when he came to see the garden, spoken with his usual good humor. Yukimura can't help remembering them now as he watches Flayn drift over to it and choose it as their lunch spot.

He'd never admit to being nervous, but he is, a little. Flayn is so relaxed and confident, too. He isn't going to lose to that. It's good to be a little nervous, right? This is sort of exciting, and certainly seldom-explored territory.

Yagyuu probably would never have allowed her to soil her own handkerchief.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" He asks as he takes a seat on the other half of the bench and begins to untie the knot of his lunch bag. "I'm so glad it came out well. This garden was the school beautification committee's project last year. It was a bit more traveled last fall when it was finished, but it fell out of use over the winter. I think it will start getting used more with the weather warming, but for now, it's a nice retreat."

"Quite! I know I said it shouldn't be a secret, but it's so quiet and perfect now, do you know what I mean?"

It takes Flayn a moment or two to remember to unpack her lunch, too.

"I cannot imagine all the work they must have put into this. Oh, you must want to draw this all the time."

She settled back into the bench, reaching for one of the hanging flowers.

"So much work must have gone into this. Every plant is so perfectly chosen."

"I do," Yukimura admits with a soft chuckle. There were no whispering crowds or gawking eyes. It was just them. She's right: it's quiet and perfect just like it is.

"If I'd known how happy it would make you, I'd have invited you sooner. What I most like is how peaceful it is here. Being around so many flowers just puts you at ease."

Having reached his bento box, he opened the lid to a strip of grilled fish over a bed of rice with some pickled vegetables and tamagoyaki.

"And it's nice to have a chance to talk naturally. How has your experience been settling in? Has it been difficult adjusting?"

"I believe your choice in timing was perfect," she declared, "for the contrast would not have been so exquisite otherwise. I had to get used to how things mostly are, for this experience to be so special."

She finally gets some of her sandwich into her stomach, then answers the rest. Before recently, she'd have given one answer, but lately...

"Mostly everything has been lovely, at least since I started following Marui-san around. It is only..."

She frowned, briefly.

"More people have been saying things to me out of the blue, lately. Mostly the girls."

She'd wanted to see it as good, initially, but... the first instance was with Konishi at the end of class that day.

Hearing her speak of how perfect the timing was makes Yukimura a little sad. It sounds like a polite way of admitting the experience has not been great.

Confirmation of his read follows in her elaboration. Naturally, Yukimura is as much unsurprised as he is heartened to hear of the positive impact Marui's friendship has had. It was hard not to be in good spirits when he was around. He'd done a good thing that day, hadn't he? Of course, Yukimura feels not a drop of remorse for having punished him so brutally in response to that good deed, because it was still cutting practice. But he could maybe leave Marui a surprise box of doughnuts in his locker next time for karma.

The girls, though... That Yukimura doesn't understand at all. He's seen nothing but sweetness from Flayn. What had happened?

"What kinds of things?"

"Odd ones, mostly about me being..." She sought a way to soften it, not wanting to make anyone sound too bad. "A bit too self-assured, I suppose. I certainly feel more confident lately! I suppose the difference from how I was when I arrived is just off putting."

Which was to say, she mostly didn't understand it, either.

"It is only classmates, however! No one in the tennis clubs has been any different, which is what is honestly more important to me."

Too self-assured? Is that a gender difference? Yukimura doesn't understand it that well. Flayn isn't boastful or attention-seeking. She doesn't voice agreement to compliments paid to her. What's the problem? More curious, it's only with classmates. That says to Yukimura he is probably correct that the issue is not Flayn's behavior; if it were, the response would not be isolated to one group like that. But he's in her class. If something had happened there, wouldn't he have seen it for himself?

"That's strange. I wonder what the problem is. I haven't noticed you act in an off putting way at all. But I'm glad you haven't seen issues with the tennis club; I'd be concerned if you did. Confidence is a good thing to have among athletes. If someone in the tennis club spoke of it like a problem, that says to me that confident people intimidate them. Then, doesn't that make the real issue their confidence instead of yours?"

"Wouldn't it require a good deal of confidence to say something like that to someone, though?"

She can't quite imagine it, unless such things were directly affecting others.

"It is mostly from people I haven't spoken to much, as well. So it is very confusing."

"Not as much as it would take to actually talk to you about what's bothering them, right?" It was a thin line here too, the difference between using an indirect but socially acceptable means of communication and simply speaking ill about someone as an alternative to trying to solve the problem. It seems to Yukimura that Flayn was doing well to notice, but she wasn't being given much to work with.

"Maybe you can help them out and ask yourself." It's what he would do. (Yes, and look how far you've gotten with girls, Seiichi...)

"That seems more like it would be proving them right," she said slowly. "Thinking everyone is going to like me is just what they're expecting. I must be unexpected!"

She brightens up a little at that prospect. She'd surprised herself a lot already, after all.

"But I would not stop you asking, since I am somewhat curious."

Yukimura... doesn't really follow her train of thought. But she seems to be feeling better about it, in any case. He chuckles with amusement.

"You certainly are that," he grants. "I like that about you. It's refreshing."

Just the sound of his laugh gave her a happy, almost floating feeling in her chest, but then he talks, too. Her face warmed up in a way he had to notice.

"I-is it?" she wondered, mostly for lack of anything better to say. "I-I can't imagine... I mean, that..."

Honestly, she wasn't sure what she meant, but she was smiling, trying to figure out how to say it.

He does notice, and he feels just a little guilty for enjoying it so much. The socially correct response should have been for Flayn to vehemently downplay herself (was that the reason she was getting words about being too self-assured?), but Yukimura personally likes this much better.

"What's wrong?" He asks, still smiling. "Did I embarrass you?"

The proper thing for him to say next should have been an apology. Instead, after a pause, it's a quiet "Cute..."

Flayn instinctively just wants to hide her face, even if... what he says...

"I-I don't think I mind being embarrassed, if you're the only one who knows," she admitted, unable to really justify grabbing her school bag and holding it between them. Because it wasn't just embarrassment. It was a little bit... gratifying... to receive positive attention that wasn't from the one person who was supposed to pay attention to her no matter what. With Yukimura, she could almost believe he actually did... think...

Yukimura can't help a genuine laugh into his hand. This is refreshing too: being able to sit and have a conversation with a girl who was responsive to being teased without completely shutting down.

"Is that so? Then I promise to keep it a secret." It's more than a fair price to be able to keep talking with her like this.

"Promise to talk about something else, too," she said quickly. "I don't want to talk about me, whether you think i-it's cute or not."

She was blushing intensely at this point, especially once she actually repeated the words.

"Talk about yourself instead, please! Why did you want to bring me up here?"

"That's a dilemma," Yukimura admits. "I wanted to meet up here so I could get to know you better. I don't know how I'm going to do that if you don't want to talk about yourself."

"You could not do that playing tennis?" she asked. "I suppose it is easier to talk when we're not all sweaty."

Her voice levels out, but her face still feels a little warm. Why her? Surely, not simply because she's the newest girl in school... He's too thoughtful to be swayed by something like that.

"I don't think there is much to myself besides school and tennis," she said, and she mostly wanted that to be true.

While playing tennis? That's a concerning thought-- shouldn't you be concentrating on the game? Well, she is new to Rikkai. And she's probably never seen how he plays before. If Marui is her basis for comparison... maybe the misconception should only be expected. Yukimura did choose him for a reason.

"I doubt very much that's true," he offers politely to her assessment of just how much there is to her. "But since you raised the subject of tennis, why don't you tell me what you've learned from playing with Marui?"

"To be tricky but reliable!" she said quickly. "And to be tenacious mentally as well as physically."

Her enthusiasm ticks back up and her blush is, at least, not blindingly hot.

"Now, it is your turn! You must tell me what you've learned from him, with so much more time, so that I know what I must learn next!"

Yukimura likes her answer. Marui has been a good teacher if she's learned those things.

He isn't expecting it to be turned back on him, however, and the reversal causes just the smallest of starts. She asks with such gusto, too, he has to answer it.

"What I've learned from him...? Mmh..." He hums thoughtfully over his memories of Marui over the years. A fond smile makes its way to his face without his ever realizing it.

"More than tennis, Marui has taught me about strength, and the different shapes that it takes. Naturally, he's a strong tennis player, too. But what makes Marui truly remarkable is his attitude. He understands the power of positive thinking better than anyone else, and wields it to great effect in the face of adversity. When his back is up against the wall is when he shines the brightest; that's the kind of person he is."

It takes him a moment to realize that he's answered her question in the literal sense, however... He looks at her a little sheepishly.

"Sorry. You were interested in what you could learn next from him, but I didn't answer that well. I think you understand that kind of strength already."

It's Yukimura who struggles with it. To this day, even. But then, people like Marui and Flayn wouldn't be so remarkable if it was something anyone could attain.

Edited 2024-03-07 23:36 (UTC)

"But you made good on your other goal," Flayn said reassuringly. "I feel like I know you better, since now I know some of what you value."

She took a sip from her thermos, absently wishing for hot tea and cakes. They would pair so well with the flowers and being so much closer to the sky.

"And you remind me, too, how I must go forward now. It is well to listen to criticism meant kindly, but I do not know enough to say how the girls in our class mean what they say. It may be best to just hope they are mistaken, and go about as I was, yes?"

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