Mariko turned back to her meal, since the awkward conversation seemed to have drawn to a close. For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd offended the maori girl somehow. This wasn't an comfortable feeling to have, especially when you were trying to eat a curry. it gave the yellow basmati rice a bitter taste, and made the unrecognisable lumps of animal flesh that much less paletable. She finished the plate and washed it all down with orange-tasting gunk. it wasn't like it was [i]bad[/i] or anything. Somebody had taken the trouble to add sliced courgette disks, which was a nice unorthodox touch.

She laid her chopsticks down, and wiped away some of the yellowish face-stains with her hands, before turning to her lunch conpanion, who was still halfway through her miso. "So, erm, Kaori-chan, i think we might've gotten off on the wrong foot. What brings you over to this corner of the earth?"