Too Bad There Isn't a Culinary Class

"Matt" placed the last neatly folded piece of clothing (for outdoor use) in his closet, satisfied. After who knows how long, he finally had unpacked everything that had brought. The thing was, though, was that there wasn't much to unpack. Just some books (shonen jump included), his macbook that he barely uses, clothes, toiletries, some containers, and electric rice cooker (you can't live without those!) and emergency food. It was a good thing the room was set up beforehand; he had taken a detour around it before unpacking, so he knew which room was what. It was a good thing that the walls were differently colored to prevent confusion.

Now what to do... he thought. Usually someone would either collapse on their bed or take a very nice, long bath, but... a) believe it or not, "Matt" wasn't tired, b) he takes baths at night, after a shower (yes, Japanese people do do that!) and c) he was hungry. ... Make food it is.

Ah, he soon remembered that there was absolutely nothing in his kitchen. Note to self, go to the supermarket later. At least he had emergency food, right?

Emergency food: candy, little bit of chips (little bit as in around three pieces), a small sack of baby potatoes, dried rice that can only last one meal (he already put this in the rice cooker before), soy sauce packets, a huge bag of sugar, another huge bag of salt, candy, different packets of oil, vinegar, and starch, an umeboshi (picked plum), a carrot (stalk and all), dried, salted seaweed (you can't live without it), and more candy.

... Baby potatoes and an onigiri it is!

He grabbed the potatoes, soy sauce, salt, and sugar with a few containers and a measurer. Rummaging around the kitchen, he found a large pot and began to boil the potatoes with salted water on the stove. Grabbing a smaller pan, he squeezed 28 ml of soysauce, poured one fourth of a cup of sugar, half a cup of water with potato starched soaked in, and a dash of rice vinegar. Setting the heat at boil, he mixed the sauce with a pair of metal chopsticks, then allowed it to boil without the lid. When the chopsticks had a hard time moving and the sweet and salty smell of the sauce permeated the kitchen, he stopped the heat and allowed it to cool.

Swiping the chopsticks under cold water to clean them, he stopped the boiling process on the potatoes and opened the lid. He waited for the steam to pour out of the pot, then carefully poked a chopstick into it. He brought out a skewered potato; ah, it was done. He got out a container and carefully placed the potatoes in, one by one. The sauce was still hot, so he carefully poured it over the steaming potatoes, sprinkled a bit of sugar on the finished dish, and left it to cool.

The meager bit of rice was done cooking now, so he mixed it to let to cool. Getting out plastic wrap (thank Kami-sama that the dorms were so well prepared!), he placed it over one of the tinier containers. Wetting one hand with fresh water, the other with salt, he sprayed the little bowl with both. Once the rice seemed cooled enough he scooped the entire thing out with the rice paddle, plopping it on top of the plastic wrap. Poking a hole into it, he placed the umeboshi into the hole and lightly pressed rice over it. Carefully, he grasped the ends of the plastic wrap, twisted it, and squeezed tightly so that the salt would go into the surface of the riceball.

"Matt" finally made and 'L' shape with one hand and used the other to make three corners. He then placed one side of the triangle onto the palm of his hand, squeezing it with the other. Squeeze it, then turn it, squeeze and turn. He did this until the onigiri felt pretty firm.

Yay~ Done~~

The potatoes were cooled now, so he got the pair of chopsticks he cooked with before, set the wrapped riceball and potatoes on the table, and let out a little, "Itadakimasu."

It wasn't until he unwrapped the onigiri when he noticed. "Ah, I forgot the seaweed."

[[OOC: I got hungry just writing this. Baby potatoes in sweet and salty sauce are simply the BEST.]]

While Sarah-Rose had been shopping for herself she'd bought a few basics for one of the boys in her class, Matt was his name, or so she thought. She'd work out he had trouble seeing so thought she try and be helpful and buy him some food. She knocked on his door nervously. Suddenly feeling anxious. Maybe she should have asked him first. Too late now.

"Matt" had made his way to the bedroom, where the emergency food was, and popped open the container of dried seaweed. He got a little strip of nori out, folding it on one side of the unwrapped onigiri. Now it was done! He held it by the nori strip, and was about to bite into it and go back to the kitchen when he heard the unfamiliar sound of knuckles rapping against his door.

A visitor? he thought, surprised. He didn't have any friends in the school yet. It's probably a teacher or the principal telling me I need 'special classes' because of my vision. he concluded, a bit bitterly. He didn't like special attention, but it was really helpful. Perhaps this school will treat him differently?

He slowly made his way to the door, as he always walks slowly, and took a deep breath before unlocking the door and opening.

Surprise, surprise. He couldn't see her face clearly, but there was no mistaking that red hair. "Sarah-Rose?" he asked, confused. Why was she here...?

"..." He didn't say anything, since he was too awkward, but the question was clearly on his face. "... Um..."

Sarah-Rose blushed. 'Um, hi. I was food shopping and I knew you were new here too so I thought I'd buy you some basic foods. I know I should have asked you first, but I didn't think of it until I was at the supermarket. I'm sorry.' She explained hurridely, glancing up at him nervously

[[OOC: I just realized... Our characters a really alike! Lulz.]]

Eh? He blinked, twice, as he usually did when he was confused. Did his ears work right? Did this girl (that he barely knew!) just say that she bought him food, the only reason being that they were both new? "Matt" became silent for a few seconds after her explanation, only thickening the awkwardness, until he realized that, ah, she said, "Sorry".

"Y-You don't need to apologize!" he exclaimed in embarrassment, waving his free hand (he would wave both, but he was pretty sure they would both like it if they weren't pelted with bits of loose rice). He stopped, then cleared his throat before setting his one-eyed gaze on her. A smile naturally came on his lips, though it was fake. Nearly all of his smiles were fake; he learned through bullying that people found it weird when you didn't smile. "Thank you for thinking of such a thing. I was planning to go to the supermarket later, but seems like you spared me from that," he said, letting out a nervous laugh.

Shit, his manners! He took a few steps backwards, his back facing the left wall to give her room. ]"Go ahead and come in! You must be tired!" That was logical, right? Female and male dorms were in different buildings, right?!

It was so obvious that he was flustered that it was almost sad. He was way too awkward around people; it took time to get used to them.

Sarah-Rose glanced at him. He seemed flustered. 'Um thanks.' She took the food inside and placed it on the kitchen counter. She hadn't meant to make him feel uncomfortable, though she was a little tired. Sarah-Rose decided she wouldnt stay too long though. Not if Matt wasn't comfortable with it.

He closed the door as she walked in, considering if he should lock it or not. He always locks his door to keep his privacy; also, if a burglar came in he would barely be able to defend himself, so locks were the best thing to use. In the end, though, he decided not to lock it this time, just to avoid awkwardness.

He took another breath to steady himself; Sarah-Rose probably felt as uneasy as he did right now because of his behavior. I can.. assume that she's nicer than other people I have met. he thought, turning towards the kitchen, which was next to the front door. Ah, I better not screw up my life in this school.

He entered the kitchen. "Would you like some water? That's the only drink I have at the moment, unless you bought something else." He was still in some disbelief that somebody had bought food for him when he didn't ask for it. No, he didn't mind, he just felt like he owed her something.

Sarah-Rose smiled. 'Thank you. Waters fine. I did bring you some coke, fanta, orangina and various squashes. I didn't know what you like so I brought a selection of various things.' She explained as she sat down.

[[OOC: S... Squashes...?]]

Soft drinks.. Dids he like those? He didn't care what he drank; water, juice, soda, they were all fine, though he tended to drink water more than anything else, since it was the best for you. Really, when it came to his health.... They say that eyes always carry fresh water!

........ Did she say SQUASHES? He couldn't fathom why she brought them.... Ah, well, he could make a dish out of them (after finding a recipe)!

"Alright," he said, since she agreed with water, and got a cup from the cupboard. He didn't know if it was clean, so he rinsed it in warm water, quickly dried it with a paper towel, and went to the refrigerator. He knew well that the water worked here, but he always liked water from the refrigerator better than water from the sink. He pressed on the water dispenser, expecting water; a few chunks of ice clunked into the cup. Ah. he blinked, looking momentarily confused. There was a little switch on it. He clicked it before pressing the cup again. This time water came out, and he waited until the weight seemed reasonably full.

"Here you go," he said, holding the cup towards her. He would go and just set it on the table... If he wasn't afraid that he'd slam it down or accidentally tip it over. He did that a lot, since he never knows how far away things really are.

[yeah they're a drink. Concentrated fruit juice that you have to dilute.]

Sarah-Rose smiled and took it off him. 'Thank you. So where are you from?' She asked kindly.

[[Oh... D'oh! XD I really had no idea... *Asian in real life too* 8D]]

"Where I'm from?" he repeated, wondering how to answer. Where he was from? Did she mean from way back, or.... Probably just before he joined the school, neh. Ah, well, he'd answer either way.

"You can probably tell I'm Japanese. I came to California when I was young, and I stayed there until now," he answered. If she needed a reason why he was here... Well, she could just ask.

"You?"

[ahh ok no worries]

Sarah-Rose smiled. 'Wow, that's pretty cool. I'm from England.' She drank some of her water before asking 'so how come you came here?'

England, huh... he thought. It'd probably be nice to live in England. How different was life there compared to America's, he wondered? Was the bullying still crazy? If he moved to England instead of America, would his life not had gone downhill?

Ah, no, that was wrong. His life went downhill in Japan.

He half-expected her to ask him why he had entered this school, since it was quite obvious he was at least half blind, so he wasn't surprised when she did. He decided to answer truthfully, putting on the smiling mask that he always did.

"Oh, my dad died," he answered, as if she asked what the weather was going to be. His voice was so casual, but it was also deprived of emotion, despite that he was smiling. A dense fool wouldn't notice... Anybody with sharp eyes would. "There was no where else to go to, and I didn't want to go back to my old school, so I volunteered to go to a private school. The orphanage I went to this summer agreed, and they chose this school."

'Oh gosh! I'm so sorry!' Sarah-Rose felt for him when he told her abut his dad. She knew how it felt to loose a parent, or both parents. She remembered loosing both of hers when she was ten.

"It's fine," "Matt" replied, letting out a soft chuckle. His one visible eye locked into the distance as he talked again. "It's probably better for him, anyways. He was always too busy with everything."

He didn't seem too sad that his dad died. Was he? Was he really grieving for his lost parent, the one that took care of him since birth?

He didn't know. "Matt's" dad barely took care of him while they were in America, since he had so much work. Thanks to his father, though, "Matt" had enough money to carry him on until he's self-independent; well, he already is, but hell, he needed to go through college and everything else.

He looked back at Sarah-Rose.

"How about you? Why did you come here?" he asked. "If it's too much trouble, then you don't have to answer.."

You can never know if someone has had a harsh or normal past; some are sensitive about it, others aren't. That he knew.

'To be honest I don't know. I lost both my parents when I was ten. Had an awful time at the orphanage I was put in then the other day was woken up and told I had to pack because I was leaving to come here the same day. Don't know why, didn't ask. Didn't want to. Just was glad I was getting away.' Sarah-Rose told him. He didn't seem bothered by his Dad's death. Though if his Dad was always busy, he probably never built up a relationship with him so it was sort of understandable.

His eyes widened a bit as he listened to her explanation. She was an orphan too.

"..." What to say...? Usually one wouldn't know what to say, especially someone like him, but he knew what it was like to lose his parents. However, hers was more serious. Both, at the same time, only when she was ten. "I'm sorry to hear about your parents and the orphanage. It must be hard, to lose them both at the same time and live in an orphanage later."

She said that her orphanage was horrible. He didn't know.

"The orphanage I mentioned before wasn't too bad... I was the 'new older brother' for only a few months," he said, his hands clasped together. His thumbs fiddled idly with each other. "Leaving wasn't too hard either."

He glanced at her, wondering what she would say. This was slightly awkward; he half wanted to change the subject, the other half just didn't know what else to say.

Sarah-Rose nodded. 'Yeah it was hard. But not much I could do really. I'm glad your orphanage was nice.' She stared at the floor for a moment, desperately trying to think of something to change the subject. So she wouldn't have to tell him WHY the orphanage was horrible. Those were nightmares that she'd keep to herself.

'So, um, what other subjects are you taking?'

So she did change the subject. By the way she was avoiding eye contact and everything, the conversation was probably awkward for her too. Though what kind of turn in conversation is this...? he thought. Classes? Don't they all have similar classes, really?

"Let's see.." he said, thinking. It was a good thing his memory never went away. "Starting from first period.. Free class, Drama, Calculus 1, English Literature, Physics 1, and Creative Writing. I would've taken art if I had enough space, but I guess this is good enough."

If only there was a culinary class. he snorted mentally.

He smiled. "There isn't that big of a variety of classes, but it's good enough. You?"

Sarah-Rose nodded. 'Oh wow. Smart guy!' She smiled.

Sarah-Rose frowned trying to remember 'Um I have Dance, Drama, Calculus 1, Free, Physics and Creative Writing.' She laughed a little. 'Not much difference really. I'd have like to have taken English lit.'

He smiled back at her; she had a nice smile, and he could easily see her teeth when she laughed. "Very little," he agreed.

"I decided to take English Literature because I like writing, though it seems to be the same for you."

He paused, working out their schedules. The main difference was..

"Seems like you took dance instead, though. You like it?"