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Books, it was a great store, the sales on the books were amazing, so she had gone a little overboard on her selection. Stories of torture, heroism, triumph over adversity, that sort of thing appealed to her. And since she'd been to the school, the books were her best companions. As she'd been leaving the store, some foolish idiot had run right over her, causing her new treasures to go flying, and her to be sprawled over.

He saw her right side, which admittedly was her better side, her hair was a scattered mess, she felt like growling at him for knocking her over. However he'd landed on his a** as well so she wasn't as out of sorts as she had been, and he apologized immediately. She took the books he'd picked up and began tucking them away in her bag. She'd been a bit too excited to actually stow them away and had idiotically walked out with the stack in her hands, "I was far too excited to pay attention, myself. I should have watched where I was going, myself, so it is at least half my fault." Her voice was lower than most girl's voices, but it was unmistakeably female.

She finished tucking them away in her bag, and stared at the hand he offered in some confusion, "I am unharmed, no need to worry yourself over it, nor apologize to me." She stood on her own, still missing the meaning of his hand being held out to her. Facing him he could clearly see the scar that ran from under her hair towards her mouth. The right side of her face was clear, the left side marred slightly by that scar, reflexively she smiled at him, "Thank you for helping me pick them up." This was said as she noticed one of her books had landed a little farther than she thought. Grumbling to herself more so than him, she stepped over and picked it up, the title of the book, Shemnal's Damnation.

Turning back to him she wondered for a moment, he was...a fish? The seriousness on her face caused her brow to wrinkle, then again the reflexive smile when she noticed she was staring too long, "Are you a student as well?" She'd yet to meet a male student from her school, so it was a good chance to at least know someone around her age, and who wasn't a majin...but then if he wasn't a majin, what was this boy that had run her over. So much of the world was a puzzle to her, but she would rectify her lack of knowledge, and that would make her more capable at making money.

:~:

At his commentary on her love of books she gave him a much more genuine smile, no it wasn't happiness, but it wasn't the reflex she'd had earlier either, "Reading is a passion. Most don't understand it, nor do they understand my interests."

The sentence almost died when he spoke of his parents, only a small mention, but something that made her scowl intensely until his voice called her out on her having stared at him curiously, "A Mononoke?" Her lack of knowledge was obvious as she looked him over again. She kept her distance due to not knowing him at all, she had at least been taught that much. One did not simply start asking a million questions of a person you did not know.

As he offered his hand with introduction, she knew this one, and took it, her hands scarred and rough feeling from several years of working with them, her grip was strong for a girl's as she gave his hand a polite shake, "I'm Illystria. Nice to meet you, Satoshi."
Her tone was formal sounding, she released his hand and heedless of the social norms stepped a little closer to investigate his gills and scales, it was purely curiosity with something she'd not seen before, nothing even slightly out of the ordinary for her, but it might have been encroaching given societal norms.

"What kind of a witch do you plan on being?" This was an obvious question from her point of view, no matter how she was encroaching on his personal space.

:~:

When he reaffirmed his species she simply nodded. He answered the next question before she asked it to which she was grateful, in an odd way. He seemed to be resisting the urge to ask something, but before she got her chance to ask what the looks were for he asked her if she'd want to eat something. That reminded her that she had not eaten since the previous day. She was too busy learning to eat anything so of course it was lost on her, plus the lack of sustenance each day was something she considered to be normal, "Your treat?" She sounded genuinely surprised at this offer, granted if he took it back afterwards she wouldn't be surprised, most people did when they found out how much she could actually eat given the chance.

"I am not exactly totally familiar...but I saw a small cafe up the street a bit from here on the way to the book store." She hoped that would be enough information. She then realized that he'd wrapped his arm around her waist. That was fairly familiar of him, and a bit odd. Rather than ask questions she assumed that it was something that those in the outside world did, rather than thinking he might just be flirting with her.

Taking a decent pace, she headed up the street, granted if his legs were longer than hers, he'd easily keep up, even with his arm around her waist, but she wasn't going to slow her pace for anyone as she moved through the slightly more crowded area with ease.

The cafe was small, intimate and rather stoic looking, but the smells coming from it were mouthwatering. She glanced to him and gave a reflexive smile again, "Does this meet with your approval?" Polite, but even if it didn't she'd likely come back on her own to find out what the delicious smells coming from the place were.

:~:

He was trusting her to lead them around, that was a first, but it didn't faze her too much. She kept her mind on the fact that it was purely chance he'd run into her, so there was little meaning to his trusting her as the 'leader'.

A small smirk of pride crossed her face and disappeared as he said it was perfect. Others tended to exaggerate, however she took a little pride in accomplishing any of her given tasks, she balked as he held the door for her, but instead of simply waiting for him to go in, she realized she had to step through first. She was learning, despite the fact that this gesture seemed a little too close to being treated like some sort of lady.

She had been staring at the menu the entire time, vaguely she heard his order, figuring that he'd pay for his and she'd pay for hers, sure he'd said he'd treat her, but they'd only just met. And what she was wanting would be surprising to say the least. His statement of informing them he was paying for whatever she wanted caused an eyebrow to raise under the vast amount of hair she had, and his restating it to her caused a close to genuine smile to cross her face, You may take that back in a minute. was the thought that crossed her mind as she finalized exactly what she was ordering.

"The steak sandwich, honey wheat bagel for the bread, cheddar cheese, garlic sauteed mushrooms on top, buttered, Nothing but that on the sandwich. A baked potato, with butter, sour cream, cheese, the shredded, not the nacho, and bacon, a Caesar side salad, with ranch dressing, extra ranch, and a bowl of chili with cheese, no onions. A bottle of water, and a soda, that comes with free refills right?" Her question was met with an astonished nod from the woman behind the counter, "Then that's it...for now." She spoke as she eyed the chocolate cake, then decided it was...well better not to indulge in sweets on top of getting a full day's meal.

Illystria glanced around to see if there was an open table where they could sit, figuring he'd either pay the bill in full, and ask her to pay him back later, or he'd ask for her to pay her half now. Kindness only lasted so long with most people, and she was likely to take a little advantage of it for the time being, that didn't mean she wouldn't pay it back in kind...normally, but it did mean one had to keep to their word to get the kindness back, "Where do you want to sit?"

:~:

She glanced back as he muttered about the seating not mattering, catching a small glimpse of the total, Didn't mean for it to be that much... She sighed as she took her cup and went to fill it.

Mentally she prepared herself for the soon to be onslaught of questions, it was something that always happened, any time anyone heard her ordering food.

Upon her return, she sat down across from him, she'd noted that his tone was not quite so formal, nor was his attitude quite so reserved. He looked relaxed, and the question was about her eating. Taking a long drink of her soda, and closing her eyes she enjoyed the bubbling sensation as she swallowed.

Illystria cleared her throat a little, "I eat that much when I can." It was simplistic in the answer, no need to explain why, unless he asked more directly, "A bottom feeder? So like a walking garbage disposal? She didn't realize that perhaps that would be severely rude to say about his sibling, and took another drink of her soda.

Soon enough her salad came out, drenched in ranch dressing. Her thank you was mumbled as she started to devour the salad, granted it was her least favorite part of any meal, but the vegetable was needed, as was the fat in the dressing. She was not a severely messy eater, but she did inhale the food rather than really tasting it. Yes it tasted good, but that was not the point, it was sustenance.

:~:

There was a wry snort from her, but she continued to eat her food, the potato and the chili arriving at the same time, "I don't eat vert much, very often. So I feast when I can." Again a straight and blunt answer, he asked and he received his answer. No need to explain more, he wouldn't want the rest of the story anyway.

She smirked a bit at the thought of a child eating dirt, then snorted a bit, as she pulled up her hair to get it out of the way while she ate her chili and the potato. Her hair being pulled up gave a much better view of the scar on her face as she continued to eat more, shoveling it in as fast as she could manage, sipping a drink now and then to get through the food. She paused, "I don't think I've ever even heard of that. The only time anything even remotely seems like that is when I haven't eaten for three or four days."

Silence resumed over the table as she worked on finishing her food. Just as she finished the last spoonful of her chili her sandwich came out, the plates from before removed as she stood up to get a refill of her drink, long hair dangling down her back as she walked. A few male customers eyed her, but seemed taken aback with the scar on her face as she made her return trip to the table.

Sitting down, she took another drink, then started in on the sandwich, making very little noise with each bite, concentrating on chewing through it and not leave a single morsel on the plate. Pausing a moment she glanced out the window, then turned back to her sandwich and finished the last few bites. That would last her a while, she would be fine for the next day or two. Picking up her drink she raised it in appreciation of his feeding her, "Thanks for the meal."

:~:

She blinked at being called good company, however she noticed that he kept letting his eyes linger on her facial scar, but she waited for him to continue his chatting about his family a little, and then he floored her a bit, he said he would consider her his first friend. Her jaw almost dropped, then she recovered, "Interesting, though if that is true this would make you the first friend I have ever had." She smirked a bit allowing that bit of information out. It was a bit abnormal, but it was due to her father and his pushing her around, but he wasn't there now, she could allow people to know a little of her, right?

"Also, you seem to be curious about something, why not ask? As you've said I'm in the least surprising with my appetite, and most girls apparently can't even eat as much as I can." She gave him what was a bit of a cocky grin, not happy, but a bit of pride in it. Though that faded as did her grin. Words echoing as to being too prideful causing her to be impossible to deal with. But then it was part of who she was.

She sighed, "That's if you feel like asking of course." Her eyes shifted to the window and she watched the people on the outside of it pass by, they often passed by and she wondered what their life was like. Had it been what she knew, or was it something different, already it seemed that Satoshi had been raised differently than her, but she wasn't sure. He seemed he had affection for his family, at least mild affection.

:~: