Chapter Text
A smile forms on my lips as I near Café Leblanc. I always spend some of my time there before heading home every day. I quicken my pace before finally getting close enough to grab the door handle.
Stepping inside I’m quickly shocked as I see a male, around my age, working behind the counter inside of my dad. “Oh, welcome.” He says, casually resting the back of his hands against the edge of the counter. “You seem a bit surprised.”
I take a seat at the counter before responding. “A little.” I laugh slightly, taking a good look at the new worker. “I just didn’t realize the owner hired someone. I expected to see him here.”
My eyes land on his name tag as he replies back. Akira. Hmm, his name seems familiar. "You come here often?” He asks before his eyes light up with a sudden thought. “You must be the regular guest Sojiro told me about."
"I might be." I give him a mischievous smile. "Ah, so you are the mysterious regular." He smirks. "Sojiro didn't tell me much except that you come here every day. And to make sure I don’t mess up your order."
I can’t help but laugh again. “Well now I’m very interested to see how my order turns out.” I give him an expectant look as I wait for him to start making my usual order.
“What would you like to order?" He asks me as my lips part slightly from surprise. “Did Sojiro not let you know his favorite customer’s order?” I ask playfully.
"No, he only said not to mess it up." He says back with a smile, resting his arms across the counter, keeping the playful tone. “That sounds just like him honestly.” I smile back, placing my arm on the counter as well, resting my head in my palm. “I’ll have a café au lait please.”
Akira nods as he turns around, starting to make the drink. "That’s a pretty simple choice, it’s a little different compared to what most of the other customers order."
“I like simple things. And at least I can say it’s more complicated than a regular black coffee.” A small hum escapes my lips as the smell of fresh coffee beans begins to fill the air.
"Yeah, your order has a little more depth to it. A café au lait is a bit fancier and more intricate than a simple black coffee. Not necessarily more complicated, just... better." He replies as he continues to make the beverage.
“I think Sojiro’s love for all things coffee might have rubbed off on you a bit.” I say as I continue to watch him work. I’m curious what made my dad go and find someone to hire. He doesn’t like anyone helping out in the café.
Akira smirks as he glances back at me for a moment before back at the coffee. "I’ve learned a lot just working here for a little while. It’s amazing how fast you can go from knowing absolutely nothing about coffee to understanding how different methods of bean processing and roasting can completely change a coffee’s flavor."
“When did you start working here? It must have been recently since I haven’t seen you around before.” I finally ask, my curiosity getting the better of me.
"I started just about a week ago." He replies, finishing up my order. He turns around, carrying the café au lait and placing it down in front of me, before leaning his elbows against the counter again. “But I just started officially working on the clock today.”
I glance down at the coffee and notice he made a small heart design on top. I smile softly at the small little detail. “Geez he trained you for a week before letting you work with customers?”
“Yeah, I learned pretty quickly, though.” He grins, his eyes landing on the heart. “I hope it’s to your liking, being the favorite regular and all.” I immediately pick up the coffee, taking a small sip at first, before placing it back down.
A small silence washes over us as he watches my reaction. If there’s only one trait I’ve inherited from my dad it would be his keen taste for coffee. I stare at Akira, prolonging my inevitable response.
He maintains eye contact, his demeanor staying steady, although there’s a hint of eagerness in his smile, which he tries to hide. He seems to hold his breath, waiting for my opinion, seemingly anxious about what I’ll say.
Akira was patiently waiting for my reaction, tapping his fingers against the counter while staring back at me. There was a look of anticipation on his face, it seemed clear that he genuinely wanted to know my thoughts on his skills with coffee.
“This is really good. I’m impressed.” I finally say, giggling slightly as he breathes out a sigh of relief. "God, you had me on edge." The look of relief quickly morphs into a playful smirk.
I take another sip of the coffee, happy with the taste. “Good. I was hoping I’d stress you out at least a little bit.” He lets out a small chuckle, shaking his head amusedly. “Well, your plan was successful then. My heart is hammering in my chest right now."
My eyes go to his chest as he dramatically covers his heart. Akira. Hmm. Akira, Akira, Akira. “You’re the new transfer student.” I blurt out, a bit more excitedly than necessary. “Sorry.” I give him a sheepish smile. “I’ve been trying to figure out why your name sounded so familiar.”
He blinks in a mixture of confusion and surprise at my outburst, quickly shifting into mild shock at my realization. "You're also a student at Shujin?" He asks, genuinely surprised.
I nod quickly. “Yeah, we’re in the same homeroom. I remember when you showed up late on your first day.” Akira's surprise at the coincidence quickly morphs into slight embarrassment as he lets out a small chuckle.
"Oh, yeah. That..." He looks away, rubbing the back of his neck. "Being late on my first day. Not my finest moment." he says with a sheepish grin. “Eh, it happens to us all.” I wave him off. “I’m surprised it took me so long to recognize you after everything that’s happened recently on campus.”
"Right, the whole Kamoshida situation." He crosses his arms against his chest, shaking his head. "It's absolutely crazy. The guy really went around harassing and abusing students, and no one said a damn thing about it." Anger and disappointment flash across his face.
“It’s a shame what happened to all of those students.” I sigh, picking up my cup to drink some more. “I’m glad it’s all finally out in the open now and he’s paying for what he did.”
“What do you think of those phantom thieves? Do you think they’re actually real or just a crazy coincidence?” I changed the subject slightly. "Honestly, I genuinely do think they're real. It's almost too much to just be a coincidence, especially in the few days leading up to Kamoshida's confession."
“Same. Everyone is so torn between if they’re actually real or not but I feel like they have to be real.” I grin at him, happy he also thinks they exist. The door chimes, interrupting our conversation, as I see Sojiro walk in. “Where were you off to today?” I tease him as he walks up to where I’m sitting.
Sojiro rolls his eyes at my comment as he stops next to me. "I was just running some quick errands." His gaze then flicks to Akira. "I assume everything's been going well here?" Before he can respond Sojiro looks back at me. "How's the new guy?"
“He’s good. Makes better coffee than you.” I joke hoping to get an entertaining reaction out of it. Sojiro looks at me with an offended look while Akira lets out a quiet snicker. "Excuse you?" Sojiro says, a hint of playful annoyance in his voice.
“You heard me.” I say as I take another sip of my drink. Sojiro shakes his head at me, still feigning annoyance, before looking back at Akira. "Don’t listen to this little smartass." He says, nodding his head in my direction.
“Hey.” I call out glaring at him. “It’s not being a smartass if I’m just stating facts.” Akira is silently watching the back and forth banter between us, a smirk on his face, thoroughly amused.
“She said the same thing after taking the first sip. I guess you trained me too well.” Akira joins me with my banter. Sojiro lets out a huff of annoyance, but a small smile betrays his true feelings, making it clear that he's not actually annoyed. "I didn't train you that well, if you're siding with this smartass, kid."
Akira and I both begin to laugh. “But you said that she was an important regular. It would be bad not to side with a customer don’t you think?” My hand goes up to cover my mouth as I start to laugh harder.
Sojiro rolls his eyes again, sighing at the pair of us. "I shouldn’t be surprised you two are getting along." He then walks behind the counter and stands near Akira. “That’s a good thing though. This one needs some good friends.” He taps Akira on the back as he says this.
“Now that I think about it, you need more friends too (Y/N).” He adds and I flip him off in response with a smile. Akira chuckles a bit at the interaction, amused by the playful teasing. Sojiro stays silent for a moment as he looks at me. "You two really are cut from the same cloth, hm?"
Akira gives him a slightly confused look but I know exactly what he’s trying to imply. “Yeah you’re forever stuck with dealing with both of us.” I laugh.
Futaba and I have always had similar personalities since we were young. Even though we can be a handful when we’re together I think he’s grateful Futaba still opens up to me so much after her mother’s death.
"Pretty much, huh?" He sighs, a smile on his face but also a small look of exhaustion. "I'll admit, you two can be a lot to handle every now and then. But I don't mind it all too much… sometimes."
He chuckles a little bit at his own comment, but there's a hint of truth to his words. He wouldn't want it any other way, really. I can see Akira get even more confused so I shift my focus to him and change the subject.
I grab my phone and hand it to him. “We should exchange numbers so we can hang more.” I suggest. "Yeah, I think we should." He takes my phone out of my hand and types in his number, saving it into my contacts, and then handing back my phone to me.
Sojiro glances over from where he's standing, watching the interaction with a small, knowing smile on his face. He stays silent, letting the two of us exchange numbers.
"There we go. You have my number and I have yours." He gives me a small smile and I give him one as well. I then feel my phone buzz and see a message notification from Futaba.
I quickly finish the last bit of my coffee before standing up. “I gotta run but I’ll see you in class tomorrow probably. It was really nice to meet you.” I say as I start to make my way towards the door.
Akira nods his head with a small smile. “Yeah, it was nice to meet you too. I’ll see you tomorrow.” As I leave the café I give them both one last wave as I begin the very short walk home.