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“Isn’t that your fourth cup of coffee?” Kendou asked, glancing at the cup in Monoma’s hand.
“Fifth,” he corrected, “and a half. I emptied the rest of the pot earlier.”
Kendou stopped, staring at Monoma in disbelief. “Are you okay?”
“Oh definitely,” he said with the usual dry laugh, the one he mustered when he was definitely not okay. “I’m fine! Perfectly fine. Perfectly.” The way he jittered suggested otherwise.
“If you keep drinking so much caffeine you’ll crash or your heart will stop.”
“That’s the plan,” Monoma said with a shrug. Kendou shook her head.
“What am I going to do with you, Monoma?”
“Well you could always–”
Monoma turned the corner, perhaps a bit too hard. He didn’t have the chance to see who was around it, not until they were slamming into one another. Coffee splattered, spilled, and stained. It burned, and Monoma immediately jumped back.
“You–” he blurted out, even though it was half his fault.
“Me?”
Monoma looked up to see who he’d had the pleasure of spilling coffee on but his eyes meet someone unexpected. He was tall, for one, with a gaze too tired and hair too wild. Monoma swore he recognized him from somewhere, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
The sensation of burning coffee can really skew one’s ability to think.
“Oh gosh I’m so sorry!” Kendou said, apologizing on Monoma’s behalf (lord knows he wouldn’t do it on his own). “Wait here, I’ll go get some paper towels!” The coffee’s burn had subsided but the fronts of their uniforms were still stained, and a small pool of caffeine lie at their feet. At the very least there wasn’t a crowd to point and jeer at their mess but it was ought to be cleaned up anyway. Kendou ran off before either could protest, leaving them there in their stunned shock and coffee stains.
“Have we met?” Monoma blurted out.
“We just did,” the man remarked.
“No I mean before now. You look familiar.”
The man shrugged, already in the process of removing his uniform jacket and undoing his tie. His clothes, even the whites of his collar, were now stained a soggy brown and wearing that mess was awfully uncomfortable. Monoma might have done the same if he wasn’t still holding half a cup of coffee. That, plus the fact that this guy’s face was bugging him, made it even more difficult to do much else other than wait for Kendou and her paper towels.
“Now that you mention it,” the man began after a moment, eyes tied to his jacket as he examined the stain. “You look familiar.”
“I’m telling you we’ve met, or at least we’ve seen each other somewhere.”
The man nodded as he slung his jacket over his shoulder. “Sports festival.”
At that moment it clicked, and Monoma’s lips fell into a smile. “Oh. Right. You’re the guy with the uh–” he feigned a moment of thought “–mind control, was it? Quite the power you have. If you’d used it right you could have beat Class A senseless.”
“Used it right?” The man frowned. “You think you could do it better?”
“Trust me, it’s what I do best.”
Before the conversation could continue, for better or worse, Kendou returned with a handful of paper towels. “I’m sorry again,” she said as she gave some to the man and some to Monoma, helping them pat their clothes dry before she moved to clean up the puddle on the floor.
“It’s fine,” the man assured, cleaning himself up before moving to help her.
Monoma, feeling like the dickbag of the bunch, swiftly moved in to help too.
After they’d cleaned up the puddle and trashed the paper towels there was a moment of respite. “If you need help getting out that stain I’d be happy to help,” Kendou told the man. “I’m no professional but I’ll do my best.”
“It’s no problem,” the man said with a wave of the hand. “I’ll be fine. Thank you.”
“If you say so. Oh, and I’m Kendou Itsuka, I’m sorry this is how we met.”
“Shinsou Hitoshi. I tend to meet people in weird ways.”
Kendou laughed. “Well, that’s good to know. If you don’t mind I think we’ll be going, my friend and I have some things to do.” Like a coffee intervention. “Take care!”
“You too,” Shinsou said. He watched Kendou and Monoma walk off, Monoma hardly sparing him a second glance. Shinsou watched on until they disappeared around the corner. Then, with a shake of a head and a smile, he turned to leave.
“He never even gave me his name.”