End of the shift! For Kotori, this means freedom. Not that she hates her work as a bartender, but today she's feeling more tired than ever. And so, without hesitations, she quickly changes to her casual clothes and walks out of the bar to start her journey home. Her favorite yellow pillow and fluffy bed are waiting for her.
Her usual route home involves her passing through an open parking lot a few blocks away from where she works. There aren't a lot of cars parked in it at the time she usually walks by, but tonight there's this black SUV that catches her attention. Kotori is quite sure that she saw a person leaning on to it. Or sleeping on it? While standing. And leaning on the door of the car.
That's weird.
Kotori decides to approach the said person after much thought. Surely this isn't some carjacker or robber trying to get his way inside the SUV, right? The person isn't moving at all. And this person has long hair, so she's assuming that it must be a woman.
As she walked over to the said vehicle, Kotori can now see more clearly that the person has long, blue hair. And based on the physique of this person, she's certain that it is indeed a woman, although a bit ripped for a normal girl with how the black polo shirt is fitting on her arms and shoulders.
"Excuse me, are you okay?" Kotori asks.
The woman doesn't respond. Kotori raises an eyebrow and wonders if the woman is drunk. Who in the right mind would try to sleep while standing and leaning on the car door when you can just sleep more comfortably inside the car or go to a cheap hotel nearby?
Suddenly, the woman in question drops to the floor and groans. Her face is now a bit exposed to Kotori, albeit the messy blue locks spreading all over her face and on the floor. Kotori squeaks at the sudden movement, but rushes over to the woman to help nonetheless.
"Miss, are you alright?" Kotori asks again. She tries as hard as she could to lift the woman by the shoulders. Kotori confirms her suspicion of the girl being well-built because of how hard her arms were when she grabbed them. It feels nice, but there is no time to be in awe of it right now. Kotori lifts the woman up in one struggling pull, resting her back on the car's door so she can face Kotori.
No words are coming out of the blue-haired girl aside from inaudible whimpers. This time around while Kotori is catching her breath, the woman opens her eyes groggily. Her head is falling over from side to side, a clear indicator the she is indeed drunk.
Kotori notices that the other is already 'awake', so she asks again. "Are you okay, Miss? Is this your car?" she points on the black SUV as she wore concern in both her eyes and voice. Kotori also notes that the woman doesn't look half as bad in the face department despite the drunken state.
"Aauugghhhh..." the girl groans. She's now trying hard to keep her eyes open to look directly at Kotori who's in front of her by a few inches. Finally, she nods at the question.
A relieved smile crosses Kotori's lips. "I'm guessing that you drank more than you can today. Do you have your keys? I'll open the door for you."
The woman tries to put her right hand in to her pocket but as she moved, she started slipping off her back again. Kotori immediately catches the falling blur of blue and grunts as she caught the girl's weight. Thankfully, Kotori is used to dealing with drunken people because of her work as a bartender. She just continuously thinks that maybe this person had too much fun or is trying to forget something, much like most of the customers they get at the bar. Or, maybe she just doesn't know how to handle alcohol, is all.
"You're so kind..." the girl finally speaks. She's looking at Kotori while she continues to fish the car keys from her pants' pocket. Their faces are still just a few inches away from each other. "At least you care for me..."
Kotori doesn't say anything. She gives one glance at the woman's face and notes that her amber eyes looked too puffy for someone who's plainly drunk. This girl, whom Kotori decides to call 'Blue' because of her flowing blue hair (obviously), must have been crying.
At long last, Blue finally has her car keys. She hands it over to Kotori who is still trying to keep them both standing as she carried her by the shoulder. One of Kotori's arms is also wrapped tightly around the woman's waist, but neither of them have the chance to mind whatever closeness they have at this moment despite both of them being total strangers to each other.
"There, the door's open," Kotori chirps with so much relief. She pushes Blue gently to the driver's seat, helps her in the struggle to climb up and position herself completely inside the car. To be honest, this is the first time Kotori helped a drunken person get into their car in her experience of working in the pub, not even when she was still a part-timer in there during college. She considers this as a very big achievement for her.
Blue is still staring at Kotori with half-lidded eyes, her face donning a blank expression. Kotori catches the gaze as she straightened her back, and what happens next is definitely not what Kotori is expecting.
The woman kisses Kotori on the lips.
It's sloppy and desperate, but a kiss regardless. Kotori's eyes go wide at the sudden contact, and when her mind finally realizes what's going on, she breaks off from the kiss and slaps Blue really hard on the face. The slap is so solid that it probably echoed throughout the entire parking lot. Good thing nobody else is there.
Kotori remains standing, her right hand covering her mouth and eyes still bulging as she glared at the other girl. She turns on her heels quickly and left without a word, not noticing that Blue began having tears on her eyes as she desperately pulled herself back on the car seat.
.
.
.
"… And that's what happened last night."
Honoka stifles a laugh. She wants to laugh so hard but they are inside a coffee shop with a solemn mood right now so she tries her best not to burst out.
"So she kissed you, then you slapped her. You're mean, Kotori-chan."
Kotori squeaks. "How am I the mean one? I don't even know her and she kissed me!" she pouts at her best friend, too appalled at the accusation. She was the one who helped that drunk who took advantage of her and yet she's the mean girl? Ridiculous.
"Hey, I'm kidding! I know this 'Blue' shouldn't have kissed you," Honoka waves her hand at Kotori. "But, you also mentioned that she's good-looking, right? Handsome, was it?"
"Well... Yeah..." Kotori's eyes rolls to the corners. She blushes at the thought of the blue-haired woman's face again and how those amber eyes looked like a cute puppy asking for her attention. Yes, that drunk is good-looking, but Kotori is still mad at the kiss.
Or is she?
Kotori picks up her cup of coffee on the table and decides to let her eyes wander inside the café. People watching is always a good past time for her, and Honoka is now busy texting Tsubasa so there's nothing really left for her to do. Kotori doesn't mind, though. She's really happy for Honoka and she still needs the time to breathe in everything anyway.
Just as Kotori landed her eyes on the cue at the counter, a familiar shade of blue catches her eyes. Long hair, fit polo shirt (it's dark blue now) and pants that totally screams ripped from shoulders to legs. The only difference is the stature. It's not one of a drunk's. It's rather collected and, well, striking.
Kotori's jaw drops. Her breathing suddenly goes rapid and her mind is going wild. Is that the woman from last night? Blue? What if she is? Will she approach her and tell her off about that kiss? Will she slap her again on the other cheek to even her face out?
Do I ignore her and pretend I never saw her again?
A/N: This wasn't supposed to be a multi-chap story but it reeeaaally got longer than expected.
Convenient coincidences are so great and cliché it kills me with passion. KotoUmi is love!