Closed Big wide world

[Hiro Aoki]

Hiro was never going to grow bored of Japan. Though he ended up travelling a lot these days thank to quidditch camps and training and matches against different teams, every single time he would start to miss home. This was the country he was born and raised in, never actually leaving for the first eighteen years of his life. It was where all his friends and connections were, not to mention the absolutely stellar drifting events. You really couldn't find a drift scene as big as the one in Japan anywhere else in the world, it just wasn't the same.

He had just finished up at a track day, driving the AE86 away from the track and just around the corner to the local convenience store to get a bit of a late lunch and some snacks to take home with him. The car had drifted well, but he could feel the back end swinging out too much, it probably needed a little bit of work. But he wasn't worried, it was an old car and was always going to need a little bit of extra work on it. Parking out front of the store, Hiro hopped out of the car, closing to door behind him and heading in, though had barely made it through the doors before bumping right into the front of someone else. "Ah, I am so sorry I wasn't looking," he quickly apologized, stepping back from the man. But, when Hiro had a better look at him, he looked foreign. "I'm sorry," he added in English as an afterthought, unsure if the man would be able to understand Japanese or not.

@Cooper Gates

 

[Cooper Gates]

Cooper was glad to just be back in Japan again. There was just something about the culture here, the cuisine, he loved it. He had finished with a long day of classes and studying, and he was absolutely starving. He'd gone to the store, spending a good amount of time gathering up the ingredients he wanted. He was just on his way out the door when someone ran into him. He laughed lightly, not really hurt or fussed about it. "If you had been looking, you would have been stunned by my beauty," he teased back in fluent Japanese. He shifted his bags in his arms, noticing something outside. "Oh, hey, cool car. Is that yours?" He asked, turning his eyes back to the man.

 

[Hiro Aoki]

There was a rather visible relief that washed over his features when the other man responded in Japanese. At least he wouldn't have to try and rely on his broken English to have a conversation with someone if this man could understand everything he was saying. "At least you're not hurt or anything," the response came easily as he smiled. But then the attention was turned to his car and Hiro turned his head back out the door to see it parked out front before nodding. "Yeah, that's my baby. You want to have a closer look?" Honestly, he would take any chance to talk about how much he loved his car and it always felt nice to have someone complimenting the work he had put into it over the years.

 

[Cooper Gates]

Cooper almost laughed as the man looked relieved. "At least you didn't hurt my groceries," he pouted. "As a chef, that would be worse than hurting myself," He did laugh that time, shaking his head and then having to blow his hair from his eyes. He smiled as the man offered to show him his car. Feeling no sense of danger, Cooper nodded. "Sure!" He replied with an easy grin. "My name is Coop, by the way." He offered, starting for the door.

 

[Hiro Aoki]

Hiro chuckled lightly, though he did rather disagree with that point of view. "You can always buy some more groceries. You can't buy a new arm if you had broken it." Thankfully, that had not happened and it seemed both man and groceries were unharmed. But it seemed as though he was interested in checking out his car, so Hiro smiled, backtracking out of the shop once again. "Hiro. Aoki Hiro," he introduced himself as he walked back to the side of the street where he had parked, "It is nice to meet you."

 

[Cooper Gates]

Cooper pouted, unwilling to concede his point. He had already picked the best ingredients from the store. Having to do it over again would really mess with the quality of the food. And he hated it when that happened. He followed easily after Hiro, smiling brightly as the man introduced himself. "That's a cool name," he complimented easily. He turned his eyes to the car then, biting his lip and looking around it a bit. "And this is seriously a really cool car," he turned his eyes back to the man, fully expecting the other man to tell him more about it.

 

[Hiro Aoki]

"So, Coop, where are you from?" It was clear the kid was not from Japan, even if his Japanese was actually pretty good, so that did raise the question of where he was actually from. And Hiro was curious. But the easy grin slipped onto his face as his precious AE86 was complimented. "It is, isn't it?" He hummed, running a hand over the bonnet in an almost loving manner. "It's my baby. I built it up from a scrap that didn't even have an engine. Ever since I was a kid reading Initial D I knew I wanted to own an AE86 Trueno and drift it. And it's an absolute beast on the track, built for drifting around a race track if the stickers didn't give it away." He laughed, gesturing to the back windows and back window which were absolutely covered with all sorts of different stickers he had picked up from car companies and drift events. "I've actually just come from a track day," he added, bending to have a quick check at how his tires were doing, frowning as he pulled a piece of dried rubber off. It just came with the territory of drifting, most of his money ended up going towards buying new tires.

 

[Cooper Gates]

Cooper chuckled softly. "Technically I was born and raised mostly in England, but I went to school at Beauxbatons," He told the man. "I've been attending the Hattori Nutrition College," He explained, before turning his attention to the car. He had to admit he didn't know a thing about cars, but he did know about passion. "So you're a racer then?" he asked, turning his eyes back to Hiro. "You seem to really love it, that's pretty awesome," he complimented.

 

[Hiro Aoki]

Hiro found his brow-raising when the other man quite openly admitted that he went to Beaxbatons. "If I didn't happen to have a wand in my pocket, Beaxbatons would have meant absolutely nothing to me," he offered with a casual smile. Weren't they supposed to be a little more careful about magic than that? Then again, Muggles weren't going to know what Beauxbatons even was. "But the drifting is just a side hobby. I'm actually a Quidditch player. I'm the Keeper for Toyohashi Tengu."

 

[Cooper Gates]

Cooper hadn't absolutely forgotten that he wasn't supposed to just randomly mention school. Of course not. He gave an impish smile. "Oh, I know. That's why I mentioned it," he winked playfully. Perfect excuse, right? "My brother is married to one of the Holyhead Harpies so I keep up to date on Quidditch team rosters," he offered, trying to sound smooth. "The drifting thing though, that's cool. Are you passionate about the Quidditch, too?" Cooper asked. "I don't have any cool hobbies, I'm just a chef," he laughed. Well, chef-in-training, technically.

 

[Hiro Aoki]

Hiro had a feeling that was not the reason he had just gone and openly mentioned which school he had gone to, but he was not going to scold the man about it. "Well, just make sure you don't go mentioning it to everyone you meet," though, even if he did, it wouldn't be that big of a deal as Muggles were not going to know what it meant. "I don't live the Quidditch as much as I love drifting, but if I didn't enjoy playing, then I certainly wouldn't have a career out of it," he would have loved to be able to be a professional D1 drifter, but magical folk couldn't exactly play competitive sport in the Muggle world, just in case. "But I wouldn't say being a chef isn't cool. I bet you can cook some really cool stuff. What made you want to study in Japan?"

 

[Cooper Gates]

Cooper gave the other man an impish smile. He would try not to. "I won't," he promised, winking. He listened to Hiro continue on about Quidditch, nodding easily. That made sense. He had never seen the point of doing things you didn't love to do. "Maybe you should come over for dinner and I can show you," He offered with a smile. He was never against making food for others. "For the same reason I went to France for school. New cuisine." He shifted his groceries in his arms. "I studied New Zealand cuisine while visiting my brother, I learned English cuisine at home, French cuisine during my school years, and I came here to introduce myself to new Asian cuisines," he smiled brightly.

 

[Hiro Aoki]

Hiro laughed lightly at the offer, "We've only just met and you're already inviting me over to dinner?" Coop didn't know who he was, they were only having a conversation for the first time. For all the kid knew, he could be talking to a secret murderer or something. (He wasn't, but Coop didn't know). "But you've really been around a lot, huh? I've only ever been outside Japan to go to New Zealand on a couple of occasions. Never really gone anywhere else besides that."

 

[Cooper Gates]

Cooper laughed lightly. "Hey, I usually get rejected when I ask for phone numbers," he teased with a playful wink. Not that he was after a date, but still. "Besides, I have an eye for people. I don't think you'll try to kill me," He laughed again, turning his eyes back to the car. "I've been around, yeah. Is travel not something you're interested in?" He asked, looking back to Hiro curiously.

 

[Hiro Aoki]

Hiro just laughed, "You never know, I could secretly be a serial murderer." He most certainly was not one of those, but it was dangerous just to willingly trust some stranger you had never even met before. Maybe Coop should avoid just inviting random people over for dinner before you had even gotten the chance to know them properly. "It's not that, it's just I've never really had much of a reason to go anywhere. And I've been busy with the constant Quidditch matches and practices. Traveling much is just not in the books."

 

[Cooper Gates]

Cooper chuckled. "I doubt it," he shook his head. "You aren't scary," he teased, brushing his hair back from his eyes. "But I won't push you," he shifted his groceries in his arms. "Why don't we start with lunch later on then? Somewhere public?" he offered with a smile.