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Yuu wouldn’t say that he had the best café in the world, but he had to say it: he had the best café in the world. A cozy place with comfy seats, the best coffee he could ever offer, the most amazing staff ever, and the best pastries he had ever eaten in his life. It had taken years and a lot of sweat and tears from his part, but Yuu was extremely proud of his café, and was happy to see that the neighborhood loved his place, since it was always packed and he had so many regulars he lost count a long time ago.
But one day, his café was no longer everyone’s favorite hang-out spot.
It started gradually, but he realized he had less customers than usual a Wednesday afternoon, when he could sit down at one of his tables and eat a left-over cake. Normally this would be almost impossible to do, since he needed to be making beverages or just making small talk with his clientele, but now he had time to sit down and unwind, which unnerved him.
What had happened that people had stopped coming over in the last week?
“Must be the new café that opened nearby,” Shinoa commented off-handedly when Yuu had invited her to sit down with him, since there was nothing else to do anyway.
Yuu almost choked on his cake.
“What new café!?”
“What, you didn’t know?” Shinoa laughed at Yuu’s shocked face—and if Shinoa hadn’t been a friend from high school, Yuu might have scolded her for her lack of politeness at her boss. “Well, I guess people wanted to try it out at least once. Don’t worry, they’ll come back soon! Their coffee is not as good as ours, after all!”
Yuu wanted to groan at his own obliviousness because he hadn’t been aware that now they had a rival nearby, but something in Shinoa’s comment made him pause.
“Wait, how do you know that our coffee is better?” Yuu squinted his eyes at Shinoa, who flinched and suddenly feigned interest in her coffee. “Shinoa, if you don’t tell me I’m going to tell Mitsuba that it was you who stole her underwear.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Shinoa gasped as if Yuu had just declared that he was going to kick Yoichi for no reason.
“Oh, yes, I would.”
“Jeez, just because you don’t get to have panties in your life doesn’t mean you can make others lose theirs,” Shinoa rolled her eyes. “But okay, since you want to know: the other café is a host’s café, so obviously people want to check it out.”
“Hosts? What the fuck?”
“Hey, there were some hot ones, so watch your mouth.”
“I’m telling Mitsuba you said that.”
“She knows I swing both ways and honestly it might make her jealous and chase my booty, so be my guest.”
“I can’t believe it,” Yuu groaned at his near-empty café. “So my customers left me for another café because their staff have Final Fantasy hairstyles?”
“I don’t know if I should be weirded out because you have just announced your type of man or because you actually know how hosts looked like five years ago.”
“Whatever,” Yuu humphed, mad that he was losing customers for a fad. “Shinoa, where’s this café?”
“Why, are you going to check guys out?”
“I’m going to check my enemies out,” Yuu made sure to emphasize the word enemy to take Shinoa’s mind out of the gutter.
“Ohh, steamy hate sex, then can I recommend—”
“No,” Yuu interrupted her before she started one of her monologues about sex that never ended nicely. “I’m going to see what’s so great about them and make it better, and then go back when their café is empty to brag about how you can’t take a king down his throne.”
“Whoa, how childish,” Shinoa rolled her eyes, but gave Yuu the address anyway.
It would be hilarious to see Yuu face to face with one of their hosts and see him splutter his way out in a definitely not-straight manner, after all.
Yuu felt himself squinting his eyes when he arrived at the address Shinoa gave him: the place was flashy, all black surfaces with neon lights and tinted windows. It looked really out of place in such a quiet neighborhood and he really couldn’t believe that people preferred this kind of place instead of his warm and welcoming café.
He really hoped that people were here to ogle at the hosts and not because of their coffee, because then he wouldn’t know how to cope.
Yuu took a deep breath and steeled himself to go inside: he was determined to scout the enemy’s territory and go back to his place, whether to brag that his coffee was indeed better and his clientele would be back in the blink of an eye, or to just mope around.
He really hoped it would be the former.
After queuing for a while—he couldn’t believe people were willing to wait to get inside!—he was finally able to get in and was promptly greeted by a blond guy in a suit, who smiled and winked at him seductively.
What the fuck!?
“Welcome, my prince,” he said with a smooth voice which left Yuu speechless. “Please let me escort such a handsome gentleman inside. Are you by yourself?”
Yuu blinked once, twice, before the words registered in his brain.
“Are you flirting with me?” Yuu couldn’t help but to blurt out, still confused by what was going on.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t the best idea to storm into a host café without knowing what do hosts do. He really thought that the waiters would be dressed in suits with weird hairstyles and just be huge flirts whenever they had to go to a table, but he never imagined he would be welcomed by one of them this way at the entrance.
Not to mention that the guy didn’t have liters of gel in his hair like he expected, but his hair was curly and aesthetically messy, and seemed soft to the touch. He didn’t seem to be wearing a lot of makeup, but there was something in his blue eyes that made Yuu’s heart go thump-thump in his chest, and the way he was now smiling gently at him made him feel weird in the stomach.
“Do you want me to?” the guy answered softly, taking a few steps towards Yuu.
Yuu quickly put some distance between them until his back was against the wall, which in hindsight was a bad idea. The moment he felt the wall behind him he cursed himself because he should have aimed to the door instead, but in one second the other guy had already trapped him, an arm propped next to Yuu’s head.
Yuu was vaguely aware that someone squealed, but he was too busy glaring at the guy he couldn’t afford to look away, not if he was to lose in their impromptu staring contest. And especially when the guy was smirking down at him, his eyes sparkling with something akin to amusement.
“Why so shy?” he asked casually, as if he didn’t have Yuu trapped between his arms. “I don’t bite.”
“Says the guy who is licking his lips,” retorted Yuu, wondering if he would be prosecuted if he were to kick the guy in the balls.
He wasn’t sure if this was sexual harassment or if it was part of the usual services of this café, after all.
Damn, he should have asked Shinoa for the details before coming.
“It’s because I have such an exquisite treat in front of me,” the guy answered without shame.
“I’d rather have a cup of coffee,” Yuu countered, because that was the reason he was here and he was getting desperate to escape, since it was growing hot and his stomach was growing heavier by the second.
Surely a nice cup of coffee and some sweets would be enough to heal whatever he was catching.
The guy chuckled and fortunately stepped back.
“Aren’t you an interesting little thing?” he said, amused. “I’ll lead you inside, so follow me.”
Yuu narrowed his eyes at him but followed him, careful to leave ample space between them so the other wouldn’t corner him out of nowhere. But the other guy just looked at him over his shoulder and smirked.
“Like what you see?” Yuu narrowed his eyes at him, because what was there for him to like? “My name is Mika, by the way. What’s yours?”
“Why should I give my name to perverts like you?”
“You wound me,” Mika fake gasped. “But since you won’t give me your name, I’ll be calling you ‘my little kitten.’ Do you like it?”
“No.”
Mika laughed and took Yuu to a table, which Yuu noted that it looked very expensive, with its dark wooden appearance and leather mats. The seats were also made from dark wood and had dark cushions on them. It seemed that everything in this café was dark, from the ceilings to the floors, and if not for the chandeliers and extravagant-looking lamps around the place, he wouldn’t be able to see what was under his nose.
It was such a contrast to the warm and pastel-colored café Yuu owned that it made him wonder if this was what people actually preferred.
But what was the point of going to such a dark place when you go to a café to read a good book or chat with friends? What did people do in this kind of place?
Mika handed him the menu and Yuu almost choked on air. The prices were double what he charged! What kind of coffee did this place offer? Was it made of gold or something like that?
“I recommend the special coffee set,” Mika said casually, and Yuu discovered with horror that he had sat in the available chair and was giving him some weird eyes—Yuu just hoped those weren’t bedroom eyes because he wouldn’t know what to do. “It comes with our special blend and the cake of the day. Today’s is strawberry, which is actually my favorite.”
“Okay, give me that,” Yuu said but continued scanning the menu, wondering what was the item that made people flock to this place. Was it the coffee? The food? The game section that… why did this café had a ‘game section’ in the menu?
He looked up from the menu and wasn’t surprised to see Mika staring at him, his face resting on his hand and giving him a happy smile. Yuu frowned.
“Um, why are you still here?”
“I want to get to know you better,” Mika leaned forward, showing obvious interest on Yuu. “What’s your favorite cake? Do you take milk with your coffee? Are you here because of our coffee or because you thought our concept was interesting? Are you single—?”
“Yuu?” a new voice interrupted Mika’s interrogation and Yuu sighed in relief, until he saw Kimizuki approaching them.
What the fuck.
“What are you doing here, telephone pole?” Yuu immediately asked, not bothering to greet his high school classmate.
“That’s my phrase, what happened to your café?” Kimizuki stopped by their table, hands on his hips.
“That’s rich coming from a traitor like you, I thought you loved my coffee? What are you doing here?”
“Yoichi wanted to try this place out. Calm your panties, we’ll back at your place by Monday as usual.”
“Who said I wanted you back?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure you came here to check out the new café because you were feeling lonely, knowing you.”
“I’m not lonely,” Yuu hissed out, because his pride wouldn’t let him admit that Kimizuki had been right about the other part.
“Wait, where is that café at?” interrupted Mika suddenly asked, and to Yuu’s horror Kimizuki taught Mika how to arrive at Yuu’s café.
Kimizuki then left saying how he couldn’t leave Yoichi alone for much longer and Yuu turned to Mika, who was giving him such a radiant smile Yuu thought he would go blind.
“So your name is Yuu?” Mika asked, making Yuu groan. Great, now this weirdo knew his name. “And you own a café? Oh, I can’t wait to go try it out!”
“Well, I want to have some coffee as well but someone hasn’t taken my order yet,” Yuu fired back, uncomfortable with how Mika’s presence was making him feel gooey inside. Surely it had something to do with how all the black things of the café made this way more intimate than necessary?
Mika smiled at him.
“I’ll be right back with your coffee, Yuu-chan.”
Yuu spluttered at the nickname but before he could say anything, Mika had winked and left, leaving Yuu feeling weirdly lonely.
“Can you believe it!?” Yuu was ranting again, scrubbing a table furiously. “The guy had the nerve to ask for my number as well! After pestering me the whole time I was there! I couldn’t even enjoy my coffee in peace!”
“And did he suck your dick as well?” Shinoa asked while she wiped some mugs, not minding her language since the café was empty anyway.
“No!”
“Well, considering you went by yourself to a host café, he might have thought you were looking for a good lay. Not to mention your gay face, anyone would have misunderstood.”
“I was just there for the coffee,” Yuu scoffed. “At least now I know that our customers will be back once the awe fades. Their coffee is too expensive and not as good as ours.”
“But they can ogle at cute guys over there, not like here, where they can only sigh at my beauty and roll their eyes at your cherry status.”
“Hey!”
“I can help you get rid of your cherry boy status, if you want.”
“No thanks, I…” Yuu paused mid-sentence when he realized that the person who replied to him wasn’t Shinoa, but a very familiar masculine voice he had just heard the previous day. And sure enough, when he turned to the door of his café he was faced with Mika, who smiled like a kid at Christmas when their eyes met.
“Yuu-chan,” Mika greeted dreamily. “I came as promised.”
Yuu wanted to punch the wall, but a customer was a customer and he forced himself to smile, even though he was aware that everyone could see the twitch in his face.
“Welcome to Seraph café,” Yuu said with practiced professionalism. “We have seats available at the counter and at any table of your preference. Which one would you like to use?”
“Whichever will let me be closest to you,” Mika answered without batting an eye.
There was a moment of silence where Yuu was trying to understand what Mika had just said and Mika waited patiently with a smile, but their silent staring was interrupted when Shinoa bursted out laughing.
Yuu ignored her and took Mika to a seat at the counter, thinking that that way it would be easier to clean up and, in the worst case scenario, Shinoa at least could cover him if Yuu were to run away mid-way. Not that he was a coward and was scared to face Mika! It was just that the churning in his stomach came back with vengeance when his eyes saw Mika and maybe he would need to use the toilet soon.
Mika gracefully sat down and smiled at Yuu.
“What do you recommend me? You already know what I like.”
Yuu was tempted to roll his eyes, still remembering how Mika talked his ear off the other day, but he didn’t because he was the owner of the café and couldn’t be rude to a customer just because said customer made him feel things.
“I recommend our specialty coffee. If you are up to eat something to accompany the coffee, then I would recommend our chocolate brownie, as we have just finished a batch.”
“Then I will have that,” Mika nodded. “Will you be the one making my coffee, Yuu-chan?”
Shinoa doubled in laughter again and Yuu felt his eyebrow twitch again, but smiled nevertheless.
“If you want me to. Please wait a moment.”
Yuu quickly went to prepare the coffee to get away from Mika, thinking that at least he could have these few minutes to himself before going to the symbolical battlefield again. However, his peace didn’t last more than a few seconds, as he heard Shinoa talking with Mika.
“So you said that you told Yuu what you liked. May I know what you like?”
“I like green-eyed boys with messy dark hair,” Mika replied with a sigh worthy of a teenager with a crush in a soap opera. “Especially if they are feisty and they own a café.”
Yuu almost dropped the mug he was holding and couldn’t help but turn to face Mika with a glare. However, instead of scaring Mika, his glare only made the blond smile dreamily at him.
What the fuck.
“You sure about that?” Shinoa asked Mika. “I have enough embarrassing stories of him to fill a book, like the time he was forced to wear a maid dress for the school festival.”
“Do you have photos?”
“Oh yes, let me—”
“Here’s your brownie,” Yuu interrupted them. “I’ll be right back with your coffee, please wait a bit more.”
Yuu gave Shinoa a warning look before turning away, hoping that she understood the message.
If you tell him more stories, I’ll tell Mitsuba about some things you did.
Shinoa nodded and made a motion of zipping her mouth, which made Yuu sigh in relief.
He wouldn’t know how he would live with himself if Mika were to ever see those pictures or know about his embarrassing high school days.
Soon he was done with the coffee and gave it to Mika, who smiled at him—was this guy always smiling? Weren’t his cheeks hurting?—and promptly took the mug into his hands.
“Yuu-chan, do you work out as a hobby?”
“Y-Yes, but how did you…?”
“You have a great ass.”
Shinoa laughed again and Yuu blushed, withdrawing until his back hit the wall.
“Don’t look at other people’s bottoms, you pervert!” Yuu decided that professionalism was out of the window at this point, he didn’t need to smile at someone who admitted to be openly ogling him!
Mika chuckled and tasted the coffee, which made him smile even more.
“Wow, this coffee is really good! You’re really good at this, Yuu-chan!”
For a second Yuu forgot about Mika’s pervert ways and beamed at the compliment.
“Well, this will be enough for you to realize that your coffee is not worthy of being my rival!”
“I wasn’t aware that we were rivals,” Mika mused over the brownie. “So do you think of me as your enemy, Yuu-chan?”
“Of course!”
“That’s a pity, any chance you’ll see me as a small kitten in need of affection? I promise to purr if you cuddle me.”
“Never!”
“Never what, Yuu-chan? You’ll never see me as a small kitten or you’ll never cuddle me? Because I can be a bad kitty for you if you want.”
Yuu groaned and went to shut himself up in the back room, not wanting to hear more or to imagine him cuddling Mika, not matter how nice it would be—
No, he wasn’t doing it!
Mika chuckled and sipped his coffee, determined to win Yuu’s heart one way or another.
In a way, he was glad he had become Yuu’s enemy in his eyes. They said that there was a thin line between love and hate, after all.