I fell in line with the steams of students flowing to the cafeteria, letting myself be carried along by the current.
My thoughts drifted back to the Ice Queen's bento. What kind of person makes their own lunch every day? Probably someone who is much more consistent with their life, and doesn't procrastinate as much as me. Or maybe someone who's just better at planning ahead than I am. I didn't even think to pack a lunch this morning. Classic Kita move.
Why was I still thinking about her, though? She hadn't given me some thought since the whole death-stare incident. I mean, come on. How could I not be a little curious about her? She's literally the human embodiment of an iceberg, likely to sink your mental well-being if you get too close. Let's get out of her, though. Today is about new experiences. New beginnings. New… food.
My feet carried me closer to the source of intoxicating aroma. Ah, the cafeteria. A place where culinary dreams are either realized are ruthlessly shattered.
I approached the counter slowly, with my eyes scanning the options. The food looked decent enough, certainly not the "five-star full-course meal" I had sarcastically imagined, but hey, it wasn't slop either.
I grabbed a tray and picked out a few items that seemed safe for my stomach. A bowl of miso soup, some rice, a few pieces of chicken katsu. The kind of safe choices a man makes when he's not quite ready to risk food poisoning on his first day.
I glanced around, searching for a place to sit. The tables were quickly filling up with groups of students who already seemed to have their social circles neatly in contact. I didn't belong to any of these circles, yet. I hope. I sighed, finally spotting an empty table in the corner. Perfect. I made my way over and set my tray down, sliding onto the chair with the grace of someone who was very much aware with his social invisibility.
As I dug into my lunch, I pondered about how this day had gone so far. It hadn't been terrible, all things considered. Sure, I got lost, got assigned to the weirdo classroom without a plague, and had an awkward encounter with the Ice Queen. But hey, at least the food wasn't poisoned. That is definitely something.
But, maybe I'd try to talk with to Ice Queen again later, see if I could get her to thaw out a bit. Or maybe I'd just keep my head down and get through the day without making any more waves. Yeah, that sounded like a better plan. Keep things simple and tidy. No need to complicate my life any more than it already was.
I scarfed down the last portion of my katsu and realized, with a bit of inner shock, that my tray was completely spotless. Not a grain of rice left behind. Wow, I actually finished the entire thing?
That's a new one. I didn't even notice myself eating. It was almost like my body went into autopilot mode, purely driven by the surprising quality of the food. That, or I was just starved for something resembling decent cuisine. I guess when you've got nobody to talk to, eating becomes a much more efficient process.
No idle chit-chat, no awkward pauses between bites, just myself and the tray. A bond forged in silence and slight above-average cafeteria fare. Not that I had anyone to talk to even if I tried. Imaginary friends don't count either, Shiver. No, no, let's not dwell on that.
I stood up and grabbed my tray, moving towards the designated drop-off point where everyone else was placing theirs. It's amazing how much you can learn by copying others. Really, it's like being in one of those nature documentaries where they narrate social behaviors of some obscure animal. Here we see the high school student in his natural habitat, mimicking his peers to avoid the dreaded label of an "idiot". It's a matter of survival, after all.
But my thoughts keep drifting back to the Ice Queen. Or rather, whatever her actual name is. I should probably find out. It's getting a bit old calling her something like that as a nickname. Besides, accidentally calling her "Ice Queen" out loud would be a disaster. Imagine yelling that across the hallway and watching her turn the icy eyes…