A/N: This is the next installment on this fic and I want to thank you all again for the reviews. I was relieved on the reaction of Nowaki meeting Hiroki, I was originally going to have Nowaki be a secret fan of Hiroki but this first meeting just fit perfectly with what I wanted. Keep on reviewing and I will look forward to reading your input in this fic. :)

-Lucicelo

Chapter 6: Meeting Over Coffee...

Hiroki walked down the busy street as he paid attention to his surroundings while he kept his cane a fair distance from him. His usual black coat reached down to cover over his knees, so he wouldn't feel cold. The addition of his mother's handmade scarf, the color he forgot after having it for so many years, kept him warm. He listened to a child crying to his right, the mother trying to calm the child down, a pack of teenagers chatting away to his left who bumped into him and didn't apologize. Most of the people walked around him or he suspected moved out of their way, Hiroki picked up their whispers on how awful his life had to be because he couldn't see anything. He kept his initial remarks to himself as he focused finding the coffee shop Nowaki called him to meet up at.

He had gone to this place before to meet up with his cousins who visited from America who were dying to meet up with him. The only reason he remembered it was the fact that they made a real great green tea muffins and it was right beside a flower store where the scent of the flowers immediately reached his nose. There was no way he would miss it when he confirmed with his usual cab driver if he was on the right street. Sure, he navigated on his own a good percentage of the time but it was good to have a second input to where he was going.

His cane hit a trashcan and Hiroki's scrunched up his eyebrows at the noise. The higher level of hearing he had just made worse but he moved around it and kept on walking on ahead. His cane hit a pole as Hiroki rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses, it seemed there were more additions to this street than he realized. He smelled roses up ahead and he knew he was close to the coffee shop, the aroma of the strong coffee reached his nose as well.

Nowaki smiled from his spot in front of the cafe as he fiddled with the collar of his brown turtleneck and his black sweater. He patted down his blue jeans and made sure there was no gum under his black shoes. He spent a good portion of the morning thinking of topics to bring up when he talked to Hiroki. Usually, he was confident in talking to anyone but Hiroki lacked his sight and the list of ideas he had shrunk down.

He scoured the area for any sign of Hiroki, he found him when he spotted a navy blue scarf with orange stripes going through it. Nowaki held back the urge to run over to him as he remained on his spot and waited for Hiroki to walk closer to him. He didn't want to possibly scare him if he ran toward him and Hiroki didn't know he was coming but he settled in calling for him.

"Kamijou-san!" He waved to get Hiroki to notice him but then remembered the man couldn't possibly see him due to his blindness and he winced at his mistake.

Hiroki walked a few more steps ahead when Nowaki said. "I'm glad you made it, Kamijou-san."

"Good morning." Hiroki told Nowaki as he held his cane close to his chest to avoid hitting the man when they moved on inside of the cafe. "I'm surprised you are actually here...no offense."

Nowaki asked. "Did you think I was not going to come and leave you here alone?" He saw Hiroki stiffen in front of his eyes as he placed a hand on the shorter man's shoulder. "Trust me, if I wasn't serious in meeting you, I wouldn't have given you my number."

"Well..." Hiroki shrugged his shoulders as he looked away. "It's happened to me more than once so I can't be too careful in who I meet in my life."

Nowaki made sure Hiroki's hand was on his arm when he said. "Well I will change all of that, you have your hand on my arm and we will be going inside of the cafe." Hiroki turned to Nowaki with an incredulous expression. "Kamijou-san, those people who never came are not worth it."

A surge of anger coursed through Nowaki. The fact someone would ditch someone for whatever reason was not alright in his books. After the incident, he always made sure to remain courteous and polite to anyone. Life was too short to throw out hate and misery, he made sure to make himself appreciate life even more. If it wasn't for him, so many people he knew and himself would have died in that fire. He didn't consider himself a hero but he only wished to help anyone in need.

Feeling Nowaki's arm tense underneath his hand, Hiroki pushed up his sunglasses with the back of his hand. He remained silent, not giving any indication of saying anything to what Nowaki told him about those people. After a while, Hiroki learned to never put out his trust so easily, there were few people who genuinely cared for him that he was always speculating the intentions of anyone who met him.

Yet, Nowaki's voice never faltered when he spoke to him. The usual reliability of watching a person's body language, looking into their eyes, this was something Hiroki didn't have. He learned the usage of his ears, finding little details in a person's voice to know their exact feelings in the situation. There was something about a voice where Hiroki pin pointed things that the person thought they had hidden from everyone. This sense turned into a replacement to his sight, it was not just for his piano but also for every day life.

Hiroki gulped when he broke the silence. "Nowaki, it's okay." He patted Nowaki's shoulder, gentle and understanding, he continued on. "I have dealt with this since I was a teenager and I am growing used to it. Also..I can tell you are sincere. The tone of your voice and this arm under my hand tell me everything I need to know."

Nowaki broke from his thoughts, turning his gaze down to Hiroki, his face turned slightly red. "T-Thank you..." He rubbed his face as he hesitantly laughed. "I don't know what came over me, I guess, I would have lost hope too if that happened to me constantly too."

Hiroki curled his hand around Nowaki's coat, he closed his eyes as his lips quirked up. "You are too kind of a person, Kusama." He used his cane and tapped it against the floor to make his point. "I am freezing out here so we better get inside or I will turn into a frozen statue."

Nowaki burst out laughing as he placed his hand on top of Hiroki's gloved hand. "Kamijou-san, you are bundled up enough to withstand a storm! How can you possibly feel cold?"

Hiroki hid his embarrassed fumble at his wording as he coughed into his hand. "That is beside the point, I thought we came here for coffee, not to stand outside in complete silence."

Nowaki lead Hiroki toward the door with a full grin on his face. He opened the door as the warm atmosphere of the cafe burst at them before they took one step inside of the cafe. Hiroki smelled the aroma of the freshly brewed coffee and the variety of flavors which were added to the coffee upon request. His scarf suddenly was too warm for him and he wished he was already sitting down so he could take it off of his neck. He loved it because it was a gift from his mother but he was already feeling dizzy from the outburst of warm air as a result from the hot coffee.

He tugged the scarf down slightly, exposing his neck as Nowaki lead him to a different direction. When he accidentally hit Nowaki's shoulder with his head as they stopped, he realized Nowaki was sufficiently taller than him. Usually, he was bothered when anyone was taller than him but the height suited Nowaki in an odd way, he was the gentle giant with a kind heart.

The attention they received was something Nowaki noticed when they were going to the register. He saw people sneaking glances at Hiroki, then at the white cane and back at Hiroki. Others stared from the corner of their eyes as they continued on their conversations, at least they were not whispering about Hiroki under their breath from what he could tell. Although, Nowaki didn't have heightened hearing so he didn't know if he could dissect all the different conversations going on around them.

Stopping in front of the register, he looked at the options on the menu and checked the many pastries they sold there.

The young man grinned when his eyes landed on Hiroki. "Hiroki! What a surprise seeing you here!" Nowaki jumped at the volume of the young man's voice as he kept a good grip on Hiroki's arm.

Hiroki arched a brow, recognizing the voice, he reached out his hand and the young man grabbed a hold of it. "I didn't know you worked here Akito. Did your mother finally let her brat go out and earn his own cash?"

Akito laughed as he rubbed his stubble chin. "Yeah, I had to get father to agree since he has been wanting me to get off of my ass and do something other than ask him for cash. Mom only wants me to study but this job fits in my schedule at university anyway." He turned to Nowaki when he said. "Sorry about my voice, I sometimes forget where I am at times. I'm Akito Kamijou, Hiroki's cousin, and you are?"

Nowaki introduced himself with a non intrusive smile. "Nowaki Kusama, it's a pleasure."

Akito gave him a suspicious look as he observed him, "I have never heard of you from Auntie Fuyumi or Uncle Soshi." Nowaki saw the calculating eyes of this young man and it seemed Hiroki's family was overly protective of anyone who got near him.

"He's a new acquaintance of mine brat." Hiroki told him as he smacked Akito's hand lightly. "Nowaki is harmless, I know what I am doing."

"If you say so Hiroki, you always know when people are pulling in their bullshit." Akito went back to his grinning self when he asked. "So what will you two have?"

Nowaki coughed into his hand when he answered. "I will have a vanilla ice coffee with whole milk,"

"Got it," Akito typed in the order on the register, then he turned to his cousin. "And you, Hiroki?"

"Green tea with honey and lemon. And if you still have those green tea muffins, I'll get one of those." Hiroki said as Akito confirmed that they still had them when the young man went to the case and saw some fresh from the oven.

"You are lucky, these just came out of the oven." Akito said as he told them their total and Hiroki took out his wallet from his coat pocket.

"Kamijou-san, you don't have to pay for me." Nowaki said while Hiroki pulled out his card from the pocket of the wallet.

Hiroki turned to Nowaki as he tapped his chest with the back of his hand. "I want to do it, let this be a treat from me, okay?"

Nowaki didn't want to argue with Hiroki when he said. "Okay, but next time I am paying for you, Kamijou-san."

Hiroki smirked as Akito took the card from him and processed their payment. "I can agree to that." Akito handed Hiroki back his card and Hiroki placed it back into his pocket. "We should find a seat before the morning rush comes along."

Nowaki beamed as he lead Hiroki away from the register. "Alright!"

Hiroki took his hand off of Nowaki's arm as he touched the chair in front of him. Before he sat down, he took off his scarf and his sweater and placed them on the chair. He leaned his cane against the wall while he got on his seat, Nowaki had informed him on his choice of their seating arrangements. They were far away from most of the people, toward a wall and there was no window near them. Hiroki was glad on not having to overhear anyone else's conversations, his heightened hearing always had him unknowingly catching conversations he never wanted to know.

Nowaki took off his sweater and put it on the chair. He watched Hiroki with fascination, there was no hesitation in moving his seat back or stopping himself from sitting down. There was no one in the neighboring tables so Hiroki couldn't have hit his chair to someone else's chair. There was also a removal of black gloves, Hiroki hid them inside of his coat pocket and remembered they were in the right side of his coat.

Nowaki's concentration on Hiroki broke when Akito called Nowaki back to collect their drinks. He turned around and saw Akito placing their drinks on the counter as well as the muffin on a small plate.

The taller man stood from the table. "I'll be right back Kamijou-san."

Hiroki nodded his head, hearing Nowaki leave, he let out a deep sigh. Running his fingers through his hair, he tapped his foot on the ground. It was a nervous habit he picked up after using the pedals in the piano for so long.

Nowaki returned in a flash while balancing their drinks and Hiroki's muffin. "Kamijou-san, do you want me to grab anything else for you while I am standing on my feet?"

Hiroki turned to the location of Nowaki's voice when he responded. "No, I can only handle honey and lemon in my tea right now. I am trying to remain healthy during the flu season."

Nowaki placed the cups and the plate onto the table with a slight clink. "I should start drinking more teas then, there are already some at my job that are coughing up a storm. I think I am built so strong if I don't get sick, I rarely get sick anyway."

"Where do you work at?" Hiroki asked as he pulled his cup toward him, the cup warmed up his hands.

"I am a social worker," Nowaki dug out his business card and placed it in Hiroki's hands, his name was well pressed in the paper so the characters of his name stood out. "It really is a rewarding but stressful job. I am happy I get to work with kids and a lot of them manage to get out of whatever trouble they got themselves into."

"It suits you," Hiroki commented as he read Nowaki's name on the business card, Nowaki was actually the man's name. "This career I mean..."

Nowaki laughed. "Well after being the one to council most of the kids in the orphanage, I wanted to help out people which was why I got into social work. I mostly end up handling cases which involve children and checking up in their safety or helping children through the foster care and in the orphanage." He saw the confused expression on Hiroki's face. "I am an orphan, so I know the exact feelings these children go through and they tend to trust me more because of it."

"Oh.." Hiroki took his first sip of his tea, he felt himself warming up already. "It's no wonder you have a passion for this job. You just want others to feel safe and comfortable in whatever situation they are in because you went through it yourself."

Nowaki stirred his coffee with his straw. "Yes...many people think the kids only misbehave because they are bad children but most of the time it is to get rid of the feeling of rejection. There is a small minority of children who get adopted and many more are placed in adoption or in the foster care system. The need parents have for their own blood related child is something I have come to realize, the adoption rate in Japan really isn't high."

Hiroki kept his hands around his cup. "It's not surprising, a lot of views on adoption haven't changed too much. The ones who want to adopt are not qualified and plenty of people just think they fixed their problem by leaving their kids in orphanages. Was your orphanage good to live in?"

Nowaki said. "Yes it was, the owner, Akira Kusama really loved all of the children. The caretakers were so loving and made sure the kids felt that they were in a safe place. Sure there were plenty of kids who grew bitter over not getting adopted but the rest tried to make the best of staying there."

"That's good, I have heard plenty of horror stories over run down orphanages who made the children into slaves or mistreated them."

Nowaki smiled. "I was just lucky to have been left there...though I was left during a typhoon."

Hiroki's eyes widened behind his glasses. "You..were left in a typhoon?"

"I don't know the reason but Akira found me before the storm got any worse." Nowaki laughed in amusement. "I was called the Spinning Typhoon for a while as a child since I used to twirl around when I was bored."

Hiroki let out a snort as he covered his mouth. "I cannot believe they called you that."

Nowaki still had his smile on his face. "Did you get a nickname as a child?"

"No, not really. Well other than my mom calling me Hiro-chan." Hiroki added in. "Don't you start calling me that, Kusama."

"Call me Nowaki," Nowaki suggested. "I don't mind at all. So, how long have you played the piano, Kamijou-san?"

"Since I was eight years old, I didn't enter competitions or performances until I was nine." Hiroki answered. "My teacher found that I had a natural talent in playing the piano. I was one of her favorites to enter in competitions but after school started being more work, I had to leave it for a while." He took off his sunglasses and placed them on the table. "Before you ask, I wasn't born blind."

Nowaki's eyes widened as he scratched the back of his neck. "I wasn't going to ask if it was going to offend you, most people don't like being asked such questions."

"That's true but.." Hiroki took a small sip of his tea. "I have no shame in my blindness. There's no point when I am going to be blind for the rest of my life, my parents know this and respect my decision to not go into more invasive surgery to see if it can be repaired. My eye doctor told me it was impossible but other doctors have told me that in America they might help."

Nowaki said. "I see...well it is ultimately your decision Kamijou-san, no one else's."

Hiroki sipped more tea before placing it back onto the table. "And it seems like a waste of money, I am used to my life at this point."

Nowaki nodded and then he asked. "So when did you become a professional in playing the piano?"

"I was...in my early twenties if I remember correctly. I went to a specialized music school in high school which had me test my skills and my ability to play the instrument. After winning a few competitions, I started playing in much higher competitions until my manager signed me up to play in different venues." Hiroki took a bit of his muffin and gulped the piece before he said. "He's a friend of my mother's for years, so he offered and I accepted."

"That's good, not a lot of people know their managers in a deep manner as you."

"Well, he used to visit my family pretty often when I was a child so I got to know him well." Hiroki explained. "It helps that he knows piano music since he understands the hands are the pianists most important instrument so he carries extra gloves when it gets cold."

Nowaki smiled. "How extremely thoughtful of him, do you have any favorite composers?"

"I..enjoy all of the composers, I love learning a new piece when I have the chance." Hiroki closed his eyes. "I have memorized so many pieces that I think I might explode when I practice but..it is just fun."

Nowaki was in awe as he placed his chin on the palm of his hand. "Wow...and I thought hearing such beautiful music was amazing but to hear the person who played it.. is so wonderful."

Hiroki knew his face was turning red as he sipped more tea and took a bite of his muffin. "Well, after so many years of playing, it has turned into a way to relax myself. Other than having a beer at the end of the week with my two friends."

"Do they play instruments as well?" Nowaki asked, Hiroki played the piano so it wouldn't be a surprise if his friends played instruments.

"Not at all. Miyagi is useless when holding an instrument, he might even break it if he is not careful. Kana is more of a singer than an instrument type, but she knows some beginning songs on the piano." Hiroki explained. "What about you? Do you play an instrument?"

Nowaki answered. "Nope. I always wanted to play the piano but after getting so many jobs and school, it just went to the back burner after so many years." He grinned when he said. "You played my most favorite piece the other day."

"Which one?"

"The one by Claude Debussy, Arabesque number 1." Nowaki informed Hiroki. "I heard that song constantly when I was a little boy and it always stuck by me throughout my life. Which had me enter to other music by Chopin, Döhler, Beethoven, and plenty of other composers but Debussy is my all time favorite. Well for nostalgia's sake that composer is my favorite."

Hiroki stared at Nowaki in shock. "You actually know piano composers?" He thought Nowaki would bullshit his way out of this meeting but to actually get the pronunciation of the names and know the name of Debussy's piece? It wasn't easy to find the name of piano pieces when the music had no lyrics to simply type in a computer.

"Of course! Usually it takes me a while to remember the names since I forget them sometimes but I have some CD's in my home." Nowaki sipped a good portion of his iced coffee. "My senpai finds it odd that I love instrumentals actually."

"Oh really?"

"He told me this when we went to see your performance, he only took me since his date bailed on him."

Hiroki arched a brow. "He does know he could get refunds or sell his tickets to someone else right? If he doesn't like piano music then he shouldn't have gone to my performance or any piano performance if he thinks it is silly."

"If senpai didn't take me with him, then I wouldn't have met you." Nowaki saw the bright side of it all. "So I have to thank him when I see him next time."

"I guess so." Hiroki finished his tea and ate the rest of his muffin. "Play music around him, he'll get used to it whether he wants to or not."

Nowaki burst into laughter as hid his smile behind his hand. "I didn't take you as a jokester, Kamijou-san."

Hiroki's lips quirked up. "You are barely scratching the surface in knowing who I am, Nowaki."

They left the cafe ten minutes later, Hiroki had gotten a call from his manager to meet him to talk about his next few performances. Nowaki understood Hiroki had to leave as he made sure the table was tidy as he left with Hiroki. He saw Hiroki pushing a few buttons on his phone which voiced the contact and he pressed the call button on 'cab driver'. Hiroki talked to someone and gave the address of the cafe before hanging up the phone.

A drop of water fell onto Hiroki's nose, his nose wrinkled from the contact as he wiped if off with his sweater. "Damn it..I should have checked the weather report on the radio before leaving home."

Nowaki bit the inside of his lip to prevent himself from laughing. The facial expressions Hiroki made just explained his mood without having to look him directly in the eyes. Speaking of those eyes, Nowaki actually found them endearing and they hid away the brown luscious color of Hiroki's eyes. Those soft hands were hidden underneath the gloves Hiroki had on before he took them off inside of the cafe.

"I didn't know you took a cab home." Nowaki said as he held onto the cane and Hiroki kept himself near him by pressing against him.

Hiroki shrugged his shoulders. "I got used to it after I stared getting into performing and most buses don't run by the time I leave the venue."

"That makes sense, I take it you don't take the train."

"No." Hiroki stated as he fixed up his scarf. "I would be trampled over by those people and with my lack of sight, I can't dodge them when they come at me. Besides, I sometimes walk since I remember most of the city but with the new remodeling going on everyday, I... tend to get lost."

"That's nothing to be ashamed of." Nowaki said as he patted Hiroki's back. "I can still see and I sometimes get lost too."

Hiroki looked up at Nowaki when he said. "How in the hell does a giant like you get lost?"

Nowaki just laughed as Hiroki shook his head. "It just happens, don't worry I sometimes use my navigator on my phone to know where I am."

The cab stopped right in front of Hiroki and the driver said hello to Hiroki with a huge grin on his face. Hiroki responded to the man with a smile on his face as he slightly waved at him. Nowaki stood beside him in confusion, Hiroki talked to the man with such familiarity. It seemed Hiroki took the cab pretty often to have gotten acquainted with the man.

Nowaki handed Hiroki his cane when he saw him feeling for the handle of the door of the cab. Hiroki thanked Nowaki as he held his cane with both of his hands.

Hiroki told him. "I'll talk to you later, Nowaki."

Nowaki smiled when he said. "Of course, we'll keep in touch or I can call you sometime this week. Thank you so much for this wonderful time, Kamijou-san."

Hiroki nodded his head. "You're welcome...I have to say I had a wonderful time as well." He pushed the button on his watch which announced the time when he heard Nowaki chuckling. "And what is so funny, Kusama?"

"Your watch is so interesting that's all, I've never seen these type of watches in the stores." Nowaki commented.

"...Well I can't very well read the time and the voice gets irritating on the wrong day. You have to special order these since these models are still new and you have to program a voice to go with it." Hiroki said as he heard Nowaki open the door to the cab and he stepped forward. "The robot voice is better than the cutesy one I was offered, trust me on that."

"I'll take your word for it, Kamijou-san." Hiroki got inside of the cab as Nowaki closed the door and Hiroki pushed the button to roll down the window. "I'll talk to you later okay?"

Hiroki hesitated for a moment before he said. "Alright."

The cab left into the traffic a moment later which left Nowaki standing there on the sidewalk as he watched the cab leave his sight. Standing there for another moment longer, he turned his heel and walked away. A smile remained on his face as he went to do his errands for the day.

TBC