[b]Kotori Shirohane - Ferrero Mall: Yoshida Book Café | After School[/b]

Glancing between the others, Ryan was the first to speak up in answering Rui's question; declaring his tastes in books to lie in science fiction and manga before heading off to just those sections. Katsuro, meanwhile, seemed a little more embarrassed as he pointed over toward a similar set of book shelves as Ryan and then walking over. Rui, on the other hand, sounded curious about their respective choices, though evidently not enough to delve for further details. Kotori was quick to avoid his eyes when he looked between those that had answered him - only to almost jump when Ryan suddenly spoke up about enjoying a good mystery novel as well; though evidently not quite enough to not correct his initial enthused exclamation to a slightly more impartial one.

Rui, seemingly intrigued by all this mystery talk, seemed to decide that that was going to be his choice today as he picked up a manga before gesturing towards one of the empty tables and designating it as a meet-up place once everyone had made their choices in turn. Kotori gave a quick nod in agreement as everyone had split up already in search of an interesting book or already heading over to get started on one. Thus left to her devices, she turned her bespectacled gaze to the book shelves before her - the mystery section thankfully being quite close, even if the romance novels received a brief look - and looked over the various titles on display. She made a quick mental list as she went over them, ticking off one after another for a multitude of reasons - she'd already read that one, didn't like the sound of that title or had found that author's writing style not to her particular liking - as she unconsciously brought a finger to her lips, gently tapping against them in thought.

After selecting a few titles for a closer inspection and finally settling on one which she recognised neither title nor author of but which promised to be intriguing if a quick inspection was anything to go by. Before heading back to the table, Kotori quickly checked her phone - both to ensure that it was muted so as to not disturb anyone in the admittedly rather unlikely event of anyone trying to contact her and to see that her mother had replied with a simple OK to her previous message about being home a little later that she'd sent on the way to the café. With all pending matters thusly settled, she glanced about the café to see where the others were - and noticing that there were several other students from Warakuma High School about, though none of whom she recognised for more than their uniform.

Still, there was a small trace of a smile on Kotori's face as she looked down at the book in her hands - the prospect of a good story usually had that effect. Taking a seat at the table where Rui had already found himself a space, Kotori wasted no time and quickly turned the first few pages to get to the beginning of the story. She only noticed the others presences in passing if and when they took a seat as well - or spoke up, as she only realised after a few belated seconds. [color=green]"Huh?"[/color] she went when she realised that Rui had asked a question and having to take a moment to piece together she words she'd heard back into a full sentence in her mind.

[color=green]"Oh, I-"[/color] Kotori started - but then remembered that the last time someone had asked her a similar question, they'd gone ahead and gotten something for her despite her protests and subsequent guilty conscience. As such, she was wary of abusing any such kindness or inconveniencing someone else and thus gave a quick shake of her head mid-sentence: [color=green]"Ah, I-I mean, I'm fine for the moment. I'll... uhm, get something later."[/color] Even though Kotori's tone wasn't exactly the most convincing, she nonetheless felt a small yet still inordinate sense of pride at having managed to avoid any awkwardness so successfully for the second time today - though it didn't last very long before her mind's focus was entirely engrossed in the book before her.