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The bow in her hand shakes. In her other hand, a folded paper is clasped tightly. She places the bow under her arm and unfolds the paper once again.
Sawamura Daichi & Sugawara Koushi
8 A.M. Nekoffee (Coffee shop)
She folds the paper delicately and puts it in her pocket, careful not to damage it in any way.
The coffee shop is on the other side of the road from her. Shooting an arrow inside in training had always made Yachi nervous, and this wasn’t training.
“You can do this,” she whispers to herself, before looking both ways and crossing the street.
The door is heavy. She doesn’t feel the cold air from the aircon. The smell from the shop is overwhelming, coffee overpowering the smell of fresh baked goods.
Waiting in line, Daichi is going over his order, one black coffee, large, and a raspberry/white chocolate muffin—he thinks for a second—to go. He reaches the counter and rattles off his order.
From her spot by the door, Yachi sees the other of the pair, his silver hair making him hard to miss. Of course, the name floating above his head does also give him away.
Yachi pulls an arrow from her quiver. Nocks the arrow to the bow, careful not to hit any other people with her elbow or, much worse, the tip of the arrow.
Her two targets are almost as close as they can get, nearing each other with each second.
Yachi draws in a deep breath, looks down the length of the arrow and as the two are close enough, she releases the bowstring and sends the arrow flying.
In this second, two things happen.
First; Yachi, suddenly wide-eyed and her mouth open in a small ‘O’, remembers one of the most important lessons she learned. Keep a distance, the teacher’s voice is clear in her head as she sees the arrow slam into Daichi, holding a steaming cup of coffee.
Second; Daichi lurches forward, driven by the impact of an arrow he cannot feel. The contents of his cup go all over the man standing in front of him.
Yachi can almost see the second-degree burns forming in her mind.
She rips the door open and runs out the shop. She sits down on the steps and breathes in and out.
“It’s fine,” she whispers. “It may be the worst meeting ever but the arrow will work,” she reassures herself.
Inside, the two men make eye contact for the first time.
“Oh, God!” Daichi says. “I am so sorry!” His hands are searching for anything that might better the situation. He finds nothing.
A helpful employee rushes over with a towel. Daichi takes it and starts dabbing all over the stranger, simply saying “I’m sorry” over and over again.
Sugawara has yet to say something, just letting Daichi frantically dab the cloth on his shirt. Finally, he puts his hand on Daichi’s, looks at him and smiles.
“It’s fine,” he reassures. “I’m not sure who owes who a coffee, so maybe we should just get one together?” Sugawara laughs, and Daichi has no choice but to smile.
“Yeah.” He shifts the towel from his right hand to his left, holds out his right and says, “I’m Sawamura Daichi.”
Sugawara takes his warm hand. “Sugawara Koushi, nice to meet you.”