Work Text:
The Anon Tokyo, a little lounge bar hidden behind an inconspicuous door like any other in Tokyo, but once you step inside, you leave the city’s noise and smells for this cozy place, greeted by the delicate aroma of tea and coffee and the calming tunes of jazz music, sifted yellow light gently illuminating an oak counter on which a few bottles of the finest alcohols are lined up, and tall bar stools are lined up along it. Behind the counter, a big shelf with even more types of alcohol and diverse boxes of different coffee and tea blends, all very expensive, covers the entire wall.
Chihaya Anon, the owner of the Anon Tokyo, stands, swiftly cleaning glasses, behind the bar, her grey eyes firmly locked onto the task at hand, a light smile across her face as she gently hums while the music in the background of the place plays. Once she finished she put the white towel she used over her shoulder, slightly wetting her red waistcoat and the top of the sleeve of her white shirt . It is the typical uniform for her bar, worn with slim black suit trousers and black leather shoes, her only distinction, as the owner, being a red tie. Her long pink hair attached with a black hair claw clip, it is giving her a princely aura that only her somewhat childish demeanor would allow to see through. But that princely look was nothing compared to the one the bar’s outfit was giving to her employees, Misumi Hatsune and Takamatsu Tomori. The first, her blond hair attached in a similar manner, was backing up her looks with the demeanor of an actual prince. When she looks at her customers with her beautiful lavender eyes, she could bring any of them under her spell. The second has grey hair cut shorter, attached in a small low ponytail. She barely speaks to her customers, but that only helps in giving her a mysterious aura that keeps drawing them to her.
But at this moment, a little after noon, the place, still closed, is very calm, only the light jazz soothing the employee diligently cleaning and preparing the place can be heard.
“Tomorin, can you go check the inventory please? I think we still miss that coffee blend Hatsune likes to recommend to the girls who come see her”
“Oh… hmm… I’m going”
She passed Hatsune, still brooming off the room, to go check what her boss asked her but came back empty handed. Before Anon could say anything Hatsune reacted to the lack of coffee in Tomori’s hands with a sigh and a discouraged look.
“Aah… What will I give to my customers when they ask for our best blend now. And what will I offer Sakiko if she comes today…” She sounded particularly disheartened when she mentioned that particular person.
Togawa Sakiko is her personal favorite, someone she cannot take her eyes off when she’s in the same room, erasing her other customers from her mind entirely. Even her boss cannot reach her in that state, she is solely focused on pleasing that woman. But she knows she isn’t the reason Miss Togawa comes to the bar this often. No, the reason for her coming so often is her colleague, the reserved Tomori.
Time passes, preparations for the evening are coming to a close and Anon is finalizing the last details before opening. What kind of kind customers will she and her dear employees have the pleasure to serve tonight? Only a few minutes left before the doors finally open to the answer.
The early evening is calm, only a few clients coming to get some tea, Tomori and Hatsune were serving them diligently, each drawing the looks to them in their own way, Hatsune talking to them in a dramatic manner while Tomori is keeping her conversations to a minimum. Anon is also tending to some of them, the contrast between the princely charm of her appearance and the genuine playfulness of her words and her laugh
It was not until a few hours later, almost into the night, that the doors of the Anon Tokyo opened revealing the person the blonde waitress was waiting for.
“Saki-chan!” She let everyone she was already serving behind as her face lit up. Despite their displeased complaints and the annoyed look Anon was glaring at her, she still launched herself toward the blue haired woman taking her hand in both of her own and guiding the distinguished lady to a seat by the bar. Her golden eyes are scanning the room as she’s dragged by the golden haired waitress. Her light blue hair is tied in a high ponytail with a black and gold ribbon, cascading down the open back of her black dress, shining with golden glitter. Hatsune’s eyes couldn’t help occasionally looking at the person behind her.
“Hatsune, I know the place and it is not that big, I can find a seat by myself I’ll have you know.” Her voice sounded slightly annoyed, but she followed her all the same.
“Aw, don’t be like that, Saki-chan, I just want to give you the best our place has to offer is all!”
Sakiko let out a resigned sigh as she took her seat in front of the counter, glancing at the other waitress serving the customers Hatsune abandoned.
“You really shouldn’t let the people you were serving down just for me, you’re just making more work for Tomori.”
“Don’t worry about it, you’re a VIP here after all.” The concern in Sakiko’s tone fell on deaf ears. “And I want you to have the best service possible. A lot of customers start to leave around this hour anyways.”
“I know that already, Hatsune, I’m a regular here, as you should know since you’re always the one serving me.” She sighed again. It is not that she dislikes the eagerness of the young waitress, she would have stopped coming here a long time ago if this was the case, she simply wishes to get a little more space to breathe and finally get to talk to Tomori a little more.
“So, why the grandiose outfit? You are heading somewhere tonight?”
“Yes, some fundraising that was organized by the Togawa Group. Well, I actually come back from it, those events aren’t really my thing so I just gave the speech Grandfather wanted and left.” Her eyes had a glint of boredom just thinking about it.
Hatsune knew that already, after all, her father was the one organizing the party, but being his bastard daughter, she wasn’t told any details and was mostly kept out of the loop of anything related to the Togawa, and most of what she knows comes from Sakiko.
As she listens to Sakiko, Hatsune starts preparing her second best blend of coffee for her. It has a strong smell when just opening the box the torrefied grains are in, but once prepared by the skilled hands of the blonde woman, it reveals a subtle aroma that isn’t too bitter nor too bland, just enough to please even the sweetest of palates to the joys of the black beverage.
“Ah…” The lavender eyed waitress lets out a small cry “We’re out of milk. And Tomori-chan is already busy serving. I’ll have to go get some in the back, sorry, I’ll be right back.”
As Hatsune leaves, Sakiko turns back her attention towards Tomori. The grey haired girl seems to be practically finished serving the customers Hatsune left behind, even finding a moment to wave at Sakiko.
“You’re pretty popular, uh, Saki-chan?” The playful voice of the pink owner of the Anon Tokyo, Anon herself, suddenly rose next to the elegant woman. “Hatsune being always ready to serve you is a given now, but you’re actually managing our timid little Tomori to wave at you of her own accord, I’m impressed.”
“I’m not sure, I talked to her before, but it was very quick, I can hardly believe she would open up to me so easily.” She mostly tries to convince herself, she knows something special happened every few times they talked together.
“Don’t be so modest, you’re not some kind of fake-it-till-you-make-it girl like I am, you genuinely have a thing that draws people towards you, even the most timid of them, I know you talked about music with her last time Hatsune somehow left you together, and I’ve never seen her so passionate before, you really have a way with people, Saki-chan.” Anon laughed gleefully at the memory of her precious employee finally talking, and with such ardor. “I never thought you would share so much with her either, about your mo…” She couldn’t finish her sentence, Sakiko’s eyes could have turned from golden to red with wrath, pulling her red tie. No words came out of her mouth, she regained her dignified composure as quickly as she lost it, but it is clear to Anon that she was being extremely indiscreet and so she profusely apologized, both for touching a nerve and eavesdropping on that previous conversation.
The commotion, while relatively silent, still attracted the attention of the remaining persons in the bar. Tomori’s included. She hurried to the lady’s side, enquiring if anything was wrong, to which the two women shook their heads slightly in rebuttal.
“I’m… just gonna go take care of the remaining customers.” Her embarrassment was audible. She quickly leaves and dashes towards the people still waiting for their orders, leaving Tomori and Sakiko alone for now.
A slight blushing starts to appear on both their faces as the awkward silence continues for a few seconds, until Sakiko finally breaks it.
“It… It’s been a while since we could just talk like that, hasn’t it? I kinda missed that.”
Tomori just let out a quick “yes”.
“I suppose you’re still in charge of the selection of the music here, your taste is as good as ever.”
Her eyes lit up a little as she heard that. She discovered it late, but Tomori has a really good musical sense. But what fascinates Sakiko so much with that girl is her ability to hit her sensible chord so easily.
“Are you sure you’re fine?” Despite her best effort to hide it, the indiscretion of Anon must have left a sour expression on her face, but Tomori was always good at perceiving this sort of thing.
“I’m… I’m fine, Tomori.” Sakiko’s expression softened as a faint smile appeared on her face, as if appeased by the girl’s concern. It was only a few words, a simple question, but the tone and genuine worry of those carried through Sakiko’s troubled heart. She doesn’t have to talk to feel connected to her, her mere presence is as soothing as a mother’s lullaby.
It is a different connection than the one she has with the woman still looking for milk in the storeroom, whom she knew for years now. This one is strangely deeper, as if their souls are communicating without words.
As the calm tune of jazz music keeps filling the air, the golden eyes lock onto the reddish brown ones in front of them. The melody of this glare finally brings total peace to the mind of the noble woman.
Tomori turns her head with embarrassment, Sakiko didn’t realise she was staring at her so much, and blushes.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“Don’t… Don’t worry, I was staring too.”
At the door of the storeroom, Hatsune watched the scene unfold. It was ethereal, almost no words were exchanged and yet they seemed to have understood each other perfectly. Thoughts, impure, crossed her mind. What does she lack, why isn’t Saki-chan looking at her this way, after all these years. Her face is somber, she can’t help but resent her cute colleague. But she already has something special, something only she shares with Sakiko, a bond that should be stronger, built through years. They have known each other since they’re children. Then why isn’t Saki-chan looking at her this way? Why, why, why?
And still, intertwined with this awful frustration, there is also relief, and even happiness. Seeing Sakiko in this light, a joy she may never be able to give her, she just can’t let her own feelings be in the way of hers. It’s not like they’re going to be separated, they’re still close friends, have been since forever. She puts up the facade quickly as she moves toward them, a princely mask, hiding her inner turmoil.
“I have the milk!” Her upbeat voice completely overshadowed her real emotions. “Sorry for the wait Saki-chan. Ah! I see Tomo-chan is with you. I’ll let you be then.” ‘ Sakiko is more important than my own happiness anyway ’ As long as she is happy, Hatsune would be, or so she tries to convince herself.
“Hatsune, wait! Where are you going?” The beloved voice calls out to her. “There is almost nobody left and Anon really could use being busy right now. Come and join us.” She tilted her head upwards, clearly still angry at the owner for reminding her of painful memories.
It isn’t like Hatsune to leave her of her own accord, she knows her enough to realize that at least. It isn’t the first time this sort of thing happened, but somehow, she had a feeling the woman she’s known for so long wasn’t in her right mind. She could tell even looking at her perfect performance of well being, something is off.
It’s weird. Her lavender eyes keep looking, alternatively, at the two women before her. She knows she should leave, let Sakiko enjoy her evening with the person she can connect with so much, but she cannot resolve herself to do so, not after being invited by the most important person to her. Cracks on her mask showed for an instant, but it was enough for Tomori to notice the slight movement of her eyes, looking for the ground a brief instant before lighting up again.
“I’ll finish preparing that coffee of yours then.”
Sakiko sighs, relieved to see her be more of her usual self as she diligently finishes preparing the cup she never asked for.
The awkward atmosphere keeps growing as Hatsune tries to make conversation the best she can. Her beloved Sakiko just doesn’t seem to know how to act either. She’s the one who invited her to stay but her attention keeps shifting towards the silent girl next to Hatsune then back to her. Tomori herself, while humming softly to the ambient music, doesn’t speak much, but her gaze is firmly locked onto Sakiko, unknowingly making it harder for her colleague to keep her act together.
The reality is that Sakiko doesn’t really know how to feel, each of the two women definitely means something special to her, a deep connection between her and the two of them, but the nature of that connection is different. Is Hatsune just a childhood friend? She feels like the girl, despite knowing her for decades, never truly told her how she feels. Is Tomori just a temporary love? But the depth of the connection, the strength of the emotions she feels just being near her, sharing feelings she usually keeps for herself, is that really just it?
As the night goes on, the three women never dared to let their feelings bare. Maybe it was too soon, maybe they never will.