June 27 / An Apple a Day / PG / Yousuke, open

[greentea]

Character(s): Yuuta Aiyagawa, Yousuke Kiyama, open to whoever else too!
Time: 12 noon, Monday
Location: Cafeteria

It was almost funny how Yuuta could note broken routines when he claimed he didn't follow any. The morning had started without his sandwich because the store hadn't restocked so he had been stuck with cereal and the choice between yogurt and pudding (to which he chose the latter). He managed to let his thoughts stray away from what he had labeled as a "bad morning" only until lunch time. All he could do was stare at the menu then down to the food choice set before him. Quality was no problem. He was sure Aozora wouldn't fail to do that much for its students but its teachers --to him specifically-- he wasn't so sure. Though he preferred not to voice out any complaints to the kind lunch servers he decided that just once wouldn't be so bad and that one time, big time event came in the form of: "...do you...have anything without any vegetables?" Rarely did he ever flush from embarrassment as he spoke but there was a first for everything and apparently, that included trying broccoli for the first time.

The server frowned a little and gave him a negative with an apology to match and all Yuuta could do was take the set meal and bring it back to the table. The frown, he learned, was rather infectious.

Sighing he poked about the miniature green trees on his bowl amongst the gravy, the meat and the mushrooms and carefully cast them aside (along with the small bits of onion). He was about to open his mouth and try his first meal that involved vegetables in the cooking process but closed his mouth just before that could happen. Yuuta set his chopsticks down with the frown still present in all its troubled glory.

...but what if I can taste the broccoli?!

[iris]

"Combo meal, please! The biggest one." Yousuke said cheerfully as he approached the lunch server. "And if you don't mind, give me some extra food too. I need all the energy I can get... hey, don't look at me that way! I do sports literally all day long, I'm not going to get fat or anything."

The man walked away from the lunch line and fought his way through a large horde of students, making sure that his tray of food wasn't touched. "Dammit..." Yousuke seethed as he was shoved and pushed around, "How many of you are there?!" Gasping for air, Yousuke finally reached the end of the large crowd of students and quickly headed towards the staff lunch table.

It wasn't unusual for teachers to eat at the cafeteria, but many of the staff still preferred to go out to town to get something to eat. At the moment, there was only one other teacher sitting down to eat -- Yuuta, wasn't it? Yousuke set his tray across from the other and sat himself down, already twirling his pair of chopsticks in his fingers. "Hello! Yuuta, right?" Yousuke greeted enthusiastically, and then immediately started on his mountainous pile of food.

Yousuke was already swallowing his second piece of broccoli when he noticed what the other was doing.

"...What are you doing?" Yousuke paused, setting down his chopsticks slowly, "You should eat that, it's good for you!" Oh god, am I really scolding a teacher?

[greentea]

He nodded, snapping out of his pondering-my-meal state to address the new comer. "Yousuke then?" He acknowledged with a slight smile. Yuuta was about to try and make conversation until he saw the first piece of broccoli enter his colleague's mouth and all he could manage was a cringe.

"What --what am I doing-- oh. Well yes, I'm aware." He picked up his chopsticks again but didn't feel any motivation to pick up anything else in his bowl but the piece of meat. "But I just." He paused, trying to come up with the right words but it always fell back to,

"I don't like vegetables." To further back up his claim he would've said disgusting but he knew it was too strong a word and he didn't hate it that much. It just didn't sit well with him and simply put those green monstrosities were just,

"They're icky."

He had to frown again (although despite trying to stay within the lines of professionalism it was starting to seem a lot like a pout), because 1) he was being scolded by a fellow teacher, 2) he knew was older than the said teacher, 3) being scolded in itself was embarrassing, 4) it felt like he was a kid back home again and 5) vegetables were abominations that polluted his plate and were better off on other people's dishes.

Not his.

[iris]

Yousuke, shoveling food in his mouth, didn't notice Yuuta cringe at the sight of his broccoli. He merely continued to stuff his face with whatever food was on his plate with ease. Food was no longer a delicacy to Yousuke, it was a needed source of energy. As long as he had the correct amount of it, he was happy.

"They're icky."

Yousuke swallowed, wiped his mouth with his napkin, and glanced back up at Yuuta. "They're... icky?" Yousuke asked, as if he hadn't heard the other man correctly. Is he really a teacher? Yousuke thought, a frown appearing on his face. I didn't like vegetables either, but that was when I was ten!

"Uh, so.... you never had broccoli in your life?" Yousuke asked, and then looked down at Yuuta's plate. The only part of the meal that seemed untouched was the meat. How does he survive on only protein? How about all of those vitamins and fiber that broccoli contains?!

Yousuke had to fight the urge to say all of these thoughts out loud. The last thing he wanted was to baby another teacher, and he was sure that Yuuta wouldn't like it either. Instead, he just stared at Yuuta a bit skeptically, as if he was expecting a "Just kidding! I love brocolli!" type of retort.

[greentea]

Yuuta stared at him, the disbelief much more apparent than facts like the sun being out or him being a teacher --bottomline was it was there but then he remembered that not everybody shared his belief in how vegetables weren't "meant" for him.

He thought of alternatives to answering Yousuke's question but found that he was no liar and if he tried, he probably wouldn't be able to do it with a straight face, legitimately convincing face.

"Never have, never will, I suppose."

"I'm just not used to it." He continued with a shrug.

"And I wouldn't dream of ever being able to be accustomed to it either. Instant noodles and tuna sandwiches are enough for me, really." He purposefully left out his slight addiction to grape soda because it wouldn't do him well to give off a bad impression to the Physical Education teacher, especially since that impression would be health-related.

[iris]

Yousuke blinked several times, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He had been a physical education teacher for over a year now, and had gotten so used to healthy eating habits (and telling his students and sports players about them as well) that he had forgotten that not everybody ate this carefully. The disbelief is mutual, Yousuke thought, although we seem to be surprised about opposite things here.

"Well, I guess that can't be helped, then." Yousuke shrugged good-naturedly. Well, it's just broccoli. Maybe he likes some other vegetables. Soothed with that thought, Yousuke chewed another bite of his food. While Yuuta's plate was hardly touched, Yousuke was already halfway through his mountain and he wasn't even close to full yet.

And then Yuuta mentioned his diet.

Yousuke paused once more, looking up from his plate. Jesus christ, instant noodles and tuna sandwiches?! Yousuke didn't even bother to hide his look of surprise this time. Honestly, how did this man not have any heart problems?! Especially instant noodles, they were incredibly high in sodium.

"...Really?" Yousuke asked while fighting back the urge to spill out into a raging lecture about proper eating habits, "I would never be able to manage to live just on those type of foods... but I guess everybody's different. You do look decently in-shape though, do you exercise frequently?"

God, now I sound like one of those stupid internet health surveys.

[greentea]

He picked up the onions and mushrooms with his chopsticks and placed them on the broccoli pile too. Yuuta figured he'd still feel hungry after lunch period and though it was good that he didn't have any classes after this, this was his only time to eat since he had to get back to the paper work he had left behind in the faculty room. Procrastinating before re-editing the course outline for the year proved to be a bad time investment and he regretted that, especially since with the time he needed after lunch period for fixing the outline, he could've gone off campus to grab food that he could actually stomach.

He was pretty accustomed to how people reacted after they heard about what he usually ate and though it stopped being amusing a long time ago, he knew where all this distress and the slightest bit of concern was coming from.

"...Really?" Yuuta nodded at that. If it was possible for people elsewhere to live off of the stuff they find in the trash, then he could live off things he found on convenience store racks and the soda fridge.

"If you count walking from school to the nearest 24-7 store exercise then, yes? I'm not all that athletic to be honest, I can't kick a ball to save my life or keep the tennis racket in my hand for more than ten seconds before I accidentally hurl it over to the other side of the court. I mean, I don't just sit around but I don't go out of my way to try ...and keep myself...in shape."

It felt like an oral self-reflection and he almost felt sorry for himself now that what he did (or did not do or eat) was coming from his own mouth --and his words tasted like bitter medicine.

"I apologize if I come off as bum with a degree and a teaching license but... but instant noodles honestly taste better than--" he gestured to the pile of vegetables cast aside on his bowl "--that. Plus, it takes a lot less time to prepare!"

[iris]

Yousuke's plate was now clean. He had eaten everything, and he felt a lot better now than he did before. He had a class to teach right after lunch, and he definitely needed all of the energy he could get. After all, he liked running and exercising alongside his students. It gave him an excuse to talk to them.

Yousuke couldn't help but laugh a bit when Yuuta told him about his experience with athletics. He had gotten so accustomed to athletics and exercise that Yousuke had almost completely forgotten what a sedentary lifestyle was like. It wasn't like Yuuta was living a sedentary lifestyle, as even Yousuke had to admit that walking to the convenience store had to count as some exercise.

"No, no, I understand you." Yousuke quickly said, "I don't think you're, uh, a bum. You do have a point when it comes to taste and how convenient it is to make instant food." Even Yousuke liked to eat things like premade and instant foods once in awhile. They definitely tasted delicious. "I was just surprised, since I have different eating habits." Yousuke shrugged, "But, you know, if you really feel you want to get some exercise done, feel free to find me! I'm sure you can at least run, right?"

Although he had nothing against what Yuuta said, Yousuke was still not the type who would give up. Everyone can run. he thought, Running is easy, right? Everyone can do with a little bit of exercise.

[greentea]

"I can tell." He said with a good-natured chuckle. Yuuta was a slow eater and a picky one, therefore a lot of things were still littered across his bowl but as much as he didn't have it in him to eat it, he didn't particularly like the idea of having the food thrown away either.

For mother nature! He ate the pieces of broccoli left and then in split second intervals shoved rice into his mouth. Once the food had been chewed and taken down, he placed his chopsticks down and sighed heavily after chugging down the contents of his water bottle in one go. Throughout the eating process, he caught the words exercise and run and it might've been a mistake but it sounded like an invitation to do just that.

Yuuta honestly couldn't remember the last time he ran for something that wasn't a bell that was about to tell him he was late or for his life when he knew his date had been waiting for him twenty-minutes into the designated time. Running for exercise was foreign to him and though it might've been easier for him to deny that he "could at least run," Yuuta flashed him an awkward little smile and nodded.

"Ah, yeah. I-it's been awhile though but I can manage." I hope.

Yousuke was nice, he had concluded that much and no doubt he would have a lot of friends and perhaps by some stroke of luck, Yousuke would have enough friends to keep him busy and forget about all this. Although Yuuta did wonder about friends since he relatively didn't have much within the whole institution.

"But aren't you busy though? I know we have breaks and weekends but wouldn't you want to use that time to rest?" He was pretty sure Yousuke was trained and taught how to deal with all the work that needed to be done on the field and with his students so he was probably less prone to get tired. Still, it was common courtesy to ask and he wasn't entirely sure as to why he had a feeling he didn't entirely mind attempting exercise for the first time in a long time.

[iris]

Yousuke was trying not to burst out laughing as Yuuta forced down some of his meal and then quickly chugged down the remains of his water bottle. Is it that bad? He thought, raising an eyebrow. Broccoli, to be honest, didn't really taste like anything to Yousuke. It was just a good source of fiber and vitamins and nothing else.

The awkward smile that Yuuta flashed didn't worry him at all. Yousuke was used to people being reluctant about answering questions about physical activity. He didn't know what Yuuta's reason was, but he was determined to work it out. After all, that was why he was there. To help others regarding their health was something he thought he was particularly experienced at.

"It's okay if you haven't done it in awhile, it won't take that long to get used to it."

Yousuke shook his head when Yuuta asked if he was busy, "No, of course I'm not busy! And it's not like you'll be running for the entire day, right? It'll be fine, for me at least." He shrugged nonchalantly. I don't want to force him to do it, but if he really doesn't want to do it then he doesn't have to. He just has to tell me.

(OOC: we can end the thread after we both post one more time?)

[greentea]

He never made a conscious effort to have friends, not even once in his life and though nothing was seriously pushing him to change that it didn't seem so bad. He still had yet to get to know the rest of the faculty but the school was huge and maybe, he thought, maybethis was opportunity presenting itself. Or maybe he actually did want to try upping his health standards for himself. Yuuta wasn't as strong-willed when it came down to things about him and it always took awhile before he could come to terms with even the most obvious of things that it was more embarrassing than it was sad.

But then even though Yuuta could be weak-willed, he was willing.

"Oh well, maybe the weekend then? It's just the start of the term and I intend to throw reading material at them first before they get any essays in so I won't have much to do except brush up on some facts and skim over the lesson." His smile turned less awkward now that his mind was starting to agree with what came out of his mouth.

"As long it's okay with you though. I probably wouldn't manage running for so long and I wouldn't dream of it either. And I'm also inclined to think that you would know what to do, so maybe if I passed out in the middle of the field I would be accounted for and not die on the spot, which is good on several levels. I hope you don't mind me dragging you down from your usual pace though!"

Yuuta checked his watch for the time, "it's five minutes until lunch break officially ends. I could take your plate back for you if you'd like. Wouldn't want to be as notorious as I am for always missing it."

[ ooc// that sounds okay~ c: ]