Characters: Kukai Soma


Café Buono!: Café Buono!


Kukai Soma looked over the list his brothers had given him, having just finished soccer practice. While his other brothers were off at University, his remaining two brothers still at home had given him a list of stuff they needed, and told him to pick it up for them after practice.

Of course, that was after an intense game of Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Nonetheless, Kukai had stopped by a mini-mart and picked up most of his brothers' desired things, as well as a snack for himself.

Kukai walked down the street kicking a soccer ball, and carrying shopping bags. He looked over the list again and sighed. He then started to complain to himself, "Ugh, Unkai and Rento are so annoying! Why do they need these things all of a sudden? Even I know that we haven't run out of chips, soda, and alarm clocks. Those two keep on bringing home more every day, so I don't see why I have to buy them."

Kukai put down the shopping bags, his sports bag, the list, and the soccer ball for a moment to relax his arms. The jock mumbled to himself as he stretched his arms, "Maybe I should've gotten a wagon or something from that mini-mart." He picked up the list again and took a look at the last item on the list, "Blueberry muffins" he read. Kukai looked around for a place to buy blueberry muffins, and was relieved to find that he had stopped outside of a café, the perfect place to get some blueberry muffins.

Kukai stuffed the soccer ball and the list into his sports bag, and entered the café with his many bags.

The soccer-player instantly felt the aroma of coffee and sweets upon entering the café. Kukai looked around and immediately felt out of place. The only people in the café were couples, nerds, and a group of people gathered for what seemed to be a book club - no jocks to be seen. Kukai shrugged it off and moved to the counter.

Kukai looked up at the menu, and found the cost of blueberry muffins. Deciding to buy them, he took a look at the employee's name-tag to get her name so he could address her directly. Seeing only a first name written in hiragana, he said, "Yo, Miyabi, can I get some of your blueberry muffins?"

Miyabi, the girl at the counter, wore a red-and-white checkered waitress uniform and had long brown hair with a large red-and-white checkered bow on the side. She punched a few buttons on the cash register and said, "Sure, would you like anything else?"

Kukai shook his head, "Nope." He reached into his wallet and put a few bills on the counter.

The employee handed Kukai the receipt and said, "Your order is number 47, it will be done shortly." Miyabi turned around and yelled into the kitchen, "Momoko, blueberry muffins!" She turned her attention back to the customers and called for the next person to get in line.

Kukai quickly stepped out of the way and waited at a table near the counter and a door that was marked, "employees only." Setting his stuff down, he waited only to get bored a second later. He drummed his fingers against the table unconsciously to a tune.

He paused for a moment upon realizing this, and wondered just what the tune was that he was drumming his fingers to. He paused for another millisecond and then heard that a song was playing in the café, and that it was what he was drumming his fingers to.

Kukai listened to the song, it was cheerful, and fit the mood of the café. The speakers sang out, "The recipes on our menu of happiness are still top secret. We like seeing faces of deliciousness, Buono!..." As the rest of the song played, Kukai heard only one word he didn't recognize, "Buono."

Just then, a waitress with her long and wavy black hair pulled into a ponytail came out of the kitchen on roller-skates, wearing a green variation of Miyabi's uniform and a slightly smaller green bow at the base of her ponytail. She had a tray of items, and read from a paper, "47?" Kukai raised his hand, and the girl roller-skated to him and put the bag down on the table. She then said, "Thanks for eating here! I hope you enjoy your meal, Buono!"

The waitress was about to leave, but Kukai quickly stopped her and asked, "Wait, hold on a second-" he glanced at her name-tag briefly, "-Airi, what's 'Buono'?"

The waitress stopped and turned around, replying with an almost goofy yet cute sort of grin, "Well~, 'Buono' is like our catchphrase! It means 'good' or 'tasty' in Italian."

Kukai nodded in understanding, "Ah, that makes sense." He took a look inside the bag to see the muffins and grinned, "Wow, these muffins smell fantastic!" He looked back up at the waitress, and gave her a thumbs-up, "They're awesome, thanks!"

The waitress smiled again and replied, "No problem~." She then turned around and skated off to serve another table.

Kukai picked up his stuff and walked out of the shop. And then a thought occurred to him, "Hey, I guess I should write down the name of the café, so I can remember to come here next time." He turned around and looked up at the store sign, and nearly slapped his forehead for not realizing it sooner.

The sign read, "Café Buono."