A/N: This is a super late Secret Santa for Tomoe Mami and I apologize once again for the delay! You didn't have very many preferences, so I went off the whole crack comment. I forgot just how hard it was to write it, though, so I can only hope that this is decent enough. With that all said, please enjoy this little Rukazu thing.


Kazu had never been a huge fan of coffee, but Kenta had been incredibly insistent on taking him to the newest café in town. He claimed that even he'd enjoy the fraps in there, but knowing how Kenta tended to exaggerate, Kazu's hopes remained low.

"I might not get anything, after all," he said as he observed the menu, waiting in the line that only seemed to grow behind them. They had been there for nearly ten min, but at least they were moving at a decent pace.

"But it's gooood," Kenta tried to convince his friend. "Trust me!"

"Maybe some other time, kiddo." They were almost at the counter when something, or rather someone, caught Kazu's eye.

He wasn't sure if he was confusing the girl taking orders for someone else, but as he drew closer, he could tell it was definitely her. "Is that Rika?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that," Kenta replied. "She works here in the mornings."

Kazu sighed, looking down at himself. To his dismay, it didn't seem like he had anything on him out of the ordinary. "You should've told me sooner. You know how much I like to mess with her."

Sighing, Kenta glared at Kazu. "Don't you think we've put her through enough already? Just let her do her job."

Kazu only smirked, completely ignoring Kenta. Instead, he tried to think of the perfect way to greet the Digimon Queen.

Soon after, the pair reached the counter. She seemed to be pretty glad to see Kenta, but Rika took one look at Kazu and her smile disappeared instantly. Moving her gaze toward Kenta once more she asked, "What's Dumber doing here?"

"Sorry," Kenta apologized, avoiding the question altogether.

"I should've known you'd bring him along sometime…" Rika sighed.

Kazu ignored Rika's greeting and winked exaggeratedly.

Rika only rolled her eyes and crossed her arms."So? What do you want?"

"I'll take a gingerbread frappuccino please," Kenta ordered.

"Got it." Then, turning to Kazu Rika added, "And you?"

Kazu hesitated, pretending to be looking up at the menu in order to make a decision. "I don't know," he ended up saying, "you choose for me."

"Milk it is," Rika entered the order into the cash register before Kazu could object.

"Hey, you can't just give me the cheapest thing on the menu!" Kazu exclaimed, but Rika had already left to prepare the orders.

"Serves you right," Kenta muttered under his breath.

Kazu scoffed and turned away, annoyed. "And how come she's nice to you, anyway? I thought we were equally hated."

Kenta smiled cockily, flipping his hair (to the best of his ability) for dramatic effect. "I helped her out with a tough customer the other day. Besides, she admitted that I'm not too much of a pain whenever I'm away from you."

"Dammit."

The pair moved to the pick-up side of the café, waiting for their drinks to be called out.

Kazu hadn't been anticipating his milk to begin with, but he especially didn't want it now.

This meant war!


It seemed that Kenta had now made it a part of his routine to buy some coffee every morning from the same café, so Kazu invited himself to tag along as well, if only to get back at Rika. Sure, the whole ordeal had been his fault, but it didn't change the fact that he fully intended to exact his revenge regardless.

"I don't know what you're thinking but I'm telling you now that it's a bad idea," Kenta stated as they neared the café. One thing that had changed throughout the years was that Kenta no longer trusted Kazu's judgement (probably for the better, to be honest), so it was harder for Kazu to get him to agree to anything if there was any chance of getting injured, getting in serious trouble, or both.

"It'll be a minor inconvenience at most," Kazu assured him. "This a subtle war, after all."

Kenta rolled his eyes, but ceased bugging Kazu about it.

Once they were at the counter, Rika was there yet again. She must've received some sort of complaint too because she was trying her hardest to appear somewhat pleasant in front of all the other customers. "What can I get you two today?"

"Same as usual," Kenta said, preparing his exact change.

"I'll take a pump of everything," Kazu followed up, sliding his card over.

"Excuse me?" Rika prompted.

"You heard me," Kazu responded, picking up his card and placing it in Rika's hand. "Start off with some black coffee, then put in a pump of every flavor this place has to offer."

"You do realize that we have over 50 flavors, right?" Rika swiped the card. "It isn't something I'd recommend."

"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll taste fine!" Kazu assured Rika, taking back his card and receipt. I'm sure it'll take an eternity to make too!

Rika shrugged and went to go prepare the orders.

"And why would you want a drink like that, exactly?!" Kenta questioned once Rika had left.

"Isn't it obvious? That'll take her forever to make!"

"Idiot! There's a reason she didn't try to talk you out of it!" Kenta punched Kazu's arm as hard as he could. "Do you even know how a coffee shop works?"

Kazu yelped slightly and rubbed his arm. "Hey, what's the big deal?"

Kenta shook his head in disbelief and simply stated, "Just… check your receipt."

Baffled, Kazu took the receipt out of his pocket and focused on the bottom where the total price was circled in red pen. His jaw dropped instantly. "I just paid over thirty bucks for a cup of coffee…"

"And believe it or not, pumps are easier and quicker to handle than you may think~" Rika called out from somewhere behind the counter as another employee handed them their drinks.

Kazu looked down at his own cup. The different flavors had come together to look like a brown mess. Well, it could still taste good…

Needless to say, Kazu didn't leave the bathroom for the following three hours.


Ever since, Kazu and Rika had been at each other's throats each morning. Rika always won, but Kazu refused to back down until he had one-upped her one way or another. In fact, by now he considered it all a part of his morning routine, and he couldn't imagine skipping that part of it anymore. He had even grown a taste for coffee!

Even so, he was running out of ideas, and so was the internet. There was no way he could go on this way forever, so at some point he was forced to admit to himself that he could no longer continue.

"You win," he conceded that morning, bowing slightly. "Rika Nonaka has claimed victory in this battle of wits."

"Or lack thereof," Rika laughed slightly. Then, returning to her usual expression she added, "But seriously? That's it?"

"It's been like three months already!" Kazu exclaimed, suddenly feeling the need to defend himself. He knew Rika didn't mean any harm with that comment, but he couldn't help but feel a tad embarrassed.

"Bummer," she muttered.

Kazu immediately perked up and smiled mischievously. "'Bummer?' Is that disappointment I hear?"

Rika blushed lightly but didn't answer.

"I can't believe it!" Kazu shouted. "Rika Nonaka actually enjoys having me around!"

"It just provided a healthy break from the rest of this routine job!" Rika shot back, but Kazu wouldn't let it go.

"I guess I'll just have to try harder. I can't let you be disappointed, after all~"

"Whatever, just make sure it's worth my time," Rika tried to look like it made no difference to her, but Kazu could tell that she seemed more at ease. She even came to bring the pair's drinks to them herself instead of the usual guy who did so.

"You two seem to get along well now," Kenta smugly commented as they left the café.

"Shut up, I'm going home," Kazu turned around to begin walking in the opposite direction.

"Wait, already?" Kenta took a while to register what he was saying. "What for?"

Kazu only winked and walked off. He'd be looking through the dark side of Google. He had to make sure he didn't let down Rika, especially with such high expectations.