There's a guy that I've been noticing a lot recently at Tokyo's Central Library, he's taller than me for one and he looks to be around my age, he has longish, black messy hair that he ties in a loose ponytail, wears a pair of aviator like glasses, a white, unbuttoned shirt -with their sleeves rolled up- over a black tee, a pair of worn jeans and a pair of boots.
I've only seen him wearing that outfit, so I have no idea what school he goes to, all I know is that he doesn't go to Shujin Academy.
I was first aware of him when he reached over me for a book, he apologised before walking away, the next time was when I passed the table he was sitting at. Even though he was sitting by himself, he still somehow looked quite regal.
"Wow, it's strange to hear you talk about a guy like this, Mako-chan." My best friend Haru said as she placed her cup of coffee down.
I couldn't help but blush at that. "I-I d-don't know what you are talking about, Haru. It's just that his presence is hard to ignore."
"Really now?"
"What? You would understand if you were there."
Honestly, the silence was welcomed after that and I admit (never out loud of course) that I did… have? Fallen for him, even though I've never spoken to him. On a side note, I had to wonder how Haru found a café like this, the name was Leblanc if I remembered correctly and I wouldn't have thought a place like this would be nestled in the back alleys.
My thoughts were somewhat disturbed when I heard the bell chime above the door, signalling a new customer.
"Hey Boss, I'm back with those apples you wanted." I heard a familiar voice say and I froze mid-sip of coffee.
Haru was looking at me funny as the owner walked out of the kitchen. "About time you showed up, what took you so long Kid?"
"You know have the roads can be." I heard the thud of the grocery bag on the counter and I could feel my heart beat faster as I heard him get closer.
The owner, Boss, sighed before rubbing the back of his neck. "Anyway, I'll reimburse for those and for what gas you used."
'He knows how to drive!'
"Thanks, Boss." He said before he stopped next to our booth and looks at us. "Oh, sorry about all the noise."
"It's quite alright." Haru said and I was happy that she said something as I didn't trust my voice seeing as he was standing close it to me… hell, I couldn't even look at him.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch him walk over to the stairs and ascend with a couple of bags in tow. I was glad when I lost sight of him as I was able to finally take a breath.
"I will say, I can see what you are talking about, Mako-chan. He does have that aura about him." Haru said as she adjusted her saucer ever so slightly.
"Akira's not a bad kid," Boss said as he looked at the apples that Akira had brought back. "Not a bad selection this time. But the only problem I've got so far is that they could do with learning some tact."
"My tact is just fine, thank you, Boss." We heard Akira shout from upstairs and I couldn't help but laugh a little.
"You're right, he is a bit rough around the edge."
After that, Boss took the grocery bag into the kitchen as the bell chimed again. Even after finding out that he can be somewhat brazen at times, it only made me like him more… was it weird that it was like that?
Leblanc became a bit more livelier with the new customers, even if they were older and I was starting to like this place more and more, the fact that my crush was working here was a major bonus.
Speaking of, said person walked down the stairs wearing the same outfit but with a green apron on over it. He stopped when he got behind the counter and looked at me.
"Can I get you two a refill?"
Before I could even answer, Haru jumped in with an enthusiastic look. "Yes please, I had a Mocha Matari, so I would like to try something new please and Mako-chan…"
"And I would like another Blue Mountain again please." I said before Haru could order something I wasn't going to like. I didn't really enjoy coffee in the first place, so the fact the Boss had picked one that I had enjoyed was amazing.
At the mention of the coffee I had, Akiras' face lit up and the smirk he wore was making my heart beat faster. "You have excellent tastes, Mako-chan, Jamaican Blue Mountain is my favourite blend. I wasn't a big coffee drinker when I move here till Sojiro made me my first cup."
"And for you…" He said looking at Haru.
"Haru."
"And for you, Haru-chan, how about an Ethiopian Mocha Matari?"
"Ooh, that sounds delicious." She said and honestly, it was like watching a child in a candy store.
I was expecting to see Boss make the coffees seeing as he was the owner of this place but Akira started to work on our coffees in no time. It was mesmerising to watch him work, something which Haru found funny.
When our coffees were done and sitting in front of us, I was happy to report that he did a good job at brewing and it was when I was taking another sip was when Akira spoke up.
"Have we met before?" He said as I look over at him.
"A couple of times at the Tokyo Metropolitan Library." I answered and his gaze was making me flush.
He brought a finger up to his chin in thought before snapping his fingers. "Ah, I remember you now, you were in the law section right?"
I nodded in agreement. "Correct, I'm surprised that you remembered."
"Well, it's not every day you see a girl my age studying law."
"It runs in the family." I said as I tuck some loose hair behind my ear before grasping and lifting the cup to my lips for a sip.
An enthusiastic look washes over his face in an instant. "Oh, so that means your parents and older siblings have done the same right?"
I couldn't help the sad feeling that washed over me when he mentioned my parents. Harus' hand found mine atop the table. "My father was a police officer and my Sis is a public prosecutor."
"Must be a hard job." He said and it was easy to hear the empathy in his voice.
I was about to ask him if he had any siblings but the old couple that came in earlier drew his attention. "Ah Kurusu-chan, do you a have moment?"
"Sorry, Mako-chan, Haru. I'll be right back." He said before walking around the counter and over to the elderly couple. "Long time no see, Ena-san, Kisho-san."
"You're looking as lively, Kurusu-chan, how's your violin practice going?"
'He can drive and he plays the violin? How more attractive can he get?'
"I will say, Mako-chan, you couldn't have picked a better person to fall for." Haru said with a sweet smile.
"I couldn't agree more."
It had been about a week or so since I was at Leblanc with Haru and I had seen Akira in the Library a couple of times and we talked a little as well. And with it being the weekend, I was looking forward to having a good cup of coffee, seeing as the machines at Shujin couldn't produce a decent cup.
I had even made sure to look nice for this visit, but sadly, it seemed that the weather had other plans as I had not too long made it ground level when the heavens opened. It's then that I weighed my options, turn around or make a run for Leblanc… I will say that I had a choice but my feet were already pulling me in the direction of Leblanc.
There was zero chance that I was going to come out of this without coming down with something after but I wanted to see him.
By the time I got to Leblanc, I must have looked like a down rat, I just wish I had had the hindsight to at least prepare for something like this or at least brought a towel with me.
Even though there was an awning, it had gotten quite cold all of the sudden and a cup of hot coffee sounded like the perfect remedy. As I opened the door, I was greeted with the oddly soothing chime of the bell and Akira -soaked to the bone- standing there wearing just his jeans and a black t-shirt with a towel draped over his head.
'Holy shit! How can he still look so hot even though he's soaked?'
When the door closes was when he realizes that I was standing there and it felt like I no longer need the coffee to warm up. As the two of us stood there looking at each other the only thing I could hear was the rain hitting the window, the ticking of the clock and my heart beating like a jackhammer.
"Fucking hell! You're soaked worse than me." He said before darting into the kitchen and it didn't take him long before he re-emerged with another towel. "Here."
It was hard to hear what he was saying with how loud my heart was beating but seeing as he was handing me a towel meant that he was trying to help… Honestly, with how hot I was feeling, I was sure that I would be dry in no time.
But I accepted the towel with a small thank you before removing my headband and started the process of drying my hair.
As the towel moved passed my eyes, I saw Akira standing there not moving and with a shocked expression on his face. "Can I help you?"
"You're telling me that your braid was just a headband all along!?" His shouting was not really necessary but I could see why and I couldn't help but laugh.
"Of course. Did you really think I could do a French braid with this amount of hair?" Even now, I still found it funny when people realise that it was a headband and not real and watching Akira freak out about was the icing on the cake.
"I really did think you could…"
"Well, it's kind of you to think so."
"I don't know what to believe anymore."
I chuckle again before letting the towel sit around my neck as I stepped closer to him so I could at least repay him for getting me a towel by towelling his hair.
After that, he was kind enough to give me some clothes that I could change into so my clothes could dry and I was super nervous about wearing my crushes clothing… granted, it was a size or two bigger seeing as the black long-sleeved shirt would occasionally fall and expose one of my shoulders and I had to roll the sleeves up.
It really didn't help my heart when Akira said that I looked cute wearing his clothes.
After the rain incident, we had exchanged contact info and through that, I had found out that he studies at Kosei High School, majoring in music and mainly with the violin, just like Haru and I heard the day. As of yet, I have not heard him play.
It was hard not seeing Akira for a few days, but when I saw him next was a day wouldn't forget.
I was happy that I was able to finish all my Student Council work in a timely manner as was able to leave school on time for once and I had to raise an eyebrow when I made it to the front doors and saw that there was a lot of students hanging around here and just outside.
"Do you know who it is?"
"No idea, any clue about the uniform?"
"Nope, not a clue."
"He's very handsome."
"You should talk to him, Ai-chan."
"I don't think I could."
I couldn't help but chuckle inwardly as I walked outside, only to walk into Haru.
"Ah, Mako-chan, you wouldn't believe who's here." She said with probably the biggest smile I've seen on her.
With the number of students about and talking about the mystery guy, it did start to make me wonder who was out there and with my lack of response, Haru grabbed my hand and pulled me down the steps.
We stopped a few feet away from the main gate and we were able to see this mystery guy and I was lucky that Haru had a hold of my left hand or else my bag would have fallen to the floor seeing as the mystery guy was Akira, who, by the way, was leaning up against a Yamaha motorbike.
'What is he doing here? And more importantly, why does he look so hot just by leaning there?'
Before I could do anything, Haru pushed me towards him. I turned around when I regained my footing to see her giving me a thumbs up.
'I swear that that girl will kill me someday.'
Haru pushing me must have been loud enough to catch Akira's attention as he calls to me. "Mako-chan, I was wondering when you coming out."
Of course, with him calling out to me made what Shujin students that were outside to start talking about us.
"Whoa, how do you think those two know each other?"
"I highly doubt that those two are dating."
"Yeah, I mean the President does not compute things like love."
I shook my head from side to side before regarding Akira (hopefully) a worry-free look. "Do you mind telling me why you are here Akira?"
"Isn't it obvious, I'm here to take you out on a date." He said in that charming tone.
"But doesn't Kosei High finish around the same time as Shujin? And what's more, how did you know I studied here?" I asked as I was really baffled about it all.
"Oh, Goro-chan told me." He said like it was common knowledge.
"Ugh, I forget that Akechi-san is a Kosei High student." I said running a hand down my face.
Akira looked at me with a smug look. "Yep, people do seem to forget that the Detective Prince is Kosei Student… the guy's got a bad habit of eavesdropping, but I can't really complain."
It's then my brain realised that he said date and that probably most of Shujin Academy heard that. The blush that I wore probably told Akira enough. "D-did y-you have to say date so loud?"
He laughs at that. "I could have but where's the fun in that? Seeing you blush like this is cute."
I felt annoyed at him, but I knew it wouldn't last long. "I hope you have an extra helmet for me or I won't be going anywhere with you."
He laughs again before reaching over the bike and unclasping something and I was lucky that I was paying attention as Akira threw a black, open-face helmet towards me. Catching it and flipping it over, I was able to see that it had an iron-like design to it.
"It's yours."
"You can't be serious?" I said and upon looking him in the eyes, I knew that he was serious.
"Yep, I've fallen enough times to know how important safety is." He gestures to the side of his bike.
There were indeed quite a few starches down one side of his bike and it was a shame to see such a beautiful bike tarnished like that but the black and gold paint that was there shone like it was brand new. It was clear that Akira loved this bike, despite the damage. In the time it took me to appreciate Akiras' Yamaha DT-1, Akira had put his helmet on and had started the bike. His helmet was a white full-face helmet that had a black design around the visor.
"Let's get going, Makoto."
I was a bit anxious about getting on, seeing as I was still in my Shujin uniform and wearing a skirt, but after a little bit of encouragement from Akira, I was sitting behind him. As we rode to where ever we were going, I learnt that his bike has been in his family for a few generations and Akira loved going on rides with his father. I had also learnt that he named his bike Satanael, I couldn't you an answer why he named it after an archangel.
The ride was nice, I got to see more of Tokyo than I have and I was able to hold onto Akira tightly whenever he decided to speed up, sadly our journey was over rather too quickly. We must have been a few miles out from central Tokyo but this park he took me to was kinda nice, but I was more surprised that we rode right in till we stopped near a picnic table.
Dismounting first, I was glad that I was to take the helmet off and stretch as sitting there for what felt like half an hour was not fun… granted, I wasn't used to it like Akira was.
"So, where and why have you brought me here?"
My heart fluttered when he took his helmet off and shook his head slightly. He rests his helmet in his lap before raising his left hand with his index finger pointing up. "One, welcome to Sakuragaoka Park, or to be more precise, Sunset hill in Sakuragaoka Park."
His middle finger joined his index. "And two, after all the messaging between us, I got this feeling that you wanted to hear me play."
'Oh my god, I finally get here my crush play!'
"So that is why we are here this afternoon." He said with a wide gesture.
I could have died peacefully there and then as after finding out that he played the violin, I had been dying to hear him play. The look of excitement on my face made Akira laugh loudly, but then it dawned on me, I didn't see any storage on his bike.
What I thought was just part of the bike was actually well-designed saddle bags that I honestly wouldn't have guessed that they were. So, when he unzips the far one, I was surprised that it held his violin.
Akira must have known what I was thinking when he pulled the bow out. "It's a special case I got made and trust me when I tell you it's sturdy enough to take Satanael falling on it."
"So, how did you find this place?" I asked as I was curious about it.
When he stood, I was given a clear view of his blood-red violin and I have to say that it looked beautiful like that. "It's not that interesting, to be honest, but I'll tell you if you want to know."
I nod my head as I wanted to know.
"I wanted to clear my head one day so I went riding and I just happened to come across this place." He said as we walked over to the nearby picnic table. "And this place gave me to good vibe and seeing as my violin comes with me wherever I go, I started playing."
"But didn't people think you were a street performer?"
He chuckles. "At the start, yeah. Had to turn away a lot of yen. Did get an old guy come up to me ask if he could play with me sometime, his wife couldn't stop laughing as apparently, she hasn't seen him that enthusiastic in a long time."
Sitting down, I watch him walk over to the end furthest away from me. "I'm more surprised that you haven't had the police come to have a word."
"Oh, I have and after proving that I haven't taken any money, they went on their way and as far as I know, there's no crime about playing an instrument outside if you're not collecting money from it." He said with an all too serious expression.
There was a lull between us as I watched Akira make sure that his violin was fine before he started to play. After finding out that Akira played the violin, I had started to listen to more classical music that featured a violin or was just a violin by itself, so being able to listen to a violinist play in person was amazing.
I didn't know what song he first played but it was beautiful nether the less and I couldn't help but feel sad whilst he was playing. It was clear when he finished the first song as he took a couple of seconds to reposition his violin before starting the second.
And I could have cried during the second piece as it sounded a lot more sadder than the first and it didn't feel as energetic as well. There were a few people who passed on by and some even stopped to listen.
When he had finished, Akira looked a bit run-down. "Are you feeling okay, Akira?"
Both his arms drop and he slouched forwards, panting. "Yeah… I'm fine…just… I just don't have enough stamina for long play, plus" He moves the bow over to his other hand before stretching and clenching his hand. "cramp starts to set in after the ten-minute mark."
With the mention of cramp, it brought me back to the number of times I got it when studying and the countless of times I massaged my hand afterwards. I pat the stop next to me and watch as he gives me a quizzical look.
"It's okay." I said in a gentle tone. "I won't bite."
I swear I saw him blush but he walked over towards me before I could confirm it.
He sets his violin and the bow down on the table before he sits down next to me and spoke just loud enough for me alone could hear. "What do you need?"
Taking his right hand into mine, I began to massage it gently. "I know how bad cramp can get sometimes."
His hand was beautiful, I was expecting it to look and feel rougher but they were incredibly soft, the only part that wasn't was his fingertips. They were rough to the touch but it would be hard to tell as I worked over every finger and the front and back of his hand.
He chuckles when I ran my thumb over his middle knuckle. "You know, what you're doing right now makes us look like a couple."
I stopped and gripped his hand. 'Could I really ask him right now..?'
"Erm… if it's being your girlfriend… then… then I don't mind."
There was a moment of silence before he places his other hand atop of mine. "That was a cute way of asking me Makoto."
I couldn't look him in the eye as I didn't want to see the one I loved turn me down. But when his rough fingertips touch my chin and pulled my gaze me upwards, I don't think I could be angry at him if he did turn me down.
"You're okay dating someone who is a bit too loud?"
Seeing as he still held onto me, I could only shake my head slightly. "No, it's one of the things I like about you."
He laughs. "That is the first time someone has said that to me, but sure, I'll be honoured if you were my girlfriend."
With those simple words, I couldn't help but start crying and even though I was extremely happy that he accepted and returned my feelings, I couldn't stop the tears. I didn't realize that Akira had produced a handkerchief from somewhere and was drying my tears as best as he could.
"You feeling any better?" Akira asked when my tears had stopped.
"Yes, yes thank you and sorry for crying like that."
"No need to apologise, emotions can run high sometimes, especially when asking someone one."
As we sat there, I tried to get myself together when I remember that I forgot to ask what he played.
"I forgot to ask, when you were playing, I didn't know the music you were playing, so.." Before I could finish, he jumped in.
"You want to know what I was playing?" I nod my head. "The first one was from an amine called Sailor Uniform, it was used during the last episode according to some of my classmates, they were the ones that showed it to me and said I should try playing it.
It was harder than I thought as only the last part was done on violin, so I had to basically write most of it and the second is from the FF video game series, which funny enough was also recommended to me by some classmates. I have to say, the music is great in those games but I don't think I could play them."
I had heard the FF series before as I thought that the yellow birds were incredibly cute, but I wasn't well versed on anime and the like so I would have to do some research on it later.
Looking at Akira, I noticed that he was blushing. "Honestly, after watching that Sailor Uniform anime, I… I kinda want to wear a sailor uniform,"
With that, I couldn't help but imagen Akira wearing a sailor uniform and honestly, I was getting a little flustered.
"but the problem is, is that skirts never suit me."
"Skirts?"
"Yeah, skirts. The item of clothing worn by girls at schools."
"But why would a guy want to wear skirts?"
He looks at me with a blank stare and I started to believe that I might have been wrong when I thought that Akira was a male. His full belly laugh broke my concentration.
"I can't believe you thought I was a guy." Akira said when she had regained some composure. "But I can see how you got there, I… don't exactly have a girly figure."
That I would agree with, she didn't really look and talk like a girl would, but… honestly, it didn't change much, I still loved her.
"I can totally understand if have changed your mind about dating me now." Even though she said it in a cheerful manner, it was clear that she wanted us in a relationship.
I took her hand into my own and looked her dead in the eyes. "I'm… I'm okay with it. Akira is Akira to me, I fell in love with you, regardless of gender."
This time, it was Akira who started to cry and after removing her glasses, I began wiping her tears.
Authors Notes
The Tokyo Metropolitan Library actually consists of two libraries, the Central Library and the Tama Library and there are 2.59 million volumes in the libraries.
The whole scene where Makoto gets soaked in is based on The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy At All chapter 10 and the scene were Akira picks Makoto up outside of Shujin is based on Sword Art Online season 2 where Kirito picks Shino up at the end of the Phantom Bullet Arc.
The music Akira plays is hem -After Party version- from Akebi's Sailor Uniform and the second is Somnus from Final Fantasy 15.
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If you do like my work and you have an idea for a story that you want writing, then please, feel free to comment/review and I'll see about writing it at some point.
Walk Tall and Be Fierce, my Friends.
