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Kageyama wasn’t a morning person.
He hated waking up early, hated talking to people before he was fully awake, hated the way the sun hit his eyes when it was at That Angle™. But it was the only shift at the café near his university that didn’t conflict with his schedule, so there he was. Faking a smile and asking:
“What can I get for you?”
A short, redheaded guy around his age bounced on his toes to see the menu. He moved his lips while he read the drink names, and Kageyama couldn’t help but smile a little. Cute. If there were always cute redheads in the café this early in the morning, maybe he would hate the morning a little less.
The guy seemed to decide and turned his focus back to Kageyama, flashing a wide grin. “I’ll take a –” He faltered. “Uh…”
Kageyama frowned in confusion. “Are you alright?”
“Yes! Yeah! Yep! Never better!” His voice was kind of squeaky, and he definitely seemed nervous. Kageyama hoped that he hadn’t accidentally given him what Tanaka and Noya had so affectionately deemed his “serial killer stare” (whatever that means).
“So…what can I get you?” he prompted.
He was expecting to ring up something like a hot chocolate, or maybe one of their drinks that were more milk and sugar than coffee. He really liked the drinks with a lot of milk, personally (Noya called him Milk Boy for it; he actually kind of liked it).
The guy cleared his throat. “I will take –” It was like he was trying to make his voice lower. “–a medium black coffee.”
Kageyama blinked. He did not see that one coming. “Alright. Will that be all?”
“Yes, please.”
“Alright.” He informed him of the total, then handed him a paper cup. “The brews are over there – there’s lots of flavors if you’re interested, but there’s also just plain.”
“Ah, yes, thank you!” The guy gave another blinding grin, then bounced over to the coffee pots.
Since it wasn’t busy and no one else was ordering, Kageyama leaned on the counter, watching curiously as the guy filled his cup with the Vienna Dark Roast. He chuckled. That was the last time he assumed what a customer would be getting based on their appearances.
Kageyama spent the next fifteen minutes doing basic tasks – making sure the coffee pots were warm, cleaning down the counters, even if they weren’t dirty yet, the usual. Having nothing more to do, he let his eyes drift to cute customer and his dark coffee.
He was sitting in a seat by the window, fidgeting as he tried to make it through what looked like a textbook. Every couple of minutes, he’d sip his coffee and then pull a face. He would scrunch up his nose, glare at the coffee like it had just insulted his mother, and then set it down. It took everything in Kageyama not to laugh.
This definitely was waking him up better than any caffeine.
“Oh, shoot.”
He looked up to see the redhead bolting up from his seat, grabbing his things, and racing out the door. Late for class, probably. In his rush, he’d left the coffee cup on the table.
Kageyama sighed and went to throw it away. When he picked it up, though, he realized it was still mostly full. He shook his head and laughed. Clearly the red-haired guy didn’t like his coffee like this. It made Kageyama wonder why he’d ordered it.
The next couple of days went over more or less the same, and it was starting to kill Kageyama with curiosity. Obviously the guy had a class early in the morning, due to his tendency to rush out and leave his drink (always mostly full).
He learned that the guy’s name was Hinata, and that he was majoring in sports education. Kageyama also learned that he was a fan of manga and loved volleyball above all other sports. But he did not learn a thing about the coffee situation.
Did he get the dark roast because it was strongest, and he thought that would wake him up for his classes the most? Not exactly efficient when he left most of it behind, though…
On the fourth day, Kageyama got his answers.
“Hello, Kageyama-kun! The usual, please~?” He beamed at him.
“Of course, Hinata-kun.” Kageyama handed him the cup.
He leaned on the counter, watching once more as Hinata bounced to the coffee pots and once again chose the Vienna Dark Roast. He bit the inside of his lip to keep from smiling. He didn’t want Hinata to find him creepy, after all. Hinata noticed it anyways.
“Heya, Coffeeyama-kun?”
He snorted at the bad nickname. “Yes?”
“Hmm…what can you tell me about the Vienna Roast?”
Honestly, nothing. Kageyama didn’t really know a damn thing about coffee or roasts or blends – he was just there to make some extra money while he stumbled through college and tried to decide on a major. But the way that Hinata was looking up at him through his eyelashes…
Yeah, he was just going to make something up.
He cleared his throat. “Ah, well, um, you see…” He walked around the counter to stand beside Hinata. “It’s – um – it’s roasted in – well – Vienna – and it’s dark because – uh – they – I think they roast it – um – longer?”
Hinata bit back a giggle, but some of it slipped through. “Uh-huh, I see. You’re very knowledgeable, Kageyama-kun. Can you…tell me about the other blends?”
Kageyama wrung his hands and bit his lower lip. Surely Hinata knew that he was just winging it. But then, he seemed so amused, that Kageyama wondered if he actually cared about the blends at all.
“Well…the American Roast is from America.”
“You’re kidding,” Hinata teased. “Obviousyama.”
Kageyama laughed. “Shut up, I’m getting to it. It’s not as dark a roast as the Vienna one, so I think they don’t roast it as long?”
“So, the longer you roast a coffee, the darker it is?”
“M-maybe?” Wait, he was supposed to pretend like he knew that. “Yes! Yes.”
Hinata giggled, not holding it back this time. “What about French Roast? I hear my parents talk about it a lot.”
“Well, you’ll never believe this, but it’s roasted in France.” A smile tugged at his lips when Hinata let out a full laugh. “And…it’s darker than the Vienna Roast. Roasted longer. But like, it’s not that special, to be honest. It just thinks it’s special because it’s French.”
“Sounds xenophobic to me, Coffeeyama-kun,” Hinata teased.
“No, really!” he insisted. “It walks in here like it can be any roast it wants to be, even though we all know it’s naturally a dark roast. But you get light and medium roast French Vanilla – what’s that about?”
Hinata was clutching the counter to support himself as he continued to laugh. Kageyama was certain that was a sound that made flowers grow.
When the laughter diminished to tiny giggles, Hinata looked Kageyama directly in the eyes. “Kageyama-kun, I hate coffee.” He started to shake with laughter again.
“I’ve kind of noticed,” he admitted, starting to laugh himself. “Why do you always grab a dark roast, you weirdo?”
“I was just going to order a hot chocolate with extra whip and sprinkles when I came in here that first time,” Hinata admitted, turning pink and looking away. “I didn’t look at you until I was about to order, and… I didn’t expect to have a beautiful blue-eyed barista.”
Kageyama’s face flushed. “O-oh.”
“Sorry! Was that too forward?”
He shook his head. “Not at all, Hinata-kun.”
“It’s just…I don’t have any classes on Saturdays.” He looked back at Kageyama, a little shy. “I was wondering if you’d like to go out for lunch or something – whenever your shift ends?”
Kageyama nodded. “I’d really like that.”
“To be clear, I meant – uh – I meant as a date?”
“I gathered,” he assured Hinata. “I would really like that.”
Hinata smiled that blinding grin once more. “Great! Oh, that’s really great!”
“In the meantime,” Kageyama said, “should I get you a hot chocolate, extra whip, sprinkles?”
“You read my mind, Psychicyama-kun.”