I haven't updated this in ages! I can't believe myself, for not updating for so long and for updating, like, three stories in a row. Wow, I'm on a roll today!
Today, Bittersweet Café welcomed a few new faces.
They were introduced to the employees by none other than their regular customer Momo Kisaragi. They came to the café together, talking amongst themselves and smiling. The employees looked towards them, wondering what the noise was.
"Ah, Onii-chan! Hibiya-kun! I brought my friends just like I said I would!" said Momo, smiling and waving. Takane and Haruka walked out of the back room and joined the party.
"...You have friends, Momo?" asked Shintaro finally. Momo pouted.
"That's mean! I'm doing better than you, Onii-chan!" she said.
"So this is Kisaragi-chan's older brother..." said one of the boys. He had blond hair and cat-like eyes. "I see the resemblance!" He laughed. Momo turned to him.
"Really?! I don't look anything like him!" she said.
"It's more of the atmosphere than the looks that's similar." said one of the girls who had long green hair and black eyes.
"Not even you, Tsubomi!" said Momo. She sighed. "Anyways, these are the employees of this café. As you all know, this is my brother, Shintaro Kisaragi." Shintaro stiffened and bowed his head awkwardly.
"Nice to meet you..." he mumbled. Momo sighed.
"And this is Hibiya Amamiya, the youngest worker here!" said Momo. Hibiya rolled his eyes.
"You didn't have to emphasize that." he said. "Anyways, I'm Hibiya Amamiya, nice to meet you."
"How old are you?" asked the other boy that had black hair and brown eyes.
"I'm a junior in high school." said Hibiya.
"And this is Haruka Kokonose!" said Momo, continuing with her introductions. Haruka smiled.
"Hi, everyone! Nice to meet you all!" he said, excitedly.
"And last but not least, this is Takane Enomoto!" said Momo. Takane nodded.
"Nice to meet you." she said. Momo smiled.
"Now, everyone, meet my friends! This is Shuuya Kano, Tsubomi Kido, Marry Kozakura, and Kousuke Seto!" she said. "We're in the same college!"
"I'm still surprised you got into college." said Shintaro. Momo's face flushed red.
"That's mean! My grades aren't that bad!" she said. Beside her, Momo's friends sighed.
"Momo. Just accept the truth." said Tsubomi.
"I-It's okay, Momo-chan! Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses!" said Marry. "Right, Kousuke?" Beside her, Kousuke laughed.
"T-That's true!" he said. Shuuya was struggling to hold in his laughter.
"That's enough about me! Let's go sit down!" said Momo, walking over to a bigger table in the café. Her friends followed her, and the employees also did, ready to take their order.
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Takane didn't like to admit it, but she was pretty short.
Well, come on. Being short isn't necessarily bad, right? Fun things come in small packages! Right? And she wasn't short. She was just... Petite. That was basically her charm point, just like her death glare and tendency to stay up late. 157cm isn't that short, anyways. Right?
But she did have some trouble around the coffee shop because of her height. She couldn't reach the things she needed that were stored in higher shelves, and she always needed Haruka to help her. Even though he was always around and happy to help, Takane felt angry and frustrated every time even though she had no reason to be.
Okay, she was short. But she didn't need this either.
Takane's eyebrows twitched as she stared at the thing placed in front of her. She didn't know what to say.
"Haruka! Explain this!" she yelled. Shintaro and Hibiya glanced at her, but ignored her yell. They were used to this already. Haruka came out of the back room, looking confused.
"What happened, Takane?" he asked.
"Could you please explain to me," said Takane, trying to suppress her anger as she spoke and pointed to the stool on the ground between them. "what this is?"
Haruka's face bloomed into a smile, which only made Takane angrier. "Oh this? I made it for you, Takane!"
Takane stared at the stool. It was painted into a shade of baby blue and it was covered with pink hearts everywhere, on the legs, on the seat, everywhere. Worst of all, smack dab in the middle of the biggest heart on the seat of the stool was her name written in a beautiful cursive, decorated with even more hearts.
"Why?" asked Takane, that being the only word she could force out. Haruka cocked his head to one side, absolute confusion shown on his face.
"Because I thought you'd like it, Takane. I thought I would help you in my own way, since this is the best I can do… Besides, I thought it was cute! Just like Takane!" he said.
Takane's face flushed red. "You idiot! What are you saying?! You—"
"Enomoto, quit bullying Haruka-senpai!" Shintaro called out.
"Shut up, you ass!" Takane responded.
"Takane… You don't like it?" asked Haruka quietly. His disappointment and sadness was shown clearly on his face, and Takane's face heated up involuntarily once again. She looked away, unable to meet his eyes.
"Thanks, I guess…" she muttered.
Haruka's face bloomed into a huge smile. "I'm glad you like it, Takane!"
"I-I hate you…"
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It was two o'clock in the afternoon, and she was back again.
However this time, the beautiful girl was not folding paper cranes. She wore a red scarf around her neck, even though she was indoors, and her beautiful dark brown eyes stared down at her cup, refusing to make eye contact with the man that sat across from her with a bored expression on his face. Was he her boyfriend? Nobody knew. Shintaro tried to ignore the two, but his eyes kept darting towards their table. Maybe it was because there weren't any other customers in the cafe.
"Hey," said the man, startling Ayano, who gave a little jump in her seat like a frightened squirrel. He glanced at his Cartier watch, tapping his finger against it impatiently. "Are you just going to sit there like an idiot and say nothing? You're a waste of my time."
"I-I'm sorry…" said Ayano, her voice trembling.
The man leaned back in his seat, staring down at her with a prideful air. "I'm doing you a favor by agreeing to this date, you know. Do you think someone as plain as you would be able to even talk to me in a normal situation?"
Ayano's grip on her coffee cup tightened, and after hearing the man's words, Shintaro almost snapped the blender in half.
He couldn't believe it. He had never even imagined anyone could be this rude. He was five seconds away from losing his cool.
"You should show some thankfulness," the man continued. "It's all because of my dumb parents that I have to sit within a five meter radius of you. You're probably just in it for the money, anyways. Everyone is. Even so, I didn't neglect you completely. You should be grateful."
"I understand, Kurozawa-san," said Ayano, her gaze shifting away.
"Hey. Give me your full attention when you're talking to me." said the man, jerking Ayano's face forcefully back to face his own.
Shintaro dropped the ice shovel at the sight of those actions. He couldn't believe it. Oh, he could not believe it. Sweet, dear Ayano was being harassed by this asshole, and he was just standing around to watch.
He couldn't believe himself.
"Hey, you over there!" The man's voice brought Shintaro back to the present. Kurozawa was gesturing at him. "Waiter. Barista. Come over here."
Shintaro reluctantly made his way over to their table. He could feel Ayano's gaze lingering on him.
"I need another coffee here. This girl's being too boring." said Kurozawa.
"…'m so…."
"Huh? What was that? Speak up!"
That was the last straw. Shintaro couldn't take it anymore. He glared at Kurozawa with the most hate he had felt in a long time.
"I'm sorry, but we don't serve assholes like you." he spat.
Kurozawa's eyes narrowed. "What did you just say to me?"
"I said we don't serve assholes like you," Shintaro repeated, ignoring the shocked expression on Ayano's face. At this point, he was aware that his co-workers were also listening in. They were probably freaking out. "We're not obligated to help shitty people. In fact, you're not welcome here. Please get the fuck out. Ayano deserves someone much better than you, you son of a bitch."
Shintaro took Ayano's hand and walked off into the back of the store. He closed the door behind them, and his co-workers walked up to him, speechless.
"Um…" Ayano's sweet voice called him back to reality. Shintaro's eyes widened as he recalled his words just seconds ago.
"Oh my god." he said. He looked at Ayano, then at his co-workers. "Did I actually just say all that?"
"Well… To put it bluntly, yeah, you fucking did." said Takane, raising an eyebrow.
Shintaro crumpled down to the floor, his legs weak and his head spinning. "I can't believe this," he muttered. "I'm probably going to be fired. I'll probably quit life."
"Don't say that!" said Ayano. She crouched down to meet Shintaro's eyes. "You saved me. If you hadn't spoken up, I would never have had the courage to fight back. Thank you, thank you so much."
Shintaro looked away, embarrassed. "…It was nothing." he said.
"Who was that jerk, anyways?" asked Hibiya.
"My parents arranged a date with him for me. They were concerned about my relationship status, since I've never dated anyone." said Ayano, sighing.
"You've never dated anyone?" asked Shintaro immediately. After realizing the rudeness of his words, he clutched his head. "Ugh, I'm sorry! That's not what I meant!"
Ayano laughed. "No, that's alright. I understand. Yes, I've never dated anyone. But I'm not lonely or anything, I guess. Spending time alone allowed for me to find this coffee shop. I wouldn't trade this place for a relationship."
Haruka laughed. "I don't think any of us would," he said.
Shintaro couldn't help but smile.
"Yeah. I guess you're right."
This is heavily unedited and the previous bits were written months and months ago, so I apologize for the possible errors. I hope you enjoyed, and see you soon!
~nxiro
