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Shiroyabu and Kuroyanagi met up in front of the cafe. The white door was covered in ads and flyers. Looking for their wanted postal worker. The ground was still wet from the previous night’s rainstorm. All that remained was a low fog and the crisp October air. The solid-grey overcast sky was hanging over them, lending a low light to their surroundings as day broke.
“This is that cafe I was telling you about the other week.”
“uh, remind me again?” he frowns, still a little groggy. His words coming out like mumbles.
“It doesn’t matter, let’s go in.” Kuroyanagi replied.
So they did.
Shiroyabu was surprised the cafe was even open this early, let alone that there were people. It was bustling like a bar on the inside, with a live band playing smooth jazz and all, under the bright warm orange lights of the cafe.
“Odd seeing a place like this in the 25th ward.” Shiroyabu thought out loud.
“It’s closing next week.”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“There was a sign on the door, they can’t afford to stay open.” Kuroyanagi lamented.
“Well, that’s a shame.”
“Sure is, this is the only place in town where you can get a good cup of coffee.”
Kuroyanagi scanned the room for a seat, she saw a tiny booth off in a corner. It didn’t have a good view of the band, but at least it was near a window. They sat down. Shiroyabu rubbed his eyes.
“Sorry, remind me what the guy looks like?” he said sleepily.
“God, do you need to be reminded of everything?” Kuro chided, it was too early for her too.
“I think I blanked out a little when you explained it in the car.”
“Probably nothing coffee can’t fix. The dude looks sort of feminine, he's got straight hair, big lips, and he’s sorta tall and thin. Anyways, be on the lookout for anyone eating or ordering a Mont Blanc, cus’ this guy apparently loves them”
A Mont Blanc sounded pretty good right about now.
“Sounds like a real character. So this guy’s a hitman?” he lethargically spoke
“Can’t you take anything seriously? Yes, he works at the Regional Adjustment Bureau, and comes here for coffee… ” Kuro checked her watch “In fifteen minutes.”
Shiroyabu realized he didn’t know what time it was. He had been in such a rush getting to the cafe. He pulled the left sleeve of his suit back to find he’d forgotten his watch. He pushed his sleeve back up and acted natural.
“And uhh what time would that be..?” he asks curiously, “Fifteen minutes from now?”
“I just saw you check your sleeve. It would be 6:30 am.” she said, frustrated.
God, it wasn’t even 7am. He just wanted to be back in bed, it felt as if he couldn’t remember the last time he was home. Like he had just jumped from one week to the next, one case to the next. He stretched his arms across the modest booth table and balanced his head on his right shoulder.
Exhausted, Shiroyabu does what anyone else would do in a cafe.
“I didn’t eat, should we go order?”
She didn’t even try to argue, she just wanted to nail this guy. With a sigh, Kuro responded.
“Yeah whatever.”
—-
Shiroyabu looked across the cafe again, the modestly long lines from the morning rush made him regret his decision to order, but his grumbling stomach begged to differ. He queued up in the line and observed. Behind the counter was a bunch of employees in aprons and nametags, rushing around to fulfill orders. The jazz band had taken five, so the soundscape was filled with small talk and chatter. No distinct conversations, just the passive noise of people enjoying each other's company.
Hanging above them were several displays that showed the menu and specials for the day. Shiroyabu read through thoroughly, the breakfast sausage sandwich with egg and cheese seemed good. Usually he would go for something with bacon, but he just wasn’t feeling it today. Not that he could order, since the line was so long.
Not long into waiting, a ringtone went off, the white-haired man patted himself down looking for his phone but couldn’t find it. He checked his back pocket, still no cigar. He heard a woman towards the front of the line yell with a shrill voice:
“Hello!?”
A moment passed.
“No, I’ve got time!” she harped into her phone.
The girl pulled herself out of the line but stayed within earshot of the rest of the restaurant. She then proceeded to recount her last week with extreme detail and uncomfortable depth. Her veterinarian job, which of her coworkers she hated, her date last Tuesday, the time she yelled at a waiter for getting her order wrong. All in the same loud voice, for everyone to hear.
After an eternity, Shiroyabu got to the front of the line and was called to order.
“Whad'ya want? ” The cashier grumbled.
The bluntness of the part-timer’s tone made Shiroyabu forget his order. He glanced back up at the menu. He could feel the part-timer roll his eyes. He saw his egg sandwich sitting in the list of options, and ordered a meal with hash browns and coffee.
—--
He got back to his seat, put down his plate and waited for Kuroyanagi to return. He didn’t want to be rude, so he waited to eat his egg sandwich, but snuck himself a couple hash browns. He kept an eye out
Out of the corner of his eye, Shiroyabu spots an ant. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a bug in the whole 25th ward, let alone an ant. Yet there it was, crawling its way over to a stray hash brown on the table.
Shiroyabu brought the side of his fist down and squashed it. He admired the crushed corpse on the side of his hand.
“It had to be done, sorry little guy.”
He wiped it off with a paper napkin, balled it up, and placed it on the table. He continued eating his breakfast, the image of the squashed bug stuck in his mind. Not soon after that, Kuroyanagi came back with her food.
"Just fries again?"
"Yeah, I ate before I came. Something you seem incapable of doing."
She placed her plate down with a clatter, and finally sat down. She leaned against the window instead of the back of the booth so she could still scan the cafe with one leg up on the bench. She took a breath and started again with a calmer tone.
“Sorry I should stop snapping at you. Just eat your breakfast and keep an eye out for our guy. Y’know, the whole reason we’re fucking here.”
She didn’t sound very sincere, but he’ll take what he can get. They ate their meal in silence. That woman had hung up so it finally did feel quiet in the cafe. The egg sandwich was fine, the hash browns were, hash browns, as filling as they were empty. He brought his cup of coffee to his lips and blew on it softly. He took a sip, the taste slowly telling his brain to wake up.
“You were right,” Shiroyabu admitted “This is a damn good cup of coffee.”
Kuroyanagi smirked slightly. “So you do remember.”
“I think I just needed to wake up first. You know how I am this early in the morning.”
Her smirk turned to a chuckle. “This Early? You’re hopeless. Y’know one of my professors, used to brag about waking up at 5 o’clock, even on weekends.”
A silent moment passed as they dug into their meals. Shiroyabu thought of something:
“Did you hear that woman earlier on the phone?”
“Who couldn’t? God, the nerve of talking so loudly like that in a public place.”
“That takes a certain privilege too, like we can’t talk about our lives in the open like that!”
“Yeah we already gotta keep it vague even when we’re fuckin’ whispering ”
“Well, we’re doing important work, unlike her.”
“That’s why we gotta focus, but people like her throw us off-course.” Kuro stated.
Shiroybau looked down at the meal in front of him. It was finished, but he was still hungry.
“Ugh, I’m gonna go get a desert”
—
He shambled to the counter all over again.
"Hey, can I have a Mont Blanc?"
"Sorry, someone just took the last one."
"Ok then, do you guys have, like…” he glanced at the pastry menu and said the first thing that looked good “a chocolate chip muffin?"
"Uhhhhh…" The employee looked over at the pastry display case "I got blueberry."
He thought for a moment.
"I'll take it."
—
He arrived back at the table with his blueberry muffin. Kuroyanagi checked her watch.
“It’s 6:45, I don’t think our guy’s gonna show.”
The time took him by surprise. Had it really been so long already?
“Really?”
“Who knows, maybe he didn’t feel like coffee this morning, maybe he felt like clocking in early, but he certainly isn’t here.” Kuro sighed “I guess we’ll have to come back tomorrow.”
Shiroyabu hung his head in disappointment. The idea of waking up that early again tomorrow weighed heavy in his mind.
“Ugh, it’s almost November.” he said with a sigh. “The end of the year always seems to sneak up on me.”
“You’re telling me.”
“I dunno, I never really make any resolutions or anything but I always feel like the year has passed me by.” He took another swig of his coffee, and glanced out the window. “I should make a resolution for next year.”
He searched through his head for a resolution, but nothing good came to mind, only the clichés of what he's heard other people say. He’s already a cop so he doesn’t need to go to the gym. He eats well enough already so why would he go on some weird diet? He certainly doesn’t want to go vegan. Kuroyanagi interrupts his thought process:
“Well I know what I’m doing. This year, I started lookin’ good with a revolver, next year, I’ll make sure all the criminals fear even my name. What are you thinking?”
Of course, she had everything figured out.
“I don’t know. I think about my year so far and I’ve only really done what I’ve always done, the same work, over and over again. Even now, we’re just doing this because we messed up the stakeout last week, and now we’re gonna have to do it again.”
“Well it’s still only October. I mean you don’t have to wait for a new year to have an excuse to change or set a goal.” She ate one of her fries. “I knew this guy, a couple years ago, who just snapped, and came to work with a whole new personality. He picked up smoking, got new hobbies, he used totally different words with a deeper voice and would act confused if you tried to point out his change in attitude.”
“How did it work out for him?”
“He died two weeks later in a shootout. I wasn’t there, so I couldn’t tell you what happened. I think Akama was there. Though, it probably wouldn’t have lasted much longer, he was insufferable, before and after.” she nonchalantly replied.
Shiroyabu felt more discouraged than ever. Kuroyanagi could tell, she’s been grilling him hard enough this morning.
“I can’t help but feel we’re just doing the same things, day in, day out. The same stakeouts, the same cases, the job maybe dangerous but nothing surprises me anymore. In the end are our lives any different than those wives’? Just doing the same chores over and over again. Anytime I do try to figure myself out, I'm only left with more confusion. I get glimpses of myself I don't entirely understand.”
“Hey, the 25th Ward wasn’t built in a day, and the 26th still won’t be done for a while. You have plenty of time to think about what you want to do, whether it's staying the same or changing. Just take it one step at a time ”
“Thanks? I’ll think about that.” he said, hesitantly. She was never the best at giving advice.
“Maybe some time away from the HCU would do you some good. Taking it easy for while couldn’t hurt.”
“I still don’t know. Maybe I’ll ask Boss about it. Maybe I just need some change in perspective”
Shiroyabu looked back out through the window, and thought about the kind of person he wanted to be. The sun had finally peaked through the clouds, lending an orange tint to the fog. The people of the 25th Ward were passing by on the streets, scurrying to their jobs and places they needed to be.
He noticed a flower cart across the street. One flower pot had a tiny bud that had just blossomed. It was covered in raindrops, reflecting the morning sun.
He took his final sip of his coffee.
end.