Midnight Therapy and the Carrier Pigeon

Ice [Elements III]

When lunch rolled around, Jay and I ended up doing the same thing as breakfast. This time, Jay found a recipe he knew and taught me what to do.

Jay said it was called "gyoza," and usually it went with other foods. I told him I could make something to go with it, and Jay asked if I could make ramen.

Easy enough. My father has bought and stored packages of ramen as making ramen from scratch was supposedly painstaking, even for experts. I didn't have a chance.

Jay was perfectly fine with packaged ramen, and we both set off.

Jay ended up making way too many gyoza, though. He was worried, but I reassured him that it was completely fine. I'd have some for dinner to make sure they didn't go to waste.

Jay spent the afternoon learning the training course. The entire time, he kept talking about the newcomer, about what they could be like and how Jay would teach them what he knew about the course.

Eventually, dinner rolled around. If my father and a newcomer were going to be home very soon, I thought it would be better to make something from this world. I settled on udon for the night, and Jay helped cook.

Just as I was about halfway through cooking the noodles, I barely heard the monastery's front doors open.

Jay had heard as well as he practically knocked the pot over while sprinting to the exit. I stuck back and quietly continued cooking. My anxieties began to rise, but I did my best to stay calm.

I couldn't be sure if this newcomer would be alright with my appearance. I managed to get lucky with Jay since he looked past the scariness and was instead curious.

Not everyone was like that.

"Yeah!" I suddenly heard Jay's distant voice. "We're almost done! We could all eat, then I could help you settle in!"

I heard a voice, one that was unfamiliar. It was too quiet for me to make out much beyond its unfamiliarity.

"Yeah, 'we!'" Jay repeated. "You can have a seat at the dining table. I'll get (Y/n) out here to say hi!"

I glanced towards the kitchen exit in fear before turning back to the stove. Right now? Why right now?

"Hi, (Y/n)!"

I turned back to the exit. Jay offered a wave. "Wanna say hi to the new guy?"

"I... I don't know," I mentioned.

"You'll be fine!" Jay encouraged. "He seems like a pretty cool guy!"

"...Let me finish cooking," I hesitantly mentioned. "We can meet over dinner."

Jay stepped in to finish up the udon, and I spent a bit of time reheating the gyoza from earlier today. Once everything was finished and plated, Jay grabbed a large tray to carry three of the four bowls of udon, and I carried my bowl and the plate of gyoza.

Jay entered the dining room first, and I took a deep, fearful breath before ducking through the doorway and making my way to the table.

Beside my father sat the new individual. If I had to guess, he could've been the same age as Jay if not a bit older. His hair was a very light blond. I might have mistaken it for white if my father wasn't sitting next to him. The individual's clothes were also a stark white save for the dirt stains that occasionally spotted his shirt and pants.

The individual looked at me with an expression of what had to be mild surprise. He continued to watch as I approached the table and set my bowl and the plate of gyoza down. I sat by Jay and across from my father before glancing at the newcomer.