The invitation had been an odd one. Meet Oubai at the pastry cafe? Really? Of all places, and of all people? At first, she had ignored the message, but as it almost always did, curiosity propelled her out of her room and down the street to the cafe. What did he want? Certainly, it wasn't really about school notes. Oubai would never need to see her notes, as full as they were of doodles and... well, doodles. And she could not quite comprehend the idea that he was offering to help her with her own academics.
Maybe it was guilt. Maybe he'd come to some startling realization after being kicked off the proverbial island in the dungeon, and was trying to mend bridges? But they'd already mended, at least by what Kozue imagined Kou's standards to be. The blank plaque actually sat on her vanity in her dorm room, as a reminder of the fact that she did have power over her own life, and, moreover (since it was still blank and a shade of virgin white that made Kozue smirk with irony now and again) that she didn't have to make that choice any time soon.
She stepped into the cafe with her mind still not fully made up as to whether or not she was planning to stay and talk with Oubai. But, once she saw him, it was too late to slip out. And besides, once she saw him, sitting over his notes with an orange juice on the table beside them, looking awfully out of place in the hip, westernized setting, Kozue's twin sentiments of curiosity and compassion kicked in.
She took a seat at the table opposite him. "Afternoon, Oubai-senpai."