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It moves slowly, not like all great things, because lightning is great, and faster than anything else on earth. It moves slowly because of Ren and his Phantom Thieves and his fight to keep his head above the violent waters of destiny. Very quickly everything became about him, and although Sojiro lifted the curtain and set the stage for something to happen by flirting with Ann upon first meeting her, his attention too became focused entirely on his ward, almost more so than on Futaba. The infamous transfer student has that effect on people. One of those fatally magnetic personalities which shape everything around them as well as history itself. Being around such a person is like being a little drunk or high. You can't think straight and your inhibitions are lowered.
For a time Ann was even in love with him. Her and many other girls and women. Or at least she thought she was. But Ren is not the type of person who is supposed to marry, much like his mentor. Or, much like his mentor pretends to be. The many similarities are there, but the few differences are stark. Ren is an obsidian monolith - volcanic glass sharp as death, something you can never get into, only enjoy looking at. His mentor, Sojiro, is not even a fraction as hard. His hard shell is like the shell of a magnum ice cream, easily cracked, and cracking satisfactorily, with a soft and delicious inside. No rock, no frozen lava.
But then Shido is dealt with and Ren goes to juvenile detention, leaving a hole in Sojiro's life he didn't even realise had been filled for months. Leaving opportunity for him to apply his attention elsewhere.
“Ann-chan, want a cup of coffee?” he asks the girl one cold but sunny morning while she’s milling around the area. Up and down the streets of Yongen-Jaya she's been walking, attempting to look as if she belongs. One of Leblanc's regulars pointed her out to the chief when they arrived for their daily dose of the good stuff. Sojiro has no problem attracting the ladies, and it's partly due to coffee. Offer a woman free coffee and she'll hang around, and the more she hangs around the more chance there is of her growing to like you. Offer her a great cup of coffee and she'll return time and time again. Look good and smell nice and act cool on top of it and you cut the timer on her growing to like you by two thirds.
Or just be Sojiro Sakura and she'll like you at first sight because you have a score of one hundred in the stats women of all ages are interested in.
The model looks up and down the sunlit street, then over to the man smoking just outside the door to his cafe. “Hmm? Oh, yes please, Boss.”
“Come inside then, missy. Unless you wanna drink in the street.”
“Ha!” The girl laughs and skips past him into the cafe. Giggles - music to his ears. Feminine giggles are a constant background track in the barista's life.
So far so good. She's an innocent one though, despite her figure, and has yet to realise that she's being flirted with by a suave older man. Either that or she's playing coy. Whatever, it's always fun when a naive and humble woman finally realises the handsome man complimenting her thinks she's cute.