Work Text:
Makoto is halfway through a pretty dull shift at his local coffee shop (he’s only here to help pay for college) when someone gets his attention. A guy walks into the shop, and he is so totally handsome that Makoto’s jaw actually drops, making him look like an idiot. The guy has jet black hair and intense eyes, and appears to be wearing knee-length swimming trunks instead of pants like a normal person. He wanders around the shop with his hands in the pockets of his jacket, before heading towards the counter. And given that the shop is pretty empty and Makoto is the only one at the counter, he ends up with the cute guy staring right at him.
“Hello,” Makoto says, trying to act normal and not totally flustered. “What can I get you today?”
“A regular latte with a caramel shot, please,” the guy says.
“Right, I can do that,” Makoto says, smiling. He picks up a regular sized paper cup and starts the laborious process of making a latte. As the machine whirrs and clunks, he turns back to the guy with a marker pen in his hand and says, “What’s your name?”
“Haru,” the guy says.
“Uh-huh,” he mumbles, scribbling the name on the cup. As he waits for the coffee to be made, Makoto says, “So, are you wearing swimming trunks?”
“Yeah, I am. I’m on my way to the swimming pool and I always change at home. I love to have a coffee before my swim so I’ve got enough energy. And my usual coffee place is shut so I thought I’d try in here…” Haru trails off, and his jacket moves like he is twisting his fingers together inside his pockets. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to ramble.”
“No, it’s fine,” Makoto says. The coffee has now finished, and he adds a caramel shot before handing it to Haru. “Here you are. That’ll be four hundred Yen.”
“Pretty good value,” Haru says, rummaging through his pockets and handing him a scrunched up bundle of Yen. “I might come here next time. well, see you around.”
Taking his coffee, Haru gives him the briefest smile before leaving the shop. And Makoto stares after him, hoping he isn’t falling in love with a total stranger.
---
Haru is true to his word, though, and starts to pop into the coffee shop every day. He only works four days a week, but his co-workers say that Haru appears at 8:20am every single morning to get his regular latte with a caramel shot. He must have switched over and made this place his regular coffee shop. Not that Makoto is complaining.
In fact, he’s getting to rather enjoy his little conversations with Haru. He learns that they are the same age, that Haru deliberately moved to this area because the closest university has an amazing swimming team, and that swimming is his favourite thing ever.
He wouldn’t say he and Haru are friends, but he is gradually learning a lot about the other guy. But he is certain of one thing: he has a crush on Haru and it won’t go away.
---
One day in April, Haru walks into the store with a dolphin shaped necklace around his neck and a bright red T-shirt on. And when Makoto inquires (because Haru usually wears the same black shirt and no jewellery), Haru says, “It’s autism acceptance month.”
“Autism?” Makoto says. “Are… are you autistic? Or… sorry, that’s an invasive question. You can just ignore me.”
“No, it’s fine,” Haru says, smiling. “Yeah, I’m autistic. In America specifically but also all over the world, people wear blue in April to raise awareness for autism, but their activism is harmful and they talk over us. So autistic people and our allies wear red this month to spread autism acceptance instead. Does… does that make sense?”
Makoto nods, understanding Haru’s tendency to ramble and how he is always fidgeting with his hands, and smiles. “Yeah, it makes sense.”
The day, Makoto comes to work with a red shirt on. When Haru sees, his face lights up into the most beautiful smile and Makoto blushes as red as his shirt.
---
It is June, a month in which many countries celebrate Pride Month to support LGBT+ people. This isn’t as common in Japan as in the US, for example, but many people still take part. Including the coffee shop in which Makoto works. The normally white coffee cups are now patterned with the gay pride flag, and there are little paper pride flags (so far, Makoto has seen the following flags: gay, bisexual, transgender, pansexual and nonbinary) dotted all over the shop which the customers are encouraged to take. And Makoto comes into work with a small bi button badge pinned to his shirt, and it fills him with pride to be celebrating his sexuality like this.
As has become a habit for them both, Haru walks into the shop at 8:20am. As he wanders over to the counter, he looks at the little flags and tentatively picks up a nonbinary flag.
“Good morning, Haru!” Makoto says. “Would you like your usual?”
Haru nods. “Yes… Yes please. Um… can I take this flag?”
“Yes, of course. I’ve already got about fifty of them at home,” he says, taking a bi flag out of his pocket. And as he looks at the nonbinary flag in Haru’s hand, something occurs to him like a slap to the face. “Oh, crap, are you nonbinary? Have I been misgendering you all this time?”
Haru blushes, but nods. “Yes, I’m nonbinary. I don’t like being called ‘sir’ or a guy or any male terms, but I use he/him pronouns.”
Relieved that he hasn’t been using the wrong pronouns (but annoyed he has kept thinking about Haru as ‘that hot guy’ rather than ‘that hot person’), Makoto sighs and smiles awkwardly. “That’s good.”
“I’m guessing you’re bisexual, then?” Haru says.
Makoto nods his head too hard. “Yeah, yeah, I’m bi. Happy Pride Month!”
“Um, Makoto?” Haru says, clearly hesitant. “I don’t want to seem annoying for asking this while you’re at work, but… but would you like to go out for a drink this evening?”
Makoto stares at him. “Like a date?”
Blushing even redder, Haru nods. “If you’d like it to be.”
“I’d love it to be,” he says.
Today has been amazing. He’s been open about his sexuality all day, and now he’s just been asked out by the person he has had a crush on for months. Can this day get even better?
Yes, he discovers that evening, when he and Haru share a tentative first kiss.