The first time he walks into the small coffee shop, Hiyori notices him right away. It's rather hard not to, really. She had just finished making an expresso and turned to greet the next customer. Hiyori gives him the polite, "What would you like to order?" She steps back a bit as he leans over the counter.
"Are you wifi?" He asks, "because I'm feeling a connection." Hiyori stares at him, baffled. She tries to glare at him, but doesn't manage to hold it long. Her pink eyes meet an intense blue gaze, much to her annoyance. Shaking her head, she clears her throat.
"Did you really try a pick up line on me?" She asks, trying to keep the tone of annoyance out of her voice.
The young man smiled a lopsided grin at her. "I thought it was pretty good." He shrugs as Hiyori gets a better look at him. Much to her dismay, she's forced to admit that he was rather good looking. However, that didn't mean he wasn't annoying.
"Do you actually want to order something?" Hiyori asks, looking at the line forming behind him.
He nods. "I'll have a latte." He says. Hiyori goes off to make his drink, praying this is the only time she has to deal with him. She turns to give the latte to him and he smiles at her.
"Thanks," He says. Hiyori tries to cover her nametag when she notices he's reading it, but it's too late. "Hiyori." He grins, satisfied that he knows her name. "My name's Yato by the way." He gives her a wink and walks out of the coffee shop. As Hiyori turns, she notices his drink sitting on the counter.
"That stupid idiot forgot his drink."
Later that day, Hiyori notices Kazuma walk into the shop. He almost walks into the door, and Hiyori struggles to suppress a laugh. It's rather rare to see him like that. Kazuma never spaces out. She makes a mental note to ask him about it when her shift is over.
"So," Hiyori says as she sits down across from him when her shift is over. "What's up?" Kazuma looks at her, confused.
"You know what I'm talking about. You almost ran into the door. What happened?" Kazuma's face immediately blushes a light pink and Hiyori knows.
"Who is she?" Hiyori's curious. Kazuma's never mentioned a girl to her before. He shakes his head.
"No one special…" He says, avoiding eye contact. Hiyori wasn't going to play his games.
"Is she pretty?" She asks. Hiyori frowns as he's off who knows where. Swatting him lightly on the shoulder makes him realize he's back in the coffee shop.
"Sorry Hiyori, what did you say?" He adjusts his glasses and gives her his full attention.
"Never mind," She says, shaking her head. She silently wishes Kazuma the best of luck, whoever it is.
Hiyori has an early shift the next day. She had just finished putting on her uniform when she sees Yato.
"If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put u and I together." He says as he walks up to her. Hiyori shakes her head. It's far too early to be dealing with him and his terrible pick up lines.
"You forgot your drink yesterday. Did you realize that?" Hiyori asks, trying to get him to leave. It's all in vain though. Yato doesn't get her signals.
"Well you were like gravity." He says as Hiyori gives him a confused look. "I fell for you." It takes a few minutes to sink it. When it finally does, Hiyori shakes her head.
"You did not just use another pick up line." Yato laughs.
"Did it work?"
"No, now please go." Hiyori contemplates whether pushing him out the door is a good idea.
"But I want a drink!" Yato whines as Hiyori gives him a look. "I won't forget this time." Hiyori takes his order and he leaves, just as a blonde girl walks in.
Hiyori immediately notices she's beautiful. Smiling at her, Hiyori receives an equally cheerful smile in return. The girl places her order and her voice is polite and confident. Hiyori silently wishes that everyone would be as nice as this girl.
Kazuma walks in a little later after the girl has sat down by the window. Hiyori notices that he stares at her for a few seconds before saying hello to Hiyori. Kazuma decides to have his drink in the shop this time. During that time, Hiyori catches him stealing glances at the blonde haired girl who was reading. When she finally leaves, Hiyori takes her break and slides into the seat across from Kazuma.
"Tell me about the girl who walked in earlier." Her eyes sparkle in amusement as Kazuma's face turns bright red. "Is she the one you like?"
Hiyori didn't think his face could be any redder than it was at that moment, but now it was a deep crimson. As he stuttered trying to deny that he noticed her, Hiyori decided to leave the poor boy alone before he died from blushing too much.
The next day, Hiyori has a morning shift again. Yato walks in, loudly announcing his presence with another bad pick up line. Hiyori rolls her eyes as he asks, "Are you a Sharpie? Because you're ultra fine." After seeing that his attempt had failed, he decides to stick around after ordering his drink, much to her annoyance. He sits at the table nearest to the cash register where she's working and bombards her with pick up lines and questions.
"Aren't you bored?" She asks as she sets a customer's drink on the table.
"Nope!" He says cheerfully. "I'm going to stick around the whole day to keep you company." Hiyori nods and goes back to taking orders so she didn't have to talk to Yato.
"Hey, do you think grass should be blue?" He asks suddenly when the morning rush passes. "Or that the sky should be pink?" Hiyori stares at him. What kind of questions were those?
"No, why?" She asks in confusion.
"No reason." He's silent for a few minutes before asking, "Have you tried those four cheese melty buns from the bakery next to the library?" Hiyori shakes her head.
"You should try them; they're really good." The random question asking goes on for the entire day and Hiyori finds herself enjoying his stories. He's in the midst of telling her about the time he had to clean a dog house with heated flooring when he suddenly glances at the clock.
A look of guilt spreads across his face. "I need to go." He says, quickly gathering his things. When he leaves, Hiyori finds it strangely quiet and boring without him.
The next day, Yato is back at it again with the questions.
"What's your favourite colour? Do you like cucumbers? What do you think cinnamon and pickles tastes like?"
Hiyori reluctantly answers them all, and finds herself talking to him for a good portion of the first half of her shift. However, before he can ask her another question, some customers come into the shop and Hiyori finds herself tied up until lunch. Yato still hangs around though, and joins her for her lunch break.
"Life without you is like a broken pencil: pointless." He says as he sits next to her as she eats her lunch. Hiyori gives him a look and he laughs. They sit in silence for almost the entire break. Yato finally decides to say something as her break is ending.
"Hey, what's your type of guy?" He asks seriously. Hiyori raises an eyebrow at him.
"Someone who doesn't try bad pick up lines on me." Yato frowns, but doesn't say anything. Hiyori packs her lunch and prepares for the rest of her shift. Yato still sticks around after that, but doesn't ask her anymore questions.
Yato doesn't come in again the next day, and Hiyori finds herself surprisingly lonely towards the end of her shift. She should be glad that he isn't pestering her with his constant terrible pick up lines, but for some reason, she finds herself missing it.
One of her co workers notices she looks a little down, and asks Hiyori if she's okay. She gives them a smile and says she's okay, but she's actually a little disappointed Yato didn't show up.
"Perhaps he's just busy," She thinks to herself, but in her heart, she feels a sense of dread. Hiyori worries that she's been too harsh to Yato, and maybe he's finally given up. When she leaves the coffee shop to meet Kazuma at the library, she tells him how she's feeling. Kazuma shakes his head and laughs.
"You like him, don't you?" Hiyori stares at Kazuma as if he was crazy. However, he was right. Hiyori had somehow fallen for the stupid idiot and his terrible pick up lines. Sighing, she rested her arms on the counter.
"What am I supposed to say to him now?"
Yato comes in the next day, but it's late. The sun is just starting to set. Hiyori doesn't usually have late shifts, but this is the one time she does. She notices Yato is slightly surprised to see her. He's ordered the same thing every time he's visited, so she doesn't need to be told. As he sits down to wait for his drink, Hiyori makes sure she's the one who's handing his drink to him.
She walks over to his table a few minutes later and hands him his drink. Yato is surprised to see writing on the napkin she slides across the table. On it, it said, "Are you from Starbucks? Because I like you a latte." Yato looks up at Hiyori, confused, but she smiles at him and says,
"Will you go out with me?"
"Was it the pick up lines that got you?" Yato asks later. Hiyori laughs and shakes her head.
"Definitely not."