Work Text:
You know this city, not so far away? Down there is a street called No. 6. There, on that street, is a place where it’s fun to come. It’s right next to that restaurant called Hetalian Foods. It’s a bar, it’s called Shinya’s Bar. The owner’s name is Hiiragi Shinya. He always stands by the counter. By the door, you will usually see a woman named Awashima Seri. She is the one to kick you out if you are causing trouble. Sometimes she won’t be there though. In those cases, you’ll see Heiwajima Shizuo there instead. He is crazy strong but hates violence. Somewhere in the bar, usually in the background, you’ll find a young man named Max Alors. He always has a broom in his hand. He always seems to be working on cleaning the place, and it is needed. If you go behind the counter, you’ll find a door, behind that, you’ll find a hallway. If you follow that, you will reach a kitchen with the chef, Nanase Haruka, in a bathtub on wheels. This is pushed around by his friend, Matsuoka Rin.
In this bar, many strange costumers come by. You might know a few of them, and usually, a lot of crazy stuff happens.
It had been a long day already. The bar had been open for 6 hours by now and it seemed the customers hadn’t stopped coming at all. There had almost always been someone in the bar. For some strange reason, all of them had demanded black coffee. Thankfully, they didn’t care if it was instant or grounded coffee.
Shinya had just ordered coffee for the next costumer, a guy with bright blue hair, in an orange suit. For some reason, he had a very uncomfortable feeling as he waited.
It didn’t take long before Rin showed up in the doorway to the back and looked at Shinya with eyes that told him they were in trouble.
“We’re almost out of coffee,” he said.
“We don’t have any more coffee left?” Shinya asked.
The customer looked over with dissatisfaction painted on his face. “If that’s the case, I will have to do with something else…” he trailed off, leaving Shinya feeling even more uneasy. He checked his pocket and felt a bit more relieved knowing that he had Byakkomaru on him.
“Haru is making the last coffee now,” Rin informed. “But hopefully there won’t be anyone else demanding coffee,” he said.
Shinya nodded. “I see,” he said. “Then maybe I should go get some coffee while you take care of the bar,” he said.
“Who of us?” Rin asked, looking at Max and Shizuo who were both standing by the door. Neither of them appeared to be comfortable either. Shinya looked over there as well. He didn’t blame them for feeling uncomfortable. There had been this vibe to all of the customers today, like they were a threat to their lives.
Shinya thought. Aside for himself and Shizuo, he knew the others had next no way of defending themselves in case something happened. He would have to make them rely on strength in numbers.
Hold on, Max did have his sand magic, but Shinya had never seen it in action so he didn’t know how helpful it was, or if it was helpful at all.
“Could all four of you try handling the bar while I’m out?” Shinya asked.
Rin hesitated then he nodded. “As long as we’re payed for our trouble.” He turned around on his heel and started heading back to the kitchen. “I’ll tell Haru to come up with the coffee once it’s done,” he said.
“Good,” Shinya smiled. “Then I’ll be off.” He walked around the corner and handed Max the keys to the bar. “Just in case something happens and you need to close up,” he said before leaving. “Good luck!” he called over his shoulder.
Max only stared at the keys in his hand as Rin returned to the bar. Haruka came in shortly after with a cup of coffee. He placed it in front of the blue-haired before he went to stand next to Rin.
The bar was quiet for a while. The only sound was the colorful guy drinking his coffee in a slow pace. Everyone else simply stood in their own thoughts.
This was until the door opened and a guy with pink clothing entered the room. He had purple hair and a small purple beard on his chin. His way of dressing was also very strange. He also gave up an unnerving vibe.
Rin exchanged looks with Max, who was the only one who cared to look. It took only few seconds for them to agree that Rin would be the one taking orders.
“Hello,” Rin said. “Welcome to the bar, I’m Matsuoka Rin and one of those in charge at the moment.”
“Thank you,” the man said. “I’m Mephisto Pheles.”
Rin nodded. “So… Pheles…? What do you want?” He found it surprisingly difficult to deal with this guy. It wasn’t like he didn’t know what to do or say, it was just the vibe coming from Mephisto that threw him off.
“I was thinking some cherry blossom tea would be good,” Mephisto answered.
“Okay…” Rin nodded and turned to Haruka. “Could you go make the tea, Haru?” he asked.
Haruka nodded once and then left to prepare the tea.
As Haruka returned the front door opened again and a guy with red eyes and silver hair in a ponytail entered the bar. Rin wasn’t sure of how he felt about this guy. If he had to say anything his vibe was even more uncomfortable than the blue-haired’s and Mephisto’s, which said a lot.
“Haru,” Rin said, turning to his friend who had just placed the teacup in front of Mephisto. “It’s your turn.” He said this both to avoid speaking to the new guy, but also to see how Haruka handled a situation like this.
Haruka nodded and turned to the new guy. “What do you want?” he asked in a plain tone.
The new guy thought as he sat down next to Mephisto who was watching him out of the corner of his eye.
“Nothing at the moment, actually,” the new guy said. “I’ll get back to you though,” he smiled as he said.
Haruka nodded and stepped back.
“Hello.” Mephisto turned to the new guy with his tea.
“Ah, hello to you as well,” the new said. “You look interesting, what’s your name?”
“You’re flattering,” Mephisto said, laughing coldly. “I am Mephisto Pheles, what’s yours?” he asked.
The guy smiled. “Ferid Bathory, A pleasure, Mephisto-kun,” he said.
“Likewise, Ferid-kun,” Mephisto said, slowly getting the drill.
The guy with the blue hair finished up his coffee and placed the cup in front of him. Max walked over, figuring he would have to deal with the third guy.
“Are you done?” he asked, politely and prepared to take the cup away.
“Not yet,” the guy said. “I think I would like another cup of coffee, but I’ll wait until the owner returns,” he said, smiling at Max who froze on the spot and then backed away. He now stood next to Rin and Haruka.
Ferid picked up on Max’s movements and looked around him. He smiled as he noticed how all the humans in the bar were tense.
“It seems we are scaring someone,” he concluded.
“You’re right.” Mephosto placed his teacup down. “Maybe it would help if you ordered something?” he suggested.
“Are you trying to have me entertain you?” Ferid asked, tilting his head slightly. His smile was still perfectly in place.
“Maybe?” Mephisto answered vaguely.
Ferid looked thoughtful. “Normally, I’m not one to entertain others unless I get something out of it as well.”
Mephisto smiled. “What a coincidence. Neither am I.”
This caused Ferid to smile even more as he looked around in the bar again. “Tell me, how old are you working here?” he asked. For some reason he had no interest in the third guy with the empty coffee cup.
“I’m past 20,” Max simply answered, not wanting to give up his exact age.
“Does it matter?” Rin asked.
“Not really,” Ferid answered. “I’m just curious is all.”
“Well…” Rin hesitated but then decided it would probably do no harm to say it. “Haru and I are both 18.”
Ferid tilted his head. “Now, that’s interesting. Who of you two is the younger?”
Haruka moved and grabbed Rin’s arm lightly to claim his attention. The two looked at each other and Rin got the feeling that Haruka didn’t believe that Ferid was simply curious.
“Why does that matter?” he asked.
Mephisto smiled, deciding to interfere. “Are you saying that you are the youngest?” he asked.
“Of course I’m not!” Rin yelled, already getting provoked.
“No matter,” Ferid said, shrugging. “You’re still both young it seems.” He smiled and a hungry look appeared in his red eyes. “I think I have an order then.”
Rin and Haruka stiffened, sensing that if something wasn’t done soon, this would end badly for them. Max and Shizuo were both tense, but neither could do anything.
“Hello, I’m back!” Shinya exclaimed as he slammed the door to the back open and looked around in the bar. He had a smile on his face, but quickly sensed that the situation was off. He then looked at Ferid, who had been preparing to attack, but now had stopped.
No one even got the time to blink before a rifle appeared in Shinya’s hand. It was pointed at Ferid. There was no longer a smile on his face.
“What are you doing here?” Shinya asked.
Ferid continued to smile, seeming relaxed despite the situation. “I was thirsty,” he simply said.
“The only thing you can drink is blood. The younger the better.”
“That explains a lot,” Rin mumbled, Haruka nodded in response.
Shinya glared at Ferid. “Get the hell out!” he yelled.
“Why?” Ferid asked. “And why aren’t you kicking the ghoul or the demon out?” the smile was still in place.
Shinya looked from Mephisto to the blue-haired and back to Ferid.
Mephisto finished up his tea and placed the money on the counter. “Well, so much for a demon to finish his tea peacefully…” he sighed before he left the bar.
The blue-haired got up too. “If you want to know, there has only been ghouls stopping by all day,” he informed Shinya. This caused a look of surprise to appear on not just Shinya’s face, but the faces of Rin and Max as well.
“That does explain the demand of coffee,” Rin mumbled.
The blue-haired left the bar with a small wave of one hand.
“Now you,” Shinya said, glaring at Ferid.
“Yeah, yeah,” Ferid sighed. “Not like that thing is any threat to me, I could easily dodge it, you know.” He quickly looked over at Rin and Haruka who both felt discomfort from that. Then Ferid left the bar as well.
Shinya put away Byakkomaru and looked around. “We’re closed,” he said. He didn’t smile now either. He just scanned every member of his staff with his eyes, trying to see if they were hurt in any way. When it didn’t seem like that, he started relaxing, but he didn’t smile again until the following day.