Work Text:
Shit shit shit.
I am going to be late.
On my first day as an intern.
Seriously, what am I other than a colossal moron.
I sprint down the street as fast as I can, my chest heaving in exhaustion as I try to make it to the office in time. To make matters worse, it was raining and I forgot to bring an umbrella. I curse under my breath as I step onto a puddle, making the leg of my new dress pants and shoes soaked, as if I'm not already drenched head to toe. I've been a complete and utter mess since the morning.
When I woke up this morning, I felt strangely more awake and energized than I usually do. I was confused but also proud of myself as I'm notorious for slamming the snooze button around 10 times before I actually get up. This time, I didn't even need an alarm, I just woke up early all by myself! Or so I thought. I finally realized what time it really was in the clock I had in my bathroom, and I choked on my toothpaste. It was 7:04am, only 26 minutes left until I needed to be in the office, and I was still in my PJ's. I started panicking, trying to put on deodorant while putting on my shoes at the same time and ran out the door with an empty stomach and a banana.
Now I am waiting for the traffic light to change green, trying to catch my breath and slow down my heart rate. As I wait, I check my phone to see either how much time I have left, or how late I already was. Crap. I have 5 minutes left to arrive on time. Seriously, why did I agree to arrive at 7:30am? I had to option to clock in at 8am which I did in my previous temp job. But I thought I needed to prove to my advisor that I was a diligent worker and I was worthy of my internship where I can finally perform actual duties instead of just fetching coffee and lunch for the other employees. For the internship, I repeated in my head. When the light finally changed, I went back to sprinting. 4 minutes left. I can do this. I can see the top of the shiny office building as I'm running. I can do this, I can do-
I didn't account for the slipperiness of the crosswalk and fell headfirst onto the pavement. The side of my head started throbbing and I felt my workbag slide off my shoulder. Jesus Christ. What the hell did the universe have against me today? I surely pissed off a god or someone in my past life for my series of bad luck today. "Goddamni-"
"Hey, you good?" I looked up and came face to face to an... owl? Oh lord, I hit my head pretty terribly if I'm imagining a nocturnal animal in the morning, gazing down at me. "Hey," the owl-like figure snapped their fingers in my face. "You gotta get up! Unless you wanna get run over!"
Coming back to my senses, I hear a series of car honks in my direction. "Shit!" I scramble as I try to get up but fall back down due to the dizziness. I saw a hand in front of me and took it appreciatively. I grab my workbag and run across the crosswalk, getting dragged along by the mysterious man. When we finally got to the other side of the road, I pulled away my hand from the stranger and started massaging my throbbing temples. "Christ," I mumbled. I am absolutely mortified. Could this morning get even get worse? Well, at least it was not raining anymore.
I let out a heavy sigh as I felt something poke my chest. I looked down and saw a hand holding a pair of glasses- my glasses. With a cracked lens.
I spoke too soon.
"You dropped this when you fell. I think one of the lenses is cracked a little on the side." When I heard those words come out of the stranger's mouth, I lost it. I regret losing my cool but I just underwent one of the worst mornings of my life and I needed to let out some steam.
"Yeah, I think can see that myself, thank you very much." I snapped. I felt bad, I'm a usually very level-headed person and I rarely get mad, but today was just not my day. I snatched my glasses from the stranger and put them on. It is still intact for the most part, but there definitely is a visible crack that was hard to ignore. "Good fucking riddance." I wanted to go home and hibernate in bed for the next few weeks. No, months.
I hear the stranger chuckle and I was about to scowl at him until I finally got a proper look at his face. This man... was actually an owl. Okay, not an actual one, but his appearance was an uncanny resemblance to a horned owl; round golden-coloured eyes, spiky white-grey hair with black streaks with certain sections of it done up, grey eyebrows, and a muscular build. He is unlike anyone I've ever seen before; he was absolutely breathtaking. Still, beautiful face and body and hair and voice aside, he was laughing at me and I didn't appreciate it. "Glad you find amusement in my misery." I exressed sarcastically.
The owl man laughed even louder when he replied, "No, no, it's not that." He looked hesitant but pointed towards the road. I followed to see what he was pointing at and as soon as I saw it, I understood. My banana, the one I was not even able to take a single bite out of yet, was squashed in the pavement by a car near the area I slipped.
"Well, there goes my breakfast." At this point, I was not even surprised. It was certain now that I for sure pissed off some god in a previous life.
"Well, at least that's not YOU squashed into the ground, right?!" He smiled turned sheepish when I glared at him as he followed up with, "Sorry, too soon." He reached into his backpack and pulled out a croissant. "Here, have this. I can get another one at my job for free so don't worry about it. Where are you headed?"
I stare at the croissant, and I stare back at him. Normally with the hunger I am experiencing right now, I would have taken up the offer immediately. However, I could not take my eyes off this angel's face, offering me food. No one's ever shared their food with me before. I was about to bow down to him and take the buttery goodness when, wait- angel?! Did I just call this man an angel in my mind? Alright, I need to get out of here. This person is doing weird things to the inside of my chest and making my face hot. I mumbled, "No thank you. I have to go, sorry." I started to walk away when I heard him call out to me.
"Hey, wait a sec! Do I know you? I swear I have seen you before."
I looked back at him, confused. I don't recognize him from anywhere. And if I had seen him before, I don't think I'd forget an appearance like his. "I don't think so, no."
"What's your name?!" He started smiling again when he yelled that out. It made my heart warm but at the same time, I did not feel comfortable telling my name to a stranger in the middle of a sidewalk.
"I am late for my job. But thank you for helping me out. Have a good day." Part of me is sad that I am walking away from him, but it was true. I don't need to get even more late for my internship than I already am.
"Hold on, you have something in your hair."
Did I? I put my hands on my hair and started messing it up. It already became in disarray when it was raining, so might as well mess it up even more. The man ran up to me and pulled the thing out of my hair- a leaf. "There you go. Now you look even more dashing, my good sir!" I felt my cheeks heat up even more.
"Thanks, you really are just seeing all the worst parts of me today, huh? Normally I'm never this clumsy or graceless."
"Trust me, if you are who I think you are, then you are far from clumsy and graceless."
That made me raise an eyebrow. "What are you talking ab-"
"I have a feeling we will meet again very soon." He shoots me one last blinding smile, patted my head, and walked away to the opposite side, leaving me speechless and motionless. After what it felt like a minute of just standing like an idiot, I turned around and started walking towards my own destination. While walking, I felt something in my coat pocket. I put my hand in and it felt a paper bag with something inside it. When I opened it, I finally let out the first smile of the day. It was the croissant.
~~~~~~~~
For the second time today, I walk past the very crosswalk I fell at this morning. Turns out, I missed an email my advisor sent me last night saying I could come in today at 8:00am instead of 7:30 since that was when she would also clock in. You'd think I'd be irritated because that just meant I went through the world's most hellish morning for no reason, but here I am feeling the exact opposite. If it was not for this morning, I would not feel my heart skip a beat from just the thought of his hand patting my head, or experience the fuzzy feeling in my stomach when I bit into that croissant. Owl man really did make my morning. No, maybe even my week. It's been a long time since I've felt like this towards a person. It made me excited, but also disappointed. While owl man did say that we will meet again, how realistic is that, really? There's almost 14 million people in Tokyo alone, so what are the chances I'm going to meet him again. Sighing, I walked towards the café where I'm picking up my advisors' lunch.
Turns out that even in the early stages of an internship job, you basically just run around getting stuff for the employees who have actual things to do. Now that was something that actually irritated me. "Might as well put me back in my temp position, for god's sake."
I walked into the familiar café where I always get my advisors' lunch and took in the familiar aroma of freshly brewed coffee and turkey sandwiches. I really admire this café. It is an independent business with a homey yet trendy atmosphere, with vinyls on the walls and plants scattered across the store. You can tell the owners really put their hearts into the decor and ambiance. On days where I am not picking up lunch for my advisor or other employees, I come here on my own free time and usually study for grad school or read. I don't really do the whole "people watching" thing. I hate when others stare at me, so why should I do the same? I placed my order and stood by the waiting area.
As I waited, I notice inside the display counter some pastries I did not recognize. As a regular here, I know their whole menu to heart and I always recognize whenever they bring out new products. This time, it looked like some cheese Danish pastry and croissants, which looked eerily familiar. Hmm. Had they always had croissants? I made a mental note to purchase some when I finish work today. After 8 minutes, the cashier came back to with my order and also a small paper. "Thank you for coming, enjoy your food. Have a great day!" The cashier looked at me with a funny looking smile and winked. What the heck was that about? I took the order and looked that the paper. It was a note:
"Well, well, well, what did I say. I knew we'd see each other again, and this time, I actually know your name. Pleased to meet you Akaashi Keiji. Hope you enjoyed your croissant; I can confidently say that it would've tasted a lot better than your squashed banana ;) -Bo."
I was completely dumbfounded when I finished reading it, even after the third time. He even drew an owl face beside his name which I kept tracing with my thumb. "Careful, if you keep your mouth open like that any longer, a fly might go inside." I felt my heart leap out of my chest when I heard that familiar voice. I slowly looked up and standing in front of me was my owl man. Except, I don't need to call him that anymore as I peeked at his nametag on his uniform, and then finally at his face. Of course, there was that ever-so dashing smile glued on his face as he gazed down at me with the softest eyes. "Welcome back, Keiji."
At that moment, I had a feeling- no, I knew he knew me for a long time, maybe even since I started coming to this café. Whenever it might have been, I will eventually find out soon as I finally offered my own smile, just for him, as I replied, "Glad to be back, Bokuto Koutarou."