A Friendly Fan

Her eyes would gaze back down towards the now broken camera, her mouth forming into a small frown. She didn’t feel to upset at the thought of it being broken, as much as she felt a fear of losing all her pictures. When the other began to apologize, she looked up, replacing the frown with a small smile.                                ❛ It’s o - okay. It’s no big deal.                                    You don’t have to r - replace it. ❜ She herself had not been the one to pay for the camera. She had found it laying around in a park one day. It had been starting to rain, and the girl had not wanted to see the camera get ruined, so she had taken it. She had every intention of returning it. And so she had stayed at the park for days, waiting for the owner to return, but no one had shown up looking for it. So she had kept it, fiddled with it, and learned what it could do. Amused by it, she had come to love it. But now it was broken, and she didn’t know how to get another one.

“I... I have a computer back at my shop. If you wouldn’t mind... I have to finish this delivery, but we can see if your card is still working.” It was the first time she had ever broken something important to someone else. She wasn’t quite sure where to start.

Luckily for the girl, the flowers had just arrived, and she didn’t have many orders, so she had a lot of time to spend helping her figure out what she wanted.

“I would like some flowers to decorate my brother’s bar: it is quite elegant, so I would like something that suits the atmosphere. My intention was to get yellow and red blossoms, to match the environment, but unfortunately I’m not an expert. What do you think?”

But she wasn’t going to let that stop her! She would just need to delve a little deeper to get her customer what she wanted. “Oh, and may I ask your name?” she wondered upon realizing she would be spending a lot of time with her to help.

“E-Eh? N-No it’s fine. I-It’s just pollen i-it’ll come o-off, ya d-don’t need to replace a-anything. A-And ya d-don’t need to a-apologize.” The one who ran into him just had to be a girl.

The girl had not been paying much attention to where she was going, but rather, her eyes would scan the buildings that surrounded her. Every new city was a new adventure. A maze of metal and concrete that she couldn’t wait to explore. With camera in hand, she walked about the city, taking a few pictures of things that caught her interest. If the girl had been watching where she was going, she may have seen the girl on the bike. A startled squeak escaped her lips as the bike swerved around her. In her surprise from the near collision, her small camera had slipped from her fingers, falling down to the concrete below with a sad crunch. The girl would cast her eyes from the camera to the other female, still in a state of shock, as she processed the event that had just unfolded.

The florist bowed to her deeply, feeling tears well up. She wasn’t one for crying at all, but seeing the broken camera and how much it would take to replace it... She swallowed hard several times to stop them from falling before she straightened her back. “I’ll... I’ll replace your camera... If the chip isn’t broken, you can go right back to taking pictures.”

“E-Eh? N-No it’s fine. I-It’s just pollen i-it’ll come o-off, ya d-don’t need to replace a-anything. A-And ya d-don’t need to a-apologize.” The one who ran into him just had to be a girl.

As she moved a few steps forward, the Kusanagi approached the girl who probably was the owner of the store. “Good day~” she politely greeted her with a smile. “I would like to purchase some bouquets, but I’m a little indecisive~ May I ask for advice?”

Luckily for the girl, the flowers had just arrived, and she didn’t have many orders, so she had a lot of time to spend helping her figure out what she wanted.

“E-Eh? N-No it’s fine. I-It’s just pollen i-it’ll come o-off, ya d-don’t need to replace a-anything. A-And ya d-don’t need to a-apologize.” The one who ran into him just had to be a girl.

“What kinds of ramen are there?” He asks curiously. “I usually make my own with my family.”

She hasn’t been to the ramen shop enough to have all the special dishes memorized, but she knows the basics or what they have, the basics of any ramen, really. “They have the usual kinds, salt, pork bone, miso... I personally like the seafood ramen seasoned with shoyu, but I can only eat here when I have good tips, so I don’t know a lot of what they have.”

Leaning over the counter, he hummed happily, “welcome to the Kotobuki bento store. How may I serve you today~?”

“Thank you, Rei-chan,” she replied, bowing politely. “Could I please have one of the karaage bento? They look so delicious, I have to try one.” Thinking back to the reason behind their first meeting, she added, “Were you able to fix your car?”