The Hidden World

Yuna was standing before a mirror in her dorm bathroom. She was fidgeting with her long hair and straightening non-existent wrinkles on her blouse. It was almost time for her to meet up with the human for their shopping excursion.

 

‘I hope this looks good, I’ve never had to dress up before,’ Yuna thought as smoothed her pants. ‘I’ve heard that first impressions are important when you want someone to like you. Yuki said he’s a guy so a girl dressed up should do something at least.’

 

Yuna stood there for a few more minutes before starting to pace around her entire dorm. She struggled to come up with topics to talk about with Yuki and tried to think up of ways to get Yuki to like her more.

 

‘Maybe I should ask about his hobbies,’ Yuna thought walking past her television. ‘If I know them, then I can try to do some of them and see if I can bond with the human like that.’

 

She checked her watch and saw that she had ten minutes before the scheduled meet time. She took a deep breathe then walked out of her dorm heading toward the entrance of the Academy. It took her six minutes to walk the whole distance and when she got to the gate, she could find Yuki anywhere.

 

‘Where is that guy?’ she wondered. She looked at her watch again. ‘He does have three minutes still.’

 

Yuna stood next to the metal gate, back straight, and waited for Yuki to arrive. When Yuki did come, Yuna saw that it was 19:00 exactly.

 

‘There he is,’ she thought as she waved to him with what she hoped was a friendly grin. ‘And he’s looks better than me.’

 

Yuki was wearing a white shirt with sleeves that covered his palms. His pants were jeans that fit snugly around his legs. Where he had gotten the clothes, Yuna did not know.

 

“Hello Yuki, how are you?” she greeted him when he reached the gate.

 

“I’m good right now,” he replied. “Where are we going to first?”

 

“We’re going to a restaurant to eat dinner,” Yuna replied. “Where did you get those clothes?”

 

“I found them in my closet,” Yuki answered. “How much money do you have on you?”

 

Yuna reached into her pockets and took out a handful of coins. There were two golds, seven silvers, and ten bronze coins.

 

“I also have some credits if we need to use those,” Yuna added. “We also get a student discount at most stores.”

 

“So where’s the restaurant?” Yuki asked.

 

“Just follow me,” Yuna said and began to walk. Yuki followed right next to her, turning his head occasionally. “Is this your first time exploring the city?”

 

“Yes,” Yuki replied, his tone unchanging.

 

With that response, the conversation died and the two walked in silence until they reached the restaurant that Yuna planned to go to.

 

“We’re here,” she announced.

 

Yuki didn’t respond and instead walked right into the building, leaving Yuna behind. She hurriedly followed him.

 

“A seat for two,” Yuki ordered from a server that stood near the entrance of the restaurant.

 

The waiter nodded and signaled them to follow him with his arms. He led Yuna and Yuki to a small table at the side of the restaurant with two seats.

 

“Please order whenever you would like and a waiter will deliver your food right to you,” the server said pleasantly before walking off.

 

Yuki took a seat and Yuna followed suit. Then she looked at the table that was on the table in front of her, scanning through the menu of food options.

 

“How does this work?” Yuki asked.

 

Yuna looked up in confusion.

 

‘He doesn’t know how to order?’ Yuna wondered in her mind. ‘Oh, right. He’s a human.’

 

“All you need to do is select what it is you want to eat on that tablet,” Yuna instructed. “It’s really simple.”

 

Yuki nodded and began to swipe up on the table in front of him. Yuna looked back at her own menu and soon tapped on a fire beef steak with grilled vegetables. A bit later, Yuki tapped on his tablet and looked up.

 

“Done?” Yuna asked.

 

Yuki didn’t reply and instead asked a question of his own.

 

“Do you know where various shops are around here?”

 

“Of course,” Yuna replied. “Why else would I have invited you to go shopping with me?”

 

‘I’m going to have to look at a map,’ she thought.

 

A few minutes, a female waitress came to their table with a tray that held their meals.

 

“A fire steak for the young woman here and a grilled chicken for the cute lady over here,” the waitress announced in a cheerful voice as she placed the dishes down on the table.

 

When Yuki got his meal, Yuna saw him put his hands together briefly then started to eat. Yuna followed and began to cut into her fire steak.

 

“She called you a lady,” Yuna commented. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

 

Yuki ate silently and didn’t respond for a while. He slowly cut his chicken to pieces and placed them into his mouth with a fork.

 

“I’m used to it,” he replied at last. “I don’t really care any more.”

 

Yuna nodded and went back to eating her steak. It was juicy but the fire attribute of the cow that the steak came from added a spiciness to it. They ate in silence for the rest of their meal. When they finished, Yuna showed her school issued smartwatch and paid a total of one silver.

 

As they walked out of the restaurant, Yuna secretly opened a map behind Yuki and peeked at the various shops that surrounded them. Then she closed them.

 

“So where do you want to go?” she asked Yuki. “There are some clothing stores around here and some accessory shops.”

 

Immediately after she said that, Yuna began to mentally hit herself. What kind of guy would want to go to those things? She should have suggested something like a tech store or gaming.

 

“Clothes would be nice,” Yuki answered, scratching his chin. “I would like to go buy some groceries but we can do that before we leave.”

 

Yuna stared at him for a moment, not really processing what Yuki just said.

 

“You’re okay with shopping for clothes?” she asked, tilting her head.

 

“Yes,” he said. “Where do we start?”

 

For the next hour, Yuna walked around the city with Yuki as they visited the various stores that dotted the area. Yuki carried with him a bag that contained various outfits that he had bought using Yuna’s money. Yuna herself carried a bag as well, albeit smaller.

 

Now they were walking toward a grocery market that Yuna had found when she looked at her map while Yuki was browsing through some clothing. As they strolled there, Yuki paused for a moment. He was staring at something that was being displayed in a store window.

 

Yuna looked and saw what looked like a piano of sorts but it had too many controls and was much too thin to be called one. Looking at Yuki, she saw his hands seem to curl slightly and wave.

 

“You interested in that thing?” Yuna asked him.

 

Yuki glanced up at her and then turned and started to walk toward the market again. Yuna followed behind him.

 

“Yes,” he said as he walked. “But I don’t have money. Speaking of which, how do I earn money?”

 

“You can sign up for jobs or to be a hunter at the Academy,” Yuna replied. “What was that instrument?”

 

“A synthesizer,” Yuki answered. He stopped walking. “Here we are I think.”

 

Yuna looked in front of her and saw the entrance to the grocery store that they were looking for. Yuki walked right in without waiting for her.

 

They shopped around for about half an hour. Or really Yuki shopped as Yuna just stood by awkwardly as she watched Yuki go around picking vegetables and meats. When Yuna tried to help, she found that she didn’t know anything about cooking or food shopping and so decided to be quiet at look.

 

When they walked out of the market, Yuki held two large bags filled with food and other items along with his other bag of clothes. They walked back to the entrance of the Academy in silence. Yuna tried to initiate some conversation but Yuki never replied with more than a word.

 

When they reached the gate, they began to bid their farewells. Or at least Yuna did.

 

“Thank you for coming with me,” she said to Yuki as they stood next to the gate.

 

“It was nothing, you paid for everything,” Yuki replied holding up his bags of things.

 

“Well, see you tomorrow?” Yuna said, twisting her hands behind her back. She never had to do this before. It was normally someone else that dismissed her.

 

Yuki nodded in reply and turned around to walk back to his dorm. Then he paused and turned back to Yuna.

 

“You can come by my room during dinner any day,” Yuki said. “I’ll cook for you to repay you for what I bought today. This food does belong to you.”

 

“I’ll like that,” Yuna answered with a bright smile.

 

She waved at him and then started to walk to her dorm as well before she noticed that Yuki was going in the same direction. As they both lived in the same building, they walked together for a bit before splitting at lobby of the Dormitory.

 

When Yuna came back to her room, she flopped down onto the couch in middle of her room.

 

‘He invited me to his room,’ she thought. ‘I can do this mission.’

 

Then she laid there on the couch with a wide grin on her face.