Chapter Text
The darkened streets of Yongen-Jaya house many a people walking in the sparse light of streetlamps and illuminated signs, from people starting to walk back home from the bar or a restaurant or are finishing their walk back to their house, to one person in particular, who is slowly making his way to his favourite cafe just before it closes down. Nagisa is barely on his feet as he tries not to get pushed past by the uptake of people around this time, he's been busy today going from one side of Tokyo to another and not having a break in between, realistically he should be going home and passing out in his bed, but Nagisa likes to use his time well, every little last bit he can use. So he's now on his way to relax, somewhere which will have a warm and energising coffee, a delicious and filling curry, and, best of all, the charming and ever welcoming Ren Amamiya.
Nagisa can easily remember his first time meeting Ren, although Morgana was a bit standoffish, Ren welcomed him in instantly and offered him the best coffee he's had on this side of Tokyo, as well as ready to talk at length about coffee. He can also remembers the next few meetings like the back of his hand, but that may be due to realising something about himself during those next few meeting. Ren has always been nice to him when he's there, such as offering him food on the house and letting him taste the more expensive coffee stored in the small but welcoming cafe, but this time, Nagisa wants to be nice back as he has something he hopes that Ren will enjoy.
As Nagisa finally reached his destination he lets out a sigh as he makes the last few steps up to the door, from the paved street to the brick outdoor flooring, and the door nob to salvation is in his hand.
"I don't know why you're here after all the work you've done today, if my memory serves me correctly it's a cafe, and as our leader you need some rest." Lufel chirps letting his well-groomed head out of the bag.
"It is a cafe, but the people in it is what makes it different. They're warm and welcoming and the seats are really soft. I'll be home after this, I promise." Nagisa says, feeling a bit like shun describing what makes Ramen work, as he looks down at his companion.
"Alright, but you need to take me in here properly one of these days, I want to know what magnetic appeal this place has on you." Lufel says, as Nagisa remembers that Lufel can't go to Leblanc for whatever reason, he'll have to try a few things next time he goes in.
"I will, I promise. Though I'll just be a little bit then we'll get home. How about we grab lunch at Heritage Kitchen tomorrow Lufel, the manager loves to give you meat." Nagisa promises, and makes up for it as a coo makes it's way to Nagisa's ear who smiles.
"Ah yes a good idea Wonder! Well then take your time at the cafe, hoo delicious meat tomorrow..." Lufel says, saying the latter part under his breath.
Nagisa keeps his smile as he turns the nob that's been waiting for this moment, as he steps in, the usual odd metaverse fog appears in his mind for a second before he can hear that familiar bell ring, and the smell of coffee and curry invades his nose. He shuts the door behind him as he blinks and gets a good look around Leblanc today, only to find it oddly empty, with only Ren and Morgana there, the latter lying on the bar and the former organising some filters for the pour over drippers, but as soon as the bell rings, both look at the direction of the sound.
"Good evening, Nagisa." Morgana says, moving down the bar so Nagisa can have the second seat, as he slowly approaches it.
"Nice to see you again." Ren says with a calm smile which Nagisa copies.
"Good evening you two, I'm surprised the cafe is this empty." Nagisa says as he drops to the chair and lets out a relaxed sigh.
"Ann had some modelling to do and Yusuke is busy with a painting for school, Ryuji and Makoto were here earlier but they left due to how late it is." Mona explains as he lies closer to Nagisa who starts to pat him softly on his back and scratch behind his head.
"I understand, I did get here quite late." Nagisa states, as he looks at the clock for a second as he has to keep an eye on the time so he doesn't miss the last train back home.
"Although you did, there's still some curry if you want some, and I can whip you up a coffee as well." Ren offers and Nagisa feels like he's in heaven with that news.
"Yes please. That would be lovely." Nagisa says as Ren nods with a smile and gets to work.
Nagisa stops petting Morgana as he stretches, he feels his joints as they hurt, telling him to lie down at home, but he ignores them. A yawn comes from his mouth which he covers, before he goes back to petting Mona, who looks weirdly at him.
"You're usually not this tired, nor here this late. What have you been doing today to make you this tired?" Mona asks, with a bit of concern in his voice.
Nagisa initially plans on downplaying it, but after another yawn comes through him and the fact that he has to intentionally keep his eyes open not to fall asleep on the counter, he realises that he's not been this tired in a while.
"Well, after school I was playing with the music club, then I walked around Asakusa with a friend to show her around Tokyo more, then I went to Shibuya to do some work at the crêpe shop and then some training at the gym." Nagisa casually explains, like he didn't just talk about a day that you prepare for.
"Eh?! That's a lot, no wonder you can barely stay awake. I'm surprised you made your way down here, train or not. Why do you fill up your day so much?" Morgana says as he lies under Nagisa's hand, still accepting the petting.
"I like to be active, I realised recently that I hate to waste my days. To make the most of it I suppose. Today I wanted to see you guys and have a nice coffee to end my day." Nagisa explains to the best of his ability, his busy schedule must seem weird to some people.
" I can understand that." Ren says as he walks towards Nagisa, with a cup of coffee in his hand as he places it in front of Nagisa as he continues. "I also enjoy utilising the many parts of the day to their fullest, visiting many friends and acquaintances, exploring Tokyo, improving myself, there's a lot you can do and it's great to do."
Nagisa can feel his cheeks warm up, Ren says some kind and understanding words sometimes.
"Thank you." Nagisa says, as he reaches for the mug, his sentence going either way.
He brings the coffee up to his nose and instantly notices the scent, more the familiarity of it. It's a similar scent to what was in the thermos that he found in his bag, he takes a sip and it's what was on his tongue when he left the metaverse. That sweet yet balanced taste that he wanted to find out what it was, at least he knows it's a coffee of some type but what blend.
"This is quite nice, what type of beans are they?" Nagisa asks, he does enjoy them but the type of blend is sending him.
"It's Hawaiian Kona, the boss has a bit extra as it doesn't sell much and as a fellow coffee enjoyer I'd thought you'd like it. I can make you a normal one if you want." Ren offers. Nagisa waves him off.
"It's fine, really. It's very unique and quite refreshing, thank you for giving some to me." Nagisa says as he takes another sip and sighs, happy that he has a Ren coffee, and a blend that Ren thought that he would like.
Ren nods at him before he goes back to the other end of the counter and picks up a glass with the remainding coffee, which there is still quite a bit of, he pours most of it into a mug with the remainder going into a small espresso cup, he brings them both near Nagisa, the normal mug sits before the seat next to him and the espresso is presented to Mona, who gives thanks to Ren as he walks into the kitchen.
"Your curry will be out in a second." Ren says, as a bit of banging can be heard.
"Alright, thank you again." Nagisa says as he puts his coffee down for a second.
The red head's eyes then deviates to the coffee mug placed next to him, Ren is going to sit next to him after he gets him his curry. He has to stop a smile erupting on his face, as he quickly directs his attention to Mona, who he can see weakly blowing on his coffee before he looks up at him.
"Would you mind blowing on it?" Morgana asks, as if this isn't the seventh time Nagisa has agreed to do this before.
"I don't mind." Nagisa says as Morgana pushes the cup closer to him as Nagisa picks it up and starts to blow.
Morgana then moves closer to Nagisa who starts petting him, and a thankful purr comes from the cat. A smile arrives on Nagisa's face, unable to be contained, he enjoys Leblanc a lot and if he ever needs space or people around him, he knows he's always welcome here. Seeing Morgana does remind him of the cat toys he's bought for the Orange Tabby and the other cats of Zoshigaya, maybe he should bring some of them the next time he comes.
"By the way Nagisa." Morgana says in a hushed voice. Nagisa looks at him and gets closer to him to hear him better before he continues, "Ren keeps on saving curry for you, just in case you come in. I don't know why but you're the only person he does this for when he's running Leblanc." With a bit of knowing in his voice.
Nagisa can feel his face heating up at Morgana's comment, he hasn't really noticed it but Ren always has some curry for him when ever he drops by, whether that's right after school or late at night. So he keeps some saved for him just in case, and just for him. Nagisa wonders if he should come by more often, he won't say no to seeing Ren more. And, speak of the devil and he shall come, Ren turns the corner with some steaming curry in one hand with utensils in his other, Nagisa can still feel his cheeks heated at Ren comes closer and places the wonderful smelling dish in front of him.
"Here you are. Hopefully you enjoy... Are you feeling okay Nagisa?" Ren says with concern obvious, looking at his face, beet red. Morgana moves to his right side, the opposite of where Ren seemily wants to sit and looking innocent.
"I'm fine, don't worry. Thank you for the food." Nagisa, says straightening himself, moving Morgana's coffee cup closer to him.
Nagisa picks up the fork and starts to eat, its as amazing as usual and is what he needs right now, filling and warm. Ren seems content and moves away, Nagisa keeps an eye on him and watches his movements, he unties his apron before removing it, folding it, and placing it on the side as he walks around the counter and sits next to Nagisa. Who does take his eyes away at this point and looks back at his dinner. He takes a few more bites before he decides to take another look at Ren, he just can't take his eyes off of him, he sees him take a sip of his coffee and seems to be content with it. Which makes Nagisa smile, Ren is amazing at making coffee.
The calm and quiet environment is broken when Nagisa lets out a loud yawn, who is quickly embarrassed as he covers his mouth and looks away.
"Are you going to relax tomorrow? Or at least do a little less?" Ren asks calmly, making Nagisa look back at Ren.
"I'll be doing less tomorrow, especially having more time to relaxing like playing at the arcade. But I've got music club tomorrow so that'll be one thing on my list." Nagisa says, he does love to use up all of his time, but he does need to relax tomorrow, maybe he'll go to the shrine or the park.
"You mentioned that before, being in the music club, I didn't expect you to be in one." Ren says, intrequed.
"I wanted to do something, learn something, be active, just something right after school. And when I went to my school's bulletin board, I saw the one for the band and decided to join. It's just me and three others but it's nice to meet others who enjoy the same thing, and I've met people because of the music club, both in said club and out of it." Nagisa says as he puts his fork down and takes a sip as he drinks in Ren. Who nods as he looks back with a smile.
"That sounds nice, my school doesn't have too many clubs and I'll be bared from most of them anyway." Ren gets quieter at the latter part, making Nagisa have to concentrate on what he's saying, before Ren continues, "What instrument do you play?"
"Bass guitar, I've enjoyed playing it. I'm not too good as I've only just started learning a month ago or so. But I'm getting the hang of it." Nagisa says with some pride.
"Will you ever show me?" Ren asks with confidence, looking Nagisa straight in the eye who blushes quickly before looking back.
"Of course, you just need to ask. Is there anything you'd like to hear?" Nagisa says back, with his own confidence, he's not as confident as Ren, but when he knows he has some ground to stand on and can see someone stare at him like that, he can.
"Jeez can you two just get a room." Morgana says, breaking up the couples mood. Both of them blush, they're both ready to flirt with each other but somehow actually going further is something neither can do.
Nagisa pets Morgana on his face, trying to get him to shut up, as he gets back to his slightly colder curry, which he only has a few chunks left. Whilst Ren starts sipping away at his coffee, neither looking at each other. It is a thought that's crossed Nagisa's mind, to go further, but he's never done something like this before, he's never been romantic or enjoyed romantic media much. Yet this is the first time he’s felt his own desire so potently. Going further towards something more romantic is something he has no experience on and he doesn't know who to go to for help, no one in his thieves group is in a relationship, none of his close friends around his age are, his parents are too far away, so the only one he can think of is his neighbour, Kayo Tomiyama, who he can feel the love she has for her husband is spades. But he doesn't know how to talk to her about this.
Whilst Nagisa is in his musings, he notices Ren stretch and get something, he turns and look as Ren sits back down normally with a book in his hand, a crossword puzzle book. Nagisa has noticed Ren working on puzzle books before, usually just before he comes into Leblanc or when Ren isn't talking to anyone and is just being quiet in a booth, he's seen him work on many different book, Sudoku, nonograms, word searches, but always a puzzle book. Unfortunately with Morgana souring the mood, Nagisa can't think of anything to get back to the normal conversation and seemingly Ren can't either. But Nagisa can't blame him it's a calming thing to do and Ren has let Nagisa join in before, it's very nice, sitting side by side in a comfortable silence to fill in a Sudoku box or finish a nonogram picture.
The curry has all been eaten from Nagisa's plate as he pushes it upward and moves himself to look at Ren's book, specifically the page he's working on now. A few words already filled in but it's mostly a blank slate, he looks at a few of them: one across, plot with ten letters, four down, needed with eight, and Twenty two across, spare time with seven. A decent mix of longer and shorter ones, and a few he doesn't know the answer to like the former Italian currency (four words) or what Boer means (nine words) but he starts to rack his brain for a few words. He can see the book being pushed towards him and he looks as Ren does so as he leans over a bit but also puts his hand on the back of Nagisa's stool. Nagisa looks down and realises that he has one.
"One across, isn't that conspiracy?" Nagisa offers.
Ren mouths the letters as he spells it out making sure it fits, and it does, he swiftly writes it down.
"Knew your brain would still be good for this." Ren says, lifting his eyes to look at Nagisa.
"I think it's the one thing keeping it awake." Nagisa jokes as he looks back down.
"At least it is." Ren says as he fills in nineteen down, customary with five words with usual.
Nagisa can feel himself finally relax after Morgana's mouth opened about them, he lets himself relax on the stool and his back makes contact with Joker's arm. Which applies pressure, just in case he was about to fall off, before it wraps more around himself, going to the other side of the stool. A phantom sensation arrives on Nagisa's shoulder and neck, of a similarly sized arm being there, comfortably like a cushion, he's unsure where it came from.
Nagisa looks at fifteen across, consume with six letters, and rattles his brain for similar words: swallow? No seven letters, Ingest? No the letter has an "R" at the end. He thinks on it for a second before he just watches Ren as he pens in four down, needed with eight letters, with required, filling in the second letter for fifteenin the process, with is an "E", and Nagisa knows what it is now.
"fifteen across, Devour." Nagisa says, as he points to it.
"Hm, yes that would work." Ren says as he fills it in.
Nagisa keeps his finger on the paper as Ren's pencil touches the tip of it and lightly prods it before drawing on his nail, none of the graphite sticks but Nagisa can feel it. It's at this point that Nagisa feels like has has been forgetting something, he takes a look around the room wondering if something might remind him. It's not the coffee, he's drank it, nothing on the back wall reminds him, he looks at his bag where Lufel usually is.
'That's it!' Nagisa thinks as he looks at the clock in Leblanc, he's forgotten about going back to Lufel and getting home.
The clock shows that it's nearly quarter to ten, the last train he can catch from Yongen to arrive at Zoshigaya is at five minutes past ten. He has twenty minutes to get there, so he should probably get going.
"Sorry I need to go and get the train back." Nagisa says a bit rushed as he stands up, Ren looks at him before looking at the clock himself, also surprised at the time.
"Yes, it's fine don't worry. I should've kept time for you though." Ren says and Nagisa shakes his head as he gets his bag on.
"It's not your worry. I have plenty of time to get there, I don't know how it went by so fast." Nagisa says as he makes sure he has everything.
"Time flies when you're having fun as they say, which I can say that I've had." Ren says as he gets off his chair, ready to walk Nagisa out.
"I feel that as well, thank you for the coffee and curry. It was needed." Nagisa says, with more energy and pep in his step.
"It's fine, you looked like you were going to turn into a zombie if you didn't. But it was a pleasure to have you as always, there'll always be a coffee and some curry next time you're here." Ren says with a smile, as Nagisa gives one of his own.
"Thank you for being a lovely host, I'll probably be back here sooner than not." Nagisa says as Ren's eyes briefly flash before opening into a larger smile. One that Nagisa is the only person who sees it regularly.
That smile reminds Nagisa of the one thing he can't forget as he puts his bag on his seat and gets out a small paper bag tied with a bow and he presents it to Ren, who takes a second before also flushing red. Before accepting it.
"I-I just wanted to give you something, I don't know if you'll like it or not but I just want to repay your kindness." Nagisa explains with red especially on his cheeks.
Ren looks at Nagisa before he undoes the bow and opens up a small bit of the paper, seeing small dried orange plants. Nagisa elaborates on the present.
"It's dried Camellias that can be brewed into tea, it's supposed to be calming and tastes like lemons a bit. Just something to help calm down after a busy day." Nagisa says feeling a bit embarrassed with both Ren and Morgana looking at him.
"Thank you Nagisa, that's very thoughtful. After a bit of "work" this does sound nice. I do like tea from time to time so I'll have to try this out." Ren replies almost immediately, not waiting for Nagisa to take it the wrong way. Nagisa lets out a breath as he smiles softly at Ren, seemingly satisfied with how it was received.
"I'm glad you like them, sorry I can't stay a moment later." Nagisa says as he starts walking to the door.
"Go get your train, come earlier next time though." Ren invites as he waves him good night.
"Bye Nagisa, take care going home." Morgana says, as if he didn't say half of what he did this night.
Nagisa waves as he holds the door nob, with enough energy to make it to the station as well as butterflies in his stomach.