Coffee Break
Disclaimer: Not mine. Never was, never will be
A/N: Well, I figured I'd challenge myself as well as break down the wall of writer's block. Basically, I've given myself four words that have to be used in this fic: fiddle, ring binder, diva and tip. I'll apologise in advance if it's utter drivel.
~*~
She was bored. Completely and utterly bored. She flicked through her ring binder of notes again. All the words seemed to be blurring into one, long, indecipherable sentence. It was definitely time for a study break.
Deciding that her books would be completely safe in the library, she grabbed her wallet and cell phone and headed for the nearest café. Coffee was exactly what she needed. That, and sugar in some form.
She chose the stairs, figuring she could use the exercise. She was only on the fifth floor. Her footsteps seemed awfully loud in the echo-y stairwell.
Barely paying attention to where she was going; after all, her only two choices were up or down, she almost ran into him. Flushing an attractive shade of red, she opened her mouth to apologise, but stopped short when she realised who it was.
"Yamato!"
Her voice echoed all the way up and down the stairwell.
He put his finger to his lips and shushed her, indicating that he was on the phone.
"No, I don't care, Shin. Tell them that the stuff will be there on time or we aren't playing. See how they like that."
An unintelligible response was made on the other end.
"Well, just try that. They need to learn that they can't walk all over us. We're the ones with the triple platinum album."
A pause.
"Right, well, I'll see you tomorrow then."
Sora raised an eyebrow, "You're such a diva, Ishida."
Most girls wouldn't have dared say that to him. But she wasn't most girls and it was one of the things he appreciated about her. She was one of a small group of people who spoke their mind to him.
He grinned the cocky grin that sent his female fans into hysterics. "Yeah, well, whatcha gonna do?"
She shook her head, "What are you doing out here anyway?"
"Well, I was trying to study. I've got a physics final in two days. But then my phone rang and-"
"It was the perfect excuse?"
He laughed outright this time, "You know me too well, Takenouchi"
"Hey, if you don't want to study you can always come with me and procrastinate over coffee." She tapped her fingers on the handrail, an annoying habit she'd picked up.
"I don't know…" he hesitated, "I really should get some study done."
"I'll buy."
~*~
Ishida Yamato had taken the fast lane to the top. Good looking, talented and intelligent, he'd made it big with his band at the tender age of seventeen. They'd toured all over Japan by the time he was nineteen.
He'd gotten used to the fame, the girls throwing themselves at him, the photographers, and the interviewers. But he grew to hate the music industry, with its backstabbers and profit-mongers.
They distorted the music he loved into nothing more than a money making expedition.
When he was twenty, he decided that it was time to pursue other dreams and had subsequently announced that the band would take a backseat to his university career. As well as getting an education he and the other band members would also have some real time to work on their song writing.
The band still did live shows, but only in the holidays, and they were contractually bound to release another album within two years.
In the meantime, he was enjoying university and the aspect of normalcy that it gave him. Not surprisingly he had chosen to attend Tokyo University, where many of his closest friends were finishing off their degrees.
Not that there was a whole lot of time for socialising now that finals were looming.
Still, once the general populace of Tokyo University had gotten used to the fact that there was a genuine superstar attending classes in their midst, university wasn't half bad. When he'd been touring with the band, he'd often felt like he missed out on the important moments in the lives of his friends and family. This gave him a chance to make up for it.
~*~
The café smelt strongly of coffee beans. A smell that was most welcome to Sora. She smiled at the girl behind the counter, "Two lattes please."
"You know, I can pay for my own coffee."
She grinned up at him, "I know. But I said I'd pay, and I'm going to pay."
"Fine," he sighed, "But I owe you one."
She brought the coffees over to the table.
"So, how's life been treating you, anyway? It feels like I haven't seen you for ages!"
He spooned sugar into his cup, stirring absentmindedly, "Same old, I guess. Mainly studying. I had a killer calculus final yesterday, I thought I was well prepared, but I guess not."
"Wow. So Ishida Yamato is only human after all." She fiddled with the lid of the sugar container.
He shot her a mock-hurt look, "I might be handsome, talented and highly intelligent-"
"And modest, don't forget modest."
"Don't interrupt."
"Sorry." She stopped stirring her coffee and licked the spoon, placing it on the saucer. "Please, continue. I'm fascinated."
"What I meant to say was," he paused for dramatic effect, "I might be handsome talented and highly intelligent, but calculus will be the death of me yet."
She took a sip of her coffee, "Can I ask why you decided to take all these incredibly hard papers?"
He shrugged, looked down at the table top, "This is gonna sound stupid."
"Oooh, spill. You have to now."
His coffee cup clinked as he put it down. "Well, when I was a kid I always had this dream, right? I wanted to be an astronaut. I always thought it would be really cool to fly to the moon and stuff." A light blush coloured his cheeks, "Don't laugh. I know it's stupid."
"It's not stupid."
He looked up quickly to make sure that she wasn't mocking him, then looked down again. "Anyway, I figured since I'd done the music thing I could maybe work on my other dream."
She was quiet for awhile and he wondered if she was regretting asking him to come for coffee with her.
Finally, "I think it's cool that you're willing to work for your dreams. Most people forget about the big impossible dreams that they have when they're kids."
He looked at her, blue eyes meeting her brown ones, "What dream did you give up?"
Now it was her turn to colour. "I-"
"I told you mine."
"Fine, when I was little, I always wanted to be an artist. I used to spend all my time drawing and colouring. My mother used to stick my pictures on the fridge."
"Why'd you give that up?"
Her blush deepened slightly, "Well, I never thought that I was very good, to be honest."
"I bet you were great."
It was her turn to look into his eyes, he was completely serious. "Thanks."
She smiled, and he wondered how it could be that he'd never noticed how her smile lit her face up before.
~*~
The waitress rolled her eyes; she'd seen young people in fall love before. It was a common occurrence in the university. She just hoped that they'd remember to tip her when they left.
~*~
Hahaha…well, there you go. If you think its crap please tell me. I'm not completely happy with it, but it's an exercise. If anyone has any other words that they want to recommend me to try let me know. Comments & criticism would be good as well. Thanks!
© 2004-02-23
Abi