A/N: I've been having misgivings about this chapter. Compared to the first chapter, it's far more dialogue heavy, and I worry that the narration may have suffered as a result. I'm also worried that I may be rushing things a bit, especially at the end, where I fear I may have played my cards a bit too early.

I may end up reworking this chapter in the future, but in the meantime, I would (again) appreciate feedback.

Sluuuurp!

Sucking in noodles and broth at seemingly inhuman speeds, Uzu slammed yet another empty bowl down on the table and pushed it aside with all the other conquered dishes. With no more food yet standing before him to devour, he leaned back in his seat and let loose a contented exhale, the combined scent of ramen and soba on his breath.

"You've got crap on your face." the girl opposite him noted.

"Hmm?"

He felt around his face to find any stray bits of food yet clinging to him and indeed, just as she said, found a bit of pork stuck on his cheek He popped the last scrap into his mouth and wiped his face with a napkin.

"So, do all you northern bumpkins have poor table manners or were you personally just raised in a barn?"

"It's not so much poor table manners as it is enjoying my food, little miss 'takes half an hour to eat two bowls of rice.'"

Nonon shrugged, paying the comment little heed, instead grabbing one the dangos she had ordered for dessert and pulled out her phone, which she began tapping away at with her thumb. Although Nonon's dismissive attitude irked him, Uzu couldn't help but notice the way she nibbled on her dango, slowly diminishing it with tiny bites, much like how a rabbit would gnaw on a carrot bit by bit until it was no more. He turned to look out the nearest window as he felt his face grow hotter; though he'd sooner die than admit it, he found the whole thing to be unbearably cute. So much so that he thought he might actually get a heart attack.

"So," he coughed into his fist in an attempt to avoid arousing suspicion to his somewhat flushed expression, but would have failed miserably had she been paying even the slightest bit of attention, "what're you doing?"

"Texting Satsuki." she replied, her voice muffled by the dango sticking out of her mouth now that both hands were devoted to typing.

"Oh? What about?"

"...Nothing much."

He noticed a slight hesitance in her voice, but just in the faintest degree. Had he not had such advanced hearing, he'd likely have not picked up on it at all. His interest piqued, knowing that was was indeed something much being discussed, and he was tempted to press further, but decided to respect their private conversation.

With the girl occupied, Uzu studied his surroundings, taking note of how barren the restaurant was aside from them and an elderly couple on the opposite end of the room. Even though it was hardly the busiest time of day, being too late for lunch yet too early for supper, he still found the apparent lack of business to be quite jarring, especially given his memories of how bustling the place used to be.

"Man, what happened to this place?"

"Is that who I think it is?" a voice came from off to the side.

Caught off guard, Uzu swung around to face the voice, his face lighting up upon seeing who it was. "Mr. Hiraga?"

Standing before him was the owner of the restaurant, an elderly man who stood easily as tall as Uzu with only a slightly thinner build. His face, though it had the wear of many years, was still relatively youthful for his age. The younger man could only hope he looked that good when he got old.

"Sanageyama Uzu," the elderly man drawled with a serious aura about him, surprising Uzu. The two stared at each other for a moment in a silence that disconcerted the youth.

The man snickered, then chuckled, then burst out into laughter as held out his hand, which Uzu gladly grabbed and shook, before being pulled up out of his seat and trapped in a suffocating bear hug that left him hungry for air.

"I haven't see you in forever! What's it been now son, three years?"

"And a half," Uzu wheezed weakly as he felt his lungs hug together and his ribs tried their damndest not to shatter under the weight of the man's tight embrace.

"Can you…?"

Mr. Hiraga gave him an inquisitive look as the hamster in his head slowly started running in its wheel. "Oh, sorry!"

The man let go of his grip on the youth, who immediately keeled over and began frantically gasping for the air he had never before truly appreciated until then.

"Sorry about that, I got carried away," the man rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment before being waved off by Uzu, who had returned to his feet.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine. I just wonder why parents let you near their kids."

"You wound me, Uzu."

The two shared a hearty laugh, at least, Mr. Hiraga laughed; Uzu had tried, but erupted into a series of violent coughs as soon as he began.

"So, what brings you back to these parts?"

"Well, I had some free time and figured I'd take a bit of a vacation. I thought it'd be fun to visit some friends up here. My first stop was here in Gunma, so I figured we'd stop by since we were hungry."

The older man nodded in affirmation, but was caught up with the word 'we.' He shifted his head to look behind Uzu and saw the girl he had previously not noticed and Uzu had completely forgotten about.

Nonon had been listening in on their conversation every now and then, taking a particular interest in Uzu getting wrapped up tight in the man's arms, having to bite the side of the cheek to keep from laughing, but other than that, had very little investment in their interaction. She had only noticed the man's attention by a chance gaze out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm sorry, I didn't notice you there," the man smiled and held out his hand, "Hiraga Takero."

"Jakuzure Nonon," she replied as she shook his hand, responding to his smile with her own, one that Uzu doubted the sincerity of.

"A pleasure to meet you," Mr. Hiraga turned to Uzu, "Congratulations, son. I knew you'd find someone eventually.

He raised an eyebrow in confusion, "What do you- Oh. OH. No, no nonononononono."

"What? You mean to tell me you two aren't dating?"

Nonon shivered in her seat with disgust written all over her face, "Oh GOD. Please, don't make me puke."

The man blinked once, then twice, then burst into another fit of laughter.

"Oh, I get it. You're one of those girls!"

"One of what girls?" she loud-whispered to Uzu, hoping the man would not hear them under the sound of his own laughter.

"He's calling you a tsundere, you know, a love-hate relationship."

"Well, he's half-right."

The elderly man ceased his impression of a hyena and cleared his throat, "I'm sorry about that, that's just my medication acting up."

"Wait, wha-"

"I have to check in with the kitchen quick. Do either of you feel up for desert? On me."

The two shook their heads, having received their fill, though Uzu asked for the bill for their meal. The owner nodded and headed off for the kitchen for his duties, leaving them to themselves.

Nonon watched him disappear into the other room, and the second he was out of sight, diverted her attention to the boy sitting opposite her, "Hey, Monkey."

"Hmm?" he mumbled, his cheek bulging from a dango he had swiped from Nonon's plate. He noticed her shifting awkwardly in her seat with an odd expression on her face. He wanted to ask if her butt was sore, but knew that doing so would earn him a glass to the face.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out and she instead stared off to the side, as if she forgot what she was going to say. Uzu coughed into his fist to gain her attention, which caught her by surprise and nearly made her jump.

"Oh- I- Umm…" she stumbled over her words as the color slowly drained from her face and her voice became hoarse, "Where's the bathroom?" she barely managed to eke out.

Taking a second to think, he pointed to their right, to a short hallway with two visible doors. Without saying a word, she slid out of the booth and bolted for the restroom, leaving a very confused Uzu to himself.

Nonon slammed the restroom door shut and locked it; to her good fortune, it was a private room as opposed to a public collection of stalls. She marched over to the sink and grabbed ahold of it, hands wrapped around the ridges and fingers glued to the underside.

Dumbass.

She stared at the mirror, disgusted by the sight of her reflection, her normally cool and adjusted self reduced to a mere wreck. If she could, she would have ripped the sink from the wall and smashed it on the ground without a second thought. Alas, she was not Ira. She considered settling for punching the mirror into pieces, but that would just end up slashing her hands. All she wanted was a way to alleviate the stress, to get rid of the lump in her throat that pained her every time she swallowed. She knew of only one way to calm herself.

Nonon sat atop the toilet seat and yanked her phone out of her pocket and selected Satsuki from the contacts list. Pressing the phone to her ear, she cursed under her breath as the dialing tone repeated over and over, muttering 'pick up' or 'answer' every other second.

"Hello?" the voice on the other side of the line finally answered.

Nonon did not respond, causing her friend to become concerned.

"Nonon?"

"I couldn't."