A/N: I don't own any of the characters here. I also don't know anything about cafe au lait, so if I get anything wrong, please tell me. _ _||


The morning sun blinds him and he flails for a moment, trying to find either his hat or the blinds. The choice of whether or not to go back to sleep or get up (and on with his life) seems so hard to him.

Touya sets an alarm for thirty more minutes and collapses back in his bed, staring at the stubborn slivers of light that still reach his room. His mind suddenly forces his arm to hit off on the alarm button and his legs swing off his bed jerkily.

It's as if he's watching a movie of himself in third person as his body toddles off to the bathroom for some freshening.

But as his fingers mindlessly reach for the faucet, he takes back control of himself, splashing water on his tired, tired eyes and furiously rubbing at the skin that doesn't feel like his. He hopes he rubs the pale out of his face.

Water drips down his cheeks from his forehead, like tears, as he stares into the mirror at himself.

Touya barely recognizes himself in the mirror. He suddenly wants to give up and to tell Cheren and Bianca that "oh I'm sick, sorry, I guess I can't see Touko today" but he doesn't want to see their disappointment.

He doesn't want to feel disappointed in himself either.

So, he drags his feet downstairs after raking a comb through his unruly, long locks. "Really need that haircut," he says to no one in particular, perhaps himself, assuring that he'll get the job done, and his words hang in the air before disappearing. He forgets for a moment about needing a haircut, but it comes back to him like a punch in the stomach.

He grabs his Xtransciever from the couch and shakily dials Bianca's number. The beeps it takes before she picks up seems like forever to him.

"Touya?" She looks surprised.

"Hi," he blinks and pauses for a moment. Bianca waits patiently, but behind her, the noises of Pokemon distract her slightly. "I..need a haircut. Before I see Touko."

Bianca smiles.

"I'll come over in thirty, alright?" She clicks off before he can even nod. He stares at the blank screen for a moment more, before turning off the device and throwing it back to its original place on the couch. His thoughts are all muddled up like a ball of yarn in his brain and he doesn't know where to start unraveling the thread.

Touya sighs, and shuffles his way to the door, where he casually grabs a jacket that he wears over his pajamas. It's not as if his pajamas are actually sleepwear; it's just sweatpants and any old shirt. Dangling keys between two fingers, he steps out into the brisk morning of 10 o'clock, the first time he's been out so early since Touko became Champion.

People barely give him a glance as he walks by to the small, quaint coffee shop that served him well for the past years. He's glad he's invisible. He doesn't want attention directed to his failure of a life.

The barista greets Touya with a familiar grin and the smell of freshly-roasted coffee beans makes his lips quirk into a small smile. A long, long time ago, he remembers the first time he came with his little sister in tow. The memory gives him a larger smile and vaguely, he sees the girl behind the counter blush and avert her gaze from him.

Touya brushes it off and waits patiently for his morning coffee, tapping his fingers lightly against the polished counter. Although faint, he can see the outline of himself: windswept brown hair, tired but youthful brown eyes, the small smile still twitching on his lips. And his vision connects the dots and when he looks down again, he sees Touko.

They are siblings. They love each other.

He doesn't have to worry about nothing to talk about. Touya understands now.

A coffee mug slides its way in front of him, ruining the mind image of Touko.

"Thanks." The heat warms his cold fingers as he grips it and sits at a small booth alone. The window is slightly foggy for some reason, and from inside, he watches as Nuvema Town flourishes with the almost midday sun.

Turning his gaze, he stares at the coffee in front of him, the pretty design of milk blending in with the brownish blackish drink that, now that he thinks about it, he doesn't really like. It's not the sweetest.

Touya laughs to himself as he reaches over to grab two more packets of sugar.


Reviews appreciated~!