(No Subject)

[rulebook]

Who: Ryuta and Haruka
Where: Sannomiya, shopping district
When: Tuesday, April 18th
What: Unexpected Encounter (Social Link)

Ryuta left school early that morning, hoping to avoid any unwanted attention. Sneaking around may have been overkill, but he couldn't risk being caught. Even if he was now part of whatever yesterday was, he was sure that disciplinary action would be taken against him regardless of his new standing.

Moving a safe distance away, he relaxed a bit and continued down his trek to the train station. Before boarding the train, he entered the bathrooms to change his attire. After all, even with an excuse it would be hard to explain why he was out of school. Best not to tempt fate.

Once he reached his destination, he let out a breath of relief. So far so good. Even if school just started, he had to be sure none of his fellow students saw him. It was a matter of life and death for him. He opened the doors to a small café, and walked inside. The sign above the store read, 'Regality'.

Comments

[rulebook]

Ryuta grimaced for a brief moment, turning his head to the side to avoid looking at Haruka. He took a moment to respond to her question, the familiarity in his voice reduced to a sadder tone.

"Indeed I do."

Resting on the table, his fists clenched to the point his knuckles started to turn white. He was upset. Upset at himself for letting his emotions slip. He had to regain his composure.

Calming down, he addressed Haruka in a professional, business-like tone in an attempt to change the subject. "This seems to be a rather one-sided conversation. I would like to hear more about you. What do you hope to achieve by coming to this school?"

[allisnothing]

Haruka tilted her head slightly. She seemed to think on this for a bit, using her fork to play with the cake.

"Opportunities mainly?" She shrugged and took another bite. "I get to be on my own for a while and I get trained in what I want. That's fair.

"You?"

[rulebook]

"Same. A state of the art school built for the country's best and brightest would be a great way to advance myself." Rigid and straight to the point. He would not falter again so soon.

He readjusted his glasses as he thought the situation out. Like a game of chess, he had to think two steps ahead of his opponent. It picked up on the small hint behind her words and pressed forward. "I take it your parents were overprotective?" It would make sense after all. Being blind would make any decent parent worry about their child.

[allisnothing]

"Huh. Advance yourself in what?"

She shrugged again at his question. Another piece of the cake disappeared. "I dunno. As much as anyone else's would be? Only sixteen too." She put down the fork as she felt the last of the cake disappear. "At least I didn't run away to Tokyo like a rebellious teen out of dramas?"

[rulebook]

"Education, of course." A little vague, but good enough for the situation.

"I see." He nodded to himself. So she has a standard relationship with her parents. He thought to himself a moment longer before asking her out of the blue, "What do you think about this country?"

[allisnothing]

"Doing what?" Haruka asked, drinking her tea.

The question, however, made her look up. She looked bemused. "It's alright? Could be better."

[rulebook]

He ignored the first question for now, deciding to follow up on her response. "In there lies the problem. It could be better. While the system itself is as best as it can be, the people behind it have no idea how to properly run a country."

He began to speak more formally, as if reading aloud a speech he made in advance. "Shutting oneself in serves no purpose whatsoever. I do admit that we are maintaining our economy rather well. But that is all we are doing; maintaining, not progressing." He shifted his seating position to a more firm, upright pose.

"I'm not saying that we should openly accept foreign influence readily. There has to be a balance to things. We must learn from other countries while keeping true to our core beliefs."

He let out a quick sigh before sitting back into a more comfortable position. "Unfortunately, I am alone in this idea."

[allisnothing]

"Wow, thought on that a lot? You sound like you have your own manifesto ready," Haruka commented. She didn't sound like she was mocking him, though.

"What's balance? I like foreign movies and that's apparently eroding the cultural fabric of the country,"

[rulebook]

He caught her interest now, which was all the more reassuring for him to continue. "Hmm. If it were up to me, I would allow a free exchange in ideas and practices. Throughout history, cooperation between nations has lead to greater results over isolation."

He glanced out the window to his side, looking at the people passing by. "However, the way things are now, no one would be willing to do such a thing. Everyone is too focused on their hatred rather than the future. I hope to change that. Have people work together to make this country prosper again."

He turned back toward Haruka, and spoke to her with a strong determination behind his words. "And that's why I wish to be the Prime Minister."

[allisnothing]

Haruka sat, letting those words sink in. She kept a straight face for the most part, but then she barked out a short laugh,

"Interesting." She smiled a little. "Pretty ambitious? Not what most people am for."

[rulebook]

He smiled a little at her comment and replied back, "I'm not most people." He took her words to heart, seeing it as a compliment. "Well, I should be heading back to work now. Your meal is on me today."

Ryuta stood up from his chair and started to walk back toward the kitchen. He glanced back toward Haruka before he went too far off, "I hope to see you again, mistress."

[allisnothing]

"Sound logic." There were many things you could declare yourself to be anyway.

Haruka nodded at his farewell, turning her head in his direction and said with a smile,

"Thanks. See you later, Butler-kun."