Micah walked down a path, lightly tugging Hitoshi by the arm behind her. "C'moooon, you're so slow! At this rate we're going to miss the surprise-"

"But I haven't put on my other boot!" Hitoshi said struggling to fit it on the boot and hopping on one foot while being tugged by Micah.

"Sucks to be you! C'mon c'mon c'mon we're almost there!" She pulled him around a corner and grinned once she saw who was there. "Ohthankthegodsshe'sstillhere." She muttered. She let go of Hitoshi's arm and gestured to the person waiting, Valerie. "Here she is! Hitoshi, this is Valerie. Val, Hitoshi. I figured it only made sense to introduce my two BEST FRIENDS." She said. She then stepped back and waited for the two to interact.

Hitoshi raised both eyebrows.
"Oh! This is Valerie? Hey! Nice to meet you, I'm Hitoshi, but some call me Hito," he said extending his hand out for a handshake, smiling.

His left foot still bootless, as the other boot lay sideways on the ground next to him

Hitoshi stood there for few seconds, and his smile stayed but looked awkward, then he spoke though his teeth.
"Er... Micah, she does understand Anerjican, right?" he asked which the side of his mouth

Micah chuckled. "Of course she does. She's just quiet. Well, around most people at least. Right, Val?"

"Oh! Dang, you have a strong grip!" he said, rubbing his hand a little. "So you both are friends... can I ask how you met?"

Micah perked up. "Yeah! She was kinda like my mentor for a while when I was young... er. Younger. She's kinda like my mom but cooler, I guess. Over time we became friends and the rest is history."

"Oh that's cool! Um..." he looked at Val, "Are you a thief, too?" He whispered, ducking his head a little.

"um," he said a bit disturbed. "Are you okay?" he said leaning away a bit.

Micah paused, nervous that the introduction wasn't going as well as she'd hoped. "Yeah, this is him. He's my only friend from Bael."

"How about you ask him?" Micah lightly pushed Valerie forward. Not enough to move her, due to their difference in stature, but enough to get the point across. "He's as reliable as I am. Probably more."

"Yeah," he said unsurely, "yeah, I wield magic." nodding and trying to shake himself of the awkwardness, but being sincerely polite. "I usually use wind magic, and I uh, I use this," he showed his katana. "I noticed you use a katana as well," he then said with a bit of interest, sorta pointing a bit at her's with his other hand.

"Oh, I thought from the angle... Never mind. Well, it looks pretty wicked," he said, ignoring the comment about his ability to wield a sword.

"Yeah, I know," he replied a bit stoically.
"Uh, sayyy, what uh... Did any of you have plans for what to do?" he asked, and then turned to Micah. "Micah?"

Hitoshi started to get increasingly anxious from all of Val's glaring

Micah shrugged. "I figured it'd be less awkward than this. My bad. I guess you guys don't have much in common. All Val's interested in is murder."

"Oh, ha ha ha!.... ha.... you were kidding, right?"

"I was kinda kidding. Kinda. She likes to fight and that's all I ever see her do-"

"Oh," Hitoshi said awkwardly after a couple of seconds of silence.

Hitoshi slowly pivots himself to face Micah, with a blank stare on his face.

Micah sighed, disappointed. "...That went horribly. Shoot, I thought you guys would hit it off." She mumbled.

Hitoshi made a bit if a stressed face.
"What is her deal? She was glaring at me like nonstop." He asked Micah

"She's not a big fan of small talk. Or talk in general. It's not your fault, that's just Val." Micah replies, shrugging. "Though I'm not sure why she was so rude to you specifically.." she added, talking more to herself than Hitoshi.

"Oh..." he said somewhat uncomfortably, a second or two passed, "Well... Nice, uh, friend... you have... I guess." He turned around and took a few steps, and picked up his boot.

Micah waited until he was out of earshot. "This couldn't have gone worse.." She grumbled.

[END OF SIDE STORY]
..finally