"Uh, yeah, I guess. I didn't plan on skipping." Kazaki took the helmet from her and shrugged. "Un...unless you wanted to see me for a special reason?" Les was probably just being polite, but Kazaki was faintly hoping that she wanted to speak with her again. She was thankful that the helmet covered her face, at least, because it covered up how nervous she was about asking so directly.

"A special reason?" Les barely managed not to stutter the words as she felt her face heat up with, what she knew had to be a bright blush. Well, she had been hoping to see Kazaki at school the next day, maybe get a chance to know her better. 

Oh since when are the Japanese this forward?  Was Kazaki always like this? Not having expected it, it was throwing Les for a loop. 

"Mistress Alessandra, there you are, what are you doing standing out there with that boy? Do come inside this moment before the Master sees you," her maid called from the door. 

"I have to go, I'm sorry. Thank you for the ride home and I'll see you tomorrow?" Without waiting for a reply, she turned and started to walk back towards the house. When she reached her porch, she turned and waved to Kazaki before disappearing into its depths.

Had she said something wrong? Why did she look so embarrassed? Before Kazaki could backtrack and correct her intentions, someone called at them from the house. Mistress Alessandra? Was that a maid? 

Kazaki waved back at Les and waited until the door closed again to start riding away. And then she realized what the maid had said. "She thought I was a boy..." she mumbled to herself. She didn't think she looked that ambiguous... But maybe with the helmet, her jacket, and boots on, she could pass as a boy from a distance. Oh well...

Hidden in the branches of a nearby tree, someone watched the two girls part ways.

__________________________________________

The next few days brought another round of youma battles, and Kazaki ended up busy for longer than usual. She spent most of her lunch time in the library, catching up on homework so her grades wouldn't fall. She hated having to take the extra effort, but her parents would start asking questions if she didn't maintain her usual scores. Finally, she was ahead enough to eat outside again, and she took the opportunity to sit on the rooftop with her bento box.

Kazaki wasn't much of a cook, and neither were most of her friends, but her parents could do it well enough to make her lunch. Today, her mother had made the rice balls and beef inside her orange and white lunch box, a simple but good enough meal for her.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were still a student here, I haven't seen you in a while," Les said, eyebrows raised as she stood before Kazaki. She held her obento, wrapped in a light teal cloth, in her hands. 

"May I join you?"

Kazaki almost dropped her chopsticks when Alessandra spoke, but quickly recovered and looked up at her.

"I had things to do this week. You know...senshi things..." Kazaki answered, mumbling the second part. It was still weird to have another person knowing the secret. She scooted over on the bench. "Uh, sure, I don't mind." She looked controlled at a glance, but inside, she wasn't sure whether to be happy or panicked. Was she about to eat lunch with Les? Did this count as a date, or just hanging out?

Smiling, Les made herself comfortable on the bench beside Kazaki. "So are you usually this busy with Senshi stuff?" she asked as she unwrapped her bento.

"Not really, this is just a weird time for us..." Kazaki answered with a weak laugh. Her hand adjusted the set of orange headphone that hung around her neck, like a nervous tic. She just couldn't think of what to say, despite wanting to speak to Les. And to think that people thought she was good at planning.

"So, Um...has anyone else been bothering you since last time?" If they had, she'd hunt them down and have some choice words with them...

"No, not really. I've pretty much being left alone by everyone now," Les said a chuckle in her voice. Realizing that Kazaki may take what she said negatively, she clarified. "If they're going to avoid me because you stood up for me then they're not worth having in my life anyway." Smiling, she popped an octopus sausage into her mouth. Her family's chef was so good! 

"So when you said that this is a weird time, they're aren't that many monster attacks in this area?" She still remembered the news about all the attacks in Tokyo, her father sending her and her mother to one of their estates in the country side to keep them out of harms way.

At first, Les's comment had scared her into thinking she had accidentally made her an outcast, but Kazaki relaxed when she elaborated on it. At least she didn't mind...

"That's...that's good I guess," she said, blushing. And then the subject switched to the attacks, and for once, she wished she wasn't a senshi so she didn't have to think about them. 

"Not usually, more like one every couple of weeks or so," Kazaki said. "But we've been getting them almost every day now. It's starting to get out of hand." Maybe Percy was right about this leading up to something bigger, but if it was, how would they stop it? As much as Kazaki liked her independence, she knew that the Galilean Moon senshi weren't as strong as the senshi in Tokyo. If there was a large scale attack, people could very much die and Sapporo would be ruined. And they didn't have a Silver Crystal to fix it all here.

Les hummed thoughtfully as she turned over what Kazaki had told her. 

"Well, if its if its an unusual increase in monsters to fight, maybe it means something? Like a big baddie is coming or something or they're being created faster or there finding their way to our world more easily?" 

She really had no clue where the youma that the Galilean senshi and Soul fought came from but maybe if she kept throwing out ideas, it would help the other girl.

"...No matter the reason, it's gong to cause a lot more problems if we don't put a stop to it," Kazaki said. She didn't want to scare Les, but she wasn't one to lie to someone either. Maybe she'd have to go with Amina's plan about telling the other senshi after all. 

"But... we can't do anything about it now, so we just have to keep fighting until things change." She shrugged and took a bite of a riceball. She'd figure this out eventually. "Don't worry about it, okay? We'll handle whatever happens around here."

"Maybe if you can figure out what's causing all the monsters, you'd be able to stop it," Les offered. She could tell that Kazaki wasn't trying to scare or worry her, not that Les was.

Kazaki sighed. this entire problem was far more stressful than she wished it would be. Why couldn't their enemies be simpler than this?

"We should...change the topic. I don't want people to overhear this." In truth, she just didn't want to speak of it anymore. School was a time where she could forget what was going on, at least temporarily. "So... I think last week was the first time I've ever seen an actual maid," Kazaki said, her tone lightening considerably. "How long was that a thing at your house?"

Les blushed when Kazaki mentioned her maid. She had been hoping that the other girl had forgotten about it. Maybe she could still get away without mentioning that that specific maid was assigned to be her maid rather than be one for the household. The maids role was to attend to all of Les's needs...not that Les put many demands on the woman, preferring to do things herself. 

"Umm...since before I was born?"

"Wow, really? That's pretty cool I guess. I didn't get you in trouble when I dropped you off, did I?" Kazaki asked. She did remember the maid yelling something. "I can go back over and explain if you want me to." It wouldn't be fair if Les's parents thought she was dating some punk guy because of her.

"No, no, I didn't get into any trouble, you don't have to do that," she said, panicking a bit. If Kazaki did go over and try to apologize, it would only make the situation worse; Kazaki was not the type of person her parents would want her to be friends with - she didn't come from money and she didn't dress appropriately for her gender. 

Honestly, her parents were too concerned with societal images. Alessandra honestly couldn't care less about what a person looked like or dressed like. It was who they are that mattered to her. Besides most of the "rich people" had poor attitudes and were rude.

Kazaki blinked in surprise at Les's insistence. "If you say so..." she said, not questioning her. There was silence between them, Kazaki fishing for things to say. Should she try and be a little bolder, maybe? She did have some allowance left over.

"Hey, so are you...Are you doing anything after school?" Kazaki asked, looking at the ground as she tried to get around her own nerves.

Les paused. Technically she was busy after school, she had planned to go home and work on some more designs, but honesty, it was nothing that couldn't be put off until later. 

"Not much. What did you have in mind?"

"If you wanted, I could, uh.... show you around this part of Sapporo. Since you're new and all. I know a few fun places." Kazaki wasn't sure she wanted Les to think it was a a date or not, but hopefully a monster wouldn't interrupt it.

"Jishaku Kazaki, are you asking me out on a date?" she smiled joking. Honestly, the other woman probably just meant it as a friend to show her around Sapporo, but Les found herself not minding if it was in fact a date. In fact, she thought she would like it very, very much. Trying not to let these feelings show, she schooled her face into a relaxed one, not wanting to put any pressure on her new friend. 

Maybe if it was a date, Les could show her what else she could do. Possibilities of messing with Kazaki with her telekenesis came to mind.

"U-um, no! I mean..." Kazaki stumbled over her words, not expecting Les to just guess at her intentions so quickly. This was nothing like the way comics and movies made it look. "Maybe? If that's alright. I'm not sure how to properly do this..." she admitted, thoroughly embarrassed. Ugh, she was probably going to leave now before this got worse.

'Of course it's alright," Les said, trying not to giggle. Kazaki was being completely adorable at the moment, but she had a feeling that if she were to laugh, the other girl would take it the wrong way. Finishing the last of her lunch, she quickly put her bento away and stretched. She had a few things to do before they had to go back to class, as much as she would like to stay with Kazaki. 

"Pick me up Friday at 6?" she said after explaining why she was leaving. "I look forward to seeing you then." Deciding to use the courage while she still had it, she winked at the other girl before turning around and sauntering towards the door and out of sight.

"Y-yeah, Friday is good!" Kazaki said. She couldn't believe she'd agreed to a date. And she was looking forward to it? She saw the wink Les gave her, and was left dumbfounded on the rooftop with her half eaten lunch.

"I guess....I have a date this week."
____________________________________

For the rest of the day, Kazaki was noticeably distracted in class, and by the end of school, was desperate to speak to someone.

She waited impatiently outside of Amina's last class for the day, so on edge that the other students could sense it and gave her a wide berth in the hallway.

She could sense Kazaki out in the hallway as she taught her last class of the day. Her curiosity peaked, why was Kazaki waiting for her instead of being in class, she attempted to keep her own attention on her work and her students. 

Finally, her class ended and she dismissed her students. Deciding it was best to gather her things while he students filled out of her classroom, Amina waited for Kazaki to come to her.

Almost as soon as the last person left the room, Kazaki walked in. She made sure to shut the door behind her as well. There was no way she was going to risk someone overhearing this, not unless she wanted to start a brand new rumor by tomorrow.

"I, um... need to talk to you about something..." she said. "It's sort of important. And private."

"Alright," Amina said gently, placing the last of her items in her bag. "Would you be more comfortable if we talked at my apartment?" She could see how nervous Kazaki was and it didn't escape the older woman's notice that her younger friend had closed her classroom door in order to talk about it. 

Perhaps a change of venue would make her less nervous.

Kazaki nodded, looking at the floor. The more private the better at this point.

She ended up sitting on Amina's couch in her living room, adjusting her headset as she tried to figure out what to say. She had a real date on Friday, but what was she going to do for it? She didn't want to bore Les or turn her off...

As she made some calming tea, Amina kept glancing at her younger friend. What had her so on edge? It wasn't something senshi related or the others would be here as well, so it must be personal, but what? Kazaki was a very confident young woman and usually didn't suffer from bouts of doubt like this, at least none that Amina had ever seen. 

Once the tea was ready, Amina moved into the living room, placing the tea on the table in front of her couch. 

"So what's going on," she asked softly, sitting beside Kazaki on the couch before preparing herself a cup of tea.

Kazaki looked up when Amina walked back into the living room, and then eyed the tea she had brought out. She wasn't much of a tea drinker, but she'd make an exception for the moment. 

"I... I made plans for a date with someone..." she said quietly. "But I don't know what to do with it. I said I'd show her around Sapporo, but I have no idea how to dress or anything, or if I should do something extra." Should she buy a present beforehand, or plan for getting food?

Amina squashed down the questions and excitement she could feel bubbling to the surface and threatening to overflow. Now was not the time, Kazaki needed her to be calm and rational. There would be time for questions and excitement later. 

"Well, showing her around Sapporo could be fun. Why don't you show her some of your favourite places or favourite things to do? As for to dress, well, if you're going to be walking around, opt for something more comfortable, like good walking shoes and jeans and a nice top."

Heels and tight clothing weren't that comfortable, especially if you had to walk a lot.