(Day 1) Kimiko's Apartment: Masako's First Visit

Berthold remained waiting at the door, he heard a girl's voice. He was in a room with a girl? Oh great, he thought to himself, now it would either be awkward for her or him, maybe both. He already did not like where this was going. He heard the light hand on the doorknob, then heard it turn. When the door opened, it revealed a girl he would not have ever expected. She was blushing a bit, and looked rather nervous at his appearance. Was something wrong with how he looked, or was she surprised at seeing him? He could not tell. He decided not to ask. Quickly, he took the letter that his mom gave him stating that he was going to be living here, and was about to hand it to the girl.

She introduced herself as Mori Kimiko. He thought that was a unique name, he had never heard of such a name before. Then again, all the names here were new to him. She would probably have the same reaction to his name, or even think his was weird. He decided not to worry about what she thought, but was still in shock at how different this girl was. He had seen girls blush and get nervous with him before, but never had he seen them run off to go play what seemed to be a complicated video game. It looked familiar to him, but he said nothing about it. He nodded behind her when she said to make herself comfortable, even thought she could not see. It was just instinct, he supposed.

Slowly, he crossed the threshold and turned, closing the door behind him. It clicked quietly and he turned again, looking into the room. It was not a hug apartment, but it was cozy, he could say he liked it, but would never admit it aloud. He walked into the room a bit further and looked at the chairs. Berthold did not really want to sit on the chairs. It was not even his home, they could be someone's special chair for all he knew. He decided to do what he usually did in someone else's home and walked over to the corner, far away from Mori so he would not disrupt her or be in her way. Berthold slid his shoulderbag off of him and placed it gently on the floor, a few books inside moved about, but he did not mind. He would just restack them later, or even put them away if Mori allowed him to. In his arms, he remembered was his notebook and book, still cradeled in his right arm. Silently, he unzipped his bookbag and placed the notebook in it, and cracked open his book.

He awaited patiently for Mori to finish her game. Deep down, he slightly hoped she would not finish for awhile because it seemed so awkward for her to talk to him. Berthold did not want her feeling uncomfortable. He realised he had not uttered a word upon entering her house, and if he suspected right, that would not do for this girl. She would want answers to the questions in her head. Like the first one he had not yet answered [i]'What brings you here?[i] Berthold expected many more, such as where he was from, what he was reading, the usual questions. He glued his eyes to his book, taking in every page with a certain pride. The Book Thief was the book in his hands, and he loved it. An English friend of his mothers had gave it to him, and he had read it twice already, this being his second. The way the book appeared, it looked brand new, but Berthold love of books prevented any harm to it, it was 4 years old. Berthold glanced up at the girl, she seemed to have fun playing her game, and was quite good at it. He wondered where he had seen or heard of that game before, it was so familiar. Berthold looked back down and kept reading, wondering just when she would notice him on the opposite side of the room in the corner, legs crossed and nose stuck in a book; his bangs hung over his eyes slightly when he bent his neck down to read.

Sigma was running closer and closer to Chuckles and his gigantic swan. It was the last stretch and no other detours to elude the riders. The riders are closing in and coming at her quickly. Things went to hell in a moment since Kimiko went away from the visor for just a while. The Airborne Guild was very quick and already has the army storming the castle. The only way to beat them in the game of Capture, it is to either defeat their leader, other than that, the game will continue on indefinitely and goes anywhere until either the enemy leader is defeated or Sigma was captured. She does not want the guild to lose this one by a blitz in the sky. The riders are still closing in. Their mounts’ head are close to touching Sigma. Any further, the riders would have grabbed her if any closer. She and Chuckles have to think quickly. Chuckles coaxed the swan to take off without Sigma and Sigma knows one trick that was dangerous, but it has to work.

(Chuckles) “Now, Sigma! Jump!”

Sigma jumped off the ledge and the closest mount failed to snatch her from her fall. The heart rate raised as Kimiko’s visor stimulated her of the fall. Shortly after the jump, the swan swooped and guided Sigma into the short arms of Chuckles. With Sigma’s escape, the riders returned to the castle to report. Before they could get the airships airborne, Chuckles and Sigma are long gone into the Eylan nation southward with King and Raven going into the Firis nation northward.

Berthold heard her concentrating on her game. Every now and then he would hear a voice talking to her, prompting her if you will. He realised that these voice were probably her friends that she gamed with a lot. At least she was having fun, he thought to himself. He looked up and his eyes roamed near her direction, but dared not look up at her again, he did not wish to jinx her turning around at the wrong moment and have her think he was staring at her. That could get awkward for them both. Very awkward indeed.

Berthold's eyes skated across the room before slowly returning to his book. One of his favorite things about the book was that it was narrated by death, and it was beautifully written. His first time reading it was in Germany, he cried, he laughed, he smiled. This book was like an old friend he had only recently re-run into, he was glad he found it again.
On many counts, taking a boy like Rudy was robbery- so much life, so much to live for- yet, somehow, I'm certain he would have loved to see the frightening rubble and the swelling sky on the night he passed away. He'd have cried and turned and smiled if only he could have seen the book theif on her hands and knees, next to his decimated body. He'd have been glad to witness her kissing his dusty, bomb-hit lips.
Yes, I know it.
In the darkness of my dark-beating heart, I know. He'd have loved it, all right.
You see?
Even death has a heart. (Death in the The Book Thief)

After saying goodbye to her friends, Kimiko logged out of her game and took off the visor before shutting down the machine. She then looked at the clock and realized that she was only a minute late for her studying. That would hamper her time to make a decent meal or hamper her studies by a little bit. With such high expectations going around, she was could not help, but to know that she will have to work harder to make this up. "Oh dear..." is what she could utter in a shocking realization. She gives off a very light blush much to her start in stressing. "I have to get this done!" She ordered herself before walking quickly to her briefcase and opened it. She pulled out her textbooks and placed them on the table. However, she was also thinking of making dinner for her new roommate. So leaving the the books opened, she walked to the kitchen and looked through what she has. "You don't mind sushi, right...uhhh...what was your name again?" Kimiko asked, showing off her disorganized rushing to get things to look impressionable for her new roommate. She was a smart and neat girl, but just has a stroke of bad luck when it comes to people.

(( A little short on the last post, Arata. You have 8/10 sentences. ))

After hearing the name and his agreement to have sushi, Kimiko pulled out a pot, fill it at least halfway of water and heat it up. Boiling the water will quicken the process of softening the rice needed for the sushi. While the water is boiling, she looked into her fridge for raw seafood and vegetables that she bought yesterday. She is normally the kind to think ahead and she was actually aware of her having a roommate. Crab strips, tuna, fish eggs, zucchini, and many more. She was quite prepared to make it ahead of time, but due to the chaos in her guild, she was late in making them for the roommate named, Berthold Bjorn. Bjorn...his appearance reminded Kimiko of some of the hot male protagonists that she read in her romance and fantasy manga. Why is she thinking about that now!? Kimiko shook her head to get the thoughts and refocus on cooking.

Soy sauce! Kimiko panicked about it since she remembered she let a neighbor use it, but he did not return. She looked in the cabinet and sighed with relief to know that she has extras in case. Most of her cooking tasted better with a little soy sauce. Except for that cake that she accidentally poisoned her cooking instructor with back in middle school...However! She learned not to add soy sauce to her cakes! What about cakes!? She is making sushi! She pulled out a bag of dehydrated rice and pour some of them into the pot. She added salt to add a little flavor. She prepared the counter and the cutting board so she can cut up the seafood, vegetables and eventually the sushi.