A/N: Written for Valentine's Day 2014, opened in 2015 and finished 2 weeks after V-day 2015 LOL. Happy belated HaruEru Valentine's Day~

ハルエル

The scent of freshly grounded coffee and oven-baked pastries, the milk and cream that filled his taste buds even without drinking any, the rhythmic sound of metallic tools clanking with another and the timely ping from the microwave timer, warm light which set a comfortable mood for chats and casual dates.

Everything filled Haruto's senses here. Those were the reasons why he liked working in the coffeeshop.

"Welcome to Sakimori Coffee!" he greeted the customers when the front door was opened. Six boys of his age walked in; Haruto instantly cinged. Invisibly, of course. Wouldn't want to anger the customers.

While liking this job, he hated the guests sometimes. These people looked like the types he dislked most. Sometimes Haruto wished their coffeeshop weren't so strategically placed within the reach of two universities and one woman college. Even though it was good for the income and raised their bonuses at the end of the month too.

He looked over the counter; Inuzuka-senpai was manning the registry. Accepting his fate, he walked towards the table of the boys. Two of them had light-colored hairs, it was obvious they weren't natives. One of the two—the one with bluer-ish tint to his weird purple-colored eyes than the other—met his stares, and Haruto automatically smiled. "May I take your orders?" It was better to take innitiatives than waiting for discouraging treatments.

"Ah, thank you," the longer-haired albino said absentmindedly as he was looking at the menu above the counter. Haruto blinked. He was more decent than Haruto thought. Maybe he shouldn't judge so quickly. "What's Today's speciality might be?" There was still formal, holier-than-thou tone to his voice though.

"Yes, the blueberries today are fresh and sweet, so I recommend Blueberry Cheesecake," Haruto said, noticing the braid in one side of the albino's hair. Uhm.

"Ne, ne! I want something savory!" the red-haired chibi finally looked up from his handheld game. The chibi glared at his seatmate, the one with blue hair who seemed to be scolding him, and the orange-haired one with too familiar arm slung over his shoulder. At least that was what Haruto gathered from the glares he shot in those directions.

"Maybe Smoked Salmon quiche?" he offered, and the red-haired chibi still humming in dissatisfacion. "Or Breakfast Croissant Sandwhich? It has scrambled egg, beef slices, melting cheese, and our special dressing." The boy looked like in doubt, but with a "yeah, well, whatever" sigh, he agreed and returned to his game, much to the glassed boy's chagrin.

"Anything else?" Haruto said after writing it down. The one who said thank-you was discussing the menu with the older looking boy, from the mature aura around him. The corner of his lips always formed a smile. Very different than the one whose eyes met his earlier.

"Hot green tea latte for me, and... Is it tea or coffee for you, Andrei?" the mature looking male asked his companion.

"As if you don't know me, Fay. I'll take jasmine tea, please. Hot," the braided albino said. The others went to tell Haruto their orders as well, and it was weird how the first one he saw was the one to order last. "It's espresso for you, right, Michael?" his companion asked his seemingly mute friend.

"Black espresso, two shots, no sugar," the shorter-haired albino told Haruto curtly, indirectly confirming his friend's suggestion.

Haruto gave an automatic smile as he wrote it down. Must the guy acted like that? "And the snack to go with, maybe?" Haruto asked again, this time to deliberately disturb that one... who seemed to think that one glare would make Haruto disappear from his sight already.

"Nothing."

Haruto almost chuckled from the typical reaction. Almost.

"Well, then, I'll repeat your orders—" he said while noticing the questioning glance from the braided albino to the other one, "—did I miss anything? Thank you for your orders, guys, I'll be back shortly."

He didn't miss the surprised blinks from half of the group when he said "guys". They must have not been called that too often.

"How was the table?" Senpai asked as he reheated some of the orders. Yamada already memorized it, and went to mix their drinks.

"Ugh," Haruto said softly without bertraying his standard pleasant expression. Service industry. He could smile broadly while cursing under his breath. "Horrible. Just one, though. The others are decent. Sort of."

"Really now?" Senpai chuckled as he took out the sandwhich from the microwave. It sounded harmonic with Yamada-kun's works as a barista. "It's not often you're focusing on one person out of a bunch."

Haruto didn't answer as he went back to the table.

There were two cold drinks amidst all the orders, and Yamada finished those first, so Haruto decided to take them out first, wanting to give a fast serve for the guests. Well, apparently, one person still found faulties in that. "Really? Espresso should be quick. What are you doing, plucking the coffee beans one by one from the garden?"

Haruto gritted his teeth as he heard that.

"Michael?" The other albino—the one called Andrei—gasped and Fay looked at Michael in disapproval. It didn't get the desired effect, as the glower Michael wore only grew deeper. Haruto tried keeping his face flat.

"Okay, if there's no other orders, I'll take back the menu, guys. I'll be here shortly with the—ah, the rest of your orders," Haruto said, taking the menu off the table. He refused to look at Michael all the time; his back faced the other not so subtly. Haruto knew he was behaving like a child, but the others didn't reprimand him or anything. Probably because Michael was a jerk all the time.

He went back shortly afterwards. Because the espresso was lighter, he put that down last. But Haruto gave in to the impulse, taking the sugar cubes on the table and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, your order isn't finished yet," he told Michael and put three of the cubes in the coffee.

"Wh-what the hell?" Oh, so that man could cuss. Not as high-class as Haruto thought, then.

He put down the cup with a business smile. "You're already bitter, Sir. There's no need to add the bitterness by drinking more. I assure you it will taste better with lots of sugar." There were gasps, and suddenly Haruto realized what he just did and groaned inwardly. Now the customer would scold him and demand to see the manager and this month's wage would be cut.

But suddenly the runt laughed heartily until he was holding his stomach. "W-wooow! No one ever treated Michael like that! This is awesome!" Michael's death glare didn't seem to affect the runt at all. In an instant, Haruto felt better. The runt wasn't as bad as he thought. And it really did feel satisfying. Who cares if he would have to eat ramen cups for weeks before he got his next payment? The mighty albino needed to have a punch in his face at least once.

"Marq, it's impolite to laugh," the glassed one scolded with a slight blush to his high cheeks.

The runt asked for support from the orange haired guy, "Hans, hans, back me up!," he said while still laughing until he teared up.

The orange dude complied to the request with a smirk. "Oh come on, Lexy. Q's right. It's kinda funny to throw El off like that."

"It's Alexi!"

"Would you please do something about your underclassmen, Fay..." Andrei said to his seatmate.

"Eh? Why would I?" Fay answered with an amused face. Haruto was a little surprised by that, turned out the mature one wasn't so mature anyway. The braided albino facepalmed (but still graceful when doing so). There were a bit of commotion from the trio of Hans-Alexi-Marq when there was a loud sound of someone sipping a drink. Very deliberately loud.

Haruto, who had been a happily forgotten bystander, looked at the source (of the problem-who hadn't said anything since-probably from keeping his veins not to pop from his forehead). The albino cringed as he finished the coffee in several gulps. Coming from some other people, Haruto would think it was too bitter. On this one, though... "Too sweet."

No duh. Haruto leered to the side when the bitter male stood up, taking his coat he took off earlier, and told his friends, "I'm going back first," he said, reaching his wallet, taking out some money that probably could pay all their orders combined on its own. His shoulders bumped with Michael's as the man went past him. Michael's eyes went wide, but it disappeared the next second. Haruto wondered if it was just his imagination. Even as he was staring at the bitter dude, Michael didn't look at him, afterall.

"Michael!" Andrei called him, but the other didn't look back at all, disappearing to the busy winter street.

"I think... I was too rude. I'm sorry, guys. Because of me, your friend..." he said guiltily. He didn't want all of them to have bad experiences regarding this coffeeshop.

"No, it was our fault too; he was unusually jumpy," the braided albino sounded sincere, and there were approving nods or hums across the table. Haruto arched his eyebrows.

Only Fay smiled as if he knew something in the "cat ate the cream" style. But maybe it was just his default face.

Andrei looked fidgety, however, and after sipped at his cup of tea, he took his own cashmere jacket. "I should chase after him..." he only said the words as he walked out of the coffeeshop. Haruto wondered if the two albinos were more than just friends.

"…Aw, Fay, don't look so disappointed," Hans said, a grin plastered his face as he leaned his arms on the table. A smile.

"I'm not. Andrei is always like that when it concerns Michael."

"Jealous much?"

"Hans, shut up already. Move over to that side so that Fay won't be alone!"

"You should just say it if you want to sit across me, Lexy."

"It's not—"

Still, the orange-haired dude complied and moved across, and Haruto found the perfect timing to get away from that table at last. Well, it wasn't as disastrous as he had expected.

Especially when the rude albino returned to the coffeeshop on the weekend.

Alone.

Didn't he have better things to do with his friends?

"Two-shot espresso. Don't make it straight, make it other drinks instead." Haruto blinked. How strange. Apparently that person wasn't above ordering directly in the counter, then. The corner of Haruto's eyes stared into the empty seats, and he saw that person followed his line of sight. "Oh, right, on it!" Haruto said all too cheerfully.

"Tsk." Haruto heard the other clucked his tongue, making him look upward in return.

Then Michael said, "I could observe, obviously. Something that I don't think you have much experience about." Did Michael just read Haruto's mind? And he still remembered the guy's name. Weird.

"Huh. Could've been mistaken," Haruto replied as he put the order in the cash register, ordering caramel macchiato for the male. If Haruto got to choose, then he would choose the sweetest drink on the menu. It was extremely satisfying to be sassy with this guy. Shoko would be shocked to see him acting like this. Heck, he even had Inuzuka-senpai eyeing him already, complete with crossed arms behind the cake counter. Haruto stared at Senpai with a challenging look, and Senpai gave him a smirk for a reply. What was that supposed to mean?

Yamada-kun was on his break; the afternoon had been really busy, and now it had been dwindling down. Perfect chance. Haruto made the drink for Michael and putting much sugar inside without even asking first, as customary entitled him to. "You know, you could've just sit down, I'll call you when your order's done," Haruto said without even looking at the customer. "Michael, right?" he pronounced the name correctly.

Said person looked slightly taken aback and looked strange for a brief moment there. "Yes... Haruto."

Michael then walked away to the seat facing counter. Secluded, private seat on the corner of the wall, but Haruto could see him clearly from the counter, and surely the other had the same viewing access with him.

Anyway, it sounded weird, his own name. It was spoken as if the customer was testing it out with his foreign accent. So much that Haruto needed to cough out his awkwardness, noticing his nametag had the Romanized letters of his name. Still, to hear it coming from a customer, who seemed to hate his guts and had Haruto returned the sentiment, was totally... really... uh, he didn't know what to call it.

As an extra service, Haruto took the cup to his table instead of calling the other when it was done.

Though actually he just felt weird calling the other's name out loud.

"Here you go, Sir," Haruto said, putting the cup on the table.

"Not adding sugar this time?" Was that a challenge?

"Taste it first before you make snide remarks," asshole, Haruto added silently. Seriously what was with him and calling this customer with names? Haruto didn't swear or cuss. Senpai would attest to that under court's oath.

"Hm." Michael sipped the hot coffee, his face flat. He didn't cringe now. Strange, Haruto had made it extra sweet. Lavender eyes peeked from silver bangs; Haruto swore he saw it rolling, as if saying, "As predicted." Only that Michael didn't really say that.

"Well, feel free to order anything else if you want," Haruto said, leaving the space.

It was hours later, outside was already dark in the streets, when Michael finally walked out of the coffeeshop. Haruto felt oddly aware that the man's chosen seat was facing the counter.

Unable to live with guilt, Haruto told Michael when the customer visited again. "I always made your order extra sweet, you know."

"I figured as much." No more response.

Haruto went to type in his order on the touch screen. Seriously, it was the guy's third time in the coffeeshop just this week. Even when he ordered straight espresso, Haruto always made it extra sweet. But did he hear any complain? Nope, none. If anything, Michael spent more time in this coffeeshop more than he spent at most of his classes. Not that Haruto knew so, he just made observation. Because he totally could.

Michael's friends came with him sometimes, but he always stayed hours after they left. Haruto could see politics and international affairs books when Michael didn't look at his tablet, which was pretty often. When Haruto asked, he said looking at electronical device made him dizzy. Haruto suggested wearing glasses, to which the other considered rather seriously.

It was last week.

Still no glasses. Guess he was just putting up a sociable front. Which was still a shock, considering how he acted with people.

Money was taken out, and Haruto gave Michael his change, when he saw the guy didn't move from the line yet. Well, there was no one behind him, so it was alright. Haruto didn't make any effort to shoo him away from the spot either. Michael's eyes darted left to right, before finally looking at Haruto and actually sighed. Exhaustedly. How rude! Did Haruto have something on his face? Did he act ridiculously in front of the guy?

"The first day..." Michael started.

Oh. Maybe it was something else.

Haruto blinked, his attention focused solely to hear the next words coming from this customer. "...You think I don't know myself?"

Huh?

"...bitter coffee seemed to fit my image, surely you must have thought of it too. My friends always ordered that for me, but I actually..." He looked at Haruto, who didn't know what to say under such weird gaze. He didn't even know why this suddenly became the topic. To be fair, maybe the customer was replying to his comment earlier about the extra sugar.

Then Michael sighed. And smiled at him. No smugness, no arrogance. Tension was nowhere in sight in that expression. Haruto justifiedly forgot to breathe for several heartbeats.

"...nevermind. Today I'll have a take away."

Work it, brain! "Huh? Oh, okay." Haruto reached the cup and wrote down Michael's name, who was already walking to his usual seat. It was only a takeaway and he still sat on that seat. Why would he? It was kind of unnerving.

"So how's your favorite customer going?" Senpai greeted him as he walked behind the register.

"Fav... huh?"

"You two seem close."

Haruto cringed and said, "Uh, him? No, ugh. I wish he'd just stop coming over and doing nothing while sitting on that spot."

"But whenever he's not here, you'll stare on that seat dreamily, you know?"

Haruto looked at Senpai incredulously. "What, me? There's no way I did that."

Senpai smirked. "Okay, maybe not dreamily."

"I'm simply looking forward, forward!" he denied vehemently.

"Suu-ure," Senpai said, and with that he walked away, a menu order on his shoulder as Haruto made his way to return to the counter.

"—so is my order done?" Neither of the coffeeshop workers saw the topic of their conversation approached the table. Haruto looked at Michael's surly face. He seemed to be bothered about something. It could be just Haruto's imagination, though.

If Haruto could choose what to see, Michael's face before was better; boy he looked good in a smile. The guy needed to wear it more often.

"Ah, yes, here." Haruto quickly put the lid on the paper cup, and gave it to Michael, whom simply responded in a nod and steps following one another as he went out of the shop.

"Maybe he was jealous," Senpai whistled, and Haruto got wide-eyed over the statement. Huh.

"What do you think he would get jealous for?" he asked when he found his voice.

"Oh, so you're not denying the chance that he did get jealous?"

"What?"

"You heard me." Haruto decided to ignore his snickering co-worker for the rest of the night, but then his eyes wandered to the empty seats Michael used every single time.

Come to think of it, no matter how sweet Haruto made them, his cup was always empty to the last drop. Should next time he tried something bitter, just to see his reaction? But to be honest about "reactions", he would prefer that smile over some frowns or pissed off look. Though, to be honest, Haruto didn't mind annoyed look either. It could resemble embarrassment, and something he didn't show to many people.

...God. Did he start getting obsessed or what?

"See? You're staring." Senpai commented, and Haruto frowned deeply, because, yes, he was indeed staring to the empty seat.

"Haruto!"

"Rukino-san, hi!" Haruto put on his bright smile. One for obvious reason: it had been a while since he saw the girl who was working here part time while working as a model and idol. "How are you?"

"Busy," the girl flipped her hair proudly. "But finally free enough to visit this place."

"Glad you did! Akira-chan is baking in the back, she'd be happy to see you." Both Yamada-kun and Inuzuka-senpai waved happily seeing Rukino-san, who replied the gesture cheerfully.

"It's okay, I only have a few minutes afterall. Could you—"

"Ahem."

Haruto looked over Rukino-san. Michael stood with his arms crossed. He did come in just before Rukino-san earlier, but the girl got into the line first. Lately Haruto had been overly conscious about the guy, their eyes also met more often than not whenever the silver-haired spent some quality time in the coffeeshop. Haruto felt his insides made a funny turn when it happened, too. So Haruto did pointedly ignore the male when Rukino-san was here. Deliberately. He kind of wanted to see how Michael would react. And the frowning eyebrows made Haruto a little giddy, as if he had wanted to see that, when in actuality he had no idea what to expect.

"Could you chat later? People want to order something, here." Several people behind Michael made noncommittal sounds, but it seemed Michael took that as signs of approval.

"Excuse me? I was just about to order. Jerk."

Whoa.

"Oh, so what's your order, Rukino-san?" Haruto tried to move the subject, his eyes pleading towards Michael. He remembered how sharp-tongued the guy could be, and with Rukino-san's dislike to lose an argument, this place could be a battlefield quicker than a blink. He held the gaze for a few seconds. Haruto felt glad when Michael's body language became more relaxed. His shoulders were less pointed out than before, and there was an acceptance sigh coming out from his mouth. To Haruto's mind, it sounded like "I only let it off because of you", but maybe his mind was far too deluded. Michael didn't say anything, afterall.

When Rukino-san received her takeaway afterwards, she waved towards Haruto. Michael ordered his drink to Inuzuka-senpai, but Haruto could feel his violet gaze followed him around. This time it might not just be his imagination too, since their eyes met. Repeatedly. To which Haruto always threw his face away in embarrassment.

"Sorry about that," he felt the necessity to speak it loud as he placed the cup of Michael's order. Cafe latte for today.

"Popular with girls, aren't you?" came the sour question. Haruto felt his throat dry, his heart skipped a beat.

Michael sounded as if he was...

"What are you talking about?" he asked, the tray in vertical position on his side.

A frown appeared deep in Michael's face. "Last week, it was a brunette. Then the curly blonde. Then now."

...Seriously, Michael sounded as if he was...

"Uhm, Shoko... I mean, the brunette is our baker actually; she provides the batch overnight while Akira-chan bakes them. She's also the owner's daughter. Takahi-senpai is here on a date with Akira-chan's brother. And Rukino-san used to work here when she wasn't as popular as she is now." Rukino-san had grown really popular in the past year. Even her lipstick ad could be seen from the shop's window, last summer. But uh. Still. Haruto knew he didn't want Michael to misunderstand.

Michael mouthed something that suspiciously seemed like "Akira-chan", but maybe Haruto was seeing things. He tried to ask it to Michael, who suddenly glared at him as he slipped his hair behind his ears. Haruto gulped as he saw the gesture, and flinched when he saw the sharp look pointed at him. "Why are you still here?" Michael asked.

"Oh, right. Uhm, I'll go back, then." For a second, the silver haired actually looked like he wanted to say something, but Haruto wanted to get away soon. His eyes kept darting towards the neck line accentuated by the hair which slipped behind ears like what Michael just did, and he figured if he looked that way any longer, it would start being suspicious.

He also needed the time to suppress a blush from overthinking that maybe, just maybe, Michael was jealous.

"You're pathetic."

Haruto sobbed involuntarily.

"Yes, I am," he replied, his face looking near a panic breakdown. "Like, why did I even explain things that he might not want to hear of? There's no point in that, isn't there? And shouldn't I just, like, say that yes, they fancied me, even though Akira-chan and Shoko and Rukino-san probably aren't, but it'll make my value go up, right?"

Inuzuka-senpai groaned, his face fuming just like when he faced the espresso machine, which was acting up again. He looked at Haruto as if Haruto was the machine. Haruto sobbed again. He didn't cry, didn't shed a tear, but his insides felt like being ripped apart. "I screwed up so much..." he whined again.

"I shouldn't have said a word about him being jealous if it would make you like this," Inuzuka-senpai said, so quick as if it wasn't meant for Haruto's ears. "Normally I just want to go home and sleep after my shift, Haruto."

Haruto felt a little guilty, but then he saw the plastic wraps from the burgers in front of Senpai. "I bought your dinner though..." he mumbled, making mental notes to check if his wallet could pay for the amount of food Senpai ate. Inuzuka-senpai never held back when the bill was being paid by anyone other than him.

"Argh. Okay, you did. Fine. I don't want to see my kohai this miserable either. You're not pathetic for replying his accusation like that, you know..." Haruto made a look, and Senpai throw both hands in the air. "Fine, okay, that was a little pathetic too. But anyway, my point is. Haruto. You're pathetic because you don't do anything about it. You whined instead. That's weak."

The words stabbed Haruto. "I'm not weak..." he said - haha, the irony - weakly.

"You're a man, and you're such a herbivore," Senpai continued, completely disregarding Haruto's comment. "You're the man, so you've got to be the one who acts assertively, okay? He has given you all the signals you need. The jealousy, the visit to our coffee shop-so often that he's practically the most regular customer we have-what else do you need? Act on it!"

Haruto mumbled, "Even though you can't do anything about Aina-chan either..."

"I heard that."

Haruto grinned guiltily. Aina was Inuzuka-senpai's sweetheart since high school, they were close despite the age gap and different circle of friends, but still Senpai didn't act anything on it, waiting for the right timing which, of course, never came. It was a low blow to mention that to him though, since at the beginning, Senpai had tried but he was turned down politely. More than once. And even those were the events that Haruto knew of.

"Anyway, with Valentine's Day on the corner, I think it's a great timing to confess or do something about it," Senpai said, crossing his arms. His thick eyebrows furrowed together, showing he was impatient, and Haruto didn't know if that was really a good idea. Senpai could have said that due to being impatient, not because it was a legit suggestion, but...

"I hear in Dorssia, they put together a bouquet full of roses," Haruto said, more to himself.

Senpai nodded. "That sounds romantic. But you do know that the other party to this plan is a male, right?"

"He... he's pretty when he smiles... Hey!" Haruto stuttered, then snapped when Senpai groaned.

"Good for you to be so lovestruck. Just don't neglect your duties."

"Senpai, you're the one who said that I was the man, implying he wasn't," Haruto contorted, and Senpai threw his hands in the air, giving up. Haruto smiled, though. He knew Senpai simply meant that he shouldn't wait for miracles to happen.

Well. He had to check if he had enough spare to buy the roses. Valentine's day would be next week. The timing couldn't get any better.

Or so he thought.

He might also have been overthinking too much that he was down with fever and his parents were so worried they demanded him to go to Module 11 in the moon once he was better, and it wasn't something he could ignore, since he had been out of home for 2 years. Haruto was a little upset that Shoko told them, though. In the end, he came back to JIOR area on Earth just a day before Valentine. (His father was the one fussing over him, going as far as crying when he had to go to his laboratorium work everyday, but thankfully his mother could calm his father down and let Haruto go before he had to stay for the extra day. Or week.)

Thankfully Haruto never took a leave before, and they could be used on this moment. Now the more urgent matter had come to his hand.

Literally.

In the form of red rose bouquet.

Haruto had been thinking of white, it seemed to match Michael's features more subtly, but he decided to go traditional if he must. And if it contrasted Michael's features, well... All the better, maybe.

The blonde florist smiled after he completed the payment, and Haruto couldn't help but to return that smile seeing all wrinkled face that was so endearing. Even though the florist must have been older than him.

He was really going to give it, wasn't he? Did he have to say "Be my valentine" or something? He never did that and he didn't really prepare anything for a date or anything, he just wanted to give it to Michael and confess, and...

God, he didn't really think this through, did he?

"...Michael..."

His head snapped to the direction across the street, and he wanted to slap himself for being so conscious to the name.

But there they were, the group of 6 Dorssians, tight-knitted, with Michael in the center of them, and Haruto stared and stared hard to the bouquet in his hand. He wasn't ready for this...!

Thankfully neither of those people were looking back, they were too busy focusing Michael and whatever he was holding; Haruto didn't really notice what that was, he wasn't on the right angle, and he definitely didn't want to be in the right angle. But he was just in the right distance, judging from the conversation that carried through the crowd. They were used to being loud, it seemed.

"...You seem pleased with this particular box," the mature-looking blue-haired one said. Haruto remembered the name was from "F", but he couldn't remember what, exactly.

"...well..." Michael replied.

"Do you realize what kind of face you're making right now?" the other albino asked, a little worried, it seemed, but more like awed.

The tallest two were further in the front, they also seemed busy between themselves and weren't participating in the Michael-centric talk. The runt looked up from his handheld device and snickered, though. "He's going to have a Valentine date, he even gets the chocolate! Of course he's happy!"

...oh, no.

Haruto stared at the bouquet in his hands, his hands suddenly limped.

"...given... please shut up," Haruto could make one sentence out of the whole line Michael was saying, a little obscured by the crowd.

Or the thundering pain in his eardrums.

The group suddenly stopped, and Haruto realized they had arrived in the coffeeshop. To get inside he obviously needed to pass them, and he wondered how he could do that unnoticed with the big bouquet in his hands.

And that was when the F-guy decided to notice him, and apparently, half of the group also noticed him. Michael's eyes (so, so violet, so weird, so fascinating) went wide eyed at his sight, and Haruto thought that he'd react the same, what with the bouquet and being behind them as if he was stalking.

He just wanted to dig his cemetery hole.

"I shouldn't have listened to you," Haruto sobbed, his voice croaky when he told Senpai, whose arms were on waist. Haruto waited for a scolding for making a scene when he brushed past the group to get inside the coffee shop, but it never came. Neither was the scolding due to him being pathetic.

"You've bought it anyway," Senpai said, and Haruto was surprised at the gentleness, "Why don't you just give it to him?"

"...That'll be a new kind of suicide."

"Whoever his date is, they're not here yet. You might as well as snatch him under their nose."

"Senpai, that's crazy, even for you. The chocolate, the date, everything was... he was pleased with it, he got a date..."

Inuzuka-senpai sighed exasperatedly, but he was done. Haruto figured it was his way of telling Haruto to "do it or not, but don't stay moping", especially since this was the first day he got to work after practically a week gone.

But Haruto felt his heart dropped to the deepest pit of his stomach and he couldn't do anything. That was why he couldn't man the registration and Yamada-kun, with his explosive way of talking, was the one taking the orders while Inuzuka-senpai talked Haruto to his senses. Oh god.

"I shouldn't have gotten sick, maybe someone was approaching him while I wasn't here, I just... the timing..." But Haruto knew he couldn't blame the timing. It would be of no use. He would be lame.

"There's no such person. He came here everyday, even on weekends, you know?"

Senpai's words intrigued Haruto, but he couldn't help but to comment, "Maybe they had their dates here..." And if that didn't make Haruto want to vomit, nothing else could.

"You didn't hear me! There's no such person!" Senpai yelled, but it was still contained. They were in the kitchen and Akira-chan was very jumpy. They didn't want accidents. "And that wasn't the first box he brought, there were one with him for 2 days straight. Well, 3 days now, and he never seemed to open the wraps here, only continuing to order straight espresso and sat for a while before getting out..."

"Wait, huh?" Straight espresso?

Senpai sighed, but he made an eyebrow arched up as if asking, "Well?" to Haruto, and suddenly, a different conclusion dawned on him.

It was still a small chance.

But what if Senpai's encouragement was right...?

When Yamada came back and told them their orders, and Haruto heard that Michael ordered another espresso, he had an idea what to do.

Michael didn't even look at Haruto as he put every order at the table. The other albino and F-guy met his eyes, but they didn't say anything. They were staring at him a little expectantly, but Haruto's attention was brought to the dented chocolate box, as if someone crumpled the edge but not really. Was it already like that before? Was it new?

He didn't want to pull any conclusion, and it would distract him for what he intended to do, but everyone was simply sipping their drinks, except the runt who was still playing video games.

"This is not coffee."

Michael said that, and Haruto's heart went over a rollercoaster flip. Now or never. "No, that's pure chocolate with some milk to give body to the taste. But, no sugar, just like your ordered espresso."

Michael gaped and closed his mouth again, eyes frowning so close it distorted his face a little. Haruto didn't like that kind of look, he wanted the distress to disappear, and it was a small comforting thought because, right now he simply wanted to run away. And where was the courage he had back in the kitchen?!

"It's Valentine's day, so..." Haruto coughed embarrassed.

But suddenly the tallest orange-haired flamboyant guy was exclaiming to his companion, "See?! I told you guys."

"You told us about the flowers being brought here, Hans," the runt commented without looking away from his video games. "Not about chocolate."

"Still the same! I should've made a bet pool earlier... ah.. haha, calm down, El, sorry." Hans cowered under the glare that Michael gave him. Haruto wondered who was really in charge for the group, perhaps it was Michael afterall. But he was kind of glad the Hans spoke, it made him less nervous. Everyone's attention was not on him, even if only for a fraction of time.

But Hans wasn't the only one cowering, because Michael now directed the glare at him, and Haruto tried to politely smile, but it was a little broken. He must be disgusting and stalkerish, impolite to a fault, and Michael was out of his league, who already got a fucking Valentine date. And what was with him and cussing?

There was a very heavy silent for a while, when Michael suddenly took the sugar cubes and put three of them in his cup, stirring while saying, "Obviously, you have to show up today," he began, and Haruto was more confused than ever, but when his eyes looked at the table, Fay (he remembered the name) was grinning. "You're very cliche."

"Uhm..."

"Are the red roses for this 'Akira-chan'?"

Haruto blushed and spluttered and Michael was looking at him, but his expression was a little off, so Haruto found himself saying a firm, "No." And the off became a little okay.

"Your coworker said you liked chocolates, but I didn't know anything about it being Valentine tradition until this morning-"

"But you still chose it for like 2 hours just now!" the runt exclaimed, and Michael didn't glare at the red-haired runt because he was too busy staring at the floor. The red in his ears was a contrast to his hair. Now Haruto could feel his heartbeat speed up uncontrollably.

He was reminded of the red roses all at once, and he had to make it right, had to. "Hold on a second!" he said, all bubbly and face as red as the roses he went to bring in to the table. Senpai patted him in the back on his way to the kitchen, and to his surprise, Michael's table was empty with Fay and Hans pushing the rest of the group out, save for Michael himself. The door and wall were still glasses though, there was seriously no privacy here, but he didn't want to miss this beat, this chance.

"So if we're in the same page... I..." Haruto caught his breath, but he still spoke first.

"Sorry about the box, these are for you," Michael cut him, pushing the slightly dented box towards Haruto.

Haruto nodded, gulping, and handed over the bouquet, "And I heard you celebrate it by roses, so..."

"You... bought them with that in thought?"

"I... uh... yes?" Haruto asked unsure.

"So, the conclusion is..." Michael trailed off, and Haruto tried to listen to any continuation, but there were none.

But he was satisfied when seeing unadulterated smile on Michael's face, and both of them were caught off guard at the moment, until the steely mask returned, but Haruto had known that this was probably the face Michael was wearing on the street, and it was beautiful, and it was because of Haruto. Right?

Michael coughed, seemingly to let out the awkwardness, and sipped the hot chocolate until the cup was empty.

"Actually, I always prefer my drinks sweet."

And Haruto laughed, wholeheartedly.

"I've always suspected that."

"...So, your date?"

"No dates."

"But Marq said..."

"I didn't plan on this continuing to a date."

Ah, same and so the date was with me? both appeared in his mind. "I... if you're okay, I just... want to hang out with you after my shift's done... I mean, like, if it's okay with you."

"Shut up."

Michael kissed him and it left a sweet taste. Haruto could get addicted to that.

ハルエル

A/N: This fic was already posted as a two-shot in AO3, under pen name of runeraccoon. Do check over there if you prefer the format.

Also, I have an anon and a tumblr user messaging me saying that they were following me from FFN and you don't know how happy I was to hear that. Thank you for reading, I really treasure every fave, reviews, and views to my fics. Thank you for still checking Valvrave fandom once in a while.

Also, VVV designer's book will be released at the end of March! I'm sooo going to preorder one ljflkjlajsflk