The Fury of Freezing Rain

Yukiko was unaffected by the December cold as the afternoon sun poured in through the window directly onto her and the job board, casting her shadow over the left side of the board that was occupied by higher class jobs that she had no interest in at the moment. Her eyes scanned the C-class job, the name of a requestor catching her eye, being that of one of the Ten Wizard Saints. The appearance of a name like that in the lower class jobs was uncommon and captured her attention enough to read out the job. The idea of securing some tea leaves didn't sound like a very exciting job at all but that wasn't the reason why she was scanning for jobs in the first place, neither was it because she needed money but because she had promised her girlfriend that she would attempt to come out of her shell and repair the bad reputation she'd made for herself during her first several months at Archer's Cross. After taking the job off the board she turned to scan the guildhall for anyone she thought would be easy to get along with. The first she spotted was Seneca, the indifferent that always sat on her face made her look like if nothing else she would be easy to get along with but she doubted Kalina would see simply getting along with someone as a victory. No, she needed someone she could become friends with. The second to catch her eye was Meredith, the girl was only a year younger than Yukiko herself but she had a hard time believing that as the girl looked several years below the age of eighteen. Her child-like appearance made Yukiko feel that perhaps she could get along with the girl, though, rumors of the woman's attitude made her wonder if choosing her was the wisest choice. Steeling her nerves, she decided that she really didn't care. After all, she and Kalina had become good friends and it hadn't been that hard...then again, their friendship started with a fist fight. Shaking the thoughts from her mind she approached the blue haired woman, forcing a friendly smile onto her face as she looked at the woman in front of her. "Hello, Meredith. I don't believe we've spoken before. I'm Yukiko but you can call me Yuki if you'd like." She said, figuring it best to start a conversation with her first.

Meredith's head bobbed back and forth as she listened to music, oblivious to the world around her. She was attempting to kill time until tomorrow, then she'd be taking the train back to Onibus for the weekend. She couldn't wait to train more, though her joints still ached from last weekend. The woman sensed someone behind her, her elbow shooting backward, towards Yukiko's gut as she removed one earphone and glanced behind her. "Why are you talking to me?" Mer said coldly, she had been interrupted during one of her favorite songs.

While the elbow to the gut was new, she wasn't exactly unfamiliar with being on both sides of a cold greeting. Though, the frustration of being on this side of it was something she still hadn't quite gotten used to. Her smile had faded, her lips unable to be forced upwards into the counterfeit smile she had tried to wear around others. While the back of Yukiko's mind screamed for her to understand that she hadn't been little miss friendship only a few months ago herself, stronger parts made her start to slowly grind her teeth in contemplation of how someone who looked like a child could be such a bitch from the get-go. In her best excuse for a kind and friendly tone she spoke. "It's nice to meet you too you..." She stopped herself before taking a deep breath. "Your hair is very pretty," She substituted for what she wanted to say, "I was just taking a look at the job board and thought maybe we could go on a job together? I heard you liked training and thought you might wanna give mountain climbing a try?" She said as she placed the flyer down on the table in front of the blue haired girl.

Meredith's eyes were narrowed into cat-like slits as she listened to Yukiko, almost scoffing at the cliche compliment she offered. As the woman continued, Mer ached for the conversation to end but her interest was eventually caught. She snatched up the flyer, scanning it quickly before shoving it into her pocket. She stood up, looking upward at Yukiko. "Fine, I'll come with you on two conditions. One: We split the pay. Two: Any comments on my height I'll drown you. Let's go, we can catch the 3 o'clock." Meredith began walking towards the entrance of Archer's Cross without another word, putting a hand up in a wave as she walked out. Leading the pair as they walked to the train station.

Her conditions seemed fair enough to comply with, her hurry to leave was a bit unexpected though as she was forced to text Kalina that she was going off on a job and would be back soon. The two reached the train station and bought their tickets, catching the 3 0'clock to Shirotsume. The first half hour of their hour long train ride was spent in silence, Yukiko being unsure what to ask the brat that wouldn't result in a smartass or otherwise rude response. "So, Meredith, do you have any interests outside of training. Hobbies? Do you like to read?" She asked in an attempt to find some kind of common ground between them.