Work Text:
Sunday. One of the few days the students had off, so Shiro had decided to at least get out of his dorm and have some fun. After all, he finished all of his coursework. He didn't have any other schoolwork left, so he had some free time to himself. So, now he was out in Shinjuku, walking the streets. He wore a simple outfit of a polo shirt and jeans, casual but still carrying an air of sophistication. Perfect for Shiro. He made his way through the sunday crowds, not having a particular destination in mind.
He was originally going to try to meet with the rest of the guild, but they all seemed to be busy. Ryota had plans with Choji, Kengo was off training, and Masato was surprisingly absent. He didn't know where their leader was, actually. But he figured it had to be important. It was a shame, though. He had hoped to spend some time with him. Just thinking about him, he could feel his heart flutter a bit and skip a beat. He stopped, shaking his head in an attempt to get his mind off of him. There was no use pining over him if he was busy and would not be able to spend time with him, he thought. Beside, he hadn't actually said anything about his feelings for him yet. He couldn't exactly expect him to save time for him because of that. He tried to be a practical man, at least.
Looking around him, the crowd seemed to be getting a bit worse. This was the day most people had free time, so the downtown area was always busier on sundays. He stepped off to the side on the sidewalk, avoiding the bulk of the crowd. He should probably find somewhere to duck into, he thought. Examining his surroundings, he wondered what sort of businesses were around. He was a bit famished, he could go for something to eat or drink. It was then that he spotted a cafe a little down the way from where he was standing. He canted his head, examining the name of it.
“Hmm... that sounds familiar, somehow...”
Had Ryota mentioned it to him before? He was usually the one to tell him about good restaurants around Tokyo. Either way, that seemed like a good bet. Continuing down the street, he would stop in front of the bakery and cafe. The facade was fairly modern, yet it had those little accentuating details that gave it a bit of an old European feel. It was quite charming, Shiro thought. He stepped inside, more than happy to get something to drink and avoid the crowd. The more he thought about it, the more a nice cup of coffee actually sounded pretty nice to him.
Stepping into the cafe, the inside was quite similar to how the facade looked. Fairly modern, but integrated with certain rustic features that gave it a rustic, somewhat European vibe to it. Warm dark tones on the furniture made the whole place feel fairly cozy. Small hanging potted plants added further décor, as well as little splashes of color with small colorful flowers. The dark wood tones and the plants certainly added a natural feel to the atmosphere, keeping it from feeling to sterile. So far, it was making a nice impression, he thought. Looking around, he noticed there was quite a crowd in here as well. Not overwhelming, but certainly a busy day for the business, he assumed. Already stepping into the cafe, he had about four people in front of him waiting in line. Oh well, he thought. Sunday, after all. He sort of expected this to happen no matter where he went.
The line went at a decent pace, except for one indecisive customer in front of him. It gave him a moment to look around more and read the menu. It seemed that the cafe was also a bakery, as he finally noticed the glass covered shelves surrounding the register full of baked goods. Well then, Shiro thought, he might as well get something sweet to eat as well. It would be a waste to not sample their bakery's goods, he thought. Maybe he'd even bring something back to the dorm for Ryota, Kengo, and Masato to try. He remembered Masato having a bit of a sweet tooth. The selection seemed to be quite nice, as well. Cakes, pastries, and sweets of many different sorts were proudly and tastefully displayed by the counter to entice customers to buy. It was certainly working on him, at least. He was so busy looking he almost did not realize he was next in line. It was the sound of a familiar voice that brought him out of his thoughts.
“Oh! Shiro! I didn't expect to see you here!”
Shiro was initially confused. The cashier sounded familiar. Turning to look at the cashier, he almost went completely pale as he noticed who was behind the counter. It was Masato. Wait, is that where he recalled the name of the cafe? Did Masato mention before that he worked here and he simply forgot? A mixture of embarrassment, shock, and anxiousness started to flood him. He didn't have any other response formulated for Masato, and just said the first thing on his mind.
“M-Masato? I-I didn't know you worked here!”
Shiro would normally wish to be much more tactful than that. However, the situation caught him off guard. He had stepped into a cafe unprepared to see that his crush was operating the cash register. Masato, for his part, simply chuckled in response. He didn't seem to be that put off by the fact that Shiro forgot such information. He nodded happily, his trademark warm and gentle smile not leaving his face as he responded to Shiro.
“Yeah, I have for a little while. Surtr offered me the position, since I could use money while I was here in Tokyo. It's been nice, I cashier and even help bake sometimes. I'm surprised to see you in here, though I'm happy to see you. Was there anything that sounded good to you?”
Masato's gentle and calm nature always got to Shiro. His face turned absolutely red as he spoke to him. His heart fluttered when he spoke. He truly wasn't prepared for this. Shiro rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he tried to recall the order he had decided and now promptly forgot. What was it again? He racked his brain, not wanting to hold up anyone that might be behind him. Though as far as he could tell right now, the rest of the world didn't exist aside from himself and Masato. That was the effect he had on Shiro.
“Uh... O-oh yes! I wanted to try the cafe latte. That sounded quite good...”
Shiro sighed in relief as he finally recalled his order. Masato happily nodded, taking the order down. Even when Masato wasn't speaking to him, Shiro's eyes couldn't leave him. He watched every little movement as he tapped on a touch screen. The boy had it bad for Masato. His pining was soon interrupted by Masato speaking again.
“Was there anything you'd like to eat, too? Something sweet, perhaps?”
Oh, that was right, Shiro thought. He wanted to try one of the sweets they had here. But now he didn't know what he wanted. He was so busy before that he didn't think of what he wanted to eat. Looking back over his options in the display didn't help either. There was so much to choose from, and Shiro was not a man to make any decision rashly or without thinking it through. Turning to Masato, he looked nervous once again.
“Y-Yes, though I am not certain which I want. What would you recommend?”
Upon being asked this, Masato had a look of contemplation on his face. Trying to think of what to tell Shiro, he paused for a moment. That bought Shiro a moment longer. What's more, it had the initially unintended benefit of giving Shiro some insight into what Masato might like. He'd be sure to take note for the future, so he could give him a gift later. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration went across Masato's face. Looks like he thought of something.
“Oh! If I were to recommend anything, it'd definitely be the chocolate raspberry roll cake. It's kind of a special today, and I even made it myself! It's very tasty, we used fresh raspberries too.”
That did sound good to Shiro. However, the part that convinced him was that Masato made it himself. He had never gotten to try anything he had cooked or baked before. He couldn't pass this opportunity up. He blushed deeply, but tried to play it off cool by adjusting his glasses.
“Y-You made it? Well then, I will definitely have to try a slice.”
Masato smiled happily, adding it to his order. Once his total was rung up, Shiro gingerly handed over payment. He was a bit sad that their interaction was over now, however. Taking his reciept, he moved to sit down at a nearby table. He sat in his seat with a bit of a sigh, trying to decompress from the previous interaction. It always took some mental preparation, being around Masato like that. But now he should just sit down and relax with some coffee, he thought. He slung the bag off of his shoulder and hung it from the back of his chair.
The next few minutes were spent in relative quiet. Waiting for his order to be served to him, Shiro contented himself with checking the news on his phone. He typically wasn't one to have his face buried in his phone, but in moments like this he liked to stay updated. He rested his cheek in his other hand as he scrolled through the news. It was then, that he noticed, that his cheek felt rough. Blinking, he sat up a bit and rubbed his cheek a bit with the palm of his hand. Damn it, he thought. He knew he had forgot something this morning. It seems he forgot to shave this morning, and now had a five o'clock shadow of stubble. How could he have not realized this, he thought? He groaned a bit. When he got home he'd have to remember to shave, he thought. Hopefully Masato didn't notice.
“Here you are, Shiro.”
Shiro was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the once again familiar voice of Masato speaking to him. He looked up to see him placing down the coffee and the roll cake on his table. The coffee was very visually appealing, with a nice head of foam on top. The roll cake looked absolutely delicious, with pink cream in the middle and a raspberry sitting on top of a thin layer of chocolate frosting on top of the slice. All very artfully done, Shiro thought. He was amazed that Masato made this.
“You made this...? I didn't know you had such a talent for baking.”
Shiro couldn't help but remark as he looked at the cake. Masato's cheeks became a bit red at this, looking somewhat embarrassed by the remark. But the smile on his face showed that he appreciated the comment. Masato canted his head as he lingered by Shiro's table, looking at him. He appeared to be analysing something about his appearance closely. This caused Shiro to do a bit of a double take, wondering what he was doing. Was there something on him, he wondered. But then, after a somewhat pregnant pause, he spoke up.
“I was going to ask earlier, it was just too busy at the register, but... have you not shaved today, Shiro?”
This caused Shiro's cheeks to become flushed as well. Guess his hope that he didn't notice wasn't true. Now Shiro was panicking a bit. What if Masato didn't like guys with stubble, he thought? What if he assumed that he was lazy when out of school? His typical over-analysis of situations began to go crazy now. It was especially worse with Masato involved. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck in a sort of defeated manner. He guessed he should just explain that he forgot and was going to shave later. Maybe it would resolve either of those perceived issues.
“Uh... yes, I simply forgot this morning. I was planning on-”
He was suddenly cut off as he felt something touch his cheek. It was Masato, whose hand was now gently resting there. A finger experimentally moved, beginning to rub his stubble. This caused the heat to rise in his cheek even more. This was too out of left field for him to comprehend. If his brain were a computer, it would be blue-screening at the moment. But for Masato's part, he simply smiled warmly. It seemed he was enjoying it quite a bit.
“It looks good on you. It makes you look mature and rugged.”
Shiro's heart skipped a beat. He liked it? He never would have thought this would be a trait he would like. Suddenly, maybe shaving wasn't such a good idea after all. It took a good few moments for Shiro to come back to reality and formulate some verbal response to this. He coughed into his fist to regain his composure. With his best brave expression, he looked up to Masato, whose hand still rested on his cheek. He didn't even notice that some other cafe patrons were looking at their exchange and making quiet comments about how 'cute of a couple' they were.
“W-Well then, perhaps I will have to keep it around, then. If you like it.”
This caused Masato's eyes to practically light up. He retracted his hand from Shiro's cheek, which he was sad to have go. Masato subtly held the server's tray a bit tighter now, his smile positively beaming at Shiro. He was glad he reacted so well to the compliment. Shiro wasn't always great about that, he remembered.
“Well... I have to get back to work. But, I was thinking... my shift ends in only a couple hours. And I was wondering, if you didn't have any plans, maybe we could go to that aquarium in Shinagawa? Since the train station isn't far from here. I've been wanting to go for awhile, and I thought you'd appreciate it too.”
Was this a dream? Shiro almost felt he had to pinch himself to check. He wasn't certain if Masato was asking him on a date, but nontheless it was more time to spend with him, one on one. He didn't have anything planned so he certainly had to jump at the chance. He nodded reaffirmingly at him, a small smile forming on the edges of his mouth. There was nothing he'd rather do with his day, he thought.
“I'd love to. I'll meet you back here when your shift is over, then?”
Masato nodded excitedly and made his way back to the register, leaving Shiro to his order. Now feeling much more confident in himself, he reached for his cafe latte. Even if it was not a date, he thought, maybe it could be the precursor to such. He would do his best to make Masato happy either way. As he went to take a sip of his drink, he finally noticed there was something drawn in the foam. A simple heart. It may not have been complicated, but it showed that there definitely was care put into it. Such a little touch, but an important one, Shiro thought. Setting down the cup, he retrieved his phone and began to search on the internet.
The inquiry read: 'How to maintain facial hair'.