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It was eight thirty in the morning, Shadow walked carefree through the streets of the city. Many people were passing by him going to work or school, but he (who should be going to work too) was walking leisurely towards that coffee shop located in front of the station.
How did he know about the existence of that place? Very simple, Rouge, his teammate and friend (although he tried to deny the latter) had been talking about the same thing all week.
The white bat's words had left a thorn, a very annoying thorn, in his thoughts, starting by emphasizing to his face how routine, monotonous and boring the black hedgehog's life was. In the woman's words, Shadow needed a distraction badly, or he would end up leaving a hole in the ground by doing the exact same thing every day.
And what was her solution? Since the hedgehog was a coffee lover, he could simply add a little more color to his days by trying a coffee made by someone else's hand, and the coffee shop that had recently opened its doors was the perfect opportunity.
That woman could be very persuasive, and he didn't have much resistance against her, after all, it wasn't as if she had bad intentions, on the contrary, Rouge was only concerned about the welfare of the hedgehog, and tried to encourage him by encouraging him to try new things that were according to his tastes. And that's how Shadow ended up agreeing to have a coffee in the morning at that place.
So there he was, looking for that coffee shop that Rouge had insistently recommended to him that day. The place was relatively new, and had become very popular in a very short time thanks to the exquisite desserts, variety of tea and coffee offered, but besides that, it was the kindness and charm of the employees of the place... or that was a last minute comment he heard from Rouge.
Anyway, he preferred not to give the matter so much thought and simply enter the place, after all, he was just going for some coffee, no big deal. Rouge could be right and a change of routine could be good for him, and if not, he simply wouldn't go back to that place, and problem solved.
With that in mind, he gently opened the glass door, and immediately a bell rang, which was hung to give notice of the arrival of a new customer. There were no people yet, not strange since it was just starting the morning, so the black hedgehog took a moment to take in the view.
It wasn't an overly large space, but it was very cozy. While on the outside it was a simple place, painted white and with several plants decorating around it, inside it was much more rustic. Perfect for someone who doesn't like loud, garishly colored places.
There were about six or seven tables with several chairs scattered randomly, while by the windows there were only tables with one or two chairs. Tables, chairs, countertops, shelves, everything was nicely polished wood.
When Shadow was all the way inside, he noticed that there was a white hedgehog wiping the tables, but at the main counter, next to the cash register, there was a girl looking at the hedgehog with a soft smile on her face, almost as if she was waiting for him to approach her. They were both wearing the same uniform, obviously they were the employees, but other than them, there was no one else around.
"Good morning" Greeting the hedgehog who was cleaning the tables, when he noticed Shadow's presence.
"Welcome to Morning Coffee. How can I help you?" The girl spoke as well. A cute white-furred fox, probably of an arctic nature.
Oh. So the name of the place was "Morning coffee", huh? He was sure he hadn't asked Rouge that detail, maybe he just forgot.
"Good morning. Can I see the menu card?" Shadow finally said, even though he already knew what he wanted to order, he just mentioned that to see how much special that place could be to be so mentioned by everyone.
"Of course!" The girl's smile seemed to get even bigger for some reason, and she hurried to hand the newcomer a large laminated card that was full of different names of tea and coffee "Oh! On the back is our sweets and pastries menu" added the girl.
Well, points to whoever designed that card, as the simple details made it easier to read. But anyway, Shadow's eyes only roamed over the coffee section.
"One black coffee please" He said finally.
"Sure, to serve or to go?"
"To serve" He said, setting the letter down on the counter.
"Coming right up! You can have a seat in the meantime"
"Thank you..." Shadow looked at the name on the name badge that was on the girl's chest "... Hachi The Artic Fox?"
"Eh?... Eh?! H-how do you know my name?" The girl's face had burst into red.
"It says it on your name tag" He replied simply, though he couldn't deny that he was a little amused by the girl's reaction.
And he wasn't the only one, as the hedgehog who was cleaning the tables had also noticed what happened, and was covering his mouth so as not to laugh so loudly.
"O-oh? Right. I'm sorry. I'll be right back with your coffee..." But before turning away completely, the girl caught the other hedgehog's attention "Silver, don't laugh at me!"
Oh well. Now he knew the hedgehog's name was Silver and the girl's name was Hachi. Shadow was sure he wouldn't forget those names so easily.
Calmly, he took a seat at one of the single chair tables, which was in the corner of the shop next to a window. It was a good choice, as from where he was he could more easily see the inside of the place, as well as a panoramic view of the street outside.
"Here's your coffee~" Hachi had soon arrived next to him, and depositing the steaming cup on the table "Would you like to add sugar or any sweetener?"
"Ah, no, I prefer it bitter" But as the hedgehog's hands were about to take the cup, a plate with some cookies landed on the table as well "Excuse me, but I didn't order this"
"Oh, don't worry. We usually give this kind of gift to the first person we serve in the morning. Besides, a good bitter coffee always tastes better with some freshly baked cookies"
The black hedgehog wasn't sure why, but he felt a strange tickle in his stomach at that girl's kindness. But he was also sure he heard the other hedgehog muttering something like "But we don't offer those kinds of gifts" or something like that.
In the end, Shadow didn't think much of it, as he really enjoyed his coffee, paid for it and left.
He had started the morning in a very pleasant way, despite the change in his routine, so he decided to come back the next day, and the next, and the next... and before he knew it, he had a whole new daily routine.
He had been going to the new coffee shop for several days now in search of his morning coffee, and whenever he waited he took a closer look at the place, which exuded a homey, welcoming atmosphere.
However, with each passing day, he would also stare longer than necessary at Hachi, trying to learn every detail about her, every gesture, whatever she did seemed to be most interesting, engaging in small talk, discovering how much they had in common. And soon he realized that, just thinking about her made him smile.
That morning, like any other, Shadow arrived at the place first thing in the morning as usual, but instead of being greeted with that typical "welcome" greeting, he found Hachi leaning on the counter, and she seemed to be completely lost in thought as she wrote something on a napkin.
"Good morning Hachi" At the sudden sound of his voice, the girl over jumped, dropping the pencil and napkin "... Bad timing?"
"Nonono! I'm so sorry, I was... distracted" It was only then that the white fox realized who had arrived "Oh! Good morning Shadow! Would you like to order the usual?"
"I'd love to"
"Right away! You can have a seat, I'll bring your order"
"Thank you so much!"
As the girl made her way to the kitchen, Shadow bent down to pick up the pencil and napkin that had been forgotten on the floor, but for some reason, he felt the urge to read what was keeping the girl so busy... and what a surprise he got.
"He comes every day at the same time. Black tea and bitter coffee remind me so much of the black color of his spikes. I
learned by heart the way he prefers his coffee. And every night I fall asleep anxiously, waiting for the next morning to come so I can see him again..."
"My lovely bitter morning coffee"
A faint sound, similar to one glass colliding with another, caused the hedgehog to look to the side, only to discover Hachi, trembling with the cup in her hands, and with the reddest face he had ever seen on her.
Shadow smiled mischievously, realizing he wasn't the only one constantly thinking of someone else, and instead of going to his favorite table, he simply sat at the front counter, right in front of the girl, waiting quietly for her to hand him his coffee.
"So... anytime" The black hedgehog made a gesture pointing to the coffee, which was enough to snap Hachi slightly out of her stupefied state.
Hachi shakily walked over to stand in front of him, and slowly deposited the cup on the bar. Shadow looked at his drink and realized it wasn't his usual bitter coffee, it was more of a latte, but the detail was in the cute heart-shaped Latte Art decorating the drink.
"...I didn't think anyone else would find it" Murmured the embarrassed girl.
"Excuse me? Did you say something?" The hedgehog pretended not to hear her.
"Eh? Ah! It's nothing! I-I mean... please enjoy your coffee Shadow"
"Even if it's not the usual?"
"Huh?" Hachi looked at the cup and realized what he had handed the hedgehog, realizing her mistake "Oh Holy Chaos! I'm so sorry! I'll change it right away!"
"It's fine. Leave it like this" Shadow just took a sip of the coffee, and realized that it actually tasted pretty good "Wow, it's amazing"
"I-isn't it too sweet?"
"I'm not going to lie to you, I don't like sweet, but this latte is perfect"
"Well... thank you... and sorry for the inconvenience. I'll make it up to you"
"No worries. But you seem very distracted today" The girl's face was still red, and at Shadow's observation, Hachi could only look away "May I ask why?"
"It's nothing... don't worry"
"Is that so? Are you sure it's nothing, or don't you want to tell me?" She remained silent, looking away "How about we ask your lovely bitter coffee?"
"... But if that's you..." Hachi finally muttered, but it didn't take her more than two seconds to realize what she had inadvertently said "WHAT? NO! I mean, yes! But no! I mean..."
"You know what?" the hedgehog interrupted her "Napkins have the function of wiping stains, but they can also be used for this" Shadow took another napkin, and using the same pencil as the girl, wrote something on it and folded it, leaving it on the counter.
Without another word, he finished his drink, paid for it and left, before Hachi could process what had happened.
Her platonic had caught her red-handed, and to top it off, she was so nervous that she simply gave him a different coffee because she had spent the night learning how to make hearts in latte and confused the order due to lack of sleep.
She quickly grabbed the napkin, before Silver or anyone else realized what had happened, and when she unfolded it, she found a phone number. Shadow's phone number. Her platonic love had given her his phone number!
But underneath the number was something written, neat and very clear handwriting, despite having been written quickly and on a napkin.
"Latte coffee, it's the perfect combination of sweet and bitter. Just like you and me, don't you think?"
"Me a bitter hedgehog and you my sweet barista"