Back Here Again [Nami/Hana]

Hana was confused by the answer. Not because it wasn't clear, but because of the bird mention. Hana wanted to know where she ate. She could have said she went to the cafeteria or had a restaurant she liked, but she just mentioned the birds. Nami's quick look around had Hana following her eyes. Hana also took note of the other people in the room, but casually. Then, Nami made her choice and they were off.

Nami's next answer also perplexed Hana. This girl was a little strange. Nice, but strange. Hana chuckled a little as they made their way out of the Academy grounds. Hana was silent for a bit, but that felt awkward, so she finally spoke up again.

"So, do you like birds?" Hana asked, since Nami had mentioned them twice now. The question was a little awkward. Birds weren't a subject that came up often in life. And she wasn't sure how Nami would react to it now. I feel so awkward...

"Yes but when they don't poop on things. I like watching them on nice days except for when they try to hide from me and I can't get a good view of them. Some of them have very pretty calls too."

Nami explained hastily with her eyes darting around, her attention was just as flighty as her behaviour let on. Maybe she was looking for birds right now too. You had to be very quick with these things if you didn't want to miss, the difference between a legitimate chance to analyse the bird and only seeing a blur was so minute!

"Do you like birds too, Kahime?"

Flower princess was a pretty nice title, wasn't it? Well, she thought it was. Nami didn't see much issue bestowing a title onto someone, everyone knew that a title received was worth more than one self-given so if Hana liked to be the princess of flowers then she could stay that way or ask her to use that name again.

That was also fine.

"Calls? Oh, you mean bird calls," Hana said, chuckling at her own dumb comment.

It seemed birds were something that sparked something from Nami and allowed Hana to break some of the ice. As they walked, Hana watched Nami's eyes dart around. She followed the girl's sightline a bit, but not too much. She had no interest in getting dizzy. She stopped when Nami ended up asking her a question.

"I find them beautiful, and think the way they walk is cute," Hana said sincerely and then stopped when she realized what Nami called her. "Wait, Kahime?"

Hana tilted her head curiously. She figured it was because of her name, but she wouldn't call it a title. Hana smiled. "That's a really sweet nickname. Thank you, Nami," Hana said. "Do you have a one? A nickname you enjoy being called, I mean."

It wouldn't be long before they arrived at Aoyama Cafe. It may have been selfish, but because of her family's current situation, she did come here often, acting like a normal customer. If she could, she brought friends here too. What little business she could provide, lessened the weight off her Father's shoulders.

"Here we are," Hana said, opening the door for Nami. "You can order whatever you like, but don't go too crazy. I can cover the bill for most things."

"Ao...yama..."

She looked at the name like it should be familiar to her. Nope, not ringing a bell even if Hana had introduced herself properly earlier. Nami had already forgotten these tiny little details about Hana, she was more interested in sounding out words.

"I'm not particular. I will eat what you eat."

Nami decidedly remained easy to please, forgetting all about the previous question of her own nicknames. She did have one but she thought it was quite lame. Who wanted to be called Violet Lightning anyway? That sounded silly, she thought.

Hana's smile brightened. There was almost a hint of mischievousness in there. She nodded, accepting Nami's answer and walked up to the counter. She looked around the area, noticed something toward the front of the counter in the cafe's kitchen. She looked at the menu, and then clapped softly before waving to someone.

"Hey, Leiko," Hana called out to one of the girls. "You started up the new item!"

"We did, and they're selling like crazy!" Leiko said. "Great job bringin-..."

Hana put a finger in front of her lips, and said, "Shh. That is our little secret, okay?"

"Right, sorry." Leiko said. "Can I get you one?"

"Yes, two watermelon tides for the two of us," Hana said, gesturing to Nami. "Oh, also two of your turkey sandwiches on whole wheat and no mayo."

Leiko rang up the order and began making it. Hana returned to Nami's side while they waited. "My first trip to the Human World, I got to try one of these things called smoothies. I fell in love with them, so I figured out how to get them here." Hana said. Her sheltered life prevented her from trying anything like that. Since Hiroe had also never had one, she assumed they weren't in the Soul Society and brought them to help boost her family's business. "I hope you like ice cold fruit juice! That's pretty much what they are." Hana said, strangely excited for Nami to try one.

What strange things, Nami thought. She didn't eat a lot of bread but that's what she'd heard about from some of the Westerners that ended up in the Rukongai. Usually they were tourists that died on accidents that got them marooned here in the Soul Society. That must be rough.

She remained relatively quiet though and amused herself in her own thoughts while she let Hana do all the talking. Nami was trying to figure out what she was going to do for her flower arranging later today, maybe she could use some lillies and camelias? That could be pretty.

"Smoothie?"

Nami mumbled through with broken English, when Hana explained it the baby bird gave a small expression of illumination. Oh, those things.

"They sound like something in my district, a western family who died and were sent to my district spoke of these things and made a business selling them until the store was destroyed by renegades."

It was sad but she spoke about it very distantly. It was a common place occurance in the outer districts so Nami didn't perceive it as anything awful or tragic. It was just how life was.

Yep, this is one of the things the Aoyama Family did. They took Western cuisine and did what they could to bring it here. Luckily, they only did it with two to three menu items at a time. A simple turkey sandwich, smoothies, and the occasional hamburger. It worked in Japan, so it should work in the Soul Society, right?

After explaining the concept of a smoothie, Nami's story struck a chord with Hana. She thought about what Nami said happen to those people and couldn't help but feel sad. So many deaths, preventable and unnecessary. To prevent herself from delving too deep, she shook the thoughts from her head. If she got too depressed, she'd end up dazing out li-...Holy shit, is that what people thought of her when she dazed out? Hana and Nami might have more in common than she thought.

"I'm sorry. It's horrible having people you know disappear," Hana said, keeping her word choice vague. She didn't now what word choice might bother Nami, if at all.

Soon, they received their food and Hana chose a table outside. It was later in the day, so the sun wasn't a problem and a cool breeze made it comfortable. Also, during the evening, she knew a small flock of birds that often landed around here. Hana passed out the food, their meals matching, and began eating the sandwich first. Curious about Nami's reaction, she did watch her try the first sip of smoothie.

"How do you like it?" Hana asked.

"It's okay, they didn't really like me because I would steal from them."

Nami explained once more with that same matter of factly tone and stared out at the scenery. Eyes more interested in the birds than recounting her history to Hana. She seemed shaken by it but maybe that's just because that's how these nobles were. They lived in this nice and peaceful Seireitei so they didn't know how to cope with the reality of a situation.

Oh well. Nami just sipped on the smoothie and counted the flock, taking note of their colours and trying to listen to their chirping. It was a shame that Hana had interrupted her when she was focused and the pink eyes shifted back to the white-haired woman in a half-daze.

"It tastes alright, it's tastes like shaved ice."

A terrible comparison but she thought it aligned well enough in her head.

This girl was just surprising Hana question after question. She talked so casually about being a thief. It was weird. Nami was also constantly dazing out. It was like she was completely checked out from reality. Could this be the result of some sort of trauma? Depression? Or was there nothing but birds flying around in that head of hers? Hana wasn't sure, and she couldn't wipe her concern away. She had no business prying into Nami's life after just meeting her. And who knows? Maybe this was what Nami liked being like? Hana decided to just let that go.

Shaved ice? Hana took a drink of her smoothie. She had shaved ice before. It wasn't this smooth and was much more artificial tasting. Trying to attempt a joke, Hana said, "I'm gonna have to find a better shaved ice place."