Chapter Text
Tecchou was aimlessly walking the streets of the city, alone. He was a university student in a nearby school but currently he had no place to go. It had been a little more than a year since he came to Yokohoma to study but he was yet to adjust to a life away from home. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he didn’t have any friends at school. In fact, the only other student he ever talked to was his roommate, Tachihara. He wasn’t that bad a roommate, given he was almost never in the room nor did he associate with Tecchou. He was mostly out partying with his friends and when he was in the room he talked little. Unfortunately for Tecchou, sometimes Tachihara brought over a few friends of his, as he did today. Tachihara hadn’t explicitly told Tecchou to leave the room but Tecchou wouldn’t have stayed anyways. That’s why Tecchou had left the campus and found himself here, strolling alone on the streets till he found this place.
This coffee shop really didn’t have much to offer, besides the quietness. Tecchou was the only customer there, and he had a good idea why. Other then its placing, which made it hard for anybody to stumble upon, it’s coffee and pastries didn’t look anything above average. But this also meant that it wasn’t likely students in his university knew about this place’s existence so he could avoid awkward run-ins. The place was small and didn’t have much life to it. There was a small heater, just enough to keep the cold out, and a few booths. Tecchou sat at the booth furthest from the register, but because of how little space the place had to offer, he was barely ten foot away from it. The register was empty, and there was no barista near the machines.
Tecchou wondered why there was nobody looking after the shop but took the liberty to take a seat anyways. The employee should come back soon enough. He decided to start studying while he waited for the man to arrive. Surely he couldn’t have gone far leaving the shop open. Finals were coming up and while he didn’t care about his academic scores that much, he still wanted to graduate without repeating a year.
Sure enough, about five minutes later the bell hung above the door chimed and a man wearing an apron came in. What drew most of Tecchou's attention though was the man's hair. He had white, messy hair going down to his chin and the tips were dyed crimson. Tecchou hadn’t seen anyone with that such a daring hairstyle before, most people he saw chose to dye their hair blond or brown. Another thing he noticed was that the man's eyes were shut and he had an amused smirk on his face. It was impossible for him to see with his eyes closed but the man still turned towards Tecchou’s table.
“Oh hello there, what would you like to drink?” He called out to Tecchou in a cheerful voice.
Oh no. This was exactly what Tecchou had feared. His worst nightmare... A chatty person.
Tecchou wasn’t a very social person, he kept to himself most of this time. Plus he didn’t find not having people to talk to lonely or boring. He was enough for himself, optionally with a book as well. What he despised was chatty people who tried to force him out of his shell. Over the years, it had become almost too easy for him to identify whether a person was chatty or not, and this man in front of him sounded way too enthusiastic and energetic to not be chatty. Still as long as he was in this cafe he’d have to put up with it, worst case scenario, he’d have find another cafe to study at.
“Americano, please” Tecchou mumbled. Luckily for him, the barista seemed to hear it and went behind the counter to prepare Tecchou’s order. Tecchou watched as the man ground the coffee and pressed it, all while he had his eyes closed. He seemed to know his way around the machine, given how fast he worked with it. Before Tecchou could tear his attention away from the man’s handiwork and get back to studying, the man had already finished preparing his order.
He brought the mug over to the table and put it down next to Tecchou’s notebook.
“Would you like anything else?” He asked to Tecchou but got no answer. He must’ve realized that Tecchou had no intention of talking so he returned to his place behind the counter. Then he turned on the radio sitting on the counter and classical music started playing. Tecchou could finally return to his studying.
Tecchou’s studying that day didn’t last long. After a few hours, an unsaved number that had never took the initiative to contact Tachihara, texted him that they were leaving the room. Hearing that he could finally return to the shielded comfort of his room, Tecchou started to pack up. He paid the bill, for three whole americanos which he ended up liking way more than he thought he would. As he opened the door to leave, the man behind the counter called out to him.
“If you liked the coffee, why not come by again sometime, we’d like to have you. My name is Jouno by the way!”
This uncalled for farewell caused Tecchou to freeze his movements in shock. He turned back and looked at the man named Jouno, the barista of this little coffee shop. Jouno had put his elbows on the counter to support his head and was smirking at him with his still eyes closed. Tecchou stared at Jouno’s face for a few seconds before finally snapping back to reality and hastily leaving. For some reason he couldn’t determine why his heart was beating a mile a minute and his throat was dry. He decided it must be the effect of surprise Jouno’s words had on him. Not only had he talked to him he had also invited Tecchou to come back again.
Walking back to campus, the sky was now dark. He had been sitting at the cafe for several hours, yet the person he branded as “chatty” hadn’t interrupted him once. He was starting to think this Jouno guy wasn’t as bad as he thought, but then what was that farewell?
Tecchou’s brain was filled with more questions than the ones he’d solved in his notebook and he wasn’t sure he could solve these as easily. All he knew was that he should get to the bottom of this Jouno person before the feelings overwhelmed him, even if that meant meeting him again.