<div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/a/ac/Taro03.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Taro Ikeda (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=257738.msg12730054#msg12730054)<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Cafeteria<br/><strong>Time:</strong>Flashback - a few days before school starts, a little after 7am<br/><strong>With:</strong>Shizuma + Open<br/><hr/><em>(Continued from the Shizuma/Taro flashback in the Gymnasium/Auditorium thread)</em><br/><br/>Taro sat at a table near the windows, now showered and changed into black pants, a plain grey t-shirt, and an unbuttoned black jacket with a stand-up collar. The sleeves of the jacket were just a little bit too short, as it was from the last year of his middle school, instead of a Denai uniform jacket. Still it looked just formal enough to pass muster at Denai, at least during the school breaks.<br/><br/>He was reading a textbook-style book at the moment, but not one that was part of the school curriculum. The title was 'Swahili for Advanced Beginners and Intermediates'.<br/><br/>Taro's mind wasn't really in his reading. He was thinking more about his new acquaintance. Only that he wasn't thinking in any real sense. Instead their earlier encounter at the track played through his mind again. He liked that girl. She was easy to like – gentle, a little shy, warm. But there also was something else he just couldn't place, something his brain told him he should have noticed. Only that his mind was not kind enough to reveal what that something was.<br/><br/>He looked around, took in the empty tables and chairs, before his eyes wandered over to the counter and the server behind it, a cook working in the background. The room surveyed, he turned his attention back to his book. Whatever it was about Shizuma that had him wondering would probably become clear some time, once he got to know her a little better.<br/><br/>Taro hadn't made much progress in his reading, when he heard a now familiar voice. 'What are you reading, Taro-sama?' As he looked up he had to smile. The school uniform suited her far better than the rather revealing 'flying costume'.<br/><br/>He rose and greeted her with a small nod and "Just some private studies, Shizuma-san." He held the book so she could read the title, while he said, "It's a bit of a long story, but if you like to hear it I can tell you over breakfast?" He made a small gesture with his hand towards the counter and raised a questioning eyebrow.