A short series of loud, yet not not irritating, chimes rang throughout the school as 11 o'clock rolled around, indicating the start of lunch. During the normal school year, lunch starts at 12:25 after fifth period, ending at 1:30, but for orientation (and the weekends), the cafeteria hours were extended. After giving their tours of the school, Impact mentors had released their students to do as they will until another meeting in the Arena would be held at 1 o'clock.
Shizuo and his friends had decided reconvene for lunch at around 11:30, but he arrived a few minutes earlier with Riku and Keita to reserve a table that could fit them all. They managed to secure a large, circular table that could fit ten and sat facing the entrance, with Riku to Shizuo's right and Keita, his left. Shizuo and Riku passed the time talking about their mentees while Keita silently ate his food, which, unlike your typical cafeteria food, was well prepared and appetizing. A few minutes had passed before the rest of their friends started to trickle in. Falen strolled up to the table accompanied by Opal.
"Hey, look who I found," she said with a hint of playfulness.
Opal, seeing as the attention was on her, struck a pose while flashing a "peace" sign, "What's up, guys? What's on the menu?" she said smiling.
Shizuo chuckled, glad to see his sister in a good mood, "Hey sis. There's a lot to choose from, but I think you'll find something you'll like."
Riku sat at the edge of his seat as the girls started to walk off, "Yo, Opal! Do you mind grabbing me another bread roll if they let you?"
Opal glanced back to Riku and smiled, "Sure thing!"
Riku sat back into his chair and pulled a fist back in victory, "Yes!! These rolls SLAP!"
Riku held off on eating his spaghetti until the roll came back and continue on with his conversation with Shizuo.
"So yeah man, I think it's safe to say we both got pretty lucky with our mentees. I'd say freshmen, but you've got that transfer junior. What was his name again?"
"Ake," Shizuo said in between a mouthful of burger and fries. He waited a second to finish his food before resuming, "He's CL-8 though, so he won't be in Professor Cloud's class with us. I think we share math and history though."
"Sweet," Riku said as he picked up his fork twirled with spaghetti. Seeing as he had already committed himself to waiting for the roll, he set it back down and looked over at Keita. "What's up with you, man? You're being pretty quiet."
Keita, who had already finished his food, watched Riku for a second before answering, "I've a lot in my mind. That is all..."
Shizuo leaned back and looked down at Keita, raising an eyebrow, "Care to share?"
"Not yet..." Keita looked down at his empty plate and stirred the bottom of his near-empty cup of water, "... but when the time comes, I will let you know."
"Hmm," Shizuo let out lowly, "Home stuff?"
Keita nodded, "Always is."
"Catch!" Opal's voice called out.
Riku, after hearing Opal's heads up, caught the bread roll with ease, but frowned as he brought it back down to his place.
"Fuck. Now my hand's all buttery!" Riku said as he used his free hand to eat his spaghetti, following it with a bite of the roll.
Everyone, save Keita, laughed at Riku's reaction. Falen took a seat besides Keita and Opal, next to Riku.
"Sorry bud, enjoy the roll!" she said, setting her things down next to the redhead.
"Hey! You still have two rolls left..." he grumbled.
"The trick is, you have to ask nicely," she teased.
"Hold up, I'm a nice guy!" Riku turned to Shizuo, "I'm a pretty nice guy, right?"
Shizuo laughed and nudged him with his elbow, "Easy man, just ask next time."
Riku looked down at the buttery roll in his hand, setting it down and attempting to wipe clean his hand.
Falen, who watched Riku's and Opal's interaction with amusement, spoke up, "So I ended up with Opal as one of my mentees. What a coincidence."
"Yeah," Opal added, "And you didn't even invite me to lunch with your friends. Some brother."
Shizuo chuckled nervously, "Hey, I didn't offer because I figured you'd might have made some friends of your own already."
Opal scoffed, "You realize that almost everyone else were freshmen, right? I may be new to the school, but I'll be damned if you catch me hanging around fresh meat."
"Hell isn't all that bad," Falen said with a half-smile, "Besides, you're still technically fresh meat."
Opal furrowed her brows, "Shut up, you furry. Don't lump me in with them, I saw one with a rolling backpack."
Falen cringed, "Ewh, that's actually... pretty depressing."
"Right?" Opal said with a light laugh, "Anyways... are they some of your guys' friends?"
Opal pointed to the door, where Kane's towering figure lumbered in, Iris at his side on her phone.
"Yeah," Shizuo said, "That's Kane and Iris. Yo!" he called out to them.
Iris looked up from her phone and waved to the group with a bright smile, she and Kane making their way over to the table. Kane took a seat as Iris continued on.
"Hey guys!! I'll be right back, I'm staarving."
As Iris passed by the group, Kane settled in besides Falen, scooting away from her a bit to make more space.
"No food for you, Kane?" Falen asked.
"Nah, I ate after Impact. Freshmen make me hungry," he grumbled.
Opal, wide-eyed, looked to her brother and Falen after Kane's last comment, but they had just laughed.
"That's good man," Shizuo said, "You didn't eat any of them, did you?"
Kane shook his head, "Nope. I don't eat people..."
A small curve formed at the edge of his lips, "... anymore, at least."
A short "Oh." came out from Opal, who was still at a loss for words at what she just heard.
"You good, Opal?" Riku asked, nudging her with his elbow.
"Y-yeah." she stammered.
Kane, who was amused by Opal's reaction to him, smiled eerily, something he didn't do often, "I'm Kane Korosu. You must be Shizuo's little sister. Diamond, was it?"
"Yeah, uh, Opal, actually," she said quietly.
"Cool. I'm going to grab a drink," he said before getting up.
"That's right, totally forgot," Shizuo said, scooting his chair back for Opal to see Keita, "This is Keita!"
Keita nodded wordlessly to Opal, acknowledging her.
"Oh cool. You mentioned him yesterday," she said, "Nice to meet you, Keita."
"Likewise," he said shortly.
"Did Keita just talk?" Falen asked rhetorically, letting out a small laugh.
Keita glanced to Falen at his side, "I have my moments... occasionally."
Falen was about to respond, but just then, Mizu came from behind and hugged her around her midsection.
"Hey babe," he said, kissing the top of her head before sitting in the seat besides her.
"Hey Mizu," Falen said while reaching over to scratch his head, to which he shyly brushed away and turned to Opal across the table.
"You must Opal, Shizuo's sister!" he said pleasantly, "My name is Mizu Zangetsu and I am a junior here at the GATE Academy. I enjo-"
"Hush babe," Falen said, covered his mouth with a finger, "You're doing it again."
"Oops," Mizu shrank back, "My apologies, Opal."
Opal waved him off, "It's all good. Nice to meet you, Mizu."
"Hey girlyyy!" Iris said as she set her food besides Opal, who had met earlier during the Impact meeting, "The guys haven't been mean to you yet, right?" Iris glared around the table with mockingly menacing eyes before breaking out in a quick laugh, giving Opal a side hug after sitting down.
"Nothing I can't handle," she replied, "But Kane..."
"You called?" Kane walked past Opal from behind and sat at the other end of the table from Shizuo, an empty seat on either side of him.
Opal looked to the side, but the group's laughter helped ease her.
"Don't worry about Kane," Iris reassured, "He may look scary, but he's actually just a big softie."
"I've literally killed people." Kane stated.
Iris shrugged, "Hey man, haven't we all?"
Opal, who had thought Iris was the only sensible one out of the group, had a brief moment of doubt in her. Without outwardly expressing it, she took note to be cautious with everyone in the group.
Shizuo loved seeing Opal getting acquainted with all of his friends. There were plenty more she'd eventually get to meet, but this, the closest of them, pleased him. He could tell she was wary of them, but that was to be expected when meeting so many new people, especially all at once. The only one she had yet to meet in person was his girlfriend, Faith, but she had only seen and talked to her briefly on video chats with Shizuo.
The group of friends enjoyed their first lunch together of the new school year, with Opal feeling more comfortable as the time passed on. Shizuo had brought up the plan for the night, a dinner out in town before he picked up Faith, to which everyone agreed to. Nobody was upset that they would have to take the train into town, which eased Shizuo. Eventually, when Riku got his Jeep, they'd be able to fit Kane and go on more adventures across the island. Though it seemed like they had already done everything on the island, the group always found ways to enjoy their excursions. Time flew by as the second meeting in the Arena was neared, causing the group to take their leave.