This is a Happy Café fan fiction. It strays from the main plotline a bit; obviously because it's a yaoi. It takes place right before Shindou would have left for France. Enjoy!


Chapter 1: The Beginning

Summer was going to come early this year. Ichirou could feel it. He dragged his feet across the heated pavement sucking on a lollipop and carrying a school bag, but it's mostly for show. While he is a second year in high school, no books or pencils are in the bag: only snacks. He had a bad habit of falling asleep if he grew too tired. The previous year, his teachers wouldn't let him eat in class. He slept so much that he now has to repeat the year, but he isn't dumb. In fact, he's actually pretty smart. He was brought up in a good home, the son of a doctor and a fashion designer. Because of their busy lives, they had a "butler". He spent a lot of time teaching Ichirou. Of course, the private schools helped too.

Crunch. The lollipop had broken. Ichirou sighs, lazily grabbing another from his bag and unwraps it. As he peels back the paper, a familiar storefront catches his eye. "Café Bonheur" He couldn't believe he was already there. The walks usually took longer, but today he came prepared so there would be no accidental passing outs from hunger. As he pushes open the door to the shop, he notices how quiet it is. There were two workers missing; the manager, Nankichi Matsumoto, who owned the shop and Uru Takamura, another part-time employee like himself. That leaves only one other person working, his name in Shindou: Satsuki Shindou to be more exact. You can say he's the Manager's adopted son. The Manager took in Shindou when he was still young. They're complete opposites though. Shindou is a major work-a-holic. It's probably just because of how much he likes the café and admires the Manager.

"Good morning." Ichirou says, walking closer to Shindou, who's cleaning a glass. "Where's Uru-chan and Manager?"

"Sick and I don't know."

Short as always. "I hope Uru-chan is alright. Last time she was sick, she was /really/ sick."

"Her mom is there with her. I guess it's a small fever and a headache. Nothing big."

Shindou was a bad liar. Ichirou could see that he was worried about her, which made his stomach knot up. He had liked Shindou for a while now, but hasn't said anything to anyone. It's the first time he's liked a guy, but more importantly that guy likes someone else. It's no guess that the person he likes is Uru. She is an adorable (but incredibly strong) girl. Even Ichirou had felt an attraction when they first met. He even did some harmless flirting, but it was mostly to get a reaction out of Shindou. He didn't mind playing with Uru like that. She's pretty innocent and doesn't usually understand. Tonight will be another day where he uses his cute coworker to get a reaction out of Shindou.

"Maybe I should go over. I could be her hot water bottle." Ichirou smirks, already feeling the tensed hand on his shoulder.

"Like hell I'll let you go by yourself. Yuki-san isn't even there anymore."

"Fine. Then why don't you come with me? The shop seems slow so we can close early and go see Uru-chan now."

"Hmm… We'll go in an hour. You know students usually come around now."

Ichirou just closes his eyes and walks to the back room to set down his bag and put on the uniform. It's really just a green apron, but he liked not having to wear some cheap polyester outfit like the poor saps at Wac Donalds. He can feel himself start to get hungry so he gets his bag, but everything is eaten. Great. Blackness.

Ichirou can taste something sweet. His eyes snap open and he immediately knows he's on the floor. He chews on the sweet candy for a few moments before he notices Shindou looming over him. Just how long have I been asleep? He looks pissed. He sight and sits up, rubbing his head. I bet he hit me again. My head hurts.

"What time is it?"

"It's time for us to head to Uru's apartment, now get up you lazy ass."

"Was I really asleep the entire time?" Ichirou slowly stands up, eyeing the man cautiously. "Why did you let me sleep?"

"I was too busy to keep waking you up every time you fell asleep. I thought it'd just be better if you stayed back here."

Ichirou guiltily looks down. It's not like he could help just passing out, but he always felt so bad for Shindou; like he was a burden to him. He stands up and gathers his stuff and heads out the door of the shop, tailing Shindou. Uru's house wasn't very far, but it felt like ages to Ichirou. There was no conversation, maybe because he was afraid Shindou was still angry. He really did have a horrible temper, but it never lasted this long. He was usually only mad for a few minutes so this was new territory. Ichirou sighs dragging his feet along the pavement. It's still so hot today. Summer is definitely coming early. As the minutes drag on, they eventually get to Uru's apartment. She seemed to be doing a lot better. There was no fever and she had been sleeping all day. Since everything seemed fine Shindou decided to excuse himself for the night and go home, dragging Ichirou out by the collar with him.

"H-hey! What are you doing?" Ichirou struggles to get out of Shindou's grip. "I wanted to nurse Uru-chan back to health~"

"You aren't going to stay in that house alone with her. You might do perverted things" He let's go of Ichirou when they leave the small apartment. Shindou takes out his own set of keys and unlocks the next door over. It was shocking at first, but Shindou and Uru live next door to each other. It was only another factor that make Ichirou's stomach knot.

"Let me stay over tonight Shindou! I'm too tired to walk back home. Please?" He gives the cutest pouty face he can muster, hoping that it'll work on the tough person in front of him.

Shindou only sighs, knowing that Ichirou doesn't give up easily. If he wants to stay the night, he will. "Fine, come on in." He opens the door to his apartment walking in and Ichirou follows, closing the door after him. This was actually the first time he had been in Shindou's apartment alone with him. Either the Manager or Uru was always with them. It made him feel a bit nervous, actually. Ichirou takes a seat at the table sitting in the middle of the room, keeping his eye on Shindou.

"Did you want anything to drink?"

"Yeah, actually; it'd be nice; anything but water."

Shindou goes to the fridge pulling out two drinks and walks back to the table sitting across from Ichirou handing him one of the bottles. Ichirou opens the bottle and takes a big drink almost instantly tasting the alcohol. He raises an eyebrow. Shindou wasn't a drinker. One drink and he could pass out.. but he could use this to his advantage. Shindou must not know that it's alcohol otherwise he wouldn't have given it to Ichirou. A sneak attack would be completely unethical, but if it didn't work out then maybe Shindou wouldn't remember. If that happened then Ichirou would just move on. Keeping pace with Shindou, Ichirou finished his drink. He starts to feel relaxed like any normal person after one drink, but when he notices the looks Shindou has he almost laughs. His eyes are beginning to glaze over and he has a distant expression like he'd been drinking all day. Ichirou just shakes his head and moves closer to Shindou so they're sitting side-by-side.

"Why were you so mad with me this afternoon?"

"Who sai' I was mad?" Shindou props his head up with arm staring at Ichirou.

"You were awfully quiet on the way to Uru-chan's house. I thought you were mad that I fell asleep for the afternoon." He says trying not to sound bitter.

Shindou's face softens and show a look that was remarkable similar to guilt "I though' you'd be mad about me hittin' you t' wake you up."

"That's so.." Ichirou is consumed by a feeling of happiness, knowing that Shindou wasn't angry, but sorry.

Before he can stop himself, Ichirou's hand was caressing Shindou's cheek and he was leaning closer. Their lips meet and a heat spreads through Ichirou's body. He's finally kissing the man he's loved for the past 2 years. It was a blissful moment but it ended too soon when he felt Shindou pull away. Ichirou closed his eyes, not wanting to see the expression Shindou is wearing. When he finally does, he's actually surprised to see an understanding look on Shindou's face. He leans back in to kiss Ichirou softly, but Ichirou suddenly falls over from 130 pounds of dead weight. Shindou had fallen asleep…and not in a very good position. He pushes Shindou off of his chest and sighs. What did that look mean? He wasn't angry but … This was just making him more confused, but it'd have to wait until morning. Ichirou was strong, but not enough to carry Shindou to bed. Ichirou cleans up the room and moves the table to the side, grabbing the blankets off of Shindou's bed. He brings them out into the main room along with two pillows and spreads them over Shindou. I should probably take off his clothes; he won't be able to sleep in jeans. He kneels over trying to push dirty thoughts out of his mind as he unbuttons the sleeper's jeans and starts pulling them down, to reveal boxers. He bites his lip but shakes his head and takes the jeans off completely, not bothering about Shindou's shirt. After stripping to his boxers, Ichirou lays down next to Shindou; a couple inches separating them. He rolls on his side, facing away from Shindou, trying to make sense of the past few hours, when he feels an arm around his waist pull him backwards. Ichirou turns around in Shindou's arms, but he's still asleep.

Thinking… It can wait until morning. Right now I will sleep in the arms of the person I love.

Ichirou lets out a deep sigh and nuzzles into Shindou's chest, falling asleep peacefully.


Hope you liked it! The next chapter will be in Shindou's point of view through the course of the evening. It'll be shorter, but you can see what he's been thinking too!