Diamond Is Not Cheap

Today had just gotten both better and worse in Rainbow Dash's humble opinion. On the plus side of things these new guys from Japan had taken a chunk out of the lesson which she was VERY glad about. History wasn't exactly her strong suit though to be fair not much classic 'academia' was, her low grades being held at a passable level due to the aid of her friends and their weekly study sessions. There was also the fact that there were now three new opponents (well two technically, the shrimpy guy looked a tad underwhelming) for her sporting activities and if her memory was correct Japan followed in several of the same sports she excelled in. On the negative side however....

She glanced at Rarity who in turn was 'subtly' watching the now seated Jojo. The fashionista appeared to be ignoring the droning of White Lightning in favor of making 'wuvvy duvvy' eyes at her new beau and occasionally sketching mushy looking hearts around overly looped variants of their names. Rainbow sighed. She'd seen it all before, whilst not exactly friends at that point --thanks to the machinations of their newest reformed friend Sunset Shimmer-- she'd heard about Rarities epic crush on that Blueblood guy and had seen how much of a 'prince' he'd been at the previous years fall formal doubling the humiliation her friend had to suffer. Losing both the crown and dealing with that jerk must of been hard. It was kind of funny actually, at the time she thought that she'd deserved it for being such a snobby stuck up bitch but now she felt a deep level of pain for her friend.

Gah, she hated it when she got all mushy.

Soon enough the lesson ended, not fast enough for the bright haired girls personal taste but quick enough to be bearable. Letting out a Big Mac sized yawn she stood up and lightly stretched before turning to her compatriot.

"So Rarity wanna...meet...up..with-"

She was talking to thin air. Whilst a good eighty percent of the class had filtered out for the hours lunch break there was a group leftover doing what was natural for the inquisitive and grilling the new arrivals about their homeland, life and what kind of baked goods they liked (the last coming from that bubbly girl with odd eyes she'd heard about occasionally, famous for her klutziness). The short one (Koy-chi ?) seemed to be doing all the talking though whilst the taller duo simply chilled in the background occasionally throwing out a yes/no . Included in that inquisitive group (and inching closer to Jojo by the second) was Rarity doing her best to use her 'feminine charms' to attract the males attention. She sighed lightly, her friends could be so embarrassing some times !

Taking a deep breath Rainbow Dash knew there was only one option. To dive in and save her friend from herself.

Elbowing through three of her classmates she reached the core trio huddled near a window with 'The Element Of Generosity' (as Twilight had called her) being very 'generous' with how much eyelid fluttering and leg she was attempting to show. Rainbow internally face palmed, the girl would be pretty irritated when she realized how foolish she was being all for some stupid boy. Just as she was about to wrangle her friend and make a hasty excuse followed by a quick exit she was caught by one of them.

"That's some awesome hair you got" this came from the tall slim one (Okyazzu ?) who had a laid back expression on his face.

"Uhh...thanks ?" she really wasn't used to compliments on her appearance. Being awesome at stuff yeah but on how she looked ? Not so much.

"I gotta question if you don’t mind" the Japanese youth asked a pensive look on his face.

Feeling put out as her plan disintegrated around her she nodded numbly noticing Rarity practically plastering herself over the now somewhat perturbed Jojo.

"....What's the food like around here ? I haven't been able to find any decent Italian places or fishmongers in the entire city !"

"I have to agree with Okayasu here, its hard to make anything with half the ingredients missing" said Koichi pausing midway through explaining what the Japanese school system was like to his new peers.

Looking at the Asian Laurel and Hardy --and ignoring the now clearly fangirling Rarity who held Jojos hands in hers-- she thought for a moment.

"Well there's a decent Mexican place within a 10 minute walk of here, outside of that and the Supermarkets I wouldn't really know. My family aren't really the restaurant type, more fast food you know ?"

Okayasu nodded sagely "I feel you" he said solemnly treating a simple discussion on food as if it was the wisdom of the ancients. Koichi on the other hand had returned to his discussion this time on the subject of 'Fact and Fiction' regarding Japanese food. She could tell by the slightly weary look on his face what he was thinking 'Americans sure are curious'

Now that the dialogue had petered out (Okayasu had taken out a small pad and begun taking notes in that weird script that the Japanese wrote in) Rainbow prepared to strike !

"We can go there Josuke...and Rainbow dash and your friends of course !" piped in Rarity destroying her friends last attempt at a save from humiliation if Josukes eyes were any indicator of what he thought of the idea. Taking the social hints the remaining classmates abandoned the classroom with haste, things were going to get awkward and the last time romance and Rarity were involved they'd all been nearly drowned in tears and shrill cries the more callous would dub whining.

The pompadoured teen let out an awkward smile and scratched the back of his head lightly "I'll be honest...uh...Rarity was it ? Last time I had Mexican back home it gave me the shits" the Fashionistas face was aghast at how...crude her 'Prince Charming' had just been "Plus I mean your a nice girl and all but I barely know you, a date is a little much eh ?".

Rainbow winced, whilst not the best at 'romantic partings' even she knew that was incredibly blunt. Thus sank the great ship 'Jority'. To Rainbows great shock however the girl held it together remarkably well only letting out a weak smile to hide her disappointment. A small part of her wanted to defend her friends honor but she had to admit she'd been coming on stupidly strong. Even Sunset during her 'evil' phase hadn't been that forward with Flash Sentry ! Koichi and Okayasu looked incredibly uncomfortable however , the taller navel gazing while the shorter was rapidly looking through his school schedule as a distraction.

"Its ok Jojo....I can call you that at least right ?" mumbled Rarity.

Seeing the state the girl was in Josukes formerly strong façade melted "Hey remember what I said ? All my friends can call me Jojo and I'd certainly be honored to have a cute girl like yourself as my friend " He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder "Plus you make clothes right ? Me and the guys here could use some tips for mods and stuff, it'd be great if you could help" with another bright smile and a thumbs up Josuke then ambled out followed by his friends both of whom gave --the currently drowning in awkwardness-- Rainbow Dash a knowing look as they left as if to say 'Its as awkward for us as it is for you'.

Placing an arm around the purple haired girl whom was standing resolute with her eyes closed and fists balled Rainbow Dash leaned inwards to a friendly embrace

"You going to be Ok Rarity ?"

With a sudden snap she exploded out of the embrace, raising her arms to the heavens in a victorious pose.

"He called me cute !"

Slapping her hand to her face in exasperation she grabbed the girls hand and dragged her out to the rapidly diminishing lunch break ignoring her ramblings of 'merely a setback, with time I'll prove I can be both a friend and a great potential girlfriend !' as well as the various ways she could make it up to the boy without 'being a tramp'.

These guys were going to be trouble.