“I haven’t been out to a proper lunch in ages.” Said Nishiki as the pair headed towards a cafe he suggested. It was only a block away from his house. So going there after lugging all his clothes from the laundromat was easy. “I don’t think I’ve ever been here before, so I hope it’s good.”

“You’ve pretty much lived next door to it this entire time and never gone there before?” She looked at him, her eyes filled with judgment. “You really don’t have any friends, do you?”

“I guess that’s one way of putting it.” Most of the people he knew were coworkers. However, that was as far as his relationship with anyone went. It was all professional, so the man had no clue what people did when they were off work. They didn’t either, but if they guessed nothing, then they’d be correct.

On the matter of him not going to this cafe because of his lack of friends. Tenha was also correct in that assessment. During the work week, there was no time to stop by one of these spots to enjoy something delicious. Most times he settled for some fast food, which really gave him such a poor diet. No wonder most weekends involved him just lazing about feeling so tired. “If you were a better cook, then we wouldn’t even consider something like this.”

“Hey, I’m still making dinner tonight.” That end of the contract had yet to be filled on that matter. He wasn’t worried though, since other than this impromptu decision, they had nothing else planned for the day.

“Does that mean I’ll be seeing Kinuko again?” He asked.

“Nah, she told me that since it seems I can be trusted. She won’t be nosing in my business as often anymore.”

“That’s a shame.” Compared to this immature brat, that taller girl was a godsend. While she was a bit cold towards him, at least they could have a normal respectable conversation.

“Don’t sound that disappointed she’s not coming.” She got red in the face and lightly hit him in the back. “At least she won’t annoy us when we’re eating dinner this time.” The girl crossed her arms and pouts for the rest of their trip. Which wasn’t long considering they were just entering the cafe at this point.

Being a Sunday afternoon, the place was moderately filled with patrons finding some time to enjoy this beautiful day. Normally Nishiki would find himself laying on the couch, mindlessly watching some movie on television as he rested his body from a long work week.

Considering how he would feel on a day like today. He thought he’d be more exhausted heading into the cafe by now. Especially with all the work he had to take care of this morning. However, there was more pep in his step as the pair sat down at an open table by the window. The sun cast its light over their light oak table, creating a glow before them. “Since we’re both new here, I’m guess we’ll just randomly pick something here.” She commented as they both ran through the menu.

“True.” He replied, still staring into his menu. “I guess I’ll just keep it simple and order some fried rice.”

“Bor~ing.” She mocked him for not even attempting to do anything special for going in her for the first time. “If you wanted friend rice, even I could make something that easy.” Tenha then pointed out something for her to order. “I’ll have some ebi mayo. Ooh, and a side of tako yaki.”

“I see it’s easy for you to order when it’s someone else’s money.” He muttered to himself. The main reason he went for his choice in the first place was due to wanting to stay under a strict budget. Even though splurging on a one time stop like this one wasn’t a big deal. “Fine, I’ll have the spicy tako cucumber.” In the end, he gave into her pressure and ordered something else. The pair also got some ice tea to help down their food.

“I didn’t know you also liked octopus.” She commented as they sipped on their drinks and waited on their food. “How come we didn’t buy any back when we were shopping?”

“Don’t know how to cook it very well.” He answered. “A shame too, since I really liked my mom’s tako cucumber.” Though hers wasn’t spicy, so the man wasn’t certain on how well he’d take the cafe’s rendition of the dish.

As it turned out, rather well. When they got their plates, the two quickly got to work in wolfing it down. Neither of them had breakfast. So at this point they were starving and willing to eat just about anything to satisfy their empty stomachs.

“Trade you one of my balls for a bite of your spicy tako.” While eating, Tenha made a suggestion. She had never had what he was eating, so curiosity got the better of her. Of course, she had to make what seemed like a fair trade to have a chance.

“Sure.” He didn’t mind the offer. Even if she didn’t give him any of her tako yaki, he’d still be fine with giving her a chance at this meal. So he plucked up one of her balls and slid over the bowl for her to take a bite. The girl carefully removed what she viewed to be the pesky cucumber getting in the way to the octopus goodness and took a bite.

“Mmhmm.” At first when it touched her tongue. She found it to be one of the yummiest things she had ever eaten. “Hmm?” Then shortly after that, her eyes shot wide open. “Ahh!” This was too spicy for her to handle. The girl was barely able to swallow before opening her mouth open to try and cool it. He swore he could’ve seen flames shooting out from there. She got all red in the face and attempted to save herself by chugging down a bunch of her tea.

“Are you all right?” He asked. While the meal had a bit of a kick to it. Nishiki found he could handle the spiciness well. It wasn’t bad at all for him.

“Oh gosh.” She gasped for breath, fanning herself with her hands in a futile attempt to cool down. “I forgot I can’t handle spicy things at all.”

“I never took you for such a lightweight.” He chuckled, which earned him a flick on the nose by the girl as she leaned over the table in an instant.

“It’s because of what I am, you moron.” She scolded him. Tenha looked around to see if anyone could listen in on their conversation. Since it appeared safe to do so, she went on to explain. “It’s because I’m a winter fox spirit. So I can’t handle hot things very well.”

“I didn’t realize there were different kinds of fox spirits like that.” Considering the term she used. He could assume they were separated by the four seasons. It made him wonder what the others were like. Given her snow white hair and that winter was known for snow. Did that mean the others were color coordinated based on their own seasons? But what would that make of Kinuko? She had jet black hair, so if one were to think she was a completely normal Japanese woman. He wouldn’t blame them for making that assumption.

“Well there are.” She got up from her seat. Eating just one bite of that spicy tako cucumber did a number on the girl. Tenha was beginning to sweat a lot and it had even begun to mark the beginnings of drenching her outfit. “Now I need to use the restroom and take care of myself.” The girl left, leaving him all alone at the table.

“I guess we’ll just take the rest of this to go.” He told the server walking by after she left.