<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 >> School Grounds<br/><strong>Time:</strong>Flashback - a few days before school starts, morning >> early afternoon<br/><strong>With:</strong>Shizuma + Open<br/><hr/>"Told you I didn't have any real plans for today. All I really need to do is buy some groceries, but there is a Family Mart* close by my apartment. Doesn't really matter which time of the day I do my shopping." He offered Shizuma a small smile, before reminding her, "besides, I already promised I'd let you know if you became ... a burden. I haven't, so don't worry."<br/><br/>When he felt the cold gust of wind that pushed Shizuma close to him, Taro knew there was something unnatural at work. Any wind strong enough to push Shizuma he would have felt more strongly than he actually did. No science Taro could think of would explain such a localized phenomenon. But what to do about it? Shizuma was shivering. Should he offer her his jacket? Should he pull her close to him, to share his body's warmth with her?<br/><br/>He liked her. He wanted to protect her. But he also had an upbringing of traditional values. His parents weren't exactly conventional, didn't care much about traditional gender roles in their own relationship, both treating each other as equals. But they had still raised Taro to conform to traditional patterns of social interaction, made certain he did not stand out too much from accepted societal norms.<br/><br/>In the end he settled for drawing his hand away from Shizuma's and placing it gently on her shoulder instead, neither pushing away nor pulling closer. It was already beyond the border of how he would have treated another girl, but he couldn't help himself. His eyes searched for hers, as he wondered how Shizuma felt about this situation.<br/><br/>"Maybe you should ask the wind for a warmer breeze. You must be cold."<br/><hr/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 8pt;">* Third-largest chain of convenience stores in Japan, after Seven-Eleven and Lawson. Usually open 24/7, i.e. it doesn't matter how long Taro stays at the school that day.</span>