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Shuichi tied his apron tightly, reaching for his light brown hat, then pushing his ever-persistent bangs behind his ear, and finally taking light breath. He was trying his best to be alert, but getting up early and being at the cafe at 7 am was taking a toll on him. He slowly began readying the shop for opening, re-wiping tables and such, and allowed his mind to wander a bit. He wanted to sleep. Really bad. But, there was nothing he could do about it. He had decided to take afternoon-night classes, so working part time, 3 times a week, in the morning was the only way he was going to pay off his student loans without interfering with his schedule.
Abruptly, he heard the back door bell ring loudly with a flourish, an impeccable sound full of clarity that only lasted for a quick second. The sound of mischievous footsteps filled the cafe, they treaded lightly, as if trying not to get caught. Immediately, Shuichi knew. Only one person walked into the cafe like that. Koki-
"Boo!"
Shuichi jumped, despite knowing who was behind him. He turned around, slightly flushed & shaking because of the adrenaline.
Kokichi smiled teasingly.
"Did I scare you Shumai?"
Shuichi took a breath and smiled slightly. Everytime Kokichi entered the cafe, he managed to scare Shuichi in a unique way, and even though Shuichi knew the scare was coming, it was successful most of the time.
"No, you didn't."
Kokichi gasped dramatically.
"Shumai! Are you lying to me? I hate lies!" He pouted, pushing his lip out for effect.
"Kokichi! Why would I ever lie to you?" Shuichi replied sarcastically, "I'm being 100% honest with you."
Kokichi laughed, happy that Shuichi was able to pick up on & was going with the joke. He had tried the same thing with Kaito numerous times, but without fail, Kaito would need the joke explained to him. He was so dense. And stupid.
"Anyways, Kokichi, can you help with bringing out the materials in the back?"
"Only if you say the magic word..."
"Kokichi, just go." Shuichi said, exasperated.
"Well that's 3 words, but I'll let it slide~"
Shuichi watched Kokichi skip into the back and went back to preparing the front of the shop.
A few minutes later, he heard a hearty ring from the bell on the back door, accompanied by steady, almost stiff footsteps, which were then followed by light, consistent footsteps. Shuichi & Kokichi peeked their heads from what they were doing and made eye contact with Kaito & Maki.
"Hey Kaito. Maki. What's up?" Shuichi greeted them. They always came together, mainly because Maki insisted she ride with Kaito to work since he was closer to the cafe anyways. Of course, while everyone else knew the real reason, Kaito remained oblivious. At least, that's what all of the staff called it. Obliviousness. Maki preferred to call it stupidity.
"Nothing much, I just picked up Maki Roll and drove us here."
Maki looked slightly irritated at the use of her nickname, but she didn't say anything about it.
"Hey, knife girl." Kokichi nudged.
Maki looked calmly at him. The use of this new nickname had caught her attention.
"What?" She said pointedly.
"You're going to pay for what you did. I still have the bandaid to prove it, too."
Kokichi held up his hand to show a new yellow bandaid on his pointer finger.
"See?" He added.
"I get it. Sounds like someone's a sore loser. And now you're trying to peg some stupid name on me to feel better."
"Dumb knife girl, that's not what I meant."
"Still mad I beat you?"
"Nah, you're just weird." Kokichi said calmly.
"Alright, sure." Maki rolled her eyes, but left the conversation at that.
Shuichi processed the conversation he had just heard. What were they talking about? He didn't remember those two having an argument. Afterall, Maki was mostly with Kaito, and Kaito and Kokichi didn't really get along. Most of their "conversations" (if you could call them that) were usually snide comments meant to get under each other's skin.
Clueless, Shuichi turned to Kaito and asked, "What happened between those two?"
"You know how Kokichi likes to coerce - I mean invite people to play the Knife Game with him in the lounge table, right?" Kaito replied.
"Yeah...?"
"Well, him and Maki got in a heated match. And he lost. I never thought I'd see the day."
Kokichi shot Kaito a dirty look.
"I wasn't really trying. Besides, we were playing with a butter knife. It's not that dramatic. The real question is how Knife girl has such fast reflexes. Not faster than mine of course." Kokichi said defensively.
Shuichi glanced at Kokichi with a mixture of concern and amusement.
"You didn't hurt yourself too bad, right? Since it was just a butter knife." Shuichi asked.
"Yeah, it was whatever, I wasn't even hurt badly." Kokichi reassured Shuichi.
"Well, it depends what we're talking about. His finger or his pride?" Maki pushed, a smile tugging at her lips.
"I didn't even loose that badly, besides, it was just a fluke. There's no way you could have better reflexes than I do," Kokichi said nonchalantly. Whatever reaction Maki was hoping for, this was clearly not it.
"Fine. Whatever," Maki said loosely, walking near the front desk and readying menus.
Maki leaving was everyone's cue to go back to work. Shuichi and Kokichi went back to what they were doing previously, and Kaito had settled on readying the counter with Maki. After about 10 minutes of silence, the back door swung open and the bell rang a couple more times. Most of the staff members had come in and began to help set up for the day.
Once everything had been set up, it was finally time to open.
Everyone at the shop followed a system of switching roles after every 2 hours so as to not get bored with sticking to one job their whole shift. Sticking to one job didn't bother anyone too much except for Tenko, who had a tendency to forget and get bored easily. So, everyone decided that switching every 2 hours was the best option. This time, Shuichi was taking orders in.
As Shuichi watched people come in during rush hour, he carefully began to note their orders and pass them over to Kaito, who would then distribute them according to who was doing what. Just as Shuichi was about to finish up, the front door opened cautiously, welcoming a girl with blond, straight hair that curled slightly at the ends and was tied up into a ponytail. She had purple hairclips that pushed her bangs back into place, with beautiful purple eyes to match, wearing a black dress that was tied around the waist with a slightly uneven bow - clearly hand-tied - that faded into a sparkly purple at the tips. She walked with a tinge of uncertainty. Clearly, she hadn't been at the shop before.
"Hi, what can I get you?" Shuichi asked. The girl looked at the menu above him, trying to quickly read what they had available.
After a couple moments, Shuichi offered to help. "You seem new. I can recommend something simple to you if you want," he told her assuredly.
"Yeah. Thank you, that would really help. I'm Kaede by the way." she said relieved.
"Well, usually people who come in here for the first time go with a Mocha Frappe or Hot Chocolate, with the option of toppings. I personally like chocolate chips on my Frappe." Shuichi smiled lightly, hoping to spark some conversation.
"That sounds good! But how'd you know I was in here for the first time?" Kaede exclaimed incredulously.
"Usually people come in with ultra specific orders right off the bat. Plus, you seemed a little unsure when you came in, so I assumed you were coming here for the first time," Shuichi explained, his face heating up a bit. She was really cute when she got excited.
"That's pretty observant. I probably would have assumed the person was really nervous," she replied. "I'll go with the Mocha Frappe with chocolate chips since you like it so much." She smiled sweetly, tilting her head lightly to the side.
As she began to walk to a table, she stopped short and walked back to the counter.
"Wait. I just remembered - I forgot to ask you what you're name was. What's your name?" she asked.
Shuichi looked at her and smiled. "My name is Shuichi. Thanks for asking."
"You're welcome. Have a good day!" she replied cheerily as she bounced off to find a table.
Shuichi smiled, slightly flushed as he watched her. She was beautiful - inside and out.
"Yo Shuichi!" Kaito piped up, slapping him on the back and sinking him back to reality.
"Huh? What's up Kaito?"
"I saw the way you looked at her," Kaito teased. "You thought she was cute, didn't you?"
"She was r-really nice. And pretty," Shuichi admitted, his face becoming redder as he spoke.
"Then ask for her number bro! I'm sure she won't refuse!" Kaito shouted. He sure knew how to amp Shuichi up.
"But what if she says no?" Shuichi asked nervously.
"I'm sure she'll say yes. Besides, she was definitely flirting with you when you were helping her out. Even if she does say no, you always have me!" Kaito laughed.
Shuichi laughed. Kaito always knew how to make him feel better. Kaito was good at supporting the people he loved. That was one of the things Shuichi loved about him.
Shuichi suddenly remembered that he had to switch roles. If he was going to ask for Kaede's number, it was going to be now or never. Shuichi switched out with Angie at the counter, taking her role as waiter. This way, he could give Kaede her coffee, and then he would have his chance.
Once Kaede's Mocha was finished, Shuichi took it to her table.
"Hi again! Here's your Mocha," he said nervously. It's now or never. I'm so nervous. Maybe I could postpone asking her so soon? Maybe I should ask her some questions. Yeah, I'll ask her some questions and get to know her, until my nervousness dies down, Shuichi thought.
"Oh. Thanks!" Kaede took her drink. "I didn't know you took orders and gave them out."
"O-oh, we all decided to switch roles every once in a while, so as to not get bored. I just happened to switch to waiting after I took your order," Shuichi laughed. Yep. Definately coincidence. He thought. He waited a bit while Kaede took a sip.
"D-do you like it?" He asked tentatively.
"Yeah! It's really good. Thanks for suggesting it." She replied happily.
"I don't want to sound rude, but I've been wondering since you first came in. How come you're wearing a nice dress to a coffee shop? Fancy date maybe?"
Kaede giggled. "Date? I'm not dating anyone if that's what you're asking." Shuichi flushed a bit, embarrassed that she had seen through his question.
"But," she continued, "I just came from an orchestra performance, and this was the uniform was for it. Though, I wish I changed. It's a bit weird to come to a coffee shop fully dressed up."
"N-no, I think you look pretty," Shuichi said softly, hoping Kaede hadn't heard. Kaede blushed lightly. She had heard, but didn't address it for his sake.
"Orchestra?" he asked. "What instrument do you play?"
"I play piano. I've been playing for a while. It's my passion." She smiled, her eyes twinkling with excitement. "Whenever I play the piano, I can feel my worries dissolve as I get wrapped into the music, my fingers moving key to key as my emotions go from my head to my fingertips-" Kaede stopped herself quickly. "Sorry. I have a tendency to do that whenever I talk about the piano." She ended apologetically.
"Don't apologize. I think it's wonderful you can connect like that." Shuichi said. "Do you have a favorite song to play?"
"Claire De Lune. It's just so pretty." she said dreamily.
She stopped suddenly.
"But you haven't told me about yourself. What do you like to do?" She asked curiously.
"Well, I'm studying to be a detective one day. I'm currently studying criminology and forensic sciences in college." He said. "I was always good at solving little cases around my neighborhood - like finding lost animals and such. So, I decided I wanted to be a detective when I grew up. And here I am."
"I think it's great that you stuck with your dreams." She gazed admiringly. "What's your least favorite part of it all? Mine would be all the blood."
"Personally," he said quietly, "I hate confronting the person who did it."
"How come?" Kaede asked softly.
"It's just," he took a breath and continued. "They look at you with such malice, such spite. It makes you feel awful, from the bottom of your heart."
"Wow. I didn't know you guys had to deal with things like that." She said, sipping her Mocha. It was nearly done.
"Well," Shuichi said, unsure how to respond, "I guess it's just part of the job. Besides, I'm sure you guys have some things to deal with. Like stage fright, or accidentally messing up."
"Yeah, stage fright is the worst. You get used to it after a couple of performances though," she said optimistically. She stood up, getting ready to leave.
"Thanks for talking to me, but I have to go now. I hope I'll see you again!" She chirped.
It was now or never. He had no more time to stall. He had to ask her now.
"H-hey, wait." He stuttered. She turned around. "Um, I was just, wondering if I could have your number?"
She stopped, and after a moment's waiting, she blurted, "Sure!" much to Shuichi's relief. She wrote it on a piece of paper that she had in her pocket, (apparently her dress had pockets) adding an extra message at the bottom of the note.
"Make sure to call me when you get the chance," she said nervously, playing with her hair.
"I will." He replied, and watched as her as she left the shop. Curious, he looked at the note more thoroughly, making sure to read the message at the bottom.
"I like you too."