In Between Classes : Lunch [Open]

[Shinrya Riko]

It was midday at the Aurora Eruditio. This new semester was just starting for the giantess. She was only 8 years old and she towered over her classmates and even her homeroom teacher. Today she was wearing a tight t-shirt that was a size too small for her and that revealed her belly not matter how she tried to stretch the fabric. She had to do some make sure operation on an old pair of sandals to make them fit still and her pants not only tight but had been ripped in the knees and crotch. She was too poor to deal with that kind of stuff now, but one day she would be a shinobi and she’d be able to not only protect the people she cared about, but she would wear cool and fashionable clothing too!

Homeroom had been dismissed for Lunch. She picked up her backpack and slung it over her shoulders so she could find somewhere to eat in peace.

Many of her classmates had opted to have lunch in the classroom today but not her. She wanted to go somewhere else so she didn’t have to be around her schoolmates. Ever since this year had started she had found everything really uncomfortable. She didn’t like the way people talked behind her back and made fun of her for her height. The chairs and desk were really cramped also! She rounded up the stairs and opened the door to the roof of the Aurora Eruditio. There were some students eating up here already. A group of girls on the opposite side of the roof. She wanted to sit with them, but after they gave her a dirty look she decided it be better for her to sit alone.

She exited the stairwell and sat against the fence perpendicular to the gaggle of girls on the opposite side of the roof. She didn’t want to have to look at them when she was looking straight ahead. She slid her backpack from her back and opened up the zipper and dug out a pair of boxes that had been wrapped in a cloth. She unfolded the cloth and laid it on her lap and set one of the large bento boxes to her side. The other one found its way to the top of her lap. She opened the top. Fish, Rice, and steamed vegetables. She had tried her best to make cute designs with everything, but mostly it come out looking rather crude.

Oh well… what was the point of making cute bentos when you couldn’t even share it with someone anyway? She was feeling ravenous and the realization that she probably wouldn’t have shared them anyway had begun to sink in as she had already scarfed down the first half of the box she had on her lap.

 

[Hirateuchi]

Hirateuchi had been sleeping through most of class once again, so he hadn't worked up much of an appetite. After finishing a small snack, he decided it might be a good idea to head up to the roof where it would be nice and quiet and he could continue his napping. As he approached the door at the top of the stairwell, he could hear a group of girls talking on the other side. So much for that idea, he thought to himself, but either way he had already come up here and it was a nice day at that. He might as well ignore them and enjoy his nap as best he could.

Exiting the stairwell he first only noticed the group of girls he heard originally. He gave them a small wave and soft smile, trying his hardest to be nice so that they wouldn't bug him later. He got a wave or two back with one of them chirping out 'hey', but they seemed too engrossed in their conversation to pay him much attention beyond that. Walking past them he found himself in the corner of the roof.

What a nice day out. The clouds slithered slowly through the air forming intricate patterns, but not blocking out the refreshing afternoon sun. A cool breeze brushed across his face and he sighed of contentment as he prepped himself to lie down. Pulling his black kimono slightly loose for a more comfortable resting position, he reclined with one of his legs crossed over his other knee, face staring deep into the blue void above him. For a while, things were calm and he came close to a rest, but suddenly the group of girls burst into a fit of giggles, ensuring he would not sleep before lunch was over. So much for his nice day...

As he opened his eyes to glare at the group of girls, something caught his eye. A very large something. On another fence nearby, he could see a giant girl resting an eating out of a neatly put together bento box. He recognized her from class, and in all honesty from all the talk he heard from the other students about her. Unfortunately none of it was good. Did any of them know her though? All of the talk seemed to simply be about how large she was. Well his sleep was interrupted and he was already feeling bored, so opting to do something more interesting he got up, brushing a small amount of dirt off his clothes before hopping up and proceeding to walk over to the girl. Sandals clopping across the rooftop, he approached with a strained look of both apathy but rising curiosity. A few feet away, in case she had not noticed him approach, he called out to her.

"Hey uhhh.... I'm sorry I don't actually remember your name," he began before starting to laugh a bit. "Since the other girls clearly don't want me to catch up on my sleep I figured you might be fun to talk to. Oh... I'm Hira, by the way." He finished by giving her a broad smile and sitting down next to her without waiting to see if she would mind.

 

[Shinrya Riko]

There was another new comer to the roof. As Ai fed her face she watched the boy’s brief interaction with the girls before he tried to settle down for some kind of daydreaming. She was more interested in the contents of her own lunch boxes which she easily finished the first box and was sitting it aside and preparing to open the second one. Yeah. She was still quite hungry. She popped off the lid when the boy approached her. He was shorter than she was, but he still stood taller right now while she was sitting cross legged on the floor of the roof. The folds of his blue kimono seemed to hide the slenderness of his frame somewhat. It certainly was an elegant choice. She liked it, although it was too small for her to wear.

”Hey uhh...I’m sorry I don’t actually remember your name.” He began. Ai looked back up at him and her dark orbs briefly met his violet ones. ”Since the other girls clearly don’t want me to catch up on my sleep I figured you might be fun to talk to. Oh… I’m Hira, by the way.” A big smile crossed his face as he plopped down beside her without a second thought. It was a very warm smile. Ai returned his smile. She liked his laid back attitude, it reminded her of the people on the farms in the south. They were all easy going light hearted people. The kind who would take a nap underneath the sky.

She looked down at her uneaten bento and the the box that she had left to the side. She was still feeling hungry, but with someone sitting next to her she would feel way too embarrassed to continue by herself. She didn’t want to look like a pig after all. ”Watanabe Ai.” She introduced herself, her voice thick with her southern Lightning Country Drawl. ”Hun-gry?” She handed the second, full, and untouched bento box over to the boy. She knew boys could eat a lot as well so he probably would eat all in one gulp much as she had been doing.

”Ah’ve seen you takin’ a n-ap in class last period.” She put her hand on her chin as though she was seriously musing things over. ”Ah figure you should be using a bigger book to pretend you’re takin’ a siesta.” Her serious expression broke into a grin as she laughed. ”That’s a ninja skill in itself I reckon. Bein’ able to sleep in plain sight without bein’ caught. In all my born days, I ain’t never seen anythin’ like it.”

 

[Hirateuchi]

"Watanabe Ai," the girl introduced herself staring up at HIra. She might have seemed a bit bemused by his approach but otherwise acted very welcoming. Perhaps she was happy to have somebody to talk to. Happy at thought of possibly making a new friend Hira kept smiling as he looked up at the sky.

She had a southern drawl to her voice but it didn't make her any harder to understand. If anything it piqued Hira's interest even more as he had never met anyone from there, much less heard how they speak. ”Hun-gry?” She asked Hira handing a bento box over to him. His appetite still hadn't come back and his snack had filled him up, but he didn't want to be rude when she was being so kind as to offer. "I'm not too hungry, but I'd love to try some," Hira said taking the box and giving a slight head bow in appreciation. He delicately opened the box and started prying with his eyes to see if this girl with an accent may also have any food he had not tried before.

As he was distracted the girl continued, pointing out his sleeping in class, and making it out to be a ninja move in and of itself. At first he stared with blank eyes, but soon finding the humor in the situation began to laugh loudly, drawing some confused gazes from the group of girls still sitting together on the roof.

"Where are you from by the way? I've never heard anyone talk quite like you before." Hira asked right before plopping a small bit of food into his mouth, letting the flavors soak in and savoring it. With a surprised look on his face, almost as shocked as he was glad, he exclaimed, "Wow that's really good!"

 

[Shinrya Riko]

”"Where are you from by the way? I've never heard anyone talk quite like you before."” He began to test the contents of the bento box and seemed really surprised about the flavoring. "Wow that's really good!" He exclaimed.

”You think so?” She glanced away from him so she could hide the potential reddening of her cheeks. It was like a line straight out of a romance novel. ”Ahm from a one hor-se tow-n a might south of here. Don’t exist no more, so it don’t matt-er none ‘bout its name, I fig-ure.” She recounted the fate of her doomed home town. It only served to remind her of the justice she fully intended to deliver to all of the bandits responsible whenever she could handle an entire bandit brigade on her own. She looked down at the bento box in Hira’s hands as he was eating, and blushed a little. Girls were always trying to feed their man a bento box, and now she was feeding a classmate. A boy.

As her head was turned away she accidently locked eyes with the girls on the other side. They were all staring and began to laugh. Feeling even more embarrassed than before she drooped her head and covered her face with her hands. It wasn’t fair. She might be big but she had the heart of a girl. Of course being a ninja was a goal of hers, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t enjoy flowers and romantic stories. She hoped of course that her own story could be as romantic as the stories she had read. With the gaggle of girls judging her every move and interaction it was making her extremely uncomfortable.

How she wished she could be small and unnoticed.

She wore a conflicted expression as she really wanted to get up and leave, but at the same time her small town manners indicated that she needed to remain with her guest until he decided to depart. ”Thanks for sittin’ with me. Ah feel like Ahm not liked much by the rest of the class. I hope it don’t rub off on you none.”

 

[Hirateuchi]

"Doesn't exist any more, huh?" Hira thought to himself, making him recall his parents. Having to leave Kirigakure must have been tough for them, and that is part of what lead them to wanting Hira to be a strong shinobi. Could that be the reason she was here as well, to get strong and avenge her village? He couldn't say he knew what it was like himself to lose his home. Realizing that he must have had a depressing look on his face, Hira quickly looked up from the bento to see what Watanabe was doing, but noticed her head down covered by her hands.

Glancing over he noticed the group of girls he had passed earlier laughing. Laughing at her. Hira got along with almost everyone in the class and he knew some of the girls there weren't usually the mean types, but Watanabe would definitely come as a surprise to most people. It wasn't a big deal to him but her large frame drew a lot of attention, and the other students must not know how to react other than to make fun of it.

Looking back over to Watanabe, Hira assumed that the girl might want to leave the situation. She seemed flustered and embarrassed about something, though what might cause that much embarrassment he couldn't say. While he wasn't book smart from a lack of going to class, he certainly made up for it with an above average skill for his age to read people, but that still came with a touch of youthful ignorance. "Hey, thanks for the food but I'm totally stuffed now. I already had a snack before coming up here." Hira passed the bento box back over to her lap. "I'm going to skip next class and go find a quiet spot to sleep in some shade,,," continued Hira, "...but if you want to catch me after classes sometime, we should talk some more.

Lifting himself up from his spot and brushing off his kimono as was habit more than cleanliness, he began walking back towards the stairwell door. He turned his head back for a moment, flashing a smile, then turned back in the direction of the door, lifting his hand in a pseudo-wave goodbye. As he approached the door he glared at the group of girls. Normally an extremely laid back and kind person to his classmates, they stopped laughing slowly and some even grew slightly worried expressions on their faces as he drew somewhat closer with a stare of disappointment. Instead of saying anything, he simply opted to shake his head at them before passing the door back into the academy, hoping it might make some impact that could help his new friend out.

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