[center][sup][h1][color=black] O S A N A I  S U Z U K A[/color]
[color=#2596be]O S A N A I  S U Z U K A[/color][/h1][/sup][/center]
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Just as one clamor ended, another began. Suzuka could not initially make out the speaker who had so suddenly quieted the classroom with her unexpected entrance, but as the crowd encircling her began to open their ranks and part in the face of the chastising words of the new arrival, Suzuka at last managed to find an opening to look between them, and, in so doing, to find herself face to face with...

...Huh. A third-year's ribbon-tie. That was odd, though. She had expected to see a [i]face.[/i] Realizing her mistake, she turned her gaze upward, above the heads of her other classmates, to size up the upperclassman who had broken the circle surrounding her. It was only then that she realized the degree to which the second-year students crowded around her desk -- even the boys -- were overshadowed by the giantess of a woman now gazing down at her.

She blinked, and thought about the words she had just heard spoken. The tone of voice, the location they came from, the reaction of the bystanders all made it plain and clear that this upperclassman was the one who had uttered them. But the phrasing... Her body screamed "athlete," but the propriety of her speech took that impression and catapulted it back several centuries. So, when she went to express her gratitude for clearing her path, the first thing that came to mind was...

[color=#2596be]"Thanks for the assist, Samurai-senpai!"[/color] She mustered her frozen facial muscles for her best attempt at a grin, adding a thumbs-up as she took this chance to begin to hastily extricate herself from her seat. Turning to her confounded classmates, she gave a slight apologetic nod. [color=#2596be]"Sorry, but I gotta hurry if I want to get to the cafeteria before there's a big line... probably."[/color] It was a convenient excuse to extricate herself from having to answer way too many questions at once. But, before she could finish standing up, someone else addressed her, offering an alternative solution to her present predicament.

[color=#2596be]"Eh? Mika-chan? Can I really?"[/color] Suzuka's eyes lit up in an instant, darting back and forth between her old friend and the bento box set down before her. If she had an extra lunch, then that meant she could stay here to eat and maybe even catch up with Mika-chan and Ei-kun some more. But... wait, there wasn't a box on [i]Mika's[/i] desk anymore. [color=#2596be]"Wait,"[/color] She said, curbing her enthusiasm as her features quickly returned to their usual frown. [color=#2596be]"This is your lunch, though. If I take this then you'd have to buy something instead."[/color]

She appreciated the gesture, she really did -- but she'd only just gotten back. She couldn't be mooching off of friends she hadn't seen in years on her very first day, just because of her own mistake. That would be pathetic of her.