Work Text:
It was just another warm evening at the cafe LeBlanc. Ren Amamiya, the attic rat, was currently idly wiping a glass behind the counter. He didn’t help Sojiro because he was asked to — Ren just felt the need to pay him back for letting him stay in the attic.
The door bell rang and a girl came in. Blonde long hair pinned by musical hairpins. She wore a shirt with an orange tie, a pink vest on top of it. Her skirt was purple with musical patterns and her socks reached above her knees. She had a pleasant expression on her face, everything about her seemed gentle.
She walked over to the counter with a soft smile looking at all the options she could get.
“What can I get you?” Ren asked, expression neutral. She was just another customer, nothing out of ordinary.
“Just.. one coffee, please.”
Ren nodded, already starting to prepare the order.
The girl quietly sat down, waiting for her coffee. She pulled out her thick books and began reading something.
After a moment the coffee was done. Ren grabbed the cup and walked over to the girl’s table, giving her the drink. She smiled warmly and thanked him.
“By the way..” she started. Ren, who was already walking to the counter, stopped and turned back, tilting his head slightly”
“You work there? Like.. part-time job or something? Or maybe helping family?” she asked. The sudden question surprised Ren a little but it wasn’t anything very personal, he didn’t mind answering.
“Yeah.. Just helping out, I guess.” He shrugged.
“That’s cool!” She smiled, taking a sip of her drink. “Wow… this coffee’s amazing. I think I will visit again, someday..”
“Glad you like it.” He smiled politely. Her voice was soft like a melody. And he didn’t really mind a small talk neither.
“By the way.. what’s your name?”
“Ren Amamiya.”
“Cool! My name’s Kaede Akamatsu.”
Ren froze. Kaede? Akamatsu? As in like..
“The Ultimate Pianist. That would be me.” She smiled warmly.
“Wait, so you’re telling me…”
“Oh come on now. We exist outside of the school.. we have our own lives too, you know?”
“Yeah, sorry..”
“Don’t worry about it.”
And like that time passed. They talked for a bit until Kaede’s phone rang. Her eyes widened and she quickly stood up, gathering her stuff and spitting out rushed apologies.
“Sorry, sorry! I have to go!” She said while stuffing her books in her backpack.
“Wait-“
“Oh my gosh sorry I almost forgot to pay!” she quickly pulled out some money from her pockets and placed it on the table.
“Kaede! Wait!”
“Sorry Ren! See you next time!” And off she goes.
“Hey! Can I have your… number?” He stood awkwardly, voice quieting down as Kaede already left. He sighed and started cleaning up the table a little, picking up the crumpled bill. And in between the money there was a small paper and a number written on it. “Call me!” With a smiley face. Ren grinned and carefully slid the piece into his pocket.