I finished this chapter AND wrote the last two all today. I feel so accomplished, you have no idea.
Disclaimer: .sretcarahc sti fo yna ro YWEWT nwo t'nod I
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Simple and Clean
- Ch. 2 -
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Lunch went over without a hitch. Joshua wasn't the type who particularly liked eating in front of people, but he surprisingly found himself not minding having lunch with the others. There was always someone talking, sustaining some sort of conversation, which made it decently comfortable. After they finished eating, they (read: Shiki) did some shopping, then ended up just wandering around the city for a while.
Over the next week or so, this type of friendly gathering became a normal occurrence. It was almost fun, Joshua mused, getting together like this. By this time, Shibuya was slowly falling into winter. Temperatures dropped and snowflakes began drifting onto the scene, sparkling against the colorful backdrop of the city. All in all, Joshua liked winter. Despite the chilly temperatures, he found it to be a calming, rather beautiful time of year.
Ting!
The boy didn't even spare a glance as he heard someone come through the door. The café was quite busy, as was usual during the winter months, and someone was always coming or going. However, as he looked up from his book for a moment to take a sip of coffee, he became mildly interested as a petite blonde girl made her way to the counter.
She was dressed in a white winter coat that reached to about her mid-thigh, where it met a pair of dark, straight jeans.
"It suits you," he said rather loudly so as to attract her attention as she walked by his table. Rhyme turned and looked around for a moment before noticing him. He was seated alone in a corner booth, placed smack in the middle of the seat. He looked so natural there that he almost blended in...
"Oh, Joshua! Hi!" Rhyme beamed, taking a step back. "Umm... What did you say?"
Joshua smirked. "I said, 'It suits you.' The outfit, I mean," he said, nodding his head in her direction. "It's a nice change from those oversized clothes that you always wear. Not that those look terrible on you, either," he added, grinning at her slightly flustered expression.
"Oh, well, thank you!"
He would bet that she hardly ever got compliments like that, being the tomboyish dresser that she was.
"Here, have a seat. It's awfully crowded." He was right: Looking around, there wasn't an open seat in sight.
"Oh! Are you sure?"
"Yes, of course."
After a second's hesitation, Rhyme set her cup down on the table and removed her coat, revealing a vermillion-colored sweater. 'She must like orange,' Joshua mentally noted, taking another sip of coffee as he watched her slip into the seat across from him.
"So, what brings you here? It's rare to see you without your dearest brother at your side," he said, leaning in and resting his chin on his hands.
Rhyme smiled. "Yeah, Beat's at home... He has some work to do. School stuff."
"Ah." 'No surprise there. I'm sure his teachers are always giving him work over the holidays in some fruitless attempt to smarten him up...'
"Well, that's too bad. At least you can get out, though."
"Yeah, I'm glad. I actually really enjoy coming here... To WildKat, I mean. Mr. H. has the best coffee!" With that, she picked up her own steaming cup and carefully blew into the little opening before taking a small sip. As she set it back down, Joshua couldn't help but giggle, causing Rhyme to cock her head a bit and look at him inquiringly.
"Oh, you're just so cute," he said, smiling deviously and brushing a few wandering hairs from his face.
Rhyme blushed a little and looked down at her lap. "O-oh, thank you..."
The two talked for a while, about Shibuya and snow and shopping and food. Eventually, Rhyme's cell phone vibrated in her pocket, and she pulled it out to find that Beat had sent her a text message indicating that their mom wanted her home so she could help with holiday preparations (only in less and shorter words).
"Looks like I've gotta go," Rhyme said as she punched out a quick "Alright, be home soon." in reply. "Wow, it's getting late already... Time flies when you're talking over coffee, huh?" She smiled at her companion, then took a last sip of her coffee and gathered her coat.
"Oh, that's a shame. Well, it was lovely talking with you..."
Joshua was fully prepared to let her leave, just like that, to smile and wave and sit there, watching her walk away as he picked up his book again and began reading where he had left off, but for some inexplicable reason he found himself speaking again.
"Rhyme, what are you doing tomorrow?"
Rhyme, who had stood up and now had her coat hanging half-way off of her, looked up at him with a bit of a shock. After a second of thought, she responded.
"Hmm... Nothing, I think. Why?"
"Would you like to do some holiday shopping together? I don't know about you, but I've been blowing it off for the past month." Where the hell were these words coming from? They were just rolling right off of his tongue, even before his mind could approve of them.
"That... sounds like fun!" Rhyme smiled. She was a bit surprised at this sudden invitation. Joshua didn't seem the type to do things like this...
"Alright. Why don't we meet outside 104 around... 1:00?"
Rhyme nodded and slipped her other arm into her coat. "Sounds good! I'll see you there."
She smiled, then turned and walked away, stopping only to throw out her empty coffee cup before heading out the door with a last jingle of the festive bell.
Joshua was again alone in his corner, pondering what he had just done. He was slightly surprised at himself, but he was smiling nonetheless. Suddenly realizing that he didn't even know what the date was, he pulled his cell phone from his pants pocket and opened the calendar.
He found himself smirking as his eyes fell on the next day's date: December 24th.
Christmas Eve.
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I hope it's enjoyable so far... *worry worry*
Review, please? *sparkly puppy dog eyes*
