Chapter 3: Exposed

Even when the afternoon heat replaced the morning chill, the thunderous commotion in Tokyo never died down, and to add on to the loud clank of heels on concrete, the prattle of the bustling civilians continued to grow in volume. However, Miku and I walked in comfortable silence, both knowing that the atmosphere wasn't awkward at all and conserved the main conversation for later. I sighed, grasping the handle of my leather satchel while taking careful glances at my middle-school comrade, trying to see the changes that developed since junior high. Her alterations in her figure were similar to my own, gaining defined curves and growing so much height wise that she's a couple of centimeters above me compared to the past, where both of us were close to the same height. Her posture was as perfect as ever, while the air around her was still friendly. Like usual, Miku's facial features were never less than a gentle smile.

As we strolled along the cramped pathway, the teal-haired beauty beside me walked with a steady rhythm, her chic wedges clinking softly as we walked. I smiled. 'If only other people could learn how to walk like that,' I'd thought while effortlessly silencing my steps and matching her pace.

The neon lights of the electronic boards reflected off Miku's turquoise eyes as she stared at me with an expression filled with amusement. Curious, I asked, "Is there something wrong?"

Her pleased grin grew until it reversed the curve under her eyes. "It's just that over the five years I missed you, your sense of style never changed." She nodded at my monochrome attire, with the exception of the bright blue parka. "Monochrome with a splash of color, it suits all, but you always seemed to pull of the chic teen clothes like your striped tights and oversized sweaters while I have to resort to the adult fashion treads." She said while tugging at her multicolored floral dress, which in my opinion suited the change of season much more than my basic color scheme.

I smiled, accepting the complements knowing that rejecting them would only lead to more. However, I couldn't help but return the favor. "Ah, but Miku-san, your sense of style overshadows mine. The purple of your cardigan and shoes has a refreshing contrast with your hair and eyes. I bet you others noticed as well, since over the past few minutes there have been many glances directed at you. They're all awestruck with how pretty you are. " I said revealing an obvious point. It was not a lie, many people took a few good looks at Miku while we were walking, and I knew she realized it as well, since whenever she would catch someone's eye she'd flash a beautiful bright smile and continued to walk by as if it was normal.

She chuckled at my comments, holding up a loose fist to her lips to soften the gesture. "Didn't I tell you to just call me 'Miku'?" Miku corrected me, not surprised that I still made that mistake. "Ah, so you saw? Hm, it's true; I can never walk the streets of Tokyo without getting a few glances. Nevertheless, I believe that today those glances are directed to both of us. Look." Miku said slyly nodding her head to the area behind me.

Childishly exhaling a puff of warm air with a pout, I followed her instructions and took a quick glance over my shoulder. My eyes met with crystal grey orbs, the owner of those gorgeous eyes was a muscular man with long hair that surprisingly matched the bright purple of Miku's cardigan. I caught my breath, knowing that the right words to describe this man was not, "handsome," or even how some teen girls would say, "hot." No, his appearance matched neither of those words, and I tried to find a few words to describe him with the best of my ability. He was, "strikingly beautiful," with a face that could've been seen in the days of samurai.

"Our eyes met, my breath being forced out of me the longer I stared at the strange, yet stunning man who was leaning against the base of the Hachiko statue. His clear blue eyes felt like it was staring right through me, and I felt slightly uncomfortable under his gaze yet I couldn't help but stare back, mouth agape. It was at that moment when I knew I had fell in love—"

Whipping back around to the mischievous young woman next to me, I spoke sharply, my face slightly flushed with embarrassment. "What's with that strange commentary?"

Miku laughed as her palms flashed with a shrug of surrender. "What? I'm just speaking what I had thought when seeing your reaction." Lowering her arms, she spoke with a soft voice, "You did look stunned Rin. It would've given everyone the impression of my, I'll admit, silly commentary but I just wanted to bring you back down to Earth." She smiled, calmly turning around and to sustained to walking. "Now come on, this restaurant is great. It's one of my favorites actually."

With a crooked grin, I followed the cheery teal-haired example of brilliance, taking a moment to shoulder my disheveled purse and with that second, I took another glance at the man, finding him brusquely talking into a gleaming phone as his sharp eyes shot obvious glances at me. I had to agree with Miku about his eyes; his gaze did feel like they saw straight through me. Squirming a bit at the uncomfortable feeling of being exposed, I continued to walk up the warm sidewalk in pursuit of Miku, and more importantly, away from that strange man.

It didn't take long until we had arrived that the special restaurant that had gained Miku's favor, and as we entered the building through the elaborate dark doors, I began to regret wearing such an attire that didn't seem to match the air of sophistication at all. I took a glance at Miku and watched while she acted terribly comfortable in her own casual clothing, which made me feel especially out of place. Seeing me uneasy and quieter than usual, Miku turned towards me and flashed a reassuring smile that relieved me of my worries, however it was only momentary, and she went back to talking to the polite hostess at the counter. I silently observed as Miku informally chatted with the woman, occasionally calling the pink-haired woman by her first name, "Momo," making me realize the explanation to why this was one of Miku's favorite eating places throughout Tokyo.

Glimpsing around the room, the tense feeling located around my chest area relaxed a bit when I noticed that none of the employees in the building had given me at least one strange look. This place was a lot friendlier than perceived, especially when first observing the furniture, finding the colors in the area a common modern color scheme of dark browns, blacks and deep reds. The dimmed lights and clusters of scattered candles set the mood to a classier feel and placed on each of the tables were beautiful lotus flowers floating in a petite bowl of water as a small, yet elegant centerpiece. It was natural to get edgy in such a refined place like this, and knowing that, the waiters here seem to ease the customers with simple chitchat and gentle smiles. In no time, I felt comfortable by just studying how the restaurant worked.

"Rin, a table is open for us." Miku's soft voice called out, preventing any disturbance of the other consumers by lowering her tone. "Let's go; I'm starving."

Turning my gaze from the dark clothed tables to the stunning Miku, I smiled. "Ah, yes, I am too." I replied, matching Miku's quiet voice simply by talking as I normally did.

Another grinning waiter escorted us to a table alongside a wall; Weak light emitted from the small lamp sitting above on a shelf, it's dim orange glow causing true colors in the restaurant look burnt. The small amount of light, however, was enough to cause the chopsticks to sparkle against the murky reds of the cloth napkins. When the courteously tugged at the dark wooded chairs, I silently nodded my thanks and accepted the offer of consideration by sitting on the soft leather cushion. Unraveling the warm towel I wiped my hands and prepared myself to eat, taking to notice that small angelfish swimming in a square cup replaced the floral centerpiece atop the other tables. I stared in awe at the beauty of the fish, wondering if the two sea creatures were in any way comfortable within the narrow vase.

I sighed, my breath catching against the centerpiece and fogged the glass, obscuring and blurring the fishes' graceful figures. "I wonder if they feed them…" I mumbled softly, surprised that Miku had taken notice of my hushed murmuring.

"Huh? Rin, what are you talking about? Of course they're gonna feed us, I doubt they'll let us starve." She said staring at me with an expression filled with humor, with brows rising wondering if I went mad in the past few minutes.

Given the situation and considering the mature atmosphere, I couldn't help but giggle. "I meant the fish. If they didn't feed us at such an elegant place, that'd be terrible."

"Ah, yes, it certainly would be," Said a young man; his reverberating voice seemed to have come from behind me.

I was astonished that someone, especially one older than me, managed to sneak near without my knowledge, and with a calm façade plastered on my face to conceal the shock, I twisted around to get a glimpse of this young man's appearance.

When I managed to see his attractive features, the waiter greeted me with a flirtatious wink alongside a bright smile. "Excuse me for interrupting, but we do feed the fish," He chortled, vaguely stating that he had eavesdropped from the start of the fish-related conversation. "However, you ladies seem hungry, and since it's my duty to satisfy your hunger needs, I came as soon as possible." The man ran a hand through his strikingly gold hair while moving towards the unusually silent Miku, and when turning to face her, it seemed that the effortless action of simply staring at the man with a pleased grin had occupied the rest of her movements. He gave her a courteous bow and looked at her with shining sapphire eyes. "Ah, Hatsune-chan welcome back. It's a pleasure to serve you again, and I'm honored to be your waiter for the afternoon. Please, take care of me." The last polite plead of affection was not directed to only Miku but to the flustered me as well.

Miku elegantly supported her chin with the back of her hand as her elbow rested against the cloth, her half-lidded gaze locked on the friendly waiter. A soft smile grew on her face while she spoke, "Nice to see you too Sora-kun, I didn't think that you worked during lunch hours." Miku pushed a fallen lock of teal hair over her shoulder.

The young waiter straightened quickly and kindly smirked, smoothing his ruffled flannel shirt. "Yes well, I don't usually work around this time but one of my accomplices called in absent and asked me to replace her for today."

Miku brightened, lifting her head off her wrist and lowering her pale arm to rest on the edge of the table. "Ah, was it Utane-chan? I know she works during this time; however, she seems to be absent."

"Oh, so you knew? Well—"

Letting them continue their small conversation, I began to occupy myself by fiddling with the dark chopsticks, noticing that the small cursive letters carved into the sticks spelled the name of the restaurant: Kasane, the family name of the owner. Teto Kasane, the so-called, "crazy bread lover who's famous for giving her staff inspirational speeches in the middle of work," owned the eatery but these were only rumors courtesy of the media. In reality, I have no information about her besides having she odd pink pigtails in the shape of large spirals along with an ahoge. There were also a few rumors that she was an immortal with the looks of a sixteen-year old girl rather than the slightly aged features of thirty years, but of course I never believed it. I sighed, playing around with my chopsticks as the waiter, Sora as Miku called him, poured freshly brewed green tea into our red clay cups.

"And you, lovely lady, what's your name?" He said making direct eye contact to me, a stranger, and seemed to be quite comfortable throwing charming complements at me although my name was unknown.

I swallowed a small forming lump in my throat and took a quick glance at Miku, who nodded at me in encouragement, mentally urging me to introduce myself. Turning back to Sora, I locked eyes with him and spoke with a slightly trembling voice, "Kagamine Rin. What is yours?" I forced myself to act as casual as possible, yet I knew that I failed the moment I looked into his clear blue eyes.

"Kagamine, what a beautiful family name. Is it all right if I call you –chan? You look like a –chan rather than a –san." Sora questioned me, the usual harsh pressure that questions follow was absent as he slightly tilted his head, bright blond strands of hair falling into his eyes. When I nodded, confirming that, "—chan," was a fine honorific, he continued. "I'm Suiga Sora, nice to be of acquaintance. Aside from that, what would you fine ladies like today?"

I was quite surprised that he didn't give us any form of menus or any information about food until Miku had spoken. "Well, when it comes to Japanese food, our tastes are very similar—"

"Despite your leek obsession?" Sora asked with a raised brow.

Miku sighed gazing at his grin with an amused expression. "Yes, despite that. Anyways, give us my favorites and if we have any concerns, we'll be sure to inform you first."

Sora snorted, beaming at both of us with great appeal. "Hm, it seems that you've been here so many times that you memorized my mental script. Well yes, please, go ahead do so, and I hope to see Kagamine-chan again soon."

As he left the table, Miku faced me and smiled optimistically whilst clapping her hands together. "I'm glad that worked out well. Knowing you, I thought you were going to stay silent for a while. Now, tell me about high school. I want to know more about that 'kissing incident.'"

Ahoge-Japanese visual cue for cowlicks.

A/N Whoops! Sorry about the late chapters! Totally forgot about this story here (even though I have about 5 chapters done) so for an apology, I've updated this story with two chapters!