Chapter Text
"Just ask for Sara""
Snow softly fell around Ranmaru as he took his time walking down the sidewalk. He had planned to visit the cafe once again.. Ughh.. He couldn’t believe he was going back.. But.. He couldn’t help it after what happened during his first visit.
--FLASHBACK!! I LOVE FLASHBACKS!!--
The many things he wished he could tell Anzu. After this.. He might never come out of his house ever again..
Staring at the orange-haired girl behind the counter, he awkwardly waved as she tilted her head in confusion. Quickly asking the black haired girl next to her to take over the register for a moment before making her way over to Ranmaru. “Can I.. Help you with something?” She asked, puzzled by the boy in front of her.
“U-um.. Augh… Sorry if, uh.. This seems weird but.. Would you happen to be the person this note is.. Erm.. A-about?” He fumbles, presenting her with the note in his hand. God.. He wasn’t prepared for this at all. This is so.. So awkward… Why.. why did he even agree to do this?? OH WAIT.. HE DIDN’T…
Taking the note, the girl quickly reads over it.. Her confused face quickly turns flushed as she whips around to face the back. “JOE.. WHAT DID YOU TELL THIS GUY..” There was a very faint "Oh shit” coming from the back. The black haired girl seemed to take interest as well, leaning over a bit to try seeing the note before chuckling and turning back to her work. Turning back to Ranmaru, face still red, she quickly apologizes. “I’m.. So sorry about my friend.” She shakes her head, quite embarrassed over her friend’s actions. “Ah.. Don’t take it to heart. Sometimes.. Joe just kind of.. Makes very.. QUESTIONABLE decisions…” Raising her voice at the end to make sure Joe would hear her, a light but mischievious giggle coming from the back.. Assumingly from Joe.
“Oh.. Haha.. Um.. Yeah it’s.. It’s no problem.” He says, looking back at her with a strained smile. He knew it was too good to be true… This whole encounter just.. Made him want to throw himself in a coffin and bury himself alive. The orange haired girl starts speaking again, still looking a little flustered. “U..um, I mean.. Because of the trouble, if you’d like, um.. You can come back and I’ll make you a drink, on the house.” Ranmaru was quick to brighten up a bit from the offer. “If you don’t see me, I’m usually in the back. Just ask for Sara.”
--Present Time--
Taking a deep breath, Ranmaru pushes the glass doors open. He’s not entirely sure why he even agreed; he still doesn’t like coffee… But when he thinks of the pretty barista with the gorgeous purple eyes and her hair that reminded him of a beautiful sunset.. It was-.... oh no. Oh god.. I’m so done for..
Walking up to the counter, Ranmaru spotted the black haired girl from yesterday. “Ah.. Excuse me? Is.. um.. S..sara here.. today?” The girl clearly recognized him as she started to grin. “Oh yea? Sara’s in the back right now, I can go get her if you’d like!” Ranmaru nods, a bit too embarrassed to actually speak.. And with that, the girl faced the back, cupping her hands together in order to project her voice. “SARRAA… YOU HAVE A VISITORRR~” She sang out amused, Ranmaru slightly wincing from how loud she was.
The orange haired girl- er-- Sara opened the door. “Huh..? I wasn’t expecting anyone tod- Oh..!” Her eyes lit up with recognition. “It’s you!” Ranmaru softly smiled at the sight of her. “Haha.. It’s me- I.. um.. I mean, uh.. Yeah, I came back..” ...Shit. That was.. So uncool of me.. He mentally facepalmed, feeling embarrassed by the consequences of his own actions. Ranmaru heard a light giggle come from Sara… shit, that was cute… Ah.. Er… He really needs to stop that..
“Alright, what can I get you?” Quickly returning to her customer service persona, making Ranmaru chuckle a bit himself. “I err.. I’m actually not a big.. Coffee person.. So what would you recommend?” He asked, causing Sara to smile confused, probably due to the fact he’s ordering from a place that mainly serves coffee. “Hmm.. Well, there’s always hot chocolate..” She paused for a moment, thinking about what they had.. “Or if you’re willing to try some coffee.. Maybe something festive like our gingerbread latte!” Ranmaru pondered for a moment, considering if he even wanted to try something with coffee.. “It has less of a coffee taste so it won’t be too strong.” Sara adds on, making it seem a bit more appealing to him.
Ranmaru contemplated it. On one hand, he wasn’t too sure due to the coffee part but.. On the other hand, he really wanted to try it since she was the one who suggested it. “Erm.. I.. Uh.. Yeah, that sounds good.. The latte, I mean..” He fumbled once again. God.. Why can’t he just speak normally to her.. He’s not usually like this.. And.. He’s only known the girl for a day.. “Alright!” Sara starts, “Now, can I get a name for this order?~” she finishes with a wink. “R- yeah! U-uhm, Ranmaru. Yeah..” god how can she be so smooth and I’m here stuttering like an idiot.
“Sounds good, I’ll get it right out.. Ranmaru~” She said in a teasing manner. Ranmaru could feel his face burn up from the encounter, raising a hand up to hide his flustered face. He subtly nods before stiffly walking over to wait near the pick up counter. He felt like she was going to be the death of him.. After a few minutes, Ranmaru had managed to calm down before hearing his name called out again. And… shit. His face is red again, isn’t it?
Ranmaru looks over to see Sara with two drinks, one in each hand. He watches as she calls back declaring she’s going on break before stepping around the counter and walking up to him. “Okayy where do you want to sit?” she softly smiles while handing him his latte. Taking the drink into his hands as he stared slightly surprised at her. “I- Wait, are you.. Joining me?” He asked, almost not believing her at first. Why would she want to join him? “Yeah, I have to see if you like my suggestion.”
Staring at her for a little longer in awe.. He quickly shakes his head to focus back at the question she had asked earlier. “Okay..!” He said, a little too eagerly, causing Sara to lift up her hand in order to hold back a small endearing laugh. A smile was quick to form on Ranmaru’s face when he heard the muffled laugh. Glancing around the cafe, he notices the table he was at yesterday with Anzu was free. It wasn’t a bad spot so he decided to lead them there, checking behind him a few times to make sure she was still following.
Sliding into his seat, Ranmaru carefully lifts up the drink to his mouth, a little worried he wouldn’t like it. Sara sat across from him, placing the drink she had onto the table as she carefully watched as Ranmaru took a sip of the latte. It wasn’t a very.. Big sip considering he didn’t want to risk spitting it out and embarrassing himself.. And he had a good reason to. “Eeugh…!” His expression turned into one of disgust, it wasn’t good.. At all.. At least it’s free..?
Not being able to hold it back, Sara cackles at the sight. Despite the bitter taste in his mouth, he can’t help but think that her laugh was sweet enough to wash it away. She carefully slid over the drink she had, causing him to snap out of his thoughts and give a confused glance in return. After calming down from her cackle, she speaks up. “I had a feeling so I made a hot chocolate in advance.” she explained. “Don’t worry too much about the latte, I’ll drink it.”
Ranmaru stared at her, he couldn’t help but look at her in awe once more.. The fact that she even considered he might not like it and made another drink for him as a backup… He couldn’t help but feel.. Happy.