Work Text:
Mai stared at the ceiling with a blank expression.
Past four o’clock in the morning, the clock continued to tick mercilessly. It had been a week now. Sleepless nights, was all she endured after her mind wouldn’t let her forget the taste of that night.
She licked her lips, hoping that her thoughts would falter and eventually cease after some time had passed. It was futile, she knew as she let out a long-drawn sigh of agony to herself before flipping to the other side of her bed.
She needed to have a taste of it again.
-
Mai roamed the streets of Osaka as she looked at a brochure, hoping that it would give her some leads to her object of desire. It really was amusing, the way she had thrown in the towel to her misery and booked a day trip to Osaka at once.
She was a normal, mundane office worker who happened to get a third eye awakening from a single bite of a delicious cheesecake that her co-worker brought from Osaka. Her cravings for the cake was immeasurable–rather than listen to her superiors talk to her, she was already daydreaming about the enticing creamy texture of the dessert, complete with whipped cream, topped by strawberries.
During the day, she’d stroll along the tourist destinations in hopes that her ideal cheesecake would magically appear at some point. She was already over with the tour’s narrating the history of Osaka’s flourishing time periods, moving onto advertising local goods and sweets. Mai could finally let out a sigh of relief as everyone around her was clamoring to get off the tour bus and begin shopping for souvenirs.
Her eyes shot open as her tourist guide mentioned a famous cheesecake shop around the corner, without another word–she was gone in the blink of an eye.
Her eyes narrowed as soon as the taste of the cheesecake had hit her at once. It was not the one she was looking for. She smiled at the shop owner with a small bow as she decided to buy a slice after tasting a sample, so that she wouldn’t make him feel sad that his cheesecakes wasn’t the one she was looking for.
With her purse swinging on one side of her shoulder and a small pastry box in her hand on the other side, she walked aimlessly on the streets. Surely, the first cheesecake shop that she’d try, wouldn’t be the one at once. She sighed to herself as she realized that the tour bus was gone.
They left her behind without a word. Mai was stupefied. Her mind began to panic as she took a glimpse at the wristwatch at her hand–it was beginning to get darker. She needed to find a place to stay over for the night. Just as she began to take another step forward, the sound of raindrops trickling immediately drowned out the noisy tourist streets. Her eyes scanned around for a place that she could take shelter–perhaps under the nearby bus stop would be best.
Just as she rushed into the bus stop for cover, her eyes met with the sight of a girl slightly shorter than her who seemed to be wearing clothes that were borderline revealing. She seemed to be younger than her, tanned and her hair which was styled fashionably to a voluminous degree–Mai was caught off guard.
She was probably a party girl. Mai wanted to let out a snort as the girl dropped her bag and reached down to pick it up–her skirt edging too closely to reveal her underwear. It didn’t help that her cleavage was right in front of her to see all–thankfully Mai averted her eyes after seeing the girl’s tank top rise past her abdomen.
The girl let out a small smile as she had stood back up and made eye contact with her. Unable to say a word, Mai slipped out an awkward cough which in turn caused the girl to raise an eyebrow at her.
“Are you okay?”
The girl finally broke out the silence as Mai cursed herself–she was stuck under the rain that didn’t seem like it would stop anytime soon, with nowhere to go with a party girl that seemed to take an interest in her.
“Y-Yes,” Mai let out a squeak as the girl suddenly chuckled at her. Somehow, she didn’t expect the girl’s mannerisms to turn out differently than she imagined. Maybe she was too quick to jump the gun, making her prejudice take over her as she knew that the girl was probably just a normal girl wanting to fit in.
“Sorry.”
“Hmm?” The girl tilted her head as she looked at Mai–her eyes trailing down to see that the woman was holding a pastry box.
“Ah. I like their cheesecakes,” she pointed out, “They’re delicious.” The girl smiled as Mai finally heaved a small sigh to herself at once, trying to ease her hidden nervousness next to her.
“–yes, they are.” Mai said almost at once, clenching her jaw tightly. It was suffocating her, when the girl suddenly added, “You’re not from here, are you?”
The girl was sharper than Mai had thought, before letting out a small shake of her head.
“No. I’m touring around for the day,” Mai said, her eyes roaming around to see if the charter bus would come around soon and take her away from her misery.
“I see. You look a little tired,” the girl replied, which let Mai give her a nod in agreement as she cleared her throat.
“Well, the tour bus that I arrived here in just left without letting me know and I’m supposed to get back to work by tomorrow before my boss catches notice that I’m not there. And now I’m stuck here until the rain subsides, with no place to stay over for the night.” Mai rambled on before the girl let out a shake of her head.
How could she let a stranger know about her temporary worries, Mai frustratingly scolded herself for unloading her stupidity on a girl that seemed younger than her.
“Oh. Well, why don’t you stay over at my place then?” The girl suggested. Mai’s eyes widened as she couldn’t make herself to do something that was imposing on someone else’s time and property without warning.
Besides, she didn’t know the party girl that well enough to suddenly crash her place without another word.
“Oh–um. Thanks. But I’ll wait here till the next bus comes instead.” Mai stammered out, trying to rationalize herself as the girl slowly shook her head.
“The bus won’t come around now that it’s past seven. The next bus will come tomorrow in the morning.”
The girl stepped closer to Mai.
“I don’t think–”
Before the older woman could defend herself that it was reasonable for her to stay at a bus stop for the night until the next morning, the girl had wrapped her hand around her wrist and pulled her alongside. She ignored the rain that was trickling down on her as the girl covered Mai from the rain using her bag over her head.
“I’m sorry in advance if you end up soaking wet somehow,” the girl uttered out as they were crossing the streets while the heavy rain was pouring over them.
Stunned by the sudden bold action taken by the younger girl, Mai could feel her heels and stockings starting to soak, though she couldn’t really careless as all she wanted to do right now, was to not fall over and quickly get to wherever the girl was trying to bring her to.
Not to mention, she was rather concerned for the younger girl next to her that was drenched from head to toe, who was covering her from the rain rather than herself. Instead of letting the girl hold onto her by the wrist, Mai felt comfortable enough to hold her hand tightly so that the girl wouldn’t have to struggle with dragging her along.
After what seemed like ages of blindly stumbling around and getting splashed by incoming cars that were turning at the corner, the girl had finally came to a stop at the door.
Mai ended up getting soaked like the latter, but she had to give the girl some credit at least for trying to cover her from the heavy rain. The girl had let go of Mai’s hand as she was struggling to fish for her door keys from her bag before finding them and jammed it into the keyhole.
Mai watched as the girl pushed her drenched hair to the side, revealing a wide smile behind the layers of makeup on her face. The rain may have ruined the girl’s fashionable appearance, but she was thankful as her image had drastically changed again–she appeared much more cuter in a way that Mai had to admit that her hand was itching to pat her on the head.
Mai watched as the girl gestured her to come inside, as she stepped in at once to take her shoes off. The girl followed along, before turning on the lights in the entrance and faced Mai with her hands reached out.
“I’ll take your bag from you–ah, I’m sorry about your cake as well.” The girl didn’t notice the proximity between her and Mai–it didn’t help that they were crammed in together at the door way.
As soon as Mai handed her bag to the girl, she could see that the girl’s place was small, there were some boxes and things that looked like they were barely taken out the day before, mostly refurbished and neutral colors. Her decor wasn’t anything flashy of the sort unlike what she was wearing and appeared at the bus stop.
“It’s okay. I didn’t really feel like eating it.” Mai truthfully said, suddenly remembering that she wouldn’t have ended up in this situation if she didn’t hold off her dream cheesecake cravings for the week and suck it up. Or at least check the weather and plan out her trip accordingly instead of doing it on a whim.
Mai shook her head to herself in shame as the girl was now wringing her hair with a towel before gesturing her to go into the bathroom first.
“Eh? You should go first–” Mai was shut down at once as the girl shook her head.
“I’m fine, the last thing you need is to come down with a fever at work tomorrow.” The girl was reasonably stubborn before Mai nodded obediently and took the spare clothes that she was given.
“Um. No…bra?” Mai awkwardly uttered as she noticed that she was given a shirt, shorts, and a pair of underwear. She could see that the girl’s face was turning beet red the moment she mentioned it.
I should suck it up.
Mai shut her mouth close almost at once as she knew that the girl probably didn’t have any bras of her size.
“Um..never mind,” Mai waved it off as the girl gave her another nod before she went into the bathroom for a quick shower. She quickly went to wash herself so that the younger girl could take a shower soon after, stepping out to see that the girl was sitting on the floor, using another towel to clean and dab off the excessive rain water on her purse.
“Thank you,” Mai uttered at once, as she had a towel slung over her shoulder before the girl turned her head to her with a smile and a shake of her head. “The bathroom’s free for you to use now.”
“No problem,” the girl suddenly stood up as she took her set of clothes with her, before pointing Mai to her bedroom, “If you’re planning to sleep early, feel free to go on ahead. Just so you know, I only have one bed.” The girl let out a cheeky grin, which caused Mai to roll her eyes at her sudden boldness despite her soaked state.
“Go ahead and make yourself at home, I have some food in the fridge if you’re hungry as well.”
Mai gave her a curt nod and went on ahead as soon as the girl took off, entering the girl’s bedroom. She flicked on the lights in surprise to see that it was a queen bed. She was expecting her bed to be a twin size at most, which they’d have to cram in together. She had to pinch herself for assuming that they’d be sharing the bed–it was best for her to sleep on the couch or something.
She noticed that the girl’s bedroom didn’t have much things as well–there was the basics of a shelf and work desk, a closet. There were some clothes lying around at the foot of the bed, some shoes hanging on a clothes rack by the laces.
She wondered if the girl had moved in not that long ago, and was living on her own.
“Sorry for the wait,” the girl suddenly appeared from behind her, surprising her again as she was done showering, her face appearing much more refreshed now that she was no longer in a pitiful state.
“Are you hungry?” She asks as Mai shakes her head, “Really? You’ve got to have some space for desserts at least. Why don’t you sit down on the bed? I’ll be right back,” the girl doesn’t wait for her to utter another word in response.
Mai reluctantly walks to the bed and sits down, her eyes wandering around to see that the girl was probably into drawing, there were some notebooks on the desk. It was quite amusing how she found herself sitting at someone’s bed, who was kind enough to offer her to sleep over and lend her clothes to wear, rather than let her sleep outside for the night.
“I’m back,” the girl declared as Mai squinted her eyes to see that she was holding a plate carrying a slice of cake.
At first glance it seemed like a normal chocolate cake, but it was different. Judging by the thin layer of crust on the bottom and baked custard on top, it was undoubtedly a cheesecake.
Mai’s eyes widened as it was definitely not the one that she had bought earlier. This one was a chocolate cheesecake–a new one for her. It may not be the one that she was craving for, but she was starving to eat something sweet after a long day of suffering.
The girl handed her a fork as she sat down next to her, “Go ahead and take a bite, let me know what you think!”
Mai arched her brow as she noticed that the girl was looking at her expectantly.
If it’s spiked with poison, it’s goodbye for her. She knew that she was overreacting but the girl was a little too open and kind for her own good. She needed to draw the line somewhere, it didn’t help that the girl suddenly edged closer to her face with little space for comfort.
Mai was at a loss for words as she averted her eyes from her, noticing that the girl was a tad too pretty for her eyes up close.
“Please? I promise it’ll be tasty. It’s not poisonous, I swear.” It was as if the girl could read her mind as she was reluctant to try it.
With caution, she carefully picked up the fork on the plate and carved out a piece for herself, before taking a bite in.
Her eyes widened as she couldn’t help but find that it was delicious–somehow it was just as good as the one that she ate at work. She didn’t expect to get a taste of her favorite cake in this situation, but she was grateful that things turned out in her favor somehow.
“This is really good! Where did you buy it?!” Mai exclaimed as she had to help herself to the cheesecake–she couldn’t stop herself from eating it now that the girl was smiling widely at her reaction. She found herself trying to savor the taste, enjoying every last bit of it.
“Really? I’m happy to hear that!” The girl clasped her hands together as she cheerily smiled at her, “It’s from the place I work at.”
Mai knew then that she had to come by there at least once for this cheesecake. She may not have found her dream cheesecake, but at least she was able to taste another one just as good–and know where to go this time around.
“Where is it?” She asked, before taking another mouthful of the cake. “I’d love to drop by there when I can.”
It did surprise the girl as she didn’t expect the older woman to enjoy the cheesecake that she had brought to her this much. She sat up and continued to watch as the woman was examining the dessert as she ate.
“It’s called Toumei na Iro. It’s not far from here. It looks like a big ivory building.”
Mai made sure to keep note of it, in case she would come across it at one point.
“I see.” She took another bite of the cake, finishing the last of it with a slight bitterness in her feeling that there wasn’t any more cheesecake for her to devour. At least she knew where to go for this chocolate cheesecake–there was surely more waiting for her. She pretended not to be obvious about her excitement, causing the girl to appear slightly let down by her neutral expression before she stood up.
“Well, now that you’re done eating, are you ready to sleep?” The girl smiled as she retrieved the empty plate and fork from Mai’s hands, “You do need to catch the first bus in the morning after all.” She pointed to the bathroom, “Make sure to brush your teeth! We can’t have you getting cavities,” she lightly teased the older woman just as she was about to get into the bed and make herself comfortable.
“O-Of course!” Mai nodded with a light shade of pink on her face as she would rather knock herself out on her bed rather than brush her teeth.
Somehow, the girl had a way with her words, though she didn’t hate it. She smiled as she noticed the new toothbrush and toothpaste set on the bathroom sink for her.
She definitely owes her one.
However, it’s just now that she doesn’t know the girl’s name. And neither does the girl know hers. She wonders if it’s okay to leave it as it is. Maybe the girl was just expecting her to stay over for the night only this once, and never see her again.
Just as she was done brushing her teeth, she notices the girl coming in as she exited and smiled.
Was it too late to ask her? Mai felt somewhat let down that she had missed her opportunity to properly introduce herself to her and vice versa. She watched as the girl was done with her nightly routine, joining her in the bed with a small smile.
“I’m going to close the lights, is that okay?” She asked, standing next to the lights.
Mai smiles back nonetheless, slightly bitter that the girl probably didn’t want much to do with her after this.
“Yeah.”
Her eyes slowly shut close as she heard the light switch close, and the girl’s footsteps approaching her. Mai could feel the bed dip, and a cold foot suddenly coming into contact with her shin.
She let out a yelp as the girl quickly apologized, “Sorry if I surprised you.” Mai could see that the girl was sleeping in a curled up position though it was dark.
A voice came from the girl as she found a comfortable position to sleep in.
“Goodnight,” she said.
Mai awkwardly replied, “Goodnight.”
The older woman laid there, finally closing her eyes as she decided to let herself sleep now that everything was slowly settling down. Maybe she’ll ask her tomorrow. Her mind continued to whirl around in hopes that the girl would at least be there when she woke up the next day.
The sound of an alarm ringing, surprised Mai as her eyes shot open see that it was ringing constantly in front of her face. She quickly shut it up and tossed it aside before realizing that she had thrown it in the direction of the girl sleeping next to her.
“Oh–” She quickly sat up before being hit with a wave of disappointment at once–next to her, the space was empty. The girl wasn’t here, meaning that she couldn’t properly introduce herself and vice versa. She looked up ahead to see that her clothes had been properly washed and folded neatly on a chair, along with her purse dangling on the back by its’ strap.
She smiled bitterly to herself before turning her head to see that the girl had left a note. She quickly picked it up and skimmed through it, seeing that the girl was at least courteous enough to leave something for her.
Hello mysterious pretty lady –
I’m sorry that I had to leave early for work but I realized that I don’t know your name. I set an alarm up in case you’re a deep sleeper. Hopefully you aren’t–the first bus will be arriving soon at 9:00AM so please make your way to the bus stop. If case you don’t know how to get there, I’ve also left a map with directions behind this note. I made sure to dry your ticket as well.
Mai flipped to the back to see that her ticket and a map was taped behind the note. The girl was precise and careful not to ruin her return ticket after the rain had did a number on it. She smiled in a resentfulness to herself as she would probably never see the girl again after this. She flipped back to read the rest of the note:
Help yourself to the breakfast on the table–and if you’d like, there is some cheesecake left in the fridge that you can take. Please do lock up when you’re done–thank you and sorry that I couldn’t help you much. Take care! :)
Mai stared at the note with a blank expression as she realized that was the end of the note. Cheesecake aside, the girl did not mark the end of the note with her name. There was nothing she could do as she reluctantly picked herself off the bed, unwilling to leave unless there was something she could have in order to contact the girl again.
Mai sighed to herself as she brushed her teeth, trying to make clear of what had happened the day before. She wanted to come to Osaka in search of a certain cheesecake. The tourist bus that she was using had left without warning, causing her to get caught up in the heavy rain. Along the way, she met a stranger at the bus stop for shelter then she ended up eating cheesecake and sleeping over at her place.
That was certainly out of place, considering how Mai was usually an uptight and rigid type of person who did things in a straightforward way, rather than this sudden chain of events.
-
It had been a few weeks after Mai returned back to Gunma after her trip to Osaka. She decided to take another trip again, and search for the shop that the girl had mentioned to her during her last trip.
With the note and map from the girl in her hand, she looked at her wristwatch to see that it was half-past noon when she found herself getting out of the bus on a whim.
She walked a couple of blocks around the girl’s apartment when she unconsciously felt the urge to walk for a little longer, until her feet came to a stop in front of a ivory colored building. Her eyes widened as she recognized that she was in the right place this time around.
Toumei na Iro.
It was a simple pastry shop. There were a few customers sitting around, quietly reading or enjoying the sun as she opened the door. She took a quick look around at the store’s display before seeing a familiar chocolate cheesecake being displayed in front of her. It was just a cake away from the cheesecake that her coworker brought in a month ago.
Her dream cheesecakes were right in front of her.
Her throat was caught in that moment when she heard a girl’s voice chime happily at her.
“Welcome to Toumei na Iro!”
It was like two birds with one stone, seeing the face of the cute girl smiling widely at her when she stood up to make eye contact with her.
“Hey,” she managed to give her a wave then.
“Ah, hello. It’s been a while!” The smile on her face nearly made Mai want to pat her on the head, though she knew better than to do something out of character then.
“Yes.” She gave a curt nod as she clenched onto the strap of her purse under her arm tightly, trying to disguise her happiness at recognizing the girl at once–in her work uniform and apron. The girl appeared drastically different from when they first met and at her apartment that time.
“You look a lot different than when I first saw you.” Mai said without thinking as the girl suddenly turned red again.
“Oh. I was on my way home from a friend’s birthday party. My brother said that the way I dressed was overkill.” She appeared to have bounced back from the remark, Mai noticed–she was seeing it in a positive light instead.
“Oh.”
“What would you like to try?” The girl asked as she then clasped her hand at once when Mai decided to mention the chocolate cheesecake.
“Ah, thank you for trying out the cake that I made! Due to you, my aunt, who’s the owner of the store, tried the cake and decided to put it up on the display to sell.”
Mai frowned for a second in a jokingly manner, “So I was your guinea pig?”
It was the younger girl’s turn to become flustered as her face turned beet red before bowing her head to the latter, “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to use you like that–”
Mai sighed as she shook her head, “Silly, I was kidding.” She found it amusing and unfair that the girl could easily win her over with the use of her puppy eyes and cute appearance.
The girl lifted her head as she smiled widely, “Then I’ll give you a cake as an apology!”
Mai shook her head as she had something better in mind, “I’d like to buy it as you’ll probably pay for it out of pocket. Instead, I want to ask you something.”
“Hmm?” The girl asked, “What is it?” She was curious as the older woman leaned over.
“So, since we never properly introduced ourselves to each other, let’s do that now.”
“Okay,” The girl said at once without holding back–perhaps she was also thinking the same as her, Mai thought as the girl stepped out from behind the counter to approach her. Mai swore she saw a light glow coming from the girl, a tail wagging behind her as she finally introduced herself.
“Sorry, I should have introduced myself the first time around. My name is Nishino Nanase. What’s yours?” Nanase smiled as Mai reached out to shake the girl’s hand.
“Shiraishi Mai. I’d like to buy some of your proclaimed great cheesecakes, I loved the one that you made me try out.”
Mai smiled as Nanase’s eyes lit up–surely, it would be the start of something new between them, as she was able to finally get those words off her chest. There wasn’t a need for her to hold back, and hopefully it was the same for the other girl.
Nanase smiled as she could see that Mai was truthful this time around, “Sure! Give me one second and I’ll get your order ready. I’m happy to hear that you liked my cheesecake.”