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Kaede Akamatsu knew three things for certain about Kaito.
- His name, which she wrote with careful precision on his coffee cup each weekday morning
- His taste in drinks, not always the exact same order each day but always something with non-dairy milk and at least two pumps of a sweet syrup
- That he was totally and completely head over heels for Ryoma.
She knew even less about Ryoma, the quiet boy who’d apparently been a regular since before Kaede had even gotten a job there. He kept to himself, ordering his black coffee with as few words as possible and then stewing silently at the back of the shop until his name was called.
Kaede could see all from her spot behind the counter. Maki wasn’t any good with customers, and Rantaro was the most skilled barista on their team, which meant, more often than not, Kaede was put at the register.
Not that she minded (except for the time someone had tried to throw a hot latte back at her face and Kirumi had needed to call the police). She’d always enjoyed people watching, discovering bits and pieces about people who would otherwise be complete strangers to her. Slowly she would put together the puzzle pieces of these customers’ lives, greeting them each morning with a smile and a genuine interest in how their day was going.
Kaito was a customer that was pretty much an open book. On more than one occasion he’d been cussed out by the next customer in line, finding himself in the midst of recounting his disaster-filled morning commute to Kaede instead of ordering. He liked to talk, and he always seemed to have a smile on his face. Despite only conversing in snippets of a few minutes at a time, Kaede knew all about Kaito’s hopes and dreams; the small apartment he shared with his grandparents, and the golden retriever he’d had since childhood. She might almost consider him a friend, if it weren’t for the fact that they only ever saw each other as a customer and a barista.
He’d come in that morning at his usual time, jacket slung over his shoulders and a smile on his face despite the early hour.
“Hey, Kaede!” Always the same chipper attitude as he approached the cash register – Kaede often wondered if Kaito even needed caffeine in the mornings.
“Good morning, Kaito!” she replied, already reaching for a cup and her purple marker. “What’re you thinking this morning?”
He looked up at the menu, eyes narrowed and head cocked to the side in thought. He did this every morning, like the options were always brand new to him. In someone else the indecision might have been annoying – in Kaito, it was endearing.
After a few long seconds, he looked back to Kaede with a crooked smile. “Why don’t you guys surprise me this morning? You know what I like.”
“Sure!” Kaede replied, even as she caught Maki rolling her eyes behind the espresso machine. “I’ll see what Rantaro can put together for you.”
Kaito leaned forward, a glint of mischief in his eye. “Don’t tell the others,” he mock-whispered, “but Rantaro’s my favourite.”
“I heard that,” Maki replied, taking the cup from Kaede’s hand.
Kaito offered her a sheepish grin of apology before handing Kaede the money for his order and heading towards the pick-up counter to wait for his drink.
Kaede smiled as she put the money into the register. Kaito had an energy about him that always seemed to be enough to put everyone else around him in an equally good mood. Kaede continued to work, taking the orders of the next three patrons in line before handing the cups off to Maki.
As she handed an older man a receipt for his peppermint mocha, her eyes drifted towards Kaito. He held his drink in one hand and his phone in the other as he leaned casually against the wall, every few moments glancing up from his screen towards the door. Kaede followed his gaze, then checked the clock behind her. Instantly, she knew what he was looking for.
(Or, rather, who.)
Kaito and Ryoma ran on similar schedules, always arriving to the front counter within five minutes of each other. She’d observed them for months as they’d order in succession, and then Kaito would watch Ryoma until one of their names was called. He was perhaps the most indiscreet person alive, and yet Ryoma seemed to be absolutely clueless to his admirer. This was the same bit that they played out each and every morning.
Today, however, only Kaito was present.
Kaede bit down on her tongue to hide her excitement, grabbing Maki by the hand and quickly pulling her into the back room.
“Look at that, look at that!” she hissed excitedly.
Maki frowned, pressing onto her toes to peer through the small window. After a long moment, she turned back to Kaede with an unamused look on her face. “What am I looking at?”
“Kaito!” Kaede replied, lightly smacking her coworker in the arm. “ See? He’s waiting for Ryoma!”
Maki released a small huff, turning back to the window once more. “He looks like he’s just on his phone.”
“No,” Kaede said. “Watch.” She crammed herself on top of Maki to get a better view. “Look! Right… there! See the way he’s looking towards the door? Like he’s waiting for something?”
Maki sighed again. “You’re so nosey.”
“It’s not being nosey!” Kaede argued. “It’s good customer service!”
“Speaking of good customer service.” Kaede and Maki both jumped at the sound of an even voice behind them. Kaede turned with an apologetic smile to face their manager, Kirumi Tojo, hands folded in front of her apron and a look in her eyes that said only one thing: disappointment. “Why is no one manning the register?”
“She pulled me back here,” Maki said, throwing Kaede under the bus without a hint of hesitation.
“Sorry, Kirumi. But it was important!”
“Well, let’s just be glad there isn’t a line-up,” Kirumi said, offering Kaede a gentle smile. “But let’s get back out there before one forms, shall we?”
“O–of course,” Kaede stammered, grabbing Maki again by the hand and dragging her back out to the floor. As they tumbled frantically through the door, Kaede caught one final glimpse of Kaito’s retreating form.
Ryoma arrived the next morning, right on schedule.
“Good morning, Ryoma!” Kaede chirped, smiling down at him. “Just the usual for today?”
“Yeah,” he replied, already holding out the exact amount of change required for a single black coffee.
She placed the money into the register and then leaned forward, testing her luck. “We missed you yesterday!”
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “Really?” he replied, expression hardly changing. “I find that hard to believe.”
“Of course we did!” Kaede asserted.
Rantaro popped his head out from around the espresso machine. “Our days feel empty without you, man,” he quipped.
“So, what happened?” Kaede continued, ignoring the shit-eating grin on Rantaro’s face. “I hope everything’s okay!”
“Just had a bit of trouble with my cats,” Ryoma explained, glancing sideways as he spoke. “It made me late, that’s all. Didn’t have time to grab a coffee before work.”
“Must’ve been a hell of a day,” Rantaro said, approaching the register and handing over the black coffee.
“Yeah,” Ryoma replied. “Thanks.”
Kaede’s gaze jumped from the customer in front of her to the door. Kaito had yet to show up, and Ryoma was already heading out. “Are you really going so soon?” she asked.
Ryoma blinked back at her. “I’ve got my drink.”
“Yeah, but why not take something else! For the road! Angie can put together a breakfast sandwich for you!”
“I don’t need–”
“On the house!” Kaede said, without much thought.
Ryoma hesitated, eyes turning down to his coffee before looking back at Kaede with a sigh. “Yeah, fine.”
“It’s the least we can do! Rantaro, go see what Angie can whip up!”
Rantaro gave her a strange look, but did as he was asked. A similar look was mirrored on Ryoma’s face, but he seemed to shrug it off as he sulked towards the back of the store to wait for his food.
Kaito came bursting through the door with his usual energy only a couple minutes later.
“Hey, Kaede!”
“Good morning, Kaito.”
“What’s that look for?”
Kaede faltered. “What look?” she asked, wide-eyed. Had she been wearing that dumb, self-satisfied grin on her face?
“ That look,” Kaito replied, eyebrows raised.
“There’s no look!” she argued. “Just glad to see my favourite customer again!” She leaned forward, and spoke in a voice that could barely be classified as a whisper, “Don’t tell the others.”
“Our little secret,” Kaito replied with a wink.
Speaking of secrets…
“So, what’ll it be this morning?” Her gaze drifted casually from Kaito to Ryoma as she spoke. Kaito, ever curious, turned his head to follow her look. He quickly stiffened and spun back around, his eyes wide.
“Uh, just whatever you want. Whatever Rantaro wants. He gave me some good shit yesterday.”
“Yeah, I’ll get him to whip you something up again.” She was careful to keep tabs on Ryoma as she charged Kaito for his order, ensuring that Angie didn’t make that sandwich too quickly. Kaito seemed antsy himself, pulling his card away too fast from the reader.
“Try again,” Kaede said, offering him a gentle smile. “And breathe.”
“I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about,” he lied, quickly shoving his card away as the transaction completed. “I’ll just, uh, be over there.”
“Yeah,” she replied knowingly. “Sure.”
Despite the obvious crush that Kaito had on Ryoma, Kaede wasn’t sure that she’d ever seen them actually hold a conversation. Maybe a polite ‘hello’ or a quick ‘excuse me’ as they passed each other, but Kaito seemed to do a damn good job at mooning without having the guts to actually say anything.
(Go figure, a guy like Kaito who normally couldn’t shut up going shy when it came to his crush).
“We’ve got to do something to get them together.”
It was a slow afternoon, and Kaede and Rantaro had been put on cleaning duty. Maki was at the register, staring out into the empty store like she might genuinely kill the next person that walked in.
Kaito and Ryoma had both come in that morning like usual – no stalling required. Kaito had watched Ryoma from afar, and there’d been a brief moment where Kaede thought he might actually go through with striking up a conversation. But Kaito had chickened out in the end, just like he always seemed to do, and the pair had gone their separate ways.
“Whatever you’re planning,” Maki said, eyes not moving from the door. “Don’t drag me into it.”
“You know I hate being the voice of reason,” Rantaro said, elbows-deep in the espresso machine, “but I think Maki might be right.”
“Even you, Rantaro?” Kaede pouted.
“It’s not really your business, is it?” he replied, pierced eyebrow raised. “If you meddle, you might make things worse.”
“I’m not meddling!” she argued.
“Yes, you are!” Angie said, popping her head out from the kitchen. “Angie knows a meddler when she sees one!”
“It’s not meddling!” Kaede repeated, taking one of their rags and tossing it towards Angie’s head. “It’s matchmaking! There’s a difference.”
“Not really,” Maki replied.
Kaede released a long huff, crossing her arms over her chest.
She’d show them.
“Himiko, come on!”
“Nyeh, I’m working as fast as I can!”
It was hard to believe that.
Saturdays were Rantaro’s day off, his regular morning position filled by Himiko Yumeno, one of their teenaged employees. She was a lot slower than Rantaro, always looking like she was in need of a nap even when she clocked in for a shift at four in the afternoon.
“Yeah, come on lady!” one of the patrons shouted, kicking at the counter. “I don’t have all day!”
“A curse upon ye,” Himiko muttered under her breath as she steamed a cup of milk.
Kaede sucked in a deep breath, and then released it with a long sigh. She loved her job, but the rush hours were always the worst. They were all obligated to work one weekend day a week, however, and Saturdays were when she paid her dues. “Just give us a minute, sir! We’re a bit backed up at the moment!”
“Maybe you wouldn’t be so backed up if you had any competent people working here!” the man shouted back.
Maki shot daggers in his direction as she pumped caramel syrup into a blended frappucino. Kirumi swept out of the back room as if on cue, greeting the customer with a genial smile. “Is there a problem here, sir?” she asked, pulling his attention away from the employees.
Kaede released a quick sigh of relief, before turning her attention back to the register. In the midst of taking the order of a young teen (who was trying to request a drink they’d seen on social media but didn’t actually know any of the ingredients to), she caught a familiar face.
Kaito didn’t normally come in on weekends; actually, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen him do so. Puzzlement crossed her face as she stared at him, her next customer in line. His own gaze was focused elsewhere.
“Hey, are you even listening to me?” the teen asked, jabbing their phone in Kaede’s face.
“Yeah,” she replied. “Yeah, we’ll make you something purple.”
“Not just something, I want it to be that trending drink!”
“Yeah, we can do that!” Kaede lied through her teeth. If they didn’t know what was meant to be in it, how would they even know if it was made correctly? Kaede scrawled their name on the cup, passed it to Himiko with the instruction to just make a drink as purple as she possibly could, and then turned to take Kaito’s order.
He wasn’t alone.
Kaede’s gaze drifted up, up, up, following the hulking form of the guy that stood next to Kaito. She didn’t recognize him – he would certainly be hard to forget. Her eyebrows pressed together as she took in the scene.
Kaito, coming to the coffee shop with another man. They stood close to each other, their arms nearly entwined. Kaito seemed relaxed, more at ease than she’d ever seen him around Ryoma.
Had she really been wrong about Kaito’s feelings this entire time?
She recovered quickly, painting on that same customer-service-smile that she always wore. “Good morning, Kaito!”
“Hey, Kaede,” he replied easily, leaning on the counter. “I wasn’t sure if you even worked today.”
“Sunday and Monday are my days off,” she explained. “I didn’t know you came in on weekends.”
“Special treat today,” he replied simply with a shrug. “Can you guys do me a double chocolate frappucino, with extra whipped cream?”
“Sure.” She already had her marker out, scrawling his name and his request onto the cup. “And for your… friend?”
The tall man stumbled forwards, his cheeks tinged with pink. “Kaito never said how pretty Kaede is,” the man said, his red eyes open wide.
“You talk about me in your free time?” Kaede asked with an amused smirk.
“Only to my closest friends,” Kaito replied.
Did closest friend mean closest friend or closest friend ?
“Gonta will get Chai tea.”
“Gonta?” Kaede repeated. “Is that your name?” She held the cup in her hand, marker poised to assign the drink.
He looked embarrassed as he nodded his head, the pink in his cheeks only growing in intensity.
“Okay boys, we’ll get it done as quickly as we can.”
“No rush,” Kaito said, the words tumbling quickly out of his mouth. His eyes flickered towards their favourite place in the store; the front door.
Kaede leaned forward, this time careful to drop her voice to an actual whisper. “He normally comes in around noon on weekends.”
“Wh-who?” Kaito sputtered, although it was clear from his expression that they both knew exactly who she was talking about. Kaede winked as Kaito took Gonta’s arm and led him towards the pick-up counter.
Perhaps she hadn’t been wrong after all.
Thankfully, Kaito and Gonta seemed to signal the end of the Saturday rush. Three more customers followed them, and when Kaede finished taking the last order she hurried to the pick-up counter to start handing out food and beverages.
Kirumi had settled the bad temper of the older man, and by the time his order arrived he actually seemed to be smiling. Her manager seemed to possess some sort of magic touch that put even the angriest customers at ease.
“Five shot espresso for Miu?” she called out, handing a steaming hot cup to an older blonde woman and then reaching for the next round of orders. “Kaito and Gonta!”
Gonta approached the counter first, a spring in his step. “Thank you!” he said, taking the tea with a wide grin. “Please, can Gonta ask question?”
“Sure!” Kaede chirped.
“Would it be… un-gentlemanlike to ask for Kaede’s phone number?” Gonta asked.
“Hey buddy,” Kaito cut in quickly, putting a hand on his friend’s chest. “Not when she’s working.”
Gonta nodded his head fervently, clearly taking Kaito’s words to heart. “How about when Kaede done working? What time that?”
“Uh, one o’clock.”
“One o’clock,” Gonta repeated. “Gonta be here at one o’clock to ask again for Kaede’s phone number.”
She’d been somewhat wary at first, but any friend of Kaito’s seemed trustworthy enough. Kaede had suffered more than her fair share of harassment at work, with men who refused to take no for an answer, but Gonta had seemed kind.
He stuck true to this word, coming back to the shop just as Kaede was clocking out and pulling her hair out of her standard work ponytail. He’d told her that she looked even prettier with her hair down, and she hadn’t been able to stop herself from blushing. In the end, she gave him her phone number.
By the start of her shift Tuesday morning, Kaede had learned many things about Gonta. He was studying to become an entomologist at some out-of-state school, and was only back in town for his study break. He and Kaito were close childhood friends, but nothing more than that. She’d replied to all his texts in turn, talking about her dreams of one day becoming a classical pianist. For now, however, music didn’t pay the bills, and she needed a job that did.
Gonta had said he was glad that she wasn’t a professional musician yet, or else they might never have met.
Kaede was on cloud nine as the day started, taking orders with ease. Rantaro was back behind the counter and the drinks were pumped out like a factory line. The customers moved through the shop much like a factory line themselves, Ryoma arriving exactly on schedule for his regular black coffee.
“You know,” Kaede said as she punched in his order. “Kaito’s got a dog.”
Ryoma looked up at her, tugging at his beanie with one hand. “Who’s Kaito?” he asked.
She was pretty sure he was lying, but she’d play along anyways. “You know. Kaito. Tall guy, goatee. He’s in here the same time as you every morning.”
“Ah,” was Ryoma’s only response.
“He’s got a dog,” she repeated. “A golden retriever, a really sweet old thing! And I know you like animals–”
“I like cats,” Ryoma cut in. “Not dogs.”
He shoved his receipt into his pocket and shuffled towards the pick-up counter. And that was the end of the conversation.
“So, is Kaito always like this?”
It was half past ten in the morning, a slow hour save for stroller-pushing mothers arriving for their morning pick-me-up.
“Like what?” Gonta asked, one arm resting on the dessert display case.
He’d wanted to see her again, and she’d suggested he come by for a bit while she worked. Kirumi never seemed to mind – Tsumugi was known to hang around on Rantaro’s shifts – so long as it wasn’t coming out the expense of customer satisfaction.
“Completely hopeless when it comes to romance,” Kaede explained.
Gonta paused, glancing towards Kaede with a stony face. “Kaede know something about Kaito’s romances?”
“No,” she replied, playing coy. “Do you know anything about Kaito’s romances?”
“No,” Gonta repeated. He was a terrible liar.
“I just… see things,” Kaede said, leaning over the counter. “He’s in here all the time, you know. And there’s another guy here all the time, too. Does the name ‘Ryoma’ mean anything to you?”
Gonta cracked easily under pressure. His shoulders sagged and he let out a long sigh. “Is Kaito really that obvious?”
“Yes.”
Gonta frowned. “Maybe Gonta stop taking romance advice from Kaito, then?”
Kaede cracked a smile, a blush heating up her cheeks. “No,” she replied. “I think you’re doing pretty good so far.”
Kaede was exhausted.
She’d tried damn near everything, and had yet to garner any success. She’d tried the direct approach, the indirect approach. She’d tried nudging Kaito, and then tried nudging Ryoma. She’d even tried getting Gonta to talk him into it, but Kaito was stubborn. If he didn’t want to act on his feelings, then he wouldn’t.
That morning fate had somehow convened to put them back-to-back in line. It seemed to take every bit of control in Kaito’s body to keep himself from turning around to look at Ryoma as he waited to order.
(Although she did catch him looking twice when he thought no one else was paying attention, passed off under the guise of checking out the community bulletin board on the back wall).
The shop was busy that morning, and even Kirumi had been called into action behind the counter. The baristas worked like a well-oiled machine, Maki grinding beans while Rantaro added appropriate syrups and toppings. The orders moved out the door at a steady pace, and yet the line at the cash didn't seem to be getting any shorter.
“Hey, Kaede,” Kaito greeted as he finally approached the register. “I’ll do a vanilla latte today with three pumps of caramel and two pumps of raspberry.”
“One of these days you’re gonna go into a sugar coma,” she replied, punching in the order.
“That’s nothing!” Kaito countered. “You should see my friend, Kokichi. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him drink anything that isn’t at least half composed of sugar.”
“So you’ll go into a coma together, then,” she replied, gaze flicking over Kaito’s shoulder. His hand tightened into a fist, but he ignored her.
Had she really done what Maki had said? Had her matchmaking pushed things too far?
“How’s Gonta doing today?” she asked, hoping to change the topic of conversation.
Kaito offered her a knowing smile, and she suddenly wished that she’d kept her mouth shut. “He was heading out early this morning so he could get to some trail before all the bugs woke up. He was already gone before I left.” He paused, tapping his card against the machine. “Why do you wanna know so bad?”
“Shut up,” Kaede mumbled, grabbing his receipt from the register. “You know where to go.” She passed him the receipt with one hand while the other selected a cup. She scrawled his order onto the front as Ryoma approached, money already in hand.
“Good morning, Ryoma!” she said, putting the finishing touch on Kaito’s order specifications. “Just the usual this morning?”
“Yeah,” he replied, passing over the exact change as always. She punched in the order, dropped in the cash, and handed Ryoma his receipt. Kaito’s cup was still in her hand as she reached for Ryoma’s.
Kaede paused, mid-motion, staring down at the cup already in her grasp. Kaito’s name stared back up at her, his sugar-filled order a stark contrast from the next order she needed to scrawl.
Maybe it was time to take excessive measures.
With only a moment’s hesitation, she tossed the empty cup into the nearby garbage. She then selected a new cup and rewrote the sugary order. However this time she finished the writing with one different word.
Ryoma.
She glanced up to find Maki standing there, watching her, arms already crossed over her chest. “Whatever it is,” she said, looking down at the cups. “I’m not doing it.”
“Yes, Kaede,” Kirumi agreed, sweeping past the cash register as she grabbed a chocolate syrup refill, “let’s not drag Maki into your schemes.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but Kirumi had already taken the cups with her free hand and was whisking them away to the other end of the counter. Kaede released a long sigh. So close, and yet foiled at the final step. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the counter with a look of dejection.
“Do you plan to merely stand there sulking, or will you take my order?” The next customer asked, watching her with a raised eyebrow.
Kaede shook her head, straightening up. “Right, sorry,” she apologized quickly. “What can I get for you?”
The man placed his order for a jasmine tea and a bran muffin, and the next customer stepped forward.
“Kaede!”
She turned at the sound of her name. Kirumi was standing by the espresso machine, beckoning her over.
Kaede looked back at the next customer, offering them an apologetic smile. “Just give me a moment.”
“Maki,” Kirumi said as Kaede sidled past the coffee beans, “cover the register.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Rantaro asked.
Kirumi ignored his concerns, and the look of abject annoyance that had painted itself onto Maki’s face.
“Hey Rumi, what do you need?” Kaede asked as she joined her manager by the pick-up counter.
“I simply thought you deserved a break from taking orders,” Kirumi replied with a careful smile. “Help me hand these out, will you?”
“On it!” Kaede agreed, reaching for the next drinks in the queue. “Cappuccino for Tenko! White hot chocolate and Everything bagel for Keebo!”
She handed out the orders, then reached for the next two cups. Her heart sank as she looked at Kaito and Ryoma’s orders, but she did her best to keep her composure. Maybe Maki had been right all along – all Kaede was doing was meddling, and meddling was never a good thing.
“Kaito!” she called out, catching the eye of her friend. “Ryoma!” They approached the counter at the same time, and she carefully passed out the drinks. She watched as Kaito lingered a little too long by the counter, his arm brushing against Ryoma’s, and offered him a smile of encouragement.
He didn’t seem to notice.
“Have a great day, guys,” Kaede said as she reached for the next drink. “I’ve got a two cream two sugar for–”
“The hell is this?”
Kaito’s voice boomed through the shop, garnering the attention of nearly everyone, customer and employee alike.
Kaede leaned forward over the counter. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“This isn’t my drink. This tastes like–”
“My drink.”
Another voice entered the conversation, one that Kaede knew all too well. Ryoma pushed back through the crowd and towards the counter. Kaito’s eyes landed on him, and his ears burned red. Kaede’s own eyes widened, and she spun her head towards Kirumi.
The manager offered her a knowing smile in return.
“Oh gosh,” Kaede sputtered, turning back to the customers. “I must have put the wrong names on the cups! Kaito, I think you have Ryoma’s and Ryoma you must have Kaito’s!”
“That would explain why mine tasted like sh–” Kaito caught himself, the insult hanging on his tongue. He clamped his mouth shut, his blush creeping down his ears and towards his cheeks. “I mean…”
“Here,” Kaede offered, leaning further over the counter. “Let me remake them for you!”
Ryoma lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “It’s not that big of a deal,” he replied. “Unless it is to you,” he added, looking up at Kaito.
“No. No! Not a big deal at all!” He released an awkward laugh, then held the cup out towards Ryoma. “Sorry man, I kind of took a drink already–”
Ryoma didn’t hesitate as he grabbed the coffee from Kaito’s hand and took a long sip. Kaito’s mouth fell open, and it took Kaede smacking him in the arm for him to recover.
“Yours is loaded with a lot of shit,” Ryoma finally said, gesturing towards Kaito’s drink. “You should take better care of yourself.”
“I do!” Kaito replied. “I’ve been training lately!”
“Training for what?” Ryoma asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I, uh… I want to be an astronaut some day,” Kaito replied.
“And he will be!” Kaede piped up. “We all believe in him!”
“Huh,” Ryoma muttered, lips pursed. “You’re a pretty interesting guy. You’re Kaito, right?”
“Yeah! Yep! That’s me!”
“Huh,” Ryoma repeated, nodding his head and taking another sip of his black coffee. “I’d be interested to hear more about your ambitions to explore outer space, but I’ve got to catch the bus.”
“I can drive you!” Kaito burst out.
Ryoma’s eyebrows raised. “You don’t even know where I’m going.”
“It’s fine! I’ve got plenty of time before work! Besides, I’ll take any chance to talk about space!”
“He really will,” Kaede added, although it was quickly becoming clear that Kaito no longer needed her help.
“Well…”
“Come on, man! It’s the least I can do after drinking your coffee.”
Ryoma seemed to soften at that. “All right,” he finally agreed. “But if I wind up chopped into little pieces, there’s plenty of witnesses here.”
“I’m not a serial killer,” Kaito promised as they walked towards the door. “Scout’s honour.”
Kaede smiled as she watched them go, her heart light.
“You’re forming a backlog of drinks here,” Kirumi said, coming up behind Kaede and resting a hand on her shoulder.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, scrambling for the next order. “Sorry!” Kirumi gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze before returning to the blender. “And thank you!” Kaede added.
Kirumi turned back to look at her, a smirk present on her lips. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Kaede had barely clocked in the next morning when Kaito burst through the front door, wearing a smile that was sure to hurt his cheeks by the end of the day.
“Hey, Kaede!” he greeted her.
“Good morning, Kaito,” she replied. “You’re here bright and early!”
“Yeah, my boss was pretty pissed about me being late yesterday.”
“Kaito!”
“Save the lecture, Kaede,” he replied, waving his hand. “That’s why I’m gonna make sure to not be late today.”
“Okay, fine,” she replied, arms crossing over her chest. “What do you want to do today?”
“I’ll take a cinnamon latte with two pumps of white chocolate syrup,” Kaito said, fishing in his pocket for his wallet, “and a black coffee.”
Kaede’s mouth fell open. “No!”
Kaito’s grin spread even wider. “Yeah!” he replied, that slight burn returning to his ears. “He’s in the car.”
“Oh my gosh!” Kaede repeated, grabbing Kaito’s arm and jumping up and down. “You did it! You finally did it!”
“Yeah,” he repeated, this time with a sheepish grin. “Turns out I was just being a complete idiot.”
“Hey,” Rantaro said, walking behind Kaede with a rag in his hands. “Congrats, man.”
“Yeah,” Maki agreed from behind the espresso machine. “Maybe now Kaede will shut up.”
“Maki!” Kaede admonished the girl. “Don’t listen to her,” she added to Kaito. “I was just doing what friends do.”
“Nah, Maki’s right! If it weren’t for your meddling I never would’ve had the courage to say anything to Ryoma.”
“My– I wasn’t meddling!”
“Told you,” Maki said with a smug smile.
“Hey!” Kaito said, as Kaede’s lower lip jutted out in a pout. “There’s nothing wrong with a bit of meddling. And I owe you one, really. Maybe you and Gonta could hang out with me and Ryoma this weekend?” His eyebrows waggled at the mention of his best friend.
Kaede blushed furiously. “Me and Gonta? No, we’re just…! We’re just friends!”
“Then why’s he been hanging around here every day?” Angie asked, leaning out of the kitchen.
“M–mind your own business!” Kaede sputtered.
“Oh, so it’s okay when you meddle, but when I do it’s going too far?” Kaito asked, one eyebrow raised.
“I wasn’t meddling!”
“Are you going to cash him out or not?” Maki asked.
Kaede released a long sigh, continuing to mutter under her breath as she punched in Kaito’s order. He watched her with an amused smile, passing over the money for the drinks.
“Hey,” he said, softer this time. “That’s what friends do, isn’t it?”
Kaede found herself smiling, despite herself. Friends. Maybe that’s what she and Kaito had been for a long time now, without even really knowing it.
“Yeah,” she whispered, head bowed as she counted out his change. “It is.”
“And I’m not the only one who deserves a happy ending,” he added, punching her lightly in the arm.
“Careful,” Kaede said with a small laugh. “If Kirumi catches you doing that, she’s not afraid to call the police.” She held out Kaito’s change, and he smiled back at her.
“So?” he asked, pocketing the coins. “This weekend?”
“Yeah, okay,” she finally relented. “I… I do really like him, you know.” She’d leaned closer for that, a secret shared just between her and Kaito no matter how obvious her feelings may have been.
“I know,” he replied. “And I’m not gonna let you waste time by being an idiot like I did.”
“Thank you,” she whispered as Maki came up behind her with the two drinks.
“Thank you!” Kaito repeated, and even as he turned to go with that stupid smile on his face she wasn’t sure if he was talking about the drinks or Ryoma.
Although, in the end, she supposed it didn’t really matter at all.