Chapter 1

The Blue Stripe

The Blue Stripe was the name of a small, corner cafe right smack in the middle of a big city. Outside the cafe's entrance stood Gakupo. The purple-haired man looked up at the sign above the door and then back down to memo book in his hand.

"Yep, this is the place," he mumbled to himself before slipping the book into his back pocket and opening the door.

As the door opened, a small bell placed above the door suddenly swung side to side and made a pleasant ringing noise that drew the attention of the worker standing behind the counter.

"Welcome to-" a green-haired girl started before quickly switching her greeting to something more familiar and personal. "Oh, Gaku! Glad you could make it!"

Gakupo smiled and walked up to the counter. "Hey there, Gumi. I got off work a bit early so I thought now would be the best time to wander around the city to find this place."

"Oi, you're making it sound like this place is hard to find," Gumi complained before pouting.

Gakupo grinned before reaching over to mess with his childhood friend's hair. "It was hard to find though. Remember, I just moved here a few weeks ago. I haven't had the time to really explore the city."

"That's because you're new here. If I had given those directions to anybody else, they wouldn't have had any troubles finding the place."

Gakupo shrugged. "If you say so. Anyways, when's your shift over?"

"Why're you asking~? You planning on bringing me out on a date?"

"Nah. You'd just make my wallet cry."

As the two friends broke out laughing, a blue-haired man walked out from a backroom entrance behind the counter.

"Based off all the laughter I'm hearing, I'm guessing you're that friend Gumi was talking about earlier?" he said as he looked at Gakupo.

Gakupo nodded. "Probably. The name's Gakupo."

"Nice to meet ya. I'm Kaito, the owner."

Gakupo grinned. "Ah, so you're her boss. I should probably apologize for all the trouble she's probably caused you."

Kaito shook his head. "Nah. She's actually one of my best employees."

Gakupo raised an eyebrow. "Oh? That's a surprise. She was such a klutz back in-"

Before he could finish, Gumi interrupted him. "Sh-shut up Gaku! Geez, you here for less than five minutes and you're already causing trouble…"

Kaito let out a small chuckle. "Tell me some stories sometime when Gumi isn't around, alright?"

"Sure thing."

Gumi sighed and leaned her head back. "I shouldn't have invited you over. Now you two are just gonna double team me."

Kaito patted her on the shoulder. "That's just how life is, I guess. Anyways, you should take a seat Gakupo. Our barista will be out in a bit."

"Is anywhere fine?"

"Yep."

Gakupo walked over and took a seat at the bar, which was just to the right of the counter. "I'll just sit here I guess."

"Alright," Kaito replied before disappearing into the back. "Hey, you done?"

From his seat, Gakupo could hear a female voice reply, "Yeah. I'll be right out."

A few seconds later, a pink-haired woman stepped out. She was wearing the same kind of uniform that Gumi was: a plain, white button-up shirt with matching black vest and skirt. While the uniform looked pretty cute on his friend, it gave this woman a rather mature look.

The lady, whose nametag read "Luka", stepped up and smiled politely. "What can I get you?"

Gakupo looked up to the menu that was hanging up on the wall in front of him. "Hm… A dark chocolate mocha, no whip."

"Hot, or cold?"

"Hot please."

"Coming right up." After giving another polite smile, Luka turned and started to get to work. A few minutes later, she slid a cup of coffee towards Gakupo. "One hot, dark chocolate mocha with no whip."

"Oh, thanks," Gakupo said before bringing the cup up to his lips. He gave it a light blow and took a sip. "Mmm… This is really good."

"Thank you. I'm glad you like i-"

Before Luka could finish, Gumi scooted over next to her. "Of course it's good, Gaku. She's the master barista here~"

Luka sighed and ruffled Gumi's hair a bit. "There you go again, bragging about me. I keep telling you, I'm not that great. You'll be just as good at brewing as I am once you learn how everything works." The woman smiled and turned her attention back to Gakupo. "Anyway, as I was saying, I'm glad you like it… Gaku?"

"-po. Gakupo's the name, actually. Gumi's just called me Gaku since we were kids."

"Aww, you two were childhood friends?"

"Yep."

"That's really cute. Just like Kaito and myself. We grew up together and everything."

"Hm… I've always wondered... Which of you two decided to start the cafe?" Gumi asked, still standing by Luka.

Luka played with the ends of her hair a bit as she thought. "It was his idea, I guess? I've always had a love for homey cafes, coffee, and even tea. Kaito's always wanted to run a business. I guess when he finally saved up enough money, I was an obvious first person to go to for him. Financially, I'm not a partner but I take care of almost everything related to actually selling and serving drinks."

"That's so cool," Gumi said, eyes basically sparkling as she looked at Luka. "You two are like… a married couple!"

Gakupo, who had been quietly drinking his coffee, looked from Gumi to Luka. While he wasn't nearly as straightforward as Gumi, he was also curious about Luka's relationship with Kaito. His brief conversation with Kaito didn't really make it seem like there was something between them but when he imagined the two of them standing side by side, they seemed like a good pair.

"Married couple…?" Luka parroted before smiling awkwardly. "I'm not sure how you got that idea but it's nothing like that. I'll admit that when we were younger, I had a thing for him but it never really went anywhere."

Gumi pouted. "Aww… Guys are just so dense, aren't they?"

"Well, it wasn't that, really. It's a bit complicated, sorry."

As Gumi began to open her mouth to ask another question, Gakupo interrupted, "So Gumi! Um… when are you getting off work again?"

"Oh. Well, I'm working the full day today actually so I'm off when the shop closes, why?"

"I was thinking of treating you to dinner since it's been a while," Gakupo replied before checking his watch. "So like… a few hours from now?"

Gumi nodded, "Yeah."

"You mind if I go and do some errands before coming to pick you up?"

"Go ahead~"

Gakupo quickly finished his drink. "Cool. Hey Luka, how much do I owe you?"

Luka shook her head, "Today's is on the house."

"You sure...?"

"Yep. Just promise you'll become a regular patron," she replied before giving a smile.

"Will do then. Anyways, I'll see you both later."

A few hours later, Gakupo returned to the cafe. When he walked in, he saw Luka tidying up a few tables.

"Hey, Luka."

Luka looked up from the table she was wiping down. She looked a bit surprised. "Oh, Gakupo. Didn't you get Gumi's text?"

"Oh. I don't think so." Gakupo pulled out his phone and scrolled through it. Just like Luka said, Gumi had texted him.

Gakuuuuuuuu. I really wanted to go to dinner with you tonight but I forgot that I already had plans to meet with someone after work. Let's just go grab dinner some other time alright? Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

Gakupo sighed. "Now I see it."

"Well, I hope you didn't travel to far to get here."

"Nah, the stuff I did was nearby. The only problem is dinner now though. I was hoping Gumi would take care of choosing a place to eat since I'm not familiar with this part of town. Um... would you have any suggestions in mind by any chance?"

Luka smiled. "Oh, is this your way of asking me out~?"

"Wah...? I, um..."

Before Gakupo could say anything else, Luka let out a soft laugh. "I'm just teasing. Seriously though, if you're going to have me show you around town, it'll cost you."

"I'm guessing the price is dinner?"

Luka smiled. "Smart boy."

"Calling me a boy makes you sound old."

Luka slapped his arm. "Rude!"

Once Luka had closed up the cafe, the two of them began to walk.

"So, how are you liking the city so far? I heard from Gumi that you moved here recently."

Gakupo smiled and looked at the tall buildings all around him. "Ah, yeah. Just got here a few weeks ago, actually. Tokyo's a lot bigger than I imagined."

"Oh? Is it your first time here?"

Gakupo shook his head. "Not really. I've been here before on school trips but something like that doesn't really give you a great sense for just how large a city is."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. So what brought you all the way here? Work? Gumi~?" With her last word, Luka playfully moved closer to Gakupo and bumped her shoulder against his arm.

Gakupo couldn't help but laugh a bit. "It's work that brought me here. I work for an online news publication and I ended up getting transferred to the main office here. It's just a bonus that I could move to the same city as Gumi."

"What kind of work do you do? Writing?"

"I used to but after my transfer, I was assigned to the editorial department. It was really weird at first but I'm sorta getting used to things now."

The two continued their idle conversation for a while until they finally arrived at a small restaurant.

"You know, this is kinda nice."

Gakupo looked up from his food. "The food?"

"Well, yeah. I mostly meant this though… Whatever this is."

Gakupo smiled and took a sip of water. "Something tells me you haven't had the greatest luck with dates."

"I really haven't. I don't like them to begin with but I have a few friends who've made it a hobby of theirs to set me up with blind dates every now and then. They usually end awkwardly though."

"Have you ever had to escape through a bathroom window?"

Luka laughed and shook her head. "No, nothing quite that bad."

"Well there you go. At least you haven't had to do that."

"True. I just wish they'd stop trying to match me up with random guys though. It was kinda fun at first but it's starting to become a hassle."

"I'm guessing these are the kinds of friends that don't know what 'no' means?"

Luka nodded.

"Well, maybe if we have a few more dates they'll finally leave you alone."

"Oh? So this is a date now~?" Luka said while raising an eyebrow.

Gakupo quickly looked away. "W-Well I am treating you out to dinner so technically…?"

The woman before him giggled softly before finishing her food. "Maybe you're right. I've certainly had worse dates so maybe going on a few more with you wouldn't be so bad."

Once the two were finished with dinner, they left the restaurant.

"I'll walk you home, I guess?"

Luka looked over at her date. "Ah no need. I'll be fine from here."

Gakupo shook his head. "I'd much rather walk you home. It's fairly late and I wouldn't be comfortable letting you go home by yourself."

"No really, I'm fine, Gakupo."

"Please, I insist. I'd much rather take the time to escort you home than risk something happening to you."

Luka stared hard at Gakupo for a few seconds, thinking of the words to counter with before sighing and shrugging her shoulders. "Fine, fine. If you insist. Quite the gentleman, aren't you?"

Gakupo simply smiled before shrugging. "I just do what I think is right."

The two of them walked down an empty street. After a few turns, they finally made it to their destination. The building before them was a nondescript but nice looking apartment complex. Luka opened the door with her pin and let Gakupo in. The two of them climbed the stairs to the third floor and stopped before the second door to the left.

"Alright, well, thank you for tonight Gakupo. It was… surprisingly fun."

Before Gakupo answered, the door next to Luka's opened and Kaito's head popped out of it. "Ah, there you are!"

Both Luka and Gakupo looked over. Luka was a bit confused and Gakupo was surprised.

"I was waiting for you! You usually get home sooner when you close the sho-" Finally, Kaito noticed Gakupo standing there. "Ohhhh, that explains why you insisted that you'd close the shop up. You had a date~"

Luka looked at Kaito's face in annoyance. "First, that wasn't why I closed up the shop and second, what I do after hours isn't any of your business."

"Awww, don't be like that Luka," Kaito said while pouting.

Luka sighed, immediately feeling tired after seeing her friend's irritating face. She turned to Gakupo and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks for tonight. It was fun. Drop by the cafe again sometime, alright?"

With that, she stuck her tongue out at Kaito and quickly disappeared into her apartment.

Gakupo, who was completely caught off guard by the kiss simply nodded before looking at Kaito, confused.

~END~

Author's Note:

Hi there everyone! Thanks for reading this. If you're someone who still follows me despite barely ever updating, thank you for your patience. I hope this chapter will be the start of a fresh, new series and one that's hopefully a lot less dark than a certain vocaloid story I've written. (I'm honestly not sure what to do with that story but that's for another time.)

For those that just found this story and don't know me, hello there! I hope this story that I'm planning to tell is one that you find entertaining. As the title might suggest to some of you, this story won't only be about Gakupo and Luka. I hope that I can tell the story of various people who either work or visit The Blue Stripe cafe.