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Carefully, he prepares the latte that was ordered. He puts the cup aside and glances at the clock on the wall. His face reflects total exhaustion. Studying and working at the same time can definitely be exhausting. Haru lets out a sigh and continues with his task. If someone doesn't arrive in the next few minutes, he can happily leave. He can go home and enjoy a long bath and then eat a good roast mackerel. He would be free at last.
He prays inwardly that someone else doesn't come.
He leaves the order on one of the tables and returns to his place behind the bar. He rests his head on his hand, watching as the people begin to leave. He finishes collecting the empty glasses and begins to clean them.
After a few minutes, Haru sees how the last person leaves the premises. He can't help but form a small triumphant smile on his face. As soon as he loses sight of the client, he takes off the yellow apron that is part of his uniform.
2 minutes and he can go to his home, full of peace.
"Great…" he murmurs, satisfied.
The pleasant feeling doesn't last too long, because he hears the doorbell ring. That only happens when someone enters the place.
No no no no!
Haruka doesn't even want to look, though, he has to at some point. Slowly, he turns to look and to his annoyance, he sees a guy enter. Haru has to squint to see him, but he doesn't think he's seen him before. His blue eyes finally connect with the stranger's. They are red. The stranger's eyes are red.
"Umm… is it still open?" he asks.
Haru has to resist the urge to roll his eyes. He was about to leave! With a very serious expression, he points to the large ‘OPEN’ sign just above the front door of the cafeteria. The boy laughs nervously before taking a seat at one of the tables.
With his left hand, he removes the cap from his head. His hair is also red; it's something Haru can notice from the bar. The stranger brushes his hair back, while he lets out a sigh.
"I guess you were just about to close up, weren't you?" This time, Haru does roll his eyes, irritated. Of course he was about to close. He takes a deep breath, as he holds the pen firmly in his hand.
"You need something?"
"No, no. I'm fine. I just wanted to… relax a little. And this was the only place open at this time."
Haru wants to run away. He wants to lock himself in his house, take a long bath and eat a delicious dish made of mackerel. Is it too much to ask?
The black-haired guy stares at the stranger. He must maintain his composure. He can't treat a customer badly, his boss might find out and fire him! Think about your studies, Haru!
"Are you OK?" He dares to ask, to which the stranger stirs in his place.
Haru sharpens his gaze on him. Wait… the boy is… crying ?
"I can't believe they fired me! Everything was so good!" the redhead exclaims, while he covers his face with his hands. Haru even jumps at the boy's unexpected reaction. "Just because I messed up ONE customer's order! A client! Does the boss know how hard I've worked to go from being a bathroom cleaner to being a waiter?! Does he know how many customers I attracted to the store?!"
Haru takes a napkin out of his pants pocket and hands it to him. The stranger soon takes it and whispers an almost inaudible 'thank you'. A few minutes pass before he continues his chain of complaints between sobs. From what Haru understands, the boy is a student, just like him. He failed an exam in the 'Old Japanese' subject. He found himself thinking about it all day and when he messed up a customer's order, his boss fired him.
"Wow, that sounds… complicated," Haru remains static, not knowing what to say to make him calm down.
"Yes, it is!"
"Yes," the black-haired man slowly sits on the chair in front of the stranger. He had gotten tired of standing still. Haru stares at him. He hates seeing people cry for a reason. It is painful to watch . One second, time to add one more. Is noisy . Yes, he knows it may sound bad, but the poor guy just wants to go home and rest. He's not sure he can deal with a boy crying his eyes out when all he wants to do is run away.
"It's bullshit."
"Yes, well, everything will be fine", Haru comments suddenly, managing to catch the stranger's attention.
"You think?"
"Yeah, we all make mistakes. I mean, I got fired from my previous job a couple of months ago too," the boy casually flips through the notebook of the orders made that day. The redhead looks at him for a few moments, surprised. It's not what he expected.
"Oh, really? Why?" Curiosity crosses the stranger's face.
"Now that I think about it, the boss said I was crazy when I told her the water was alive. I didn't know that it was prohibited from swimming in the children's pool. My shift was over and I just wanted to swim," Haru explains simply.
The redhead bites his lower lip, while a smile threatens to slide across his lips. Finally, laughter bursts from his lips like a wave, causing Haru to look at him in awe and admiration. The sound is so genuine and fascinating that the blue-eyed man looks like an idiot watching him. The stranger's sharp teeth stand out in Haruka's sight. They are like the teeth of a shark, there is no doubt about that.
It feels surreal to him how quickly the melancholic atmosphere from a few minutes ago fades, being replaced by one of absolute warmth. The stranger wipes the tears from his eyes, letting out the last of his laughter.
"Really? A children's pool?"
"There was no pool for adults. If so, I would have gotten into that one and had more room to swim," Haruka responds with a raised eyebrow.
"OK." The stranger nods, still laughing a little. "So, I guess you like swimming… about water… I'm curious, why do you think it's alive? Is there anything that made you think about that?"
Haru shrugs.
"It is a certainty that I have had since I was a child. I just know."
"I'm still waiting for your answer to my first question," the redhead rests his head on his hand.
Haruka leans against the back of the chair.
"I always had this idea that water has life. When you dive into it, it can attack you by baring its fangs. But, there is no reason to fear. There is no reason for you to resist the water, you open space in it with your fingers and in that space, you slide your whole body." The stranger stares at him, somewhat surprised. "Why are you looking at me like that? You don’t think I’m crazy, do you?"
The boy quickly shakes his head.
"No! It's not that... it's just that I had never heard anyone express themselves that way about water. It’s amazing… to me ," Haru has a feeling that the stranger is being genuine, so he simply nods.
"Umm… thanks for tonight," the redhead puts his hands in the pockets of his coat. The cold outside is too much compared to the inside of the cafeteria. Haruka can even see the mist coming out of the boy's mouth.
"It's no big deal," he looks at him out of the corner of her eye for seconds while he locks the door of the establishment.
"It's no big deal?! You literally listened to me talk for three hours."
Haruka shrugs. Oh really? Has that much time passed already?
"I'm used to it," and he's not lying. Every day he listens to a certain chatty blonde, Nagisa, his co-worker.
"Even so. It shouldn't be normal for you to see a stranger come and tell you about each of his problems," the stranger raises an eyebrow in amusement. Haru doesn't respond, so the redhead assumes he's right.
"Well, if you put it like that…"
"No way," the stranger mutters as he watches him carefully. Haruka frowns.
"What?"
"Is that the only thing you bring to cover you from the cold?" He points to the thin blue sweater the black-haired boy is wearing.
"It was half price, I can't spend money on things like this. You know the pay at a part-time job is limited," Haruka responds, hugging himself, trying to protect himself from the cold.
The stranger glares at him.
"My God," he murmurs, as he begins to undo her coat.
"What are you doing?"
"Don't even think I'm going to let you freeze," and with that, he places the warm jacket on Haruka's shoulders. The redhead adjusts the garment with his hands, shortening the distance between them a little.
"Hey…"
"It could give you hypothermia and who knows what else," the boy almost whispers, as he continues to ‘fix’ the coat, even though it is already more than accommodated.
His hands stop on Haru's shoulders.
"Well, I guess we should go now. It's late," the stranger speaks again, after a few seconds, and looks away from him to the street to his right. "I'm going this way."
Haru looks to the opposite side of the street and hesitates for a moment before turning his attention back to the boy.
"Me too."
"Brilliant!"
Both boys begin to walk in that direction.
"Favorite food?" the redhead questions.
"Roasted mackerel."
"Meat. Your turn," the stranger turns to look at Haru.
"Favorite color?"
The stranger smiles.
"I bet yours is blue," he says, after a few seconds.
"You're right," Haru raises an eyebrow. "How did you know?"
The redhead stares at him.
"If I had those eyes, I swear blue would be my favorite color," he responds.
Haruka's cheeks take on a reddish hue and the stranger looks away. The black-haired guy clears his throat before asking the next question.
"What's yours?"
"I'd say it's red, but, now, I wouldn't be so sure about it," he scratches the back of his head nervously. Both boys continue walking, now in silence. It takes them a few minutes to get to the bus stop. And when the transport arrives, Haru begins to get rid of the coat that the stranger has lent him.
"Wait, don't take it off," the redhead almost begged him. "Give it to me the next time we see each other."
‘When will that be?’ Haru questions himself, as he puts the garment back on.
"I'm Rin, by the way," the stranger speaks again.
"It's a cute name."
Now it's Rin who blushes.
"Haru," the blue-eyed man introduces himself.
The redhead smiles.
"See you then, Haru ."
And Rin finally gets on the bus. The black-haired boy stays on the sidewalk, watching the transport drive away, with Rin in it.
Haru writes the order for table 5 in his notebook. A couple of days have passed since that strange conversation with a certain redhead. The doorbell rings, however, Haru is focused enough on his writing that he can't quite hear it. Now he has to go to the table of the newly arrived customer, there are many people today.
"Hello, what would you like to order?" he questions as soon as he reaches the next table. He hasn't taken his eyes off the notebook.
" Yo, Haru ," he knows that voice.
The black-haired waiter finally takes his eyes off the object in his hands to look at the boy sitting at the table.
"Rin."
"Hey," Rin's smile allows Haru to see his sharp teeth, which makes the guy smile too.
"Hey."