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"Sensei!"
Yael froze on his bar seat at the window of the coffee shop. He thought through the situation quickly, trying to decide how to interpret what was happening.
Indeed, he was a teacher. But it was Sunday. Who would address him as such?
He decided it was best to ignore this interruption to his one day off a week. More like, few hours a week, considering he was often thinking about his work even when he was at home. But who didn't these days?
Besides, he was really interested in this newspaper article about-
"Yael-sensei!"
There it was again. He ignored it the first time but he did recognize the voice. Why him? Even better, how?
Must be his imagination. He was wearing his trusty earbuds anyway so maybe their white noise filters were scrambling the sound waves before they reached his eardrums. That must be it. Some brat must be talking to his friend about a video game character "Yaru Sansei".
"Yael-sensei I know you can hear me even with your earbuds in. You're going to hurt my feelings if -"
The gig was up, huh?
Yael peeked around the edge of his paper to look to his right, maintaining his composure despite the interruption to beloved free time. His intuition told him professionalism in spite of this was always best.
"Oy, Tasuku-kun. Long time, no see!" Yael said, an easy smile on his lips in spite of the face that by his calculation it was less than 12 hours since he last saw Tasuku.
Indeed, seated next to him at the bar was the young Tasuku-kun, a slight young adult wearing casual clothes. The hood of his hoodie was up, but is pulled it down when Yael finally accepted his presence. The gesture reminded Yael of a ninja removing his cowl, his secret mission complete. Tasuku was beaming up at him but when Yael looked over at him, his face scrunched into a pout.
"Sensei! I almost thought you were ignoring me ... But what a surprise to see you here! And first thing in the morning too!" He laughed, his fake pout immediately evaporated away in the bright rays of his smile.
"Yeah, what a coincidence..." Yael said, not hiding the tone of suspicion in his voice. He folded his paper neatly (didn't seem he was going to finish it) and rolled his shoulders, relieving some tension that was building between his shoulder blades. Tasuku started to respond, but paused as he watched Yael's movements with almost suffocating attention. Yael was used to it by now. At least the kid remembered to close his mouth this time.He relaxed, folded his arms and table and stared back at the youth, as if to waiting for Tasuku to recite his lines.
Tasuku finally felt the lull in conversation, thought for a second, trying to remember the last thing Yael said, and finally picked up on Yael's tone. He stumbled, '"I-I don't know what you're referring to? This is a fine establishment, I've always wanted to try it out! Ah, um..." He trailed off as the barista approached them. As the relatively tall woman walked over with a steaming cup, a few things occurred to Yeal. She nodded to him and served Yael the coffee he had ordered. "Just the one coffee, no cream or sugar, correct?" "Exactly, thank you. That was quick, I appreciate it." He regarded Tasuku, who was eyeing the woman sharply. "It seems my friend here will be joining me. Tasuku-kun, do you care for a cup as well?"
Tasuku started, looking back and forth between them, then over at the menu across the cafe, confusedly, before acquiescing and nodding "thank you" in slight embarrassment. That confirmed it to Yael.
After the barista left Yael picked up the cup gently, appreciating the hot black coffee. The aroma lifted his spirits somewhat, and he stared into the blackness, considering how he was looking forward to this cup. He glanced so Tasuku who was watching him again, and made a decision. Why not? Right before taking a sip, he asked quietly, "You following me, kid?" He got to enjoy both the hot coffee and Tasuku's surprise all at the same time.
Tasuku looked around guiltily, then seemed to give up. He sighed. "Ahh, was it that obvious? I thought I was being really sneaky too ..."
Yael had figured as much. Tasuku probably staked out his apartment, and followed him to this cafe. It was a place with some renown among the locals for it's dark brew. It was quite a walk from his place so he had only been here a few times since he heard of it a few months ago from another teacher. It was quite early on a Sunday though, so he had to give it to the kid. Though, he was a little frustrated at Tasuku's bloodthirsty nature - it seems he waited for Yael to order before approaching him, so he was stuck here.
Time for a little revenge, which started with ordering that coffee for Tasuku. The kid obviously hadn't planned on ordering anything. Hadn't thought everything out, huh?
"Well that's what happens when you have bad intentions... I could sense you," Yael bluffed.
"Really!? Wow, that's amazing, Sensei. Argh, I should have known!" Tasuku scratched his head in exasperation, chuckling to himself. But he stopped suddenly, realizing something. "Wait, did you say bad intentions? Do you mean me?! How could you say that, Sensei?"
Yael put down his mug after another sip. "Harassment, stalking... assuming you have a school question, forcing me to work off the clock... No matter how you look at it you've got bad intentions, Tasuku-kun," he said as he fiddled with the mug, then looked at Tasuku smuggly as he finished speaking. Tasuku gaped. "You've got me all wrong Sensei! Please forgive me! You can forgive your student, I'm sure! A teacher as gracious as you, you've got to!" He clapped his hands in front of his face.
"Hmmm," Yael said, pondering deeply as he took another drink. It was good coffee after all. "I suppose I can, this time. I have a feeling this isn't school related. Then, what's so important that you follow me all the way out here and interrupt my day off?"
Tasuku seemed relieved. Then he looked a little conflicted again. This poor kid, it's just up and down for him, Yael thought to himself. Must be exhausting. "Sensei, do you know what day it is?"
"Huh... February 14th?" He couldn't think of anything.
Suddenly, dread. "It's Sunday, obviously."
"Sensei, I mean the date. Don't play dumb!"
"Precocious little brat. It's February 14th."
"Right, the fourteenth of February! It's a holiday!"
"A holiday in February, huh..." Yael said as he lifted the mug to lips as if it was suddenly full of lead. He took a long sip, while Tasuku waited patiently at attention. Yael placed cup down gently without a clatter, sighed in disbelief, and muttered, "Valentine's Day, huh?" What did the kid want with him on Valentine's Day?
"That's SAINT Valentine's Day, Sensei! That's why I had to find you! I couldn't just wait at school for tomorrow. Things like this have to done properly, don't you think? Let's see, here we goooo..."
As he rambled on, Tasuku shuffled through his bag while Yael waited in quiet dread. He carefully pulled out a gaudy looking thing, which upon closer inspection was red plastic wrap tied up with a pink bow. There really wasn't a question at this point what was inside.
Yael looked around the cafe which only had a few loners like himself around. A little early for couples, now that he thought about it. As a foreigner he made it a point to sit alone when possible, so he was quitely glad a few minutes ago when he saw he got the window bar all to himself. Now it felt like a liability. At least it seemed everyone was minding their own business. This was really happening, huh?
"Happy St. Valentine's Day, Sensei!" Tasuku at least had the tact to not yell in a public place. Yael took the bag in both hands, smiling weakly. Tasuku waited for a response, his eyes shining brightly. Internally, Yael sighed again. He put on a brave face for his precious student. "Sorry, I'm not sure what to say. Thank you, Tasuku-kun. You must have worked really hard on them..." He thought to open the bag now but thought better of it.
"Nah, it was nothing. We already had stuff around the house because Fuuka made some for her class. I'm not too shabby with baking, y'know? Hehe." Tasuku said some embarrassing things with his full chest.
Yael sipped his coffee again thinking about how he had to walk all the way home carrying this brightly colored package home. Then he thought it was time to ask something he had been wondering about.
"Say, Tasuku-kun, usually girls give chocolate to boys on Valentine's Day, right?"
Tasuku's eyes grew wide with shock. "Yael-sensei! I didn't know you were so old fashioned!" Then he scratched his chin, reconsidering. "I guess it's not your fault, someone just taught you outdated stuff like that. Giri-choco like that was really no good, women had to spend tons of money to give chocolate to their male coworkers and shitty bosses out of obligation, really uncool!"
The barista had brought Tasuku's coffee over while he lectured Yael. She hid a giggle and winked at Yael, who smiled back at her. Tasuku saw this and he seemed resolved.
"Real chocolate, you know, honmei-choco, that really means something. You can't just buy it! I made this by hand myself you know, with, you know..." He hesitated his rambling again. "Uh, I made them with love is that I mean to say." Tasuku's cheeks were flushed. He really could feel embarrassment after all.
After all that Yael reconsidered eating the chocolate on the spot. "Hey, your coffee is going to get cold. Take a drink right now!" He pointed at the cup sitting next to Tasuku, trying to reassert himself as an authority and save face for both of them. He fiddled with the bag, which was actually quite nicely wrapped. It would be a shame to tear something.
Tasuku was eyeing his coffee and looking back to Yael as he looked down at the contents of the bag. They were in fact little chocolates, of a few shades of dark brown. "There's two types in there, milk and dark chocolate! I wasn't really sure what you'd like so I made both ..." Yael was impressed, and gave Tasuku an approving smile. He hadn't seen Tasuku drink any coffee yet though. "Tasuku-kun, this coffee is really good you know? It'd really be a shame to waste it." Tasuku got the hint and winced at it seemed he really couldn't put off trying the coffee.
Yael picked out what he guessed was a dark chocolate while Tasuku picked up his coffee. Yael raised his eye brows as he observed the small shape - it was indeed a heart, but it even had a small embellished border around the edges. Tasuku's hand paused in mid air as he was drawing the mug to his lips. He watched Yael.
"Go on, try it, I insist" Yael's expression indicated to Tasuku. He really was keen on watching Yael eat the chocolate, but he raised the coffee to his lips and drank. At the same time Yael popped the chocolate in his mouth.
The dense shape conceded to his teeth with a soft crunch. The bitter taste spread across the back of his tongue, but a more semi-sweet taste replaced that after a moment. It paired very well with the coffee Yael was drinking. A very pleasant surprise after all. He thought to himself it would probably be better to have chocolate like this dissolve on the tongue, so he'd try that next.
Tasuku was having trouble keeping the coffee down, his eyes squeezed shut by the bitter flavor. He put the cup down and stuck his tongue out. Yael was glad that he didn't spit the coffee back into the cup, but he did quietly exclaim "bleeeeeech". Yael caught the eye of the barista who seemed to be enjoying the show. She covered her mouth with one hand as she grabbed some creams and sugars and walked over. She had caught his meaning completely.
"Here Tasuku-kun, try it with some sugar. It's a developed taste after all. But you know, your chocolates pair really well with this coffee." Tasuku recovered immediately, his eyes gleaming. "You really mean that?! Sensei!!"
Yael chuckled to himself as the barista walked over. "Course I mean it. Excuse me, could we have two of those breakfast sandwiches as well? That sound good to you, Tasuku-kun?" Tasuku was already fiddling with the cream but looked up at him surprised. "It is! But uh, sorry for the trouble..." He seemed to slowly understand he had interrupted Yael's quiet morning. But Yael had already resolved himself. Flexibility was key to teaching after all.
Later, Yael examined the few chocolates left in the bag. They were walking back towards home. The morning sun was still shining brightly, and spring was practically here.
"Hey, Tasuku-kun, what kind of chocolate do you like? Sweet, bitter?"
Tasuku considered for a moment. "I guess I like the dark, bitter stuff more. But not coffee! I can't believe I drank it all..."
Yael chuckled to himself. "It was a noble effort."
He was no good in the kitchen, but he had a few weeks before White Day.