Chapter 16

His buddies left. Meanwhile, Caleb did his utmost to approach this bizarre yet intriguing kouhai of his undetected. Under the light of the sun, his powers were severely diminished but not nonexistent. He could still muffle his footsteps in the shadows of trees.

"Pardon me, is this seat taken?"

She quickly slammed the empty box shut and glared up at him. Only for a second, though, before immediately casting her eyes back down in quiet shyness. Something he found oddly endearing. It seemed like she wanted to rip his head off for a fraction of a second, but something changed her mind.

"Forgive me if I startled you," he bowed his head politely. "It's just, and this seems like a relatively quiet spot. Could I possibly sit down?"

She didn't seem to want to respond. Maybe he had misjudged her.

"Unless I'm disturbing you," he offered in that same polite, unbothered tone. "If need be, I can go elsewhere."

She shook her head, still not looking at him. "You're not bothering me. Sit down if you want."

He smiled, not that she seemed to notice. As long as she wasn't looking directly at him, he didn't mind letting his eyes wander a bit. Long, raven black hair tied into a ponytail, likely dyed much like his was. Soft violet eyes. Her black and red skirt and blazer were clean and well kept, though there was a noticeable run in her stockings. This girl was clearly working on a budget. Something that, at one point in time, he could genuinely empathize with.

"I really am sorry if I'm bothering you. It's just, I've been having some trouble catching a moment to myself since I first came to this school. It's been a little overwhelming."

Translation: my friends are all colossal dicks, and I'm trying to distance myself before I murder them all.

"I'm sorry you've been having a hard time," she responded quietly.

He chuckled and shook his head. "No, no. It's quite alright. Everyone's been really friendly here. The hospitality has been wonderful. It's just a bit...much?"

Yet again, she said nothing. This girl was either very shy or very annoyed he was disturbing her. To figure out which it was, he decided to put her on the spot a little.

"I did say that correctly, didn't I?" he asked, pretending to struggle with the pronunciation a little while scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Japanese is still a tertiary language for me. I'm much more fluent in Russian."

"Your pronunciation is really good, Senpai," she complimented in that same quiet mousey little voice of hers.

He bowed curtly. "Thank you. Thank you." A thought occurred to him at that moment as he remembered hearing her in the hall. "This might be wishful thinking, but you wouldn't happen to know English, would you?"

Finally, she made direct eye contact! It was strange; she seemed to come alive when he asked about the English. Almost as if she'd slipped back into a character.

"I do, actually."

He was legitimately thrilled to hear that. "Really? I've yet to meet anyone here who's fluent in my native tongue." Not that it stops anyone from trying to speak it to me. "Would it be okay if we conversed in English for a moment?"

"I don't see why not," she responded. Something about her smile intrigued him. It almost reminded him of the fake smiles he would offer his friends.

"Wonderful. Thank you." He switched from Japanese to English. "And again, you really must forgive me if I mispronounced anything. I'm still learning the different phonetic variances in kanji symbols."

She shook her head assuredly, responding in near-perfect English that genuinely stunned him. "No, I was being serious when I complimented you. Your pronunciation really is flawless."

He felt his heart flutter at that moment. "Your English is flawless, my God."

She blushed, something he usually didn't notice but couldn't seem to ignore this time. "Thank you."

"Is your family fluent?"

At that, her smile faded somewhat. Okay, he clearly just hit a nerve there. Family issues were something he was all too familiar with. Caleb decided to back up a few steps.

"Listen, if that's a private subject, I apologize. I'm really just thrilled to have found another person who speaks English so fluently in this country."

And just like that, her cute blushing face was back. "You must feel a bit like a fish out of water."

He chuckled shyly, keeping the act going. As well as to distract himself from how impressed he was over her understanding of English idioms.

"Is it really that obvious?"

"You do seem a little nervous," she observed.

"Maybe a bit," he admitted, even if he wasn't sure why. "Truth be told, I haven't really had a chance to settle down and get my bearings since Mother and I made the move. This is my third transfer this year."

That made her raise a brow, not that he was surprised. "Three transfers in a single year?"

He laughed good-spiritedly. "Crazy, I know. But mother's work keeps us moving. I'm hoping this will finally be the one that sticks."

If I can go long enough without killing someone here this time.

She finally smiled again. His kouhai seemed much more comfortable talking to him now. And for whatever reason, he was especially pleased to have earned that favor.

"I'm Akane," she finally introduced, offering him her hand in greeting. "Akane Toriyasu. It's very nice to meet you, Senpai."

"Caleb Barlow," he introduced while shaking her hand. "And please, no honorifics necessary. Just Caleb is fine."

She was staring at him extremely intently at that moment as if placing him under a high-powered microscope. Not that he minded all that much, it was just strange being the one sized up for a change.

He decided to put her on the spot again to get the ball back in his court.

"So...I hate to put you on the spot like this, but so long as we're speaking such that no one else can understand us, I have to ask, have you actually eaten today?"

She hid it well, but he could tell that got to her. Akane was immediately on the defensive again.

"Oh...well..."

"I can't help but ask because I saw your bento box was empty," he admitted apologetically.

She lowered her head in embarrassment.

"It's okay. I think I know what's going on here."

"You do?" she asked quietly.

You're dirt broke.

"You forgot to pack your lunch, didn't you?"

Almost immediately, that perfect mask of hers slipped right back on. It was honestly really impressive. She was a remarkable little actress.

"Guilty as charged. It completely slipped my mind this morning."

He laughed again before digging into his school bag. "No need to be embarrassed about it, happens to the best of us."

He pulled out the antique bento set his mother got him for his last birthday.

"I hope you don't mind, liver," Caleb spoke while lifting the lid of his ornate bento box. "I've been experimenting with adding more traditional Japanese recipes to my repertoire since I made the move."

Watching as she peered into the box, Caleb was overcome with a sense of excitement he wasn't expecting. He watched as she seemed to take everything in, his plating, the small details he tried to add to his craft. No other girl he ever ate lunch with would stare at his work with such gusto. They usually would just happily compliment whatever he showed them without rhyme or reason.

Alright, now he was really curious. Caleb pulled out a fresh set of chopsticks and offered them to her.

"No pressure. But there is plenty."

At first, she almost didn't seem to believe this was real. He got the impression guys weren't exactly lining up to offer her free food, which was unfortunate, really. Caleb couldn't help but wonder what might have condemned her to such social isolation. She was certainly pretty, clearly very intelligent. It didn't make sense. The guys in her grade should have been chomping at the bit for a chance to share lunch with her.

Either way, their loss, his gain. Watching his cute kouhai eat the liver of a deceased pedophile would bring him no small amount of amusement anyway. Especially considering she fell into that pervert's preferred age group.

"Itadakimasu," she declared brightly after taking the fresh chopsticks from him and snapping them apart.

He nodded, switching back to flawless Japanese for a moment. "Douzo meshiagare."