Like a mirror to the past (w/ Aiko)

Aiko really, really hated smoke. Now, the funny thing was, she absolutely adored fire, but smoke? No way: it was smelly, and latched onto things, and... oh, it was just all around terrible. The one thing she hated more than smoke though, would have to be cigarettes. Her father had smoked throughout her childhood, and believe me, she certainly didn't need a reminder of his existence every time she walked the streets of the city she lived in. Beyond that, she saw smoking as a murder weapon: a murder weapon that businessmen who sought after nothing but money without a care for the health of their customers used. 

Murder, as you can imagine, was also something Aiko wasn't fond of. Regardless of that last bit though, one could imagine her annoyance when she found herself in the same area as not only another person while she was trying to get some writing done, but also a person who was smoking. On top of all of this, the girl who dared to use a PUBLIC park at night (because nobody else was allowed to use them at night, clearly) and interrupt Aiko's quiet writing session with her mere presence didn't seem to even notice her either. How rude: at least the girl could have introduced herself, with the two being the only people in the area!

Hold on a second: was she feeling some sort of social compulsion? This was a... infrequent urge for her, to say the least. Seriously though, a social urge? At first, Aiko didn't even recognize the feelings, simply casting it away as some form of jealousy (which admittedly, wouldn't be a totally wrong assumption): now, she was just confused. Thus, it was no wonder that, in her confusion, Aiko, who was both tired (due to lack of coffee) and suddenly interested in this unique urge of hers, decided to reach out to this specific person.

What a mistake that had been: Aiko was terrible at talking in general, so why did she bother greeting somebody!? A situation requiring social skills AND a comprehension of conversational speaking? That was way beyond her. Nonetheless, as she had set out to do, Aiko looked up from her position hunched over her laptop, straightening her back as best she could, and then spoke to the woman standing by the fountain in all of her quiet and shy glory. 

"Uh... hello? Who might you be? I've not seen you around here before, and... well, I'm here quite a lot. The park, that is, of course. Anyway..."

The result was both embarrassing and probably pathetic in nature, but who cared? She'd actually spoken to a stranger! That in itself was something of an achievement for this girl. Actually, scratch that, this was DEFINITELY an achievement. Now she just had to navigate her way through the rest of the likely to occur conversation.


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