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Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, at just around three thirty in the afternoon, The Girl comes into the cafe. Amane knows this because he works the afternoon shift, and Mei likes to tease him since he has her order memorized.
(Tuesday and Wednesday she always orders peach green tea, Friday is coffee with sweet cream.)
As long as he’s not completely swamped in orders, Amane doesn’t mind getting it started so it's ready for her when she walks in the door. She always has a bright smile for him, even as she fumbles with her wallet. He still doesn’t know her name, since she pays in exact change each time, and Amane is always too nervous to ask.
Akane calls him pathetic, but he has no room to talk. Amane’s seen him fawn over his childhood best friend with no success for the last four years.
Regardless, Amane cherishes these little moments. He hoards each little interaction like a precious gift, tucking it away for when the past comes haunting. He’s run a long way from his disastrous middle and high school years, and college has been much better, in the long run.
But some nights he can't escape the nightmares, the phantom pains of cuts and bruises long healed over. Those nights he searches out his twin in their tiny, shared apartment, usually tucked in some odd place for an even odder reason, and just tries to remember how to breathe.
Tsukasa is good at distractions, always has been.
One of Tsukasa’s favorite things has always been pretending to be his brother. It drove their teachers up a wall, so the only classes they've ever had together were electives. He's always been scary good at it, even fooling family a few times.
(Tsuchigomori-sensei has always been the exception to the rule, even long after he stopped being their actual teacher.)
So Amane is expecting more of the same on this particular Friday. It's oddly quiet in the cafe today, despite the rain that usually pulls people in. Tsukasa is leaning over the counter while Amane restocks cups and lids, chattering a mile a minute about the girl in his Mythology in Literature class.
(Who, by Amane’s count, has become only the fourth person in their lives who has managed to wrangle Tsukasa into compliance.)
The timer on the new pot of coffee goes off just as the bell over the door rings, the scent of rain rushing into the shop. The Girl calls a quick but quiet hello, and Amane can hear her steps as she approaches the counter before they stop abruptly.
“You’re not Amane-san.”
Amane’s heart does some weird twist in his chest as he pops up from behind the counter, hoping he isn’t blushing as badly as he thinks he is as The Girl jumps at his sudden appearance, her bright eyes jumping between him and Tsukasa.
“Oh! You’re twins!”
Tsukasa gets right up in her face, and Amane reaches out on reflex to drag him back to a respectable distance. Once he’s sure Tsukasa isn’t going to fling himself into her arms, (as he is prone to do), he turns and begins prepping her coffee.
“Hi! I'm Tsukasa, Amane’s twin; he’s older though; you can call me Tsukasa-kun. Who are you?”
Amane slides her coffee across the counter, in one of the big mugs. She deserves it for going through Trial by Tsukasa™. She seems mostly unfazed though, and smiles just as bright as always.
“I’m Yashiro Nene, it's nice to meet you, Tsukasa-kun.”
Introductions complete, Tsukasa bounds back over the table with his books scattered across it, leaving Amane and The Girl, Yashiro Nene, alone. He apologizes for his brother’s over enthusiasm and disregard for boundaries, waving away her wallet.
“It’s on the house, Yashiro; and you can call me Amane-kun.”
Amane thinks her cheeks might be a bit pinker, but it's probably just a trick of the light; even so, he feels a bit lighter. She takes her cup with a smile, pausing briefly.
“Amane-kun, do people often confuse you and your brother?”
Amane tips his head at her question, but shrugs.
“Yeah, we’re identical after all; only a few people can tell us apart.”
He could probably count those people on one hand, even the ones who are directly related to them; both he and Tsukasa have simply gotten used to being referred to by each other's name at this point in their lives. Yashiro hums quietly at his words, cradling her cup close with a curious expression.
“Oh, I just thought it was kinda obvious. You two have such different smiles.”
Amane knows his face is red, is frozen in place as Yashiro babbles apologies and hurries to the little table she always uses. He can see the tips of her ears are red, but all he can manage to do is sink to the floor.
Mei finds him like this a few minutes later, still crouched by the cups he should be restocking, sees Yashiro at her table still red, and turns a wicked smile on him. Amane knows he’ll never live this down.
He manages to pull himself together, mostly because if he doesn’t, he’s afraid Mei will walk over to Yashiro’s table and spill every secret she knows about him. In the end, it's not Mei he should have worried about.
It’s Tsukasa.
Amane’s nearly finished his shift, and Tsukasa has already tossed all his books back into his bag so they can go. He's been playing on his phone for the last twenty minutes, slouched across the counter so he can show Amane each new level he unlocks.
Yashiro packs up her own stuff to leave, dropping her empty cup (twice refilled) at the bar before she says goodbye to both of them with a bright smile. She’s nearly to the door when Tsukasa steps just out of range for Amane to grab him, a wide, mischievous smile on his face.
“Bye, Nene-nee! See you later!”
Yashiro jumps and turns to face both of them, pink flooded across her cheeks. She just waves and hurries out the door with a smile; Tsukasa is already running when Amane throws himself over the bar to tackle his brother. Mei is laughing through her tears as he manages to get Tsukasa in a headlock, trying to slap his hand over his twin’s mouth to stop him from asking when he’s going to marry Nene.
It’s a disaster, but hope is not lost. Yashiro comes into the cafe on Tuesday like clockwork; if she’s a bit more blushy than normal when Amane hands over her tea, neither of them are going to mention it.