Kotori - An Invisible Songbird
There was a girl looking at her from across the cafeteria? Why? She was speaking, but so distant was she that Kotori couldn't understand her! Not only this, but when she talked, the middle-schooler boy she walked with also looked in her direction. Her cheeks flushed in the presence of the two that stood in front of her to be seated, the she desperately fought the urge to raise the social shield that was her book again.
Hiding in the daily life of Academy life was no longer acceptable. She had to have courage, she had to actually talk to people!
This in itself was a task that was going to be excruciatingly difficult.
Nodding timidly when Kirima inquired if the book she had hid behind was a good read, Kotori lightly plucked yet another piece of delectable Pineapple and took a bite. Savoring the sweet and tangy tastes that danced across her taste buds, she watched on as the behemoth pile of food clattered down upon the table in front of her, and Sasaki alongside it.
Watching his gleam of anticipation for the meal that lay ahead, it did not change the task set before her at this moment. She needed to make a good impression. For once in her life, she might be able to have friend at this peculiar place.
When the boy that sat in front of her asked if she were an Esper or a Magician, she flinched as the chopsticks broke in two. The response to the inquiry over the duck was at least humorous, and she failed to hide the hint of a smile at the response. Though the thought of cooking the poor creature seemed to be rather unfair. It was a rather adorable looking bird, she didn't think it deserved to be cooked.
But first was the matter of Sasaki's question.
Should she answer it truthfully? More often than not when someone else found about her abilities, she was chastised and rebuked as a result. Would this place be any different? Shaking her head and removing the thought of it, a simple thought occurred to her; if it were so horrible to be an oddity here, would it be so casually mentioned in daily conversation?
She needed to make friends, she needed to learn how to actually socialize decently for once. And in order to do such, the first virtue she had to learn was that of honesty. A truth that she direly needed to tell.
"I-I am what you call an Esper, Kirima-san, and...I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your name Duck-san." She hesitantly stated, glancing to Duck Boy. As a demonstration, her bag slowly unzipped seemingly by itself and from within it rose a trio of ball bearings, each of them two inches in diameter, rotated and spun about one another in the air before rolling smoothly onto the table in front of her breakfast.
There, they came to pause as a rigid row between her Bento and Sasaki's massive tray of food and froze. Ever still, Kotori continued to timidly talk. "If you would like more spices perhaps you might like to try my rice, Kirima-san." Gently, she rotated her bento box with her slender fingertips so that the rice was closer to the boy who sat opposite of her. Sharing her delicious cooking was a good way to make a first impression, right?
"I am from the Ishikawa province, w-what else did you like to know about me, Duck-san?" She added lastly to Kazeno, her gaze rotating to look straightforwardly to him. "I think you should keep the bird as a pet. Peking duck isn't too great of a dish, and the effort to pluck and clean that duck is worth not nearly as much as the satisfaction it would fail to bequeath."
