The Moon and Polaris

Chapter 4: A Talk Over Dinner

Kiki sprawled out onto the pavement, drenched in sweat and panting. Bruises started to form on her arms and legs, and her whole body felt sore.

Iori shuffled towards her, "That's enough." Raising a limp thumbs up, Kiki smiled at the man and pushed herself off the ground. She wiped the sweat off her brow. Iori turned around and started making his way out of the lot. "Let's get dinner. You need to keep your energy up."

"Coming!" Kiki skipped and caught up to him, proceeding with a hop in her step as she walked side by side with him.

*****

"There's a ramen shop near here. That work?" Iori asked as he and Kiki walked through the quiet city streets.

She nodded, "Yup! Ramen's good."

"It's just another couple of blocks ahead." He turned to her, "Tired?"

"A little," She grinned at him. "But that beating ain't gonna keep me down. Besides, I'm getting hungry. I'm sure I'll be fine after some food in my belly!"

"Hmph."

The two kept walking and eventually came upon the ramen shop. Iori opened the door and let himself inside. Kiki caught the door and entered right after him. The inside was dimly lit and a few patrons sat scattered around the bar, each with varying amounts of noodles left in their bowls. The scent of freshly cooked meat and warm broth made Kiki's mouth water. Noticing Iori already settled in his seat at the bar, Kiki hopped onto the seat beside him.

The chef behind the counter turned to the pair, "Welcome! What will you two be having?"

"Pork ramen," Iori said.

"Oh, same here!" Kiki beamed.

"Two pork ramens, coming up!" the chef announced. He set two glasses in front of them, poured ice water into each of them, then turned back around to start cooking their meals.

Kiki bounced in her seat as she waited for their food. Iori narrowed his eyes at her and rested his chin on his hand as he leaned on the bar. "Just looking at you is exhausting."

Kiki cocked her head at him, "Hm?"

"How are you still so full of energy?" he grumbled. "You were on the ground gasping for air just a few minutes ago."

With a giggle, she replied, "I'm super excited! It's been so long since I've had authentic ramen."

Iori raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"

"Mm-hm," Kiki rested her elbows on the bar and her head on her palms as she swung her legs underneath the stool. "I actually used to live in Japan when I was a kid, but I had to move to America because of my parents' work. When I still lived here, we'd come to ramen shops like this sometimes." She grimaced, "Sure, I had instant ramen while I was in the states, but, man, you just can't beat the real thing."

"Hm," responded Iori. Whether it was a "hm" in agreement or boredom, Kiki couldn't tell. Not that she minded either way.

She looked around aimlessly at her surroundings as she took a sip of her water and glanced at Iori who was staring off into space. "So," she piped up, "do you come here often?"

Iori shook his head. "Only every once in a while when my band and I have a performance at the venue nearby."

Kiki's eyes lit up, "Oh, yeah! My friend mentioned that to me. That you're in a band, I mean. He's a huge KOF nerd, so he knows a lot about the participants." She turned to him and asked, "But anyway, what kind of music do you guys play?"

"Rock," he answered and sipped his water.

She nodded and smiled, "Cool, cool! I'd love to hear you guys play sometime."

"Hmph," Iori continued to drink from his glass.

The chef set two steaming bowls in front of the pair, "Two pork ramens!" Kiki gazed upon the contents of the bowl with wide eyes. Thin cuts of pork, sliced leek, half of a medium-boiled egg, and thin wavy noodles all submerged in a light brown steamy broth... Kiki couldn't help but bounce more in her seat as she took the whole sight in.

"Quit staring and eat already," Iori grumbled as he broke his chopsticks. Kiki snapped out of her trance and broke her chopstick as well.

"Thanks for the food," the two said in unison.

Kiki slurped up her noodles quickly and squealed, "So good!"

Iori brought the noodles to his lips and ate his meal as well.

*****

After they finished off their bowls, Kiki pulled out her wallet. Before she could put money on the bar, Iori set a few bills and coins down already; he had put down enough to pay for the both of them. Without another word, Iori rose from his seat and began to leave. Kiki glanced back and forth between Iori and the money as she tried to process what just happened. Iori was almost at the exit when Kiki got up from her seat and rushed to his side.

"Thank you! Come again!" the chef called out as the two of them left the building.

Kiki caught up to Iori and they walked together once more. "What?" he asked.

She stumbled over her words, feeling a bit flustered over Iori's little act of kindness, "I just... Uh, thanks for paying for me too. You didn't have to do that."

"Whatever."

The two kept walking for a while until Iori stopped. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"I'm going home," he declared. "We trained. We had dinner. We're done for today."

"Uh," Kiki bowed her head. "Right. Yeah." She started walking in the other direction and waved goodbye. "Thank you for the lesson today, Mr. Yagami." She stopped for a moment. "Oh, I should give you my number! That way, we can schedule another one." She ran back up to Iori and pulled out her notebook. She scribbled her phone number on a blank page, ripped it out, and handed it to him.

Iori examined the paper. It read "Kiki Cruz's mobile phone number!!" with the number under it; it was written with a pink gel pen, and the handwriting had a cute roundness to it. Next to the number, she had also drawn a chibi headshot of herself with a big smile and showing a peace sign. Iori blinked and snorted a little. He had only known the girl for a week, but this was definitely something she would do. Iori folded the slip of paper in half twice and stuck it in his back pocket.

With that out of the way, Kiki turned back around and walked in the opposite direction once more, "See ya, Mr. Yagami! I'm looking forward to the next lesson!"

Iori turned around and started making his way back to his apartment. As he walked down the sidewalk, he realized something. The only thing noteworthy in the direction Kiki was going was a few love hotels. He came to a halt, pivoted a complete 180, and broke into a sprint after Kiki.