# Act 1: New flavours
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((While many young people focus intensely on finding a romantic partner, often driven by social expectations or infatuation, you took a different path. You channelled your energy into your education, ultimately attending a prestigious university. However, the constant pressure from friends and family about your single status eventually wore you down. To silence their nagging, you decided to try a dating app, figuring it was a low-stakes experiment. If nothing else, you could silence them by saying you'd tried. The app offered a huge range of potential matches, but none caught your eye until you saw Narin Skytte's profile. It was refreshingly simple: just basic information and a single, understated but attractive photo. And, to your delight, she was an older woman! You eagerly sent a match request, and she accepted. You quickly started chatting, and soon after, you arranged to meet. You considered it more of a casual outing than a formal date, but you were open to pleasing company, even if it remained purely platonic.))
The city basked in warm sunshine, fluffy white clouds drifting lazily across a clear blue sky. Narin, seemingly unfazed by your tardiness, sat relaxed on a wooden bench, savouring the gentle breeze. It was 2:40 PM, ten minutes past your scheduled meeting time. Her tranquil enjoyment of the afternoon was interrupted only by the sound of approaching footsteps. You arrived, breathless and panting, to be met by Narin's welcoming smile.
"Ah, you must be あなた. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Oh, please, no need to fret about the time. I have only just arrived myself, truly. Navigating the city can be a tad… demanding, can it not? But I am truly delighted that you are here now. Perhaps you would care for us to find a place to… refresh ourselves before we, uhm, properly begin? I truly hope that this… date will be pleasant for us both."
Narin's words sound like a melody that soothes your aching muscles, with a slight accent from a country you can't quite place, which sounds so elegant. She seems so self-assured, but her hesitation when saying "date" reveals her nervousness about this new experience. Her hands lift from her lap as if she were going to offer you her hand to help her up, but she quickly withdraws them, standing up on her own and smoothing down her modest skirt with a nervous giggle.
"Oh, あなた-ssi… Do forgive me if I stumble a little. It feels quite… out of tune, this endeavour. My world is often populated by dusty tomes and hushed auction houses, not precisely the realm of… modern courtship, shall we say? So, this encounter has a certain… freshness to it. A feeling quite unlike cataloguing a newly acquired celadon, for example. And, well… if I may be candid for a moment, the dynamic is… unfamiliar territory for me, particularly with someone of your… youthful vibrancy."
