Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ruka shook her head vigorously as she looked to the side and the pink in her face deepening. "Of course not! Don't be stupid! I'm just...used to it now." she explained as she crossed her arms and held her head up high despite the deepening blush that contrasted with the rest of her pale, almost white skin. "And I didn't forget. I never knew your name. To be honest, for the most part, I couldn't have cared less about who you were." Ruka admitted as she flipped her wrist over to check the time. It was about 6 p.m. now, and her shift was just about over. She watched as the second hand slowly ticked clockwise before it passed the 12 and a maid called out, "You can go home now, Ruka-san!"

Ruka removed herself from the seat, looking at Akira. "I'm going to go change. You can either stay here and come with me when I'm done, or you can leave. It's your choice." she told him as she made her way towards the back of the cafe, leaving him there with his thoughts. Once in the girl's bathroom, Ruka stripped down her maid outfit and began to put on her normal outfit. She stared in the mirror at her face. It really was extremely pink. 'Calm down. You're better than this.' she thought as she hung up her maid costume in the staff closet and strolled out in the front part of the cafe.

Ruka punched him the arm as the exited the cafe, growling at him, "My name is Ruka! Stop calling me princess!" she took a deep breath to calm herself, exhaling before adding, "We're going to the grocery store. Like I said I have to get ingredients for dinner. And I think the grocery store is having a sale!" the last part of her sentence was filled with excitement. Her relatives always told her she'd make a good wife someday. Ruka took the lead, heading towards her favorite super market. It usually had the freshest vegetables and a lot of sales on items. For once in his company, Ruka had a smile on her face.

She still couldn't believe that they were talking to each other let a lone pretty much having him spend the rest of the day with her. They were from two completely different worlds yet here they were in each other's company. Ruka shook those thoughts aside, deciding to just go with it for now. Walking into the super market, the girl grabbed a basket and handed it to Akira. "Since you actually did decide to tag along, you have to carry everything. Tonight we're having chicken curry and potato salad if that's okay." Ruka told him as she started leading the way once more and motioning him to follow her.

As Ruka strolled through the grocery section, stopping first at the potatoes, she nodded. "Yeah. Mom works really late or doesn't come home at all, having to spend the night at her job, sometimes even for days at a time. Ever since dad passed away she's thrown herself in her work to drown out the sadness. So it's almost always just me and my cat, Marshmallow." the girl explained as she placed a few good potatoes into a plastic bag and placing them in the basket before moving onto the carrots. In her head she listed all the ingredients she needed and reminded herself to get more than usual since she'd be cooking for two. "She's honestly almost completely forgotten about me. I'm more of a minority in her life now...but that's okay. I'm fine." Ruka was rambling at this point, her smile almost disappearing now. She realized how much she had told him, and shook her head as she laughed nervously. "Ahaha...just rambling now. Uh, what about you? Where are your parents?" she asked, trying to change the subject from her to him. She placed some large carrots into the basket as well, inspecting some onions now. She really didn't mean to say so much. But when he asked she couldn't help but let out a little bit of her emotions. She's been keeping them in for so long so having someone ask about her with even a little bit of interest made it harder to keep her emotions in a jar.

(it's fine!)

Ruka stopped in her tracks when he asked if she was cooking for her mom or sibling. She swallowed hard, mentally scolding herself for being so stupid. "Oh, well uh, you can save a lot on money if you cook more than one serving. Curry doesn't go bad fast and you can even make croquettes out of left over potato salad." Ruka said to him with her nervous laugh again. How could she have tricked herself into thinking that he was going to eat with her? She was always so careful not to let her hopes get up. Ruka bit her lip, hard, as she continued to place the necessary ingredients for her meal into the basket. After that she didn't say anything more, only mumbling to herself when she counted off what she had and if there was anything else she needed. She soon led Akira to checkout with her. She handed the basket to the cashier and they scanned everything before telling her the total. Ruka removed her waller from her shoulder bag and handed the cashier some cash and change. She smiled at the cashier as she took her bags and walked out of the store. Once outside again, she turned on her heel to look at Akira. "Thanks, uh...yeah. Bye." Ruka said before she began to leave.

Ruka gave Akira a side glance, walking a bit faster so she was ahead. "It's fine, you don't have to. I don't need your help." she told him as she clenched the bags in her hand, still scolding herself for believing that she might have made a real friend. In the end she concluded that he would just betray her and that there was no point in trusting him. She was going to stick to what she's been doing; be alone. "We're not friends or anything so you don't have to bother. If anything I'm just being a burden so you can go home, really." Ruka added as her walking came to a halt and she turned around to look at him, her eyes glistening like they were about to spill tears.

Ruka stared down at the concrete she stood on as she started to softly sob. She didn't know what to say and she didn't think she had to. For so long she had said she didn't need friends. Trying to act like she didn't care who said what to her or talked behind her back. So when Akira decided to stick with her, all the emotions she's jarred up just became too much and spilled. She hesitantly wrapped her arms around him, sobbing into his chest and letting out muffled coughs. "Please don't leave me..." she cried into his shirt, clenching the fabric in her fists. She never wanted anyone to see her like this, but here she was, crying to someone she barely knew in the middle of public. "Please...please..." she pleaded, slightly shaking her head.

Ruka let out everything in that moment. All the tears she refused to shed spilled out of her eyes like waterfalls. After a moment or so of crying, it started to lighten up. When he said something about going home, she nodded. She wiped her eyes with her jacket sleeve and watched as he picked up the grocery bags for her. She didn't complain. In fact, she didn't say anything again. She wasn't good with talking so she opted to stay silent. Ruka raised her arm and pointed in the direction of her apartment complex. It was pretty close by, she never really had to take the train. It only took them about fifteen minutes to get there, it being about nine-thirty by the time they arrived. She pointed to the elevator that led to the higher levels and pushed the button to take them to the fourth floor. She then proceeded to lead him down the aisle, unlocking the door that said 4C. The door opened to reveal a quaint little apartment, and a cat sleeping on the couch.

Ruka started to unpack the bags as she sniffed before whimpering out, "She uh, texted me that she won't be coming home for a few days because of a business trip; so she left me some money for now and paid all the bills so I wouldn't have to worry." the girl removed all the vegetables and every other ingredient that she had bought from the store. "Thanks for walking me here...in all honesty I bought extra ingredients because I thought you were going to join me but haha, that was stupid, huh?" Ruka shrugged as she gave him a side glance and tied on her apron. She began to remove a large pot from one of the bigger cabinets to prepare to cook.