Ignorance is Bliss [open]

[Xena]

I should not stare at my food, but being too tired to do anything was a simple reason for my time-consuming action. The food was delicious enough to eat, as well as to stare at, but besides that I did not plan to eat until later. 'Later' meaning I do not know when. I continued staring glumly at my food, before picking up a fork and poking it. It looked so... tasty. Yet I wonder if it tasted the same as how it was described by me.

This was a One Star meal. And with that thought I began to eat slowly, thinking of all the things that happened that day. Thoughts blur the environment around me, making me unaware of any occurence besides eating and staring. Memories are the only thing I never will part with, yet hunger will come and go, but it was in this situation that I noticed that I was starving that moment.

Yet I continued poking, picking and eating my food as slowly and as minimum as I could. I myself cannot understand the complexity of my mind and its constant dull orders for my body to follow. I ate the food without me fully alert, yet I could still sense or see blurs of movement in my peripheral vision. And suddenly, my brain decided to take an act on its own.

Again, I did not understand why I did so, but after chewing and swallowing a spoonful of rice, I gathered breath in my lungs before letting out a high-pitched shriek. Why, I pondered, after receiving several turns of head toward my direction. Did I want the attention, though? I thought in humiliation as my face grew a bright pink in color.

[x A m r i t a . . .]

Had it always been this stupid to have to eat lunch at such a place, unless you want to spend your rabbits off somewhere else. This place was free, yet so crowded. So many people wanted the so called free food. Of course, in reality it wasn't free at all. In the economic world, it's called the opportunity chance. Where one has to give up something to get something else. And in this case, the young boy had to give up his freedom in order to get free meals.

"Why is lunch so early?"

Had he thought before drifting off into his own world. Since when could he had ever eat at the wrong time? Ever since he could remember, everything he does is time based. The pains of living in a boarding school. Or is it just his horrid parents who don't even care about him. Rather than sending him money every week, he was dumped into this place. Without them actually dropping him here, since they had to be somewhere else. That, however, is the past.

Of course, nowdays the students are dispatched into some other area. Just to get rid of the boredom atmosphere. The teachers had gotten bored of it too, perhaps that is why they were all sent to Unmei Island last year. And to some new system they're cooking up right now, perhaps they'd be able to go off elsewhere, where the academy owns the place, yet the academy dwellers themselves are not familiar with the place.

Not caring about where he sits down and eat the meal that he's holding in front of him, he had settled down in front of a shrieking girl. Placing the tray slightly too far from the edge. Would he reach? Nah, that's the point. He had only taked that place so that he could stare at the outdoors.

Placing his chin on his palm, he stared out the clear window without even touching one bit of his food, nor is he even looking at it. Why would he look at foods when he's not hungry anyway?

[Xena]

Even though the slight event embarrassed me, I continued to eat as normally and civillized as possible. How I eat didn't really matter, as long as I did. Needless to say, I shut myself from the environment around me and tilted my head downard, my hair covering my crimson eyes as I continued to consume the food well presented for me.

A sudden awareness caught a hold on my silent and enduring state while eating. I raised my head to see what it was, and there in front of me was Kurosagi Tatsuya. On one particular event, another I had caused where I made a campaign for the public relations officer position in the previous student council election, he introduced himself to me. I had an agreement in my head with him where he would help me campaign and himself as well.

I couldn't remember much about it though. So instead of blushing an even darker shade of red, my face color retreated back to its complexion, leaving me looking perfectly normal as I resumed to eat. I didn't look up after a few seconds of gobbling down spoonfuls of food while I wondered why I had my appetite all of a sudden. I guessed that I just couldn't stand eating alone.

I lifted my head and there he was, staring out the window, with his food on the table without even being touched nor looked at. I had gotten curious of this slightly peculiar time-consuming action yet didn't raise the question at the moment. To make sure he was still aware of me actually sitting here, alive and eating, I said softly the words, "Are you all right?"

[x A m r i t a . . .]

The vivid colors of the outdoors hits the boy's gray eyes. The boundless preiwinkle blue skies are smeared by the white clouds. Dust are a nuisance to us, yet if that doesn't exist, the despeckles wouldn't make our skies blue. It'd be transparent, no? He was really in his own world. It's nice if you could actually create one. Then someone would really be free. His own imagination was broken though. Back to the reality.

"Are you alright?"

A lady, or, the young lady in front of him said. Which made him revert his attention from the dream world of Kurosagi Tatsuya to the reality where the Kurosagi Tatsuya is in Alice Academy. Wouldn't it be nice if one can stay in their own world for, well, ever. He turned his head round to face the crimson-eyed. There's a lot of them in this academy, hey? Crimson-eyed people, that is.

"I'm fine, thank you." He said. "You?"

And it looks like he got the wrong idea of being alright.

[Xena]

I blinked, slightly turning the same color I turned before which was bright pink, but this time it was just a soft pink blush. "Erm.. I uh... Well..." It was hard to find an appropriate answer. If I was to say that I'm hungry, the situation would prove to be far too embarrassing for me where he would probably say 'just eat' before returning to gazing out the window.

If I was to say the same as him, there would probably be no second reply and the conversation was finished. And, adding up to all that, I simply could not ignore his question.

I poked my food after lowering my head, my appetite diminishing before me taking another bite. I raised my head, before continuing the fragmented sentence I constructed earlier, and even though I hadn't thought of a proper reply that I wanted to achieve I still did so. "I'm fine...yet hungry."

And then I faded back to the silence, continuing to poke at my food subconsciously after lowering my head again.

[x A m r i t a . . .]

Her answer made him smile. Of course. Everyone would be hungry, it is called lunch time after all. Yet why is he one of those people who's metabollism is so slow, that he needs to wait for another hour or two just to feel hungry enough to eat his lunch. It'll be cold by then. He told himself, whilst thinking of just not eating lunch at all. After all, eating junk food isn't really his type.

Somehow at this time, he would rather play a melody instead of being in the cafeteria. Yet why is he here anyway? Well, there's a very good reason for that. It's been what since he had arrived here, and only once had he eaten any meals of a sort in the canteen. Usually he'd go make his own after everyone else had gone off, or just eat plain cereals and toast in his room. Hence the coffee table is placed in the middle of his dorm room.

Lunch and dinner is usually from the central town or else, he could just 'borrow' some ingredients from the kitchen and cook it himself. For a moment, his gray orbs strayed to scan the at the girl. His lips, shut secured now opened.

"Your hair's.. straight, today." The boy said.

[Xena]

The food tasted well, and it was only now that I noticed. With a single spoonful of it in my mouth, I suddenly swallowed without chewing at his words. I felt a lump in my throat and made a few gestures, turning a shade of purple. I reached to my glass of water immediately as I could not continue breathing with a spoonful of my own lunch in my throat.

I gulped down my glass with no apparent mercy nor wasting any time at all. After settling the glass down on the table as gently as I possibly would have, I coughed out a little more before clearing my throat.

It was a good thing my face lessen from the color of purple, yet the pink blush that replaced it filled me with frustration. Leave me alone, I silently yelled toward my own self, scolding myself with these consecutive happenings of embarrassment... And accidents as how I would refer to them.

"Thanks," I finally replied back, shyness ushering me to the corner of a silent world. "And yours as well." I couldn't have said anything else. But instead of retreating to mindless wander in my own world, I locked gaze with his, facing him bravely for any action at all.

The utensil lay lifelessly on my meal.

[x A m r i t a . . .]

It's about time he wiped off that ridiculous fake smile of his. Never was he good at making face expressions, apart from fake ones of course. He had wondered when was the last time he showed his 'true smile'. Probably when he was still a six year old? Perhaps. What time and what caused him to wipe off all his expressions anyway?

Simply nodding off to the girl's reply. Or rather, it was a comment about his straight hair. It was naturally straight, without having to actually do anything to it. Just a regular daily wash with normal shampoo and conditioner.

His eyes wandered off to the window once more. It seems like the only thing that grabs his attention is what's beyond the window. It was fun watching than participating. Not in terms of performing in a stage with a valid subject, but for everything else, it's all just, him staring out the window with his earphones plugged in his ears.

Again the mist of awkwardness appeared. He couldn't care more. Perhaps the girl would though. And it is about time he stop being so anti-socialized and start talking to someone he has met before. He stared at his food, which had probably turned cold by now. Reaching his hand on the plate, he still felt warmth coming from it. Perhaps an alice enchanted?

"Do you eat a lot?" He asked "I mean, it's rude for me to say, but I was wondering if you could eat my lunch for me..."

[Xena]

"Technically, yes, I do eat a lot," I replied. I picked up my utensil and started to place food in my mouth, careful not to choke again as my drink was already empty. He returned his gaze to the window earlier, and all I could do that time was retreat back to eating.

But he asked me something else, didn't he? I would ask myself the same question; would I eat his lunch? That was too much, especially for me. When I said I 'technically' eat a lot it means that I only eat if I'm starving or friggin' tired or depressed.

Sometimes I do my friends a favor over at my previous school and help them eat their lunches if it happened to be more than they could finish. But that only happened if I had my own meal finished - I could not help others if I had not helped myself yet.

"After I finish my meal. If I'm still feeling hungry I'll do it," I said and added as an afterthought, "But you still need to eat." I continued to finish my meal.

[x A m r i t a . . .]

"But you still need to eat."

Need to eat? Heck, he has a million years to go before he gets hungry. The trouble with slow metabolisms these days. Kids have became 'lazy' in eating, causing the allocated meal times to be changed. Or something like that.

The boy only stared at his lunch. Then breaking the disposable chopsticks into two. He took one of the five prawn tempura and held it up for the girl to see.

"I'll take this one."

The gray-haired exclaimed. He nibbled a bit on the end of the flour coated, fried prawn. It left a sweet, yet salty taste in his mouth. As he started to munch on more of the prawn, before he placed the chopsticks back on the paper holder and neatly placed it just in front of him so that it doesn't get in the way.

Gray orbs started to wander off into the space once again, this time, with his mouth munching on the sweet, juicy prawn.

[Xena]

"Fine then," I huffed. He really didn't want to it, and that meant more trouble for me. I took my time in eating as I can't possibly rush myself finish my own meal and eat up another plate.

The emptyness of my drink started to thirst me. Dehydration. It surprises me at how fast it could happen... to me at least. For the others I do not know, and probably would not like to know.

I stood up, careful not to bump the table nor spill my meal. "Excuse me," I said flatly while finally moving out to where I first had gotten my lunch. There I got another bottle/glass of water, before I finally returned to my seat near the window.

It was even more 'embarrassing' when it happened that the boy seemed to have not noticed my absence as his eyes continued to gaze toward the outside, yet I noticed that he already ate a piece of his own meal.

Slightly smiling, I returned back to eating, finishing up as I already have another water to fill me for another one. It was also odd of me to have an appetite a few minutes after drinking water.