Chapter 6

First of all sorry for the late update. I'm currently studying overseas so it's been quite a hectic week, with all the plane trips and unpacking and settling down. Also! The wifi is very unstable. Hopefully I'll be back on my updating schedule once I get a new data plan for my phone, so I can share my data with my computer.

Thanks for waiting! Here's a rather longer chapter.

The night went past without any more incidents. It seemed like Makoto had stopped trying to contact Rin and just went to bed after you chased him out of the bathroom, which was a good thing. After showering you settled down next to him and made sure to make him comfortable before you drifted off.

The next morning was when the real fun began. Of course, you weren't a big dickhead so you didn't shove Makoto out of bed at the crack of dawn. You were a nice person, and nice people let their boyfriends sleep until well past noon. He woke up on his own after that, and after a nice lunch-in-bed you dragged Makoto out onto the streets.

Even though he was persistently asking you about the destination of your little adventure, you refused to tell him where you guys were going. "Life is full of surprises," you said after Makoto had asked for the billionth time. "Just wait and see…! I promise it's within the zone your boss deemed 'safe.'" That last bit shut him up, but probably because he was trying to remember all the places the boss had picked out for them.

While he was busy thinking of that, you were busy looking for hidden spies or anything. You weren't looking very hard, because if you did then you were bound to find some here and there and that would ruin the whole thing, but you couldn't stop looking because you were worried. You'd already memorized the paths you were going to take and in no time you had reached your destination – a little quaint café.

"I never knew this café was on the list," Makoto looked around suspiciously, then glanced back at you. After all, this part of town wasn't really what you'd call the safest. "Are you sure…?"

You gave him a thousand-watt smile and nodded firmly. "I told you, it's within the safe zone. Now c'mon! Get in! The food's great~" You shoved Makoto into the small shop and sat him down next to the window.

This café was not on the safety list. It was within the safe zone, but technically not on the list, and you were quite disappointed when you knew that. You'd bought this café a year back and kept it a secret, polishing it and hoping it would make it to the list so you'd be able to bring Makoto here and have a little private time, but that didn't happen. Not that you weren't going to make the private time a thing, it's just that the whole "safe zone" thing set you back a bit.

Making a gesture for Makoto to stay in his seat, you sauntered over to the counter, greeted the cashier and started to order some food. "Maybe a small portion of everything," you said. It wasn't a large menu and you wanted Makoto to try everything. "And two of your best drinks." This wasn't a dictatorship, so you didn't hover over everything the chefs made. You let them come up with the menu on their own, and the baristas invent their own drinks. It was quite refreshing, though sometimes they used you as a guinea pig. You did pick up some recipes from them, though, quite often.

Once the drinks were ready you took them back to where Makoto was. To your delight he was checking things out and seemed to like what he saw. "Do you like it?" You said as you placed down the drinks.

"It's very cozy," Makoto smiled and took one of the glasses. "What's this?"

You shrugged. "The baristas make whatever they like and experiment on unsuspecting customers," you wiggled your eyebrows suggestively and sat back down. "I think this is includes cream, though." Taking a straw and sticking it in your drink you took a big sip. Not bad, but could use some more spicing up if this wanted to become popular.

Watching Makoto as he drank his, you said, "How do you like it? We can leave comments for the baristas, I think they're new." Makoto was silent for a few moments, and you became worried. Was he thinking of how to express that the drink was awful? Probably not. Were you overthinking everything in the situation? Probably.

"Makoto? Are you okay?" Did he forget to tell you what things he was allergic to? Maybe that was the case? Maybe he was dying. Oh no.

"I'm just trying to figure out what's in this," Makoto finally said, his eyebrows slightly furrowed together.

"Oh… So you don't like it?" You masked your disappointment with an air of cheer and a wave of your hand. "I can tell that to the baristas."

Surprisingly, Makoto flushed red. "Uh… No, I just wanted to see if… I could make this at home for you, since you seem to like it and seriously, it isn't bad at all!" He must've seen the relief show on your face because he hurriedly went on to elaborate. "This is seriously the best thing I've had! The baristas must be working magic on the drinks. I'm glad you showed me this place."

"If you like the drink, you'll love the food," you leaned forward to rest your head on your palms. "The chefs here are amazing."

"I'm looking forward to it."

~Timeskip~

Makoto loved everything about the café, to your relief and satisfaction. Time flew past and to your surprise you guys have been in the café for over three hours. It wasn't too big of a problem, and you both didn't mind one bit. In fact, you would say this was the perfect date. Usually at around the one-hour mark, the bodyguards would herd you out of the place because staying in one place wasn't safe, or some other bullshit like that. Really, they were just bored and wanted to move around.

"You wanna go?" You said when your legs started to fall asleep.

Makoto looked up. "Go where?"

You smiled. "Wander around the city, reveling in the freedom?"

"That does sound good." It seemed like he was warming up to the whole no-bodyguards thing. Maybe you could do this more often.

Standing up and going over to the cashier, you produced a wad of cash from your wallet. As you were about to hand it to her, Makoto spoke up from behind you. "I'll pay."

Spinning around quickly, you clutched your money to your chest. "Don't use your ninja skills to sneak up on me!" You wailed, playfully punching him in the shoulder. "And no. I'll pay. You don't get any say in this." You shoved the money at the cashier, who seemed at a loss at what to do.

With a stern glare in her direction, the cashier accepted the cash in your outstretched hand rather than Makoto's. As he sighed in defeat and turned away, you leaned in to whisper to the cashier, "Split that up between the on-duty staff. You guys earned it." You hurriedly went off to follow Makoto, feeling the cashier staring at your back. It wasn't often you gave your employees a tip, so this was a real treat for them.

"Hey, dollface!" You heard someone call as you exited the café, looking for Makoto. Assuming it was a random pervert calling out one of the numerous ladies passing by, you ignored the absurdly loud man and headed to where Makoto was standing, waiting for you.

When you've stood by Makoto and latched onto his arm affectionately, a man dressed in black leather stepped up to you two. He looked dangerous, and it didn't take long for you to find out this was the man who'd yelled out earlier. Apparently he was looking for you.

"Any problem, mister?" You smiled politely. You'd seen him around your café before, and you didn't like it. He always harassed the staff, and from what you'd gathered he was part of the organization that always dealt business in this part of town. That organization also made trades through the café, so you didn't want to get on its bad side, but this chump here seemed to think that he could do whatever he liked just because they controlled approximately 30% of the café's income.

Judging from how large his ego was inflated, you guessed he didn't know who you or Makoto were, so you decided to keep quiet about either of those things. Makoto had tensed up beside you, so you patted his arm reassuringly.

"How about you take that stupid excuse for a cashier and put her on the menu?" The guy clasped his hands behind his back. "That'd up the number of customers for sure."

You glanced up at Makoto, who seemed confused. "Makoto, can you go to the flower shop over at the next street?" You said, mustering all the sweetness you had. "I want to see if there are any nightshades, but I'll need to deal with this nuisance first."

Makoto was about to protect when you squeezed his arm and put on your best puppy face. You hated doing that stupid pitiful face, but as long as it got Makoto out of hearing distance that would be fine. With a sigh and a glare at the man's direction, he trudged off into the distance.

"That was quite a show you put on there, dollface," the man commented as he watched Makoto leave. "Maybe you'd like to do that back in my room, hmm? How 'bout that?"

You leaned against a nearby wall, dropping your facade. "How about you take that big fat ego of yours and shove it up your ass?" You said, examining your nails. "Come to think of it, you've been hangin' around here quite a bit. Maybe my café intrigues you?" Casually, you lean forward, stretching your waist before straightening yourself again. The pendant that you always wore was now visible.

"This pathetic excuse for a coffee shop is yours?" The man didn't sound impressed. He sounded a little disgusted, to say the least. "A business owned by a woman like you? Give me a break!" He laughed. You continued to stare at him, uninterested.

"If that's all you have to say, then please leave. I believe my nightshades will wilt if they're not given the care I give them." You heaved a heavy sigh. "You're a waste of my time and I'm sure one of my chefs can kill you in less than two seconds in five different ways. Look at the way you carry yourself," you frowned as you inspected the man more closely. "I can't believe you're part of the same organization that trains up some of the best assassins in the world. Pitiful."

The man turned pale, mumbled some excuse and wandered off, just as Makoto was turning round the corner. "They didn't have any nightshades," he said, watching the man lumber off. "What did you do?"

"Nothing to harm him," you said. "He won't be bothering me anymore, though."

Makoto was about to say something else when he noticed the pendant on your neck. It was a simple silver chain, with a teardrop-shaped gem in the middle. Under the setting sun, the gemstone turned various shades of purple. "When did you get this?" He asked, mesmerized, maybe slightly suspiciously.

"Oh, this?" You laughed. "I found it in a pawn shop. It's so pretty! So I bought it." You held it up for closer inspection. Dark flecks were embedded inside the gem. "I like to think that these spots are the souls of the people I've insulted." You laughed again. Makoto cracked a smile and you latched onto his arm again. You could feel that he still felt suspicions towards the pendant, but was letting it slide for now.

"Let's go back now."