Chapter Text
“Kanade!”
Kanade jumped, nearly dropping the reusable bags that she was holding, looking around wildly until her gaze settled onto a slightly taller person, waving cheerfully.
“O-oh, hello, Shiraishi-san-”
“I told you, you can call me An!” An chided, though her smile never dropped.
“An.” Kanade amended, and was rewarded with an even brighter grin.
“So, what are you doing out here? It’s like I almost never see you outside.”
Kanade looked up and squinted at the oppressively bright day, not a cloud in sight. She shuffled toward a nearby streetlight, which offered just a hint of respite from the sun through its shade (or perhaps that was only wishful thinking).
“Um, groceries.”
An nodded. Kanade was reluctant to leave the welcoming shade of the streetlight, but scooted out towards the day and toward the grocery store. Strangely enough, An fell into step beside her.
“Um, Shiraishi-san-”
“An.”
“An, what are you doing?” Kanade shuffled on her feet a few more times.
“Well, I’m not doing anything, and besides, Dad might need me to pick up some more ingredients for Weekend Garage. So I’m going with you, maybe I can help?”
To be honest, Kanade didn’t have any good reasons why An shouldn’t follow her to the grocery store, so she shrugged and continued, entering the grocery store with An trailing behind her, occasionally making jokes that she didn’t really understand.
Thankfully, the grocery store was air conditioned, causing Kanade to let out a sigh of relief as they entered the chilly building. An bounded over to the shopping cart area, which was sweet, if not for the fact that the only thing that Kanade intended to buy could probably fit in her reusable shopping bags.
Kanade immediately made her way to the display where she knew they kept the cup noodles, picking up a box and grunting as she placed it in the bag. Seriously, just why were noodles that contained almost no nutritional value still that heavy?
“Oh, Kanade! I can help you with that.”
An took one of the bags from Kanade, but for some odd reason, she did not place it in the shopping cart, instead choosing to just carry it by slinging the strap over her shoulder.
“An-?”
“Don’t worry, this isn’t too bad. I’ve carried heavier bags than this.”
Kanade shrugged. “Do you want to get whatever you need, now?”
An perked up, leading them around the grocery store and placing various vegetables in the shopping cart, all the while tugging around Kanade’s bag of ramen along with her. She glanced at the cart, which was filled with a bunch of vegetables that she couldn’t name, but looked familiar. Perhaps Honami had brought some over for her at some point in the past.
At first, it seemed as if An would be able to handle the weight of the ramen, but as time went on, her movement became a little slower, a little more labored.
“Uh, An, you can just put the ramen in the cart-”
“No, I’ve got this!”
Kanade blinked at her, and then walked over, lifting the ramen off her back, ignoring her protests, and hefted it, carrying it by herself.
“Oh, fine, if you say so.” An grumbled, but the clear relief on her face told her that she had done the right thing.
They paid for their groceries and left.
“So… I’m going to go home now.”
Kanade felt anxious to return home and get back to her computer, out of the sun and into her darkened room. While she was holding the bag of ramen in her hands, it began to slip, so she fumbled around with it a bit until she was able to reestablish a secure grasp on it. Then she looked up.
An looked a little disappointed.
“Is something wrong?”
“I was thinking that maybe you could come visit my dad’s cafe instead?”
Kanade glanced at the path that would take her back to her house. Her nice, safe, comforting house. Then she turned back to An, who was giving her such an earnest smile that she just couldn’t bring herself to say no.
“Okay.” Kanade shrugged.
“HAHA! YES!”
When Kanade startled back at her volume, An paused and gave her a sheepish grin.
“Sorry.”
After finally arriving at Weekend Garage, Kanade watched An fumble with the groceries for a couple of minutes, insisting that she only needed one trip to carry all of the bags inside. She told Kanade to take a seat inside, so she slid into one of the stools at the counter. Her legs swung in empty air.
Then Kanade watched her struggle with the bags. She felt a little bad, but also, it wasn’t really like she would’ve been much help anyways.
Finally, An managed to drag all of the bags inside and behind the counter (not without losing a few bell peppers) and then turned to Kanade, beaming brightly. Not sure what to do, Kanade settled on politely clapping, and An’s smile grew. She jumped behind the counter, leaning over it and sliding a laminated sheet of paper across the counter.
“So, what can I get for you, my lady?”
Kanade blinked at her, mostly at the use of the pet name. An, seemingly noticing her confusion, backpedaled.
“I mean, sorry, I-”
“No, that’s… fine.” Kanade mumbled. She glanced at the menu, and just pointed to the first thing that looked relatively affordable. “I’ll have this.”
“Coming right up!”
An bustled off, probably to make the aforementioned dish, while Kanade rested her head on the counter. Something about the cleaner that they used on the countertop smelled vaguely citrus-like, which was familiar? She inhaled again, quietly realizing that it was one of the scents that stuck to An.
“Long day?”
Kanade, not expecting to have to talk to anyone, flinched, but turned to the side, catching sight of someone sitting at the counter, holding a mug of something steaming that smelled a little bitter but also quite good. She inhaled, the scent bringing her back to herself, at least a little.
“Um.”
She wasn’t sure how to answer that. The guy raised an eyebrow, then raised his hand to get the attention of the other person working behind the counter. Their brief conversation passed through Kanade’s ears, but she didn’t process their words until another mug of a similar steaming liquid was placed in front of Kanade.
“Uh-”
“You looked like you could use a little bit of a boost. It’s on me.”
“Oh, uh, thank you…?”
“Aoyagi. Toya.”
Kanade nodded gratefully at Toya and then looked at the liquid.
“What… is it?”
Toya looked confused for a second, then answered.
“Coffee.”
Kanade looked at the liquid, shrugged and lifted the mug to her mouth with some effort, as it was a little heavy, and took a sip.
Any normal person would’ve been burnt by the heat of the coffee after drinking it so soon after it was brewed, but after years of drinking instant ramen soup straight out of the cup, Kanade’s tongue was numb. Unfortunately, she was not numb enough to not be aware that coffee tasted much worse than it smelled. So as not to be rude, she gulped down the coffee.
The effects hit her almost immediately, and she perked up.
She took another sip. Was this stuff magic?
Kanade had nearly drained the entire mug when An came back with the food, placing it in front of her.
“One house special sandwich, for the lovely lady.”
Toya made a muffled noise, and An looked at him.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Kanade picked up one of the halves, turning it around a few times. She took a bite. It was pretty good… much better than the instant noodles that she ate every day. She placed the half back down on the plate.
“Wait, aren’t you going to eat some more?” An asked. She picked up the slice, holding out toward her. “Come on, say ‘ahh.’”
Kanade felt her face heating up, but she did take a small bite out of the sandwich. Maybe seeing An smile so brightly meant that it was worth it to go out of her way to visit the cafe.
(Later that night, she felt much more awake than usual. She would have to go back to Weekend Garage for another cup of coffee at some point).