Chapter One

Black. That was all I could see. But there was a faint buzzing noise ringing through my ears. As the sound gradually increased in volume, I had identified it as my alarm clock. Lazily opening my eyes, I slapped my hand around until I could find the off button. Thank god… It's over. I hate the morning alarm with a burning passion. It was a sign of a weekday morning, and another day of the same old same old at work…

I am an assistant at Dr. Dekapan's clinic. It's not that I despise my job or anything of the sort… I dare say that I loved it. The doctor was a sweet man, strange as all hell, but very kind hearted. And I always enjoyed being able to see him make his visitors feel happier and well again. Dayon was nice to work with too… but he was far more strange than the Doctor ever was… I always wondered how they got along so well, but that's besides the point.

After finally waking up, I sat up in my bed and thought about what I should wear along with my standard issue lab coat today. I eventually decided on a casual black dress with my work flats. I wasn't always the most feminine per say, but when I wanted to dress up… I actually didn't look that bad. I laid my clothes out on my bed, and went to go take a quick shower. After my shower, I dried my hair off and put it into a loose side braid (sorry if you don't have long hair, but for the sake of the story, now you do), then I got dressed and was out my apartment door.

Realizing I had some extra time to spare before work started, I decided to grab a quick coffee at Subataa (and maybe a quick pastry if time permitted…). They always had the best lattes! (and their parfaits were not that bad either) I made my way through the front entrance and up to the counter to order. I noted that the barista was not familiar to the ones I usually see. I took a quick glance at his name tag. 'Todomatsu', I thought to myself, that's a nice name. Noticing that he was waiting for me to place my order, I apologized and quickly ordered (favorite café drink) and (favorite pastry). He nodded and accepted my apology and put my order in.

"That'll be 1074.74¥ please." he said as I took out my wallet. I handed him the money. "Thank you! I'll go grab your pastry and get started on your (drink)." he smiled.

I carefully watched Todomatsu as he made the (drink). Coffee making was always interesting to me, and I always enjoyed watching the little pictures the baristas would make with the foam sometimes. I guess he had noticed me watching because the next thing I know he moves closer to where I was standing and then continues to make the drink. This didn't actually occur to me until he started to speak once again.

"So I take it you like coffee?" he chuckled slightly (well… it was more of a girlish sounding giggle… but who am I to judge)

"Oh, uh yeah I do. I like watching people make it. It's like art almost." I smile. Todomatsu laughs once more and hands me my (drink) and (pastry). I thank him and go to sit at a seat, but before I can walk away he stops me.

"Hey, I know this may sound kind of weird, but I'm about to go on break… would it be alright to sit with you?" He asked rubbing the back of his neck.

"Of course." I smile and motion for Todomatsu to sit down at a nearby table. "I'm _ by the way."

"I'm Todomatsu," He smiles"...but you can call me Totty if you'd like." He then sits across from me and immediately pulls out his phone. I take a quick sip of my drink and glance at the screen. "Oh, you use LINE too? Sorry, I know it's rude to look over someone, but I recognized the colors." I giggled.

"That's okay!" he beamed. "We should exchange usernames." I nodded and pulled out my phone. The two of us exchanged info and continued to talk about each other for the remainder of time.

...

"Wait, so you have five other brothers?!" I exclaimed.

"Haha y-yeah, it's a bit frustrating at times. Especially since I'm the youngest… and were identical." Todomatsu nervously rubbed the back of his neck while discreetly glancing around to see if those menaces were spying on him. The last time he did something similar to this it ended horribly. Maybe they wouldn't be so harsh on him if she at least knew that his brothers, he thought to himself.

Looking at the time, I realized that I was going to be late for work. I quickly gathered up my belongings and waved goodbye to Todomatsu, and promised to message him when I had a break at work. He waved back, and said he'd look forward to it as I ran out the door.