How to explain this...[Joshua/Kaminari]

Kaminari gave Joshua a look of suspicion, but let that fall away quickly. She took a breath to calm herself down. She needed some way of feeling relaxed, but was finding that harder as time went on. This was awkward; going on a date with someone you knew wasn’t actually interested in anything real or long term was just… It felt desperate, pathetic… demoralizing. It made her antsy.

“Yeah, I’ll accept that answer then…” Kaminari said after his explanation.

The drinks arrived and Kaminari was visually grateful. She made sure to take a quick sip, knowing a little alcohol would actually help calm the nerves. Letting out a breath after her drink, Kaminari looked to Joshua. “You sound like a man with little to no ambition. Are you not trying to get stronger or something?”

Joshua’s response prompted Kaminari to raise an irritated eyebrow. The point was to make a name for yourself, so clearly, he had no ambition. Was he really satisfied with his life? Must have a pretty cushy one if that’s the case. Kaminari decided not to press the issue in this particular case. Enough talk about his lack of ambition.

The food’s timely arrival gave Kaminari an excuse to pretend she forgot about it. She nodded a thanks to the waiter before taking up her chopsticks and digging in. She ate slow, enjoying the flavor and not wanting to fill up to quickly. “It’s very good, actually. I guess I will have to memorize its location.” She continued eating...

“Sure,” Kaminari said in quick decision. She held out a pad and pen that came from her purse and held it out to him. Once Joshua wrote down the address, she put it back in her purse before dropping the line. “As long as you’re paying.”

"The food there is fine; I usually cook my own though. I accepted because I have not been on a date in the last ten years," she answered, looking off toward some random spot in the alley, clearly annoyed by her truth. "Besides, turning down free food and a night away from the hospital sounds like a dumb decision."

"I high doubt that either of us believe this has the possibility of going anywhere significant," Kaminari said as she finished another slurp of ramen. "I have not exactly been nice since we arrived," she explained, hinting at intentional behavior. "And I prefer a man with at least some ambition who doesn't dodge my questions like you have been. Besides, I'm clearly not very many people's type either."

Kaminari was clearly enjoying her food. While he talked, she glanced up at him, but didn’t take too much focus away from her meal. Soon, she was slurping up broth. Setting the now empty bowl down on the table, she let out a relaxed sigh. Finally, her full attention was on her ‘date,’ and she allowed a small smile to form.

“Look, if you were actually serious with all of that, then thanks,” Kaminari said and then rubbed the back of her head. “I don’t get out much, and when I do it’s like a day in the Rukongai. And I’m not good at taking compliments anyway, but who is?”

“Is that you fishing for a compliment? What… handsome? Nice hair? Nice smile? Funny? Pick one,” Kaminari said with a blush and a turn of her head, but she wasn’t mad. It was more out of embarrassment for saying any of that. She figured he would poke some fun at her any moment too, since that has been his thing all night! Then, she rolled her eyes and finally let out a small laugh.

“In this section called the Shojin. I find I can relax there,” Kaminari explained. “I haven’t spied you out there either. Pretty sure I’d recognize the hat and the hair, especially the combination of them. What do you do out in the Rukongai?”