Monroe High School: Cafeteria

     Consisting of little more than a wide open area with mock marble floor, the 
high school cafeteria is by no means impressive. Rows of cafeteria tables are 
lined up in the room, complete with uncomfortable plastic seats done in a sea 
foam green hue. The flooring is plain white pseudo-marble, an obvious choice to 
prevent costly, repetitive floor cleanings. Lighting here is dull, little more 
than stretches of cheap, affordable florescent lights.

     Set to the north of the cafeteria is the actual lunch line area, where--
during lunch hours--people work busily to dish over food for the high school 
students. East of this is an area set aside for rows of vending machines, both 
soda and candy machines alike. To the southern-most end of the cafeteria is a 
small stage area, often used during lunch hours by student groups for various 
promotional activities.

Obvious exits:
OUT
Eve steps into the cafeteria.
Eve has arrived.

     Having joined the school a very short time ago, Eve is having a little 
trouble fitting in. Oh, she's perhaps only a little younger than the average 
high school entrant these days, and likely any of those who skipped a grade are 
no older than her. It's not that unusual, to see someone her age here.

     Usually however, such new entrants don't attend the high-grade classes. The 
only classes Eve shares with those of her age are home ec and similar classes, 
the ones which have no upper-year versions and so are attended by those of any 
age who feel like picking up non-core credits. Not the most gregarious of people, 
Eve's been friendly enough... but she hasn't sought out those she has little in 
common with, those she has little logical reason to approach. And so here she 
sits, currently alone. At a table with a surprisingly large lunch for such a 
small girl. She eats almost mechanically though, as she's utterly engrossed in a 
book. Unlike others who might eat a lot, Eve doesn't seem to take any particular 
joy in the food. Instead, she seems to save her joy for the book. And it's... a 
text book. For the science class later on that afternoon. NOT generally 
considered casual reading material.

     Yes, Eve's a geek.


     Ahhh, lunchtime! Her favorite period of the day. Academics are all well and 
good, and some of them are even fun--she's fond of biology and music herself--
but that midday break is best one of all. (Aside from getting out of class at 
the end of the day, of course.) Now's the chance when she gets to relax, talk 
with friends, and /eat./
     Except that--oh dear--it looks like someone's not getting to do that. The 
talking-to-friends bit, that is. It's not one of the usual loners, more bristle 
and bite than friendliness; in fact, from what Ask can tell of the back of the 
girl's head, she's quite young, and quite unfamiliar. By now the redhead knows 
at most of the people in the school by sight, at least.
     She'd been heading from the lunch line to a seat; stopping in mid-step, she 
tells her friends, "Hang on a sec, I'll be there," and departs the chattering 
bunch. They blink after her for a moment before continuing on to their usual 
table, while Ask veers off to the side, setting her lunch tray down on the table 
next to Eve. "Hi!" she greets the unfamiliar back of the head cheerfully. "Are 
you new? I'm Askiana, but you can call me Ask."
     And then she takes a closer look at the girl, and blinks. Now that she's 
actually close... she looks familiar. From--wasn't it--oh yeah! "You're that 
girl-- uhm--uhm-- Eve, wasn't it?" she blurts, a little surprised.


Of course once seen, Eve's hard to mistake. Even from behind, her hair when 
she's seated touches the floor... and such a thing makes it clear indeed that 
Eve's no one Ask ever saw at the school. That hair sways now as Eve turns to see 
who's setting things down next to her. Her eyes widen in recognition. The girl 
briefly considers claiming to not recognize the friendly one greeting her... but 
rejects that. Eve doesn't much like lying. "Yes, Eve." she greets, friendly 
enough though there's some wariness in her voice. "You're.... Ask? We met.... at 
the charity ball, right? Both of us getting lucky tickets?" Well okay, Eve's 
ticket wasn't lucky. She just cheated to get where the action would be. It was 
for a good cause. And Eve is a lot more certain of Ask than she seems to be... 
she forgets very little.


     Which is partly what drew Ask to come over--that head of hair is fairly 
distinctive, although until she saw the face, Ask couldn't place just why. The 
slightly wary note in the younger girl's voice passes right over Ask's head; she 
just grins and bobs her head happily. "Yup! That'd be the place. Wasn't that 
party a blast? Ahh, I still think about it, it was a lot of fun." She clasps her 
hands to her breasts, going starry-eyed for a moment before coming back down to 
earth. "I doubt I'll ever get that lucky again, though," she adds with an easy 
laugh, "but at least I have pictures!"
     Gesturing at the seat next to Eve, Ask asks, "Mind if I join ya? Or hey, 
you could join us at the table over there, too!" Turning, she points toward the 
table of her rather large (and rather loud) group of friends, who... currently 
appear to be getting in a scuffle over the rights to a dog-shaped cookie.
     Rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment, she decides, "Or, we could 
stay right here, yeah."


Smiling slightly, Eve repeats the one word. "Fun." Her reply is not anywhere 
near Ask's enthusiasm level. It might be agreement. It could just as easily be 
dubious doubt or at least a deadpan question.

     Glancing at her text - no doubt the same text Ask is supposed to use for 
her science class - Eve seems torn. A good book? Or socializing? Luckily, Eve's 
not nearly as antisocial as she sometimes seems. She's friendly, but shy. Or 
rather, socially awkward. The sort of person who doesn't approach others when 
she can't think of a good reason to do so, fearing their reaction to that which 
is .... different.

     Finally, Eve puts the book down. No bookmark or anything, because she won't 
forget what page she's on. "You could join me." she agrees. "Or I could go over 
there...." At this, her voice sounds notably dubious. Apparently too polite to 
make mention of her fear of being near such roughhousing, one could easily 
assume. Well considering how frail Eve looks, who could blame her?

     "Pictures?" asks Eve suddenly, getting a sudden idea. "I don't have 
anything from that. I'd like to see them sometime, if you don't mind?" she asks. 
Eve doesn't normally need pictures, all considered. But seeing the evening from 
the perspective of another pair of eyes, THAT might be useful indeed. Sorry Ask, 
your hobby's being taken advantage of. Nicely, but still...


     If it is dubious doubt or a deadpan question, it's not being taken as 
either of those--Ask appears to take the word at face value, and grins happily. 
"I'm glad you had fun too! And if you want pictures, I can always send 'em to 
you. There's some really great ones," she confides, eyes dancing with the memory. 
"Do you want them emailed or hardcopies or what?" She doesn't appear to mind 
being taken advantage of, in this instance--maybe because she doesn't see it as 
being taken advantage of. She loves pimping pictures. *.* ... not in that sense, 
but regardless!
     "I'll join you, then," Ask decides, taking another glance at the other 
table. "They're not gonna miss me for one lunch period, or anything, and they 
/can/ be a bit loud sometimes," she says, with the easy air of one who knows 
that the subject isn't going to mind being insulted. Settling herself down on 
the uncomfortable plastic chair, she blinks at the textbook Eve has. "A little 
light reading over a meal? ... hey, is that the Chem II textbook? You're taking 
it? What teacher?" Her questions, as most of her words, spill out quickly, 
overflowing and tumbling over one another.


     Uncertainly, Eve names her chemistry teacher. Would anyone be surprised to 
learn it's the same as Ask's teacher? Well, Ask might. "I just transferred to 
this school." the girl confesses. "And I've always liked chemistry." Well okay, 
she's always liked a lot of sciences. Rarely met a book she didn't like, for 
that matter. But chemistry has a special place in her heart. Chemistry is the 
science of blowing things up. Or rather, it's Sven's specialty. That, and 
blowing stuff up.

     Actually, something about Ask kind of reminds Eve of Kyouko. That was a 
girl also very enthusiastic, fast-paced... and about the same age. Eve's pretty 
sure Ask isn't a superpowered murderer, but under the circumstances that can 
only work in her favor. And Kyouko wasn't so bad. Eve didn't trust her exactly, 
but Eve understood her. So dealing with Ask's enthusiasm isn't too tough, though 
the rapid bombardment of questions isn't easy to deal with. Eve understands, but 
answering them all can be tricky before the next set comes out.

     "Hardcopies... no." decides Eve. "I just want to see the pictures. I don't 
need copies thanks."


     She would at that, especially since she hadn't noticed Eve was there! But 
maybe she hadn't been there until today? Or possibly she's just that unobservant, 
Ask is forced to admit. It's not impossible, especially if they sit on opposite 
sides of the class. "Oh, really? I have him too!" Ask exclaims. "Isn't he great? 
But kind of kooky. But still, I like his class. I like bio more, honestly, but 
chemistry's all right, and with a good teacher it's interesting." Bio is the 
science of life--and conversely, death--which is why it interests her more, but 
in the higher ends, it really becomes chemistry. "Oh, did you get the reading 
for Chapter 13 done today? I have to admit, I didn't understand the bit that..." 
And she goes off into something about thermodynamics.
     Really, you might be surprised at who's a superpowered murderer, especially 
in this school... but no, Ask is as she seems, a pretty regular teenaged girl. 
Maybe less moody and more perky than most, though. "Ahh, I'll email the pictures 
to you, then--what's your email? Or IM, I can transfer 'em that way, too," she 
says in a friendly manner. "If I still had them on my card, I'd show you, but 
they've been cleared out since then. Too bad, probably, that'd be easiest."


Highschool is such a chaotic environment, in this country. There's no order, no 
discipline. Just... Chaos and madness, day in and day out. The recent 'transfer 
student from Japan', one Sousuke Sagara, has been quite bewildered since he 
first set foot in Monroe highschool, but he's doing his level best to blend in 
with the local population, after the instructions he was given by the DFA to 
maintain a maximum level of secrecy. Naturally, Sousuke has ratonalised this to 
himself by making it one big covert operation, which isn't far from the truth; 
he's here to infiltrate the society of the highschool, to become 
indistinguishable from the natives until such a time as he receives further 
instructions. Unfortunately, cut off from home as completely as he is here, it 
doesn't seem like he /will/ be getting any further instructions.

Since it's lunch, however, the serious-looking teenager makes his way through 
the cafeteria, looking around at the unruly masses of his peers, after getting 
himself a 'delicious' cafeteria meal. It's different from the ordered, 
regimented military life he's used to, and even from the slightly less ordered 
and regimented life of a Japanese highschool student, which is his ostensible 
cover here, as it was once before. In his search for somewhere to sit down and 
eat his midday meal, Sagara is brought to what seems to be the only table with 
any seats left; Eve and Ask's. "Excuse me," the foreign boy says, very seriously. 
"Are there any extra seats available here?"


     A little taken aback by the thermodynamics question, Eve considers 
explaining it. Two things stop her. One, she's been warned to avoid seeming TOO 
smart. And two... while she more or less understands thermodynamics, she 
couldn't really explain it without repeating the textbook pretty much word for 
word. So she doesn't say anything, a result that no doubt Ask's had before. And 
as for cooky... Eve has a skewed view of normality. She'll remain quiet on that 
topic as well. Fortunately she seems not the least bit upset at Ask's chatter. 
Just sits there and eats some of her lunch. She's a pretty big eater for a 
slender little girl, but then she's fuelling a metabolism that's a bit ... more. 
Energy for transformations comes from somewhere after all, and she practices 
daily. A lot. No, Eve's likely to never become fat. Nanomachines. The miracle 
diet. Someday it'll be all the rage among the would-be corporate killers.

     When Ask pauses to ask questions, Eve offers her email address. A perfectly 
normal address too, one provided through the DFA but nothing that'd raise 
eyebrows like having a .gov address. But... there's a gap in Eve's lore. "IM?" 
she asks, blinking. Only to be saved by the new arrival. Looking over at him, 
the little girl blinks again. Looking from him to the empty seats. Could Eve be 
missing something ELSE obvious? "Ah... I guess so?" she claims dubiously.


     You've gotta learn to ride the chaos and madness and adjust for it. Really, 
the looseness (relatively speaking, at least in comparison to other nations' 
high schools) suits Ask perfectly, but then she's used to chaos and madness. 
(Just try living with her family for one day.)
     Interrupted in her thermodynamics questioning and chatter, Ask looks up at 
the approaching student. Hey, another unfamiliar face. Is this another transfer 
student? "Hi!" she greets him smilingly. "Yes, there's plenty, go ahead and take 
one." As he presumably settles in, she sticks her hand out toward him to shake. 
"I don't think I've seen you around before, and I'm pretty sure I've seen most 
of the people in this school at least once--though whether or not I remember 
them is another matter, a'course--are you new? My name's Ask," she finishes her 
somewhat lengthy ramble of an introduction.
     And then back to the previous conversation, in a quick two-step! "Yeah. IM. 
Instant Messenger?" she clarifies, lifting her brow. "Or do you use something 
else instead? But I guess email'll do, too." Pulling out a little agenda and a 
pen from her bag, she scribbles down the address given and pats it. "I'll try 
and do that tonight, then, or if not tonight then tomorrow, at least," she 
promises.


Nodding once in response to Eve and Ask's telling him he can sit at the table, 
Sousuke does indeed pull out a chair, setting the tray of cafeteria food down 
atop the table... And then Ask is offering him a handshake, which he accepts a 
bit awkwardly; his hand is pretty callused, too. "Yes, I just transferred here," 
he replies, solemnly. "I'm Sar--Ah, Sousuke Sagara." Considering he's Japanese, 
his English is actually very good; though neither of those are actually his 
native language. Anyway, then the former mercenary is sitting, proud of himself 
for catching himself before saying his rank. That could've been awkward. Now, 
marvel as he pokes at his food. He's had to eat some weird things in the past, 
but this sort of takes the cake.


     "Eve." the little blonde introduces herself, offering her hand. Unlike 
Sousuke's, her hand isn't the least bit calloused. Though if she's pressed, her 
grip does have some steel in it. So to speak. And yes, Eve isn't a chatterbox. 
Which is good, because with Ask here, another chatterbox would mean poor Sousuke 
wouldn't be able to get a word in edgewise.

     "Instant Messenger. Of course." claims Eve. Silly her, she should have 
known that, shouldn't she? Ehe.... chalk up something she's going to research. 
Real soon. Trying to change the subject, she turns back to Sousuke. "I just 
transferred too." she mentions in passing friendliness. "My father moves a lot."


     Ask's own hand is fairly soft, and narrow and skinny--like all the rest of 
her--but it has a few calluses and scars; mostly the calluses that might come 
from playing an instrument, though. Otherwise, typical suburban-teenager hands. 
"Sar'ah Sousuke Sagara?" she asks, a little puzzled. Name sounds Japanese, but 
she's never heard of anything like Sar'ah! At least, not for a guy. Then again, 
she shouldn't be talking about unusual names, all told. "Welcome to Monroe High, 
then! It's not bad here, I guess--there's lots of worse high schools to be in," 
she decides judiciously. "Plus the teachers are pretty cool, generally, although 
you've gotta stay away from Mrs. Finchley, or at least walk carefully." Sage nod. 
In contrast to Sousuke's careful poking at the cafeteria food, Ask's already 
shoveled a good half of it down with a will, although how she manages to eat 
while talking so much is (and probably will be) forever a mystery. "So where did 
you two come from, then?" she asks with a friendly curiosity.


Though the rest of his expression doesn't change a hair, Sousuke blinks at 
Ask. ...And then again. "No, I misspoke," he says, taking the misunderstanding 
in stride. "My name is Sousuke Sagara." And then there's Eve who also wants a 
handshake, so Uruz 7 is left to try and keep trying to blend in by obliging her. 
"You seem rather young to be studying at a highschool, Eve." Though it might be 
some sort of western custom he doesn't know about. He tries some of the 
cafeteria food, chewing on it experimentally, but he does eventually get around 
to Ask's question. "Japan," he answers, simply.


     "Lots of places." Eve claims vaguely. "My father moves around a lot." She 
still doesn't want to lie, but there's all kinds of truths she can tell. Still, 
her reluctance to name a specific place might be a hint. There's lots of reasons 
for being evasive after all.

     She has no real reason to evade Sousuke's observation though. It's obvious 
after all. She shrugs. "This is where they say I should be." she claims. Then 
stretches the truth just a little bit, as she's been coached to do. "It's a 
challenge at this level. But it's no fun if it's not a challenge." she claims. 
Actually, the challenge at 'this level' is acting like a perfectly normal girl. 
But hush. Meanwhile, Eve's eyes are taking in the scarring and callouses on 
Sousuke's hands. She knows people with callouses like that. She knows two people 
quite well who use guns all the time. But Sousuke's lucky. She has so little 
experience she doesn't know what OTHER kinds of callous patterns might be like, 
so she won't assume right off he's a gunman.
From afar, Cloud hanger-on.


     "Ohhh, I see. Well, nice to meet you, Sousuke. Your English is really good, 
if you just came from Japan! Were you born here, or is your language program 
there just much better than here?" she asks with a laugh. "I've taken Latin 
for... uh... gosh, since freshman year at least, and a little in middle school, 
and I'm still no good at it. How d'you like the school so far?" The last 
question goes to both of them, though, unable to talk in two directions at once, 
Ask sort of turns and addresses the air in between them, glancing between the 
two.
     "You must be brilliant, if you skipped that many grades," Ask observes, 
looking at Eve. "My younger sister skipped a grade, but only one, and even then 
she had some difficulties at first..." Quite a few grades, considering she's 
taking at least a junior- or senior-level class.


"Actually, I was born in Afghanistan," Sousuke replies, as if it were the most 
normal thing in the world. Though that's not technically true, the country he 
/was/ born in doesn't actually exist in this world. "I have an at least passing 
familiarity with a number of languages," he further explains. Which actually 
isn't really an answer to Ask's question about his learning English at all, but 
hopefully it's, you know, close enough. "This school is very... Confusing. It's 
not at all like what I'm used to." Which is actually military life, but he did 
spend several months at Jindai. So he's comfortable expressing a level of 
expertise on Japanese civilian life.

Of course, there's also a lot he still has to learn. "No uniforms, and the 
students don't seem to show a proper level of respect to the teachers..." His 
food abandoned for a moment, the serious boy rubs his chin with one hand, 
pensively. "I believe the students here could benefit from a greater 
understanding of personal discipline." Oh boy.


     Eve shrugs, obviously uncomfortable at Ask's praise. "I read a lot." she 
claims depreciatively, as if that explains everything. She could probably claim 
good genetics too, perhaps. Genetics is a bit of a sore spot though, so she 
won't. Not that she's any more qualified to discuss a 'normal' school... but at 
least the topic makes her curious. "So schools should be disciplined... and 
should have uniforms?" she muses. Sounds like a military thing more than a 
school, but Eve has little experience with either. Oh well. Personal discipline 
sounds like a good thing to her... such a thing is a vital part of training, 
something she does a lot of. But uniforms? Better to wear different, pretty 
outfits.

     Finishing up her food - and where DID it all go? Eve may not have Ask's 
ability to talk and eat, but she also talked a lot less. And started sooner. "... 
I need to get going." she claims, looking somewhat uncomfortable. The discussion 
perhaps? Maybe Ask's praise? Who knows... Eve's not telling. She just gets up, 
picks up her high school chemistry text and her garbage. "Nice meeting you 
both." she smiles, before heading off.
From afar, Cloud thinks it's sleep time, at any rate. Let him know what you 
think of Koudelka!


     "Afghanistan? Really? That's awesome!" The exclamation even sounds sincere, 
somehow, despite her tendency to talk in a lot of exclamation marks. "You really 
must move around a lot, then, if you started there and then went to Japan and 
then came here to California. I've never been out of the country--well, heck, 
I've hardly been out of the state, except to visit relatives." She pauses to 
consider for a moment. "Actually, I have been up to Canada, but I'm not entirely 
certain that counts? Or at least, it's not like going overseas. So what's a 
Japanese high school like, then?" She has some vague images of fukus and orderly 
lines, but that's about it--all she knows is what she picks up from fighting 
games, which are hardly the most accurate portrayal.
     Then he brings up the topic of uniforms, and her nose wrinkles thoughtfully. 
"I'm not sure about that--I like being able to dress as I want to, myself. I 
mean, maybe it makes it easy to identify someone and classify them, but while I 
like skirts occasionally, I wouldn't want to wear them every day. It would get 
boring." A sudden grin, then. "Although I guess the issue of skirts wouldn't 
apply to you. I suppose a little more discipline wouldn't hurt, but it's not 
like the way things are now hurts anything either, is it?" She doesn't seem 
actively against the idea, though, just a little unsure of it. Would discipline 
mean having to stop talking? Because that would be /awful./
     Starting a little as Eve gets up to go, Ask wonders for a moment whether it 
was something she said--or maybe the girl just wants to get some more studying 
in before lunch is over? Perhaps it's that. Nodding, she offers a wave and a 
cheerful, "Bye! See you later in Chem, Eve!" And she really hopes it wasn't 
something she said! Maybe she'll have to be careful about that in the future. 
(Although she'll probably forget that in a few minutes.)


Actually, Ask's ability to keep talking is downright impressive, though Sousuke 
isn't sure what to make of it one way or another. With that same serious 
expression of his, the young man watches Ask as she talks, and keeps talking. 
"Well... I understand that some schools here wear uniforms." Sure, usually 
they're private schools of some type, but that distinction doesn't mean too much 
to the Japanese teenager. "It helps create a feeling of camaraderie and unity 
among those wearing the same uniform. Also, it's an easy way to identify who 
does and does on belong at the school, in case of interlopers or other 
emergencies," Sousuke adds, with a firm nod.

And what about the lack of discipline hurting anything? Well. "If the students 
do not respect their teachers, then there is no way to maintain order and 
authority, which could eventually lead to rioting and mutiny, not to mention 
desertions." Wait, did he just say... But he continues onwards! "A sense of 
proper discipline is invaluable in learning to reach your full potential." See? 
It's all about proper motivation. And then he's eating his cafeteria food again, 
after giving a nod to the departing Eve.


     Well, if he had talked more earlier, she wouldn't have had to talk so much, 
and now she's on a roll! Just look what you've done. Really. Still, now that 
he's talking some more himself, Ask seems willing enough to pipe down a bit and 
let him speak, listening with a curious expression on her face. "That's true," 
she agrees to the uniforms in the States bit, "but they're usually private or 
religious schools, or both. Most public schools don't. Although, then again, 
maybe that's not such a great recommendation--I know the US tends to come behind 
a lot of other nations in scores, so." She has to laugh, albeit a little 
ruefully. "But making camaraderie and unity and whatever among people of the 
same school--wouldn't that tend to exclude other schools, by the same token? 
Anyway, I'm nto sure school-wide unity is really all /that/ necessry, so long as 
we all get along, no?"
     The whole spiel about discipline and needing it to prevent riots and mutiny 
just nets Sousuke a long, long look, though. So she's willing to accept a lot; 
but that might be going a little far, even for her. "I've never heard of a 
school falling apart that much, I've gotta say," she finally says, with a touch 
of a grin. "Besides, that's not to say we--here, anyway--don't respect teachers. 
Maybe not some of them," she adds judiciously, looking up at the ceiling. "At 
least, not all of them are... um... that great, you know? But all the same, 
they're still teachers, so there should be some respect." Then again, she also 
tends to be rather more goody-goody than most. "See, though, when I think about 
discipline, I tend to think of, you know, personal control--not a whole 
regimented cadre or something." Come to think of it, that's kind of what he 
reminds her of, now. Weird upbringing that guy must have had.


Weird? You don't know the half of it! And if Sousuke can manage it, nobody here 
will know the half of it. Or even a quarter of it. "Unity is very important in 
an environment such as this," the serious young man says, in between chewing on 
his lunch. Well, the food here might not look like much... But he's certainly 
had worse. "Establishing a strong group identity gives everyone an investment in 
the overall performance of their fellows, making them more likely to encourage 
positive habits in each other." Really, it seems like a very simple concept to 
him! But he might be looking at things from a bit too adult - or rather, a bit 
too 'I've been to boot camp' - of a perspective.


     It's a bit rubbery, and probably not the healthiest thing to be eating, but 
hey, it fills the stomach. Generally, around this hour, that's all Ask asks of 
her food. Indeed, she's already demolished much of it, and she's essentially 
just picking off the last few tater tots. "But what about personal identity?" 
she asks, propping her chin on one hand and lifting a brow. "I mean, I get your 
point, and I guess I agree with a lot of it! I just don't know that uniforms and 
stricter rules are necessarily the way to get to it. But I s'pose I don't really 
know what would. A smaller school, probably, but that's not always possible." 
Shrug.
     It is, however, getting late in the period; in fact, there rings the bell, 
announcing the end of lunch. Making a small noise of startlement, Ask jumps to 
her feet and scoops the various bits of garbage onto her tray. "I'd better go, 
I've got a test next period I don't want to be late for. It was nice meeting you, 
Sousuke--maybe I'll see you in class! Oh, if you ever have any questions, or 
want a tour around the school or something, I'm always willing to help," she 
says with a smile. "Just flag me down if you see me in the halls, or something--
or, oh, I can give you my cell number if you'd like!"


Once he gets used to it, Sousuke eats with surprising speed; after all, in a 
soldier's life, you need to eat as much as possible when you get the opportunity. 
One never knows when a mean might be interrupted, and he was already running 
late enough to begin with. "Well..." he starts to say, but then there's the bell 
going off, telling them they need to get to their next classes. Hmm. "I don't 
have a phone here yet, but I'll almost certainly see you around," he agrees 
solemnly, with a nod, as he rises and picks up his now empty tray. And he's 
right... Not only does Ask seem like someone who draws a lot of attention, but 
Sousuke does have a way of standing out, as well. "Good luck on your test," he 
adds, before going to throw out his things!


     "Thanks! All right, then, see you whenever!" Ask agrees cheerfully. It 
probably won't be hard to see him, at that--he may not be all that tall or all 
that noisy, but he does have a way of standing (not to mention his rather formal 
way of dressing) that makes him more apparent among the noisy, casual crowd of 
usual high schoolers. Pulling her bag onto her shoulder, she offers a wave 
before hurrying out, dumping her tray's contents in the garbage along the way 
and sticking it in the return slot. A brief glance at her watch, and she can be 
heard muttering as she hurries away, "What was that last review problem... 
integrating the differential of..." Apparently, she's got a calc test waiting.