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School Rumble (Broom and I)

"My mother makes very good Ramen, so I enjoy it. I haven't had it in a very long time, mostly because I never really eat at any place that serves it. I didn't know of any place that had such a thing." Mei told him, wondering if he intentionally invited her to eat this dish because of her heritage. Maybe he wanted to appeal to her cultural side? That was a very intelligent move in pleasing her.
 
"There's a great place in Central," Adam smiled. "Kind of out of the way...but we usually have to eat on the go, so it'll be nice to sit down and eat." he said as they left the building. "...How are you holding up?" he asked after a moment. "I know you've been working your butt off, Mei."
 
"...I'm alright. I can only hope that I can get something from Lili Masenbach since I'm not allowed to go after that last one...Kent Minske. Not until my shoulder heals a little first. By then it could already be too late. It's killing me that I can't go after him...I might have to talk to someone and see if they can shadow him for me. It's just.." Well, it was just that Mei didn't trust anyone to do this other than herself and Jana..and Jana was hurt and on suspension. She sighed a bit, her hand relaxing a little in his. It had been stiff and tight, but as she thought of other things she started to relax almost as if she had forgotten they were holding hands.
 
"You don't like being stuck doing nothing?" Adam tried with a faint smile. "Since you're always used to being at the front of everything?" Sounded like Mei, really...it was just a guess.
 
"Well, yeah. Besides, I have been leading this investigation since day one. I can't trust anyone to take over with it unless that person was Jana. I mean..is that bad?" Mei was talking too much about herself. Adam was smiling, but she didn't want to make a bad impression.
 
"No," Adam chuckled. "It means you have personal responsibility...that's not a bad thing at all, at least it isn't to me." he assured. "But we're not here to talk about work," he reminded. "We're here to have fun, right?" Could Mei have fun? He didn't honestly know, but he was determined to see.
 
"Oh, right." Have fun? She could do that, right? She had fun when she read. And she almost had fun on that stupid dance machine. So she could totally have fun with Adam. She was capable of it. Though she wondered how eating would be considered fun. "Just lead the way." She told him, her cool hand tensing in his just a bit as she attempted to figure out what exactly she was supposed to do.
 
The Ramen shop Adam took her to was the definition of a 'hole in the wall', there was a vague Asian influence in the decorations. With a simple banner in kanji determining it's status as a ramen shop. There were only stools to set on in front of the stall, but the stall was about twenty people wide. There seemed to be an entire family moving behind the bar.

"Great place," Adam assured as he took a seat, the woman greeted him in Japanese.

"ooh, Adam! Who is this pretty thing?" The woman said, grinning at Mei.

"...Ah, just a friend...we're on a date," Adam responded. Give me my regular. Mei? What would you like?" Well, the menu was in terrible English...but it was readable.
 
Mei understood everything that the two were staying, but she didn't say anything. She was too shocked in learning that Adam could speak Japanese so fluently. She didn't know anyone except for her mother could...so she rarely ever got to use it. She blushed when she said that they were on a date together. It was..strange to hear him say that out loud. She glanced at the menu in her hand, and then she realized they were no longer holding hands. For some reason she kind of missed the feeling. The feeling she thought was the end of the world.

"Wakayama Ramen with pork ribs, please. Thank you very much." Mei ordered, her Japanese perfectly fluent, which almost came as a surprise to her considering she hadn't spoke it in months, at least out loud.
 
...Shit. Adam flushed a little in embarrassment, rubbing his neck. Great...his one bastion of safety, did...was that okay? Did he go too far?

The woman smiled easily at that, heading to bark orders at her husband. Which somehow escalated into arguing as he cooked. There was a mildly awkward silence as he gratefully took a sip of the complimentary tea offered to calm his mind.

"...You're fluent," he mumbled faintly. "I um...I didn't know that..."
 
He was still talking in Japanese..so that meant...well that meant he actually knew how. If he was trying to start a conversation with her. Mei blushed and looked up at him, her lips pouting slightly. "I would be a fool if I didn't know how to speak my mothers native language. Of course I speak fluent Japanese. I didn't know you spoke it, Adam. Why did you learn?"
 
"I don't really know..." he admitted. "But...part of my training with my element, it helped me understand. My Master taught me that valuing every sound, every noise...you would value what it did to people when used properly. I decided to learn a language, to help me figure out what he meant. Sound is powerful...it can be music, voice...anything. It made me feel like I was king of the world when I passed my test." he chuckled.

The DC test, very grueling and stressful. You had to be at least a C Minus to be enrolled. There were many stories of students being exhausted and broken before the first week was over.
 
Mei was silent for a moment. It seemed like lots of people had "masters" or "teachers" for their element. Mei's only training was from her father, and it wasn't for her element but rather her sword technique. She had never met a fellow ice element user that was stronger than her, but she had never looked either...

"That sounds...really interesting. The way languages works, the inflections are slightly different in each one. I'm not sure if that's what you mean, but.." Mei sighed, not really sure if she got it at all. "Well anyway...you're very good at speaking Japanese."
 
"It is what I mean," Adam smiled. "And thank you...I wish I had known you spoke sooner, I could have had a tutor." he joked with a faint laugh. That...brought images he was totally okay with...
 
Mei shrugged, though she winced and cursed herself for forgetting about her shoulder momentarily. Though really, she didn't want him to worry about her. Come to think of it, she hated that her face had been cut during her fight today. Being even the slightest bit imperfect on her first date ever was a little...annoying. "I am not so sure I would have been a good teacher. My patience...isn't so good. Though...I gotta say it's nice to finally talk to someone other than my mother in this language." Mei smiled every so slightly, her face relaxing as she realized that she really was enjoying being with Adam...
 
"You never mention your parents much," Adam smiled, thanking them for the two hot bowls. He was a simple man, it seemed...beef, lots of beef in his ramen. "You still keep in touch with them?" Wow, Mei...looked like she was having a great time, but he chose to ignore her minor wince. Mostly for her own sanity, it looked like...
 
Mei looked at her bowl of ramen. It smelled good, just like the way her mother made it. She split open a pair of chopsticks and then shook her head. "Not really. I'm far too busy for such things. My father is also not the most supportive of my decision to be in DC." Were they really still talking in Japanese? Mei didn't mind, but...he really was fluent. She took her first bite out of the ramen and for a minute she just stared at it, the flavors still dancing on her tongue. "..It's good..." She looked over to Adam and just stared at him, feeling as if he was...pulling a trick on her? Her face was really red. "I find it odd that I didn't notice you until a few days ago. You're very nice, and interesting, and you make me feel really strange. In a good way." She confessed. Mei was honestly too truthful at times. She hoped he didn't take that wrong.
 
"...Thanks, I think." he chuckled, breaking his chopsticks too. "We didn't really have any real reason to...talk I guess." and the less nice truth was that Mei wasn't usually so...approachable. He wondered if Jana was to blame for that, or not? "...I'm glad we did this, though, Mei." he said seriously. "...I um...I'm really enjoying being around you."
 
She looked away from him, wondering why he was enjoying being around her. As she started to focus on eating, she wondered if this was really okay. She felt like she was getting attached, and it was bad enough she felt this way with Jana, and Kuki more or less. But Adam...well he was far more dangerous. "I'm glad. I enjoy being around you, even though it's scary." Mei said absentmindedly as she ate.
 
"Scary? He murmured, trying not to actually slurp the entirety of his noodles in between their conversation. Scary? What did he do that was scary? He swallowed after a moment, considerinf his options.

"Well...I...don't want you to be uncomfortable, so if this is..."
 
"I'm always uncomfortable. I've always been scared to get close to people. I don't like giving people the power to hurt me. Jana has it...Kuki has it...and now....I think I've given it to you too..." Why was she being so honest about this all of a sudden? Maybe she really did want Adam to keep liking her, so she felt like she owed him an explanation....
 
For a while, Adam didn't know what to say. Maybe what they were doing right now was some kind of teenage fling or maybe it wasn't. But what she said meant more than that, she was talking about trust. An emotional trust. That was pretty heavy to take in on a first date.

"I wouldn't break that, Mei" Adam said, as serious as one could possibly manage before slurping up a pile of noodles.

...His timing needed work.
 
The way Adam spoke made it seem like he was so sure. She wondered if he really meant that, or if he was only saying it because that was just what you were supposed to say. This conversation wasn't "fun" so Mei decided to drop it and continue eating. She would have changed the subject if she actually knew what to change it to. Other than the food. She had already complimented it once. For a moment, she wondered if she was the one actually making him uncomfortable. Though if she was, she needed to rectify that. She didn't want him to stop liking her. She didn't want this to be their last date. She had to think of something to let him know that she was enjoying this. So after such a long time in silence, Mei spoke up once more. "I'm having fun. Even though it may not look like it."
 
"...Really?" He mumbled shyly. He wasn't really putting his best foot forward on this date, because he was basically winging it. He figured she would ve more interested in...he didn't know, stuff all formal and...fancy, like she was.
 
"Yes, I am. I hope you are too. I know that I can be..difficult." She reached over and then picked up a spoon, not feeling comfortable picking up the bowl and drinking the soup from it. She hadn't really eaten much of the meat but the noodles were almost gone. She glanced at him and then back to her food, feeling herself yearning to hold his hand again for some reason. She really did like it after all...
 
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