I'm sorry if this chapter is a little boring but I needed a way to set up Akane's POV. I hope you guys enjoyed it nonetheless! also i'm aware i call her Xian Pu once and then Shampoo the rest of the time. That was on purpose. I figured that the Chinese characters and her partners would use the correct pronunciation of her name.

Akane knew she was going to regret storming out of the coffee shop without her caffeine fix, but like hell if she was going to go back in there today.

She'd spent most of the night working on her paper, forgetting it wasn't due until Monday, and procrastinating on it by breaking concrete bricks and rehearsing her lines for the drama club's play. She was never that great at concentrating when it came to her school work, but thanks to her mix up (which she swore never happened, usually), she did manage to finish her paper two days before it was due. However, it also meant she could only get a few hours of sleep, leaving her to go about her day feeling like a zombie, and without her coffee she might as well be dead right now.

Akane was disastrous in the kitchen, even with something as simple as making coffee. It always came out burned and, somehow, lumpy. The coffee shop, was her saving grace. It gave her the caffeine she desperately needed to survive, and it also gave her a place to study. She had trouble working in her own home, as she constantly found distractions to put her off task. She tried her school's library but she found the silence to be off-putting. When she started coming the coffee shop, she realized it was the perfect place for her to study during the day. She started coming there everyday in between her classes, as it was only a couple of blocks away from her university. Of course, it being so close meant it was always fairly busy, but she managed to always find a place to sit.

Today, though, she didn't have the time to sit and relax for her cup of coffee. She was meant to meet her friend, for lunch today, but she was running late. She figured she at least had time to get a drink, but then that stupid barista had the nerve to flirt with her. What kind of person tries to pick up girls while they're working anyways? Akane huffed as she marched angrily down the street. She might be exhausted, but she was too stubborn to go back and get her coffee or to let the lack of it affect her.

As she walked, her anger cooled down. When she finally arrived at the restaurant, she was no longer steaming. She sat at a table near the front window and looked around. She couldn't seem to find who she was looking for and sighed. She was running late and he still managed to not make it before her. She grabbed a menu to look over while she waited for him. While she was reading through the list of teas she could feel herself dozing off. Just as she closed her eyes to rest for a moment she heard a voice next to her very loudly say, "Congratulations!"

Akane screamed and then quickly covered her mouth, forgetting she was in public. She turned to her left to see a man with long black hair and big, coke bottle glasses stunned by her shout. "Hi, Mousse," she smiled and waved at him as if she didn't just blow out his eardrums five seconds ago. "Congrats on what?"

Mouse slid into the seat across from her gave her a funny look. "Did you really forget?"

She shrugged.

"Why do you think we're having lunch, Miss Juliet?" He asked her.
Akane stared at him, her tired brain trying to process what he just said. Then she suddenly slapped her forehead and groaned. "I can't believe I forgot." She slid her hand down her face.

"Congratulations at getting the part," Mousse smiled at her and Akane smiled back.

Akane considered Mousse one of her closest friends and the only boy that she could get along with that wasn't her father. They met in the most normal way you could meet a person, with one of them almost getting mugged. Akane was on her way home from her classes and as she passed an empty lot, she saw 3 men, all much bigger than her, cornering a tall guy a little older than her in chinese robes against a wall. She couldn't hear what any of them were saying, but she saw that one of the men was beginning to get aggressive, shoving the guy against the wall. He pushed him off and reached inside the sleeve of his robe as the man began to throw a punch. Before he even pulled his fist back all the way, Akane sprinted toward them and swept her leg at the man's feet to knock him down. She was raised a martial artist, and she was not going to let these guys hurt him.

When the first thug fell, the other two and the guy stared at her. The guy still had his arm up his large sleeve as if he were grabbing something. She put up her arms to guard her face and dropped to a ready stance. The man she knocked down got up and ran towards her with a yell. She swung her right leg to kick him in the stomach knocking him down again. One of the other two thugs rushed at her and tried to grab her hair but she threw an uppercut at his jaw and jabbed at his solar plexus. As she was pummeling the two, she didn't notice the other man sneaking up behind her. He was about to grab her until he got knocked upside the head by a cane. The man collapsed and Akane turned around to see the man in chinese robes holding the cane in his hands. She looked around them to check if all the thugs were unconscious. Satisfied, she looked to the man left standing.

"Are you alright?" She asked him, breathing heavily.

"You didn't need to get involved," he said sternly. He turned around and began to walk away.

"You're welcome!" Akane yelled at his back. She was about to leave until she saw him walk into the brick wall at the end of the lot. She winced and ran over to him. "Do you need help?" she asked gently.

"I'm fine." The man looked to her and squinted. "Have you seen a pair of glasses anywhere?"

Akane stared at him for a moment. She grabbed the glasses that were resting on his forehead and pulled them over his eyes.

He blushed in embarrassment. "Oh..."

She offered him her hand to pull him off the ground. He accepted it. "I'm Akane, by the way."

"I'm Mousse." He said as he steadied himself.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sort of used to running into walls." Mousse said sheepishly.

She furrowed her brow. "Why were those guys after you?"

"I think they were just looking for a fight." He took his glasses off and cleaned them on his clothes. "That or my money. Lucky for me, I don't have any." He smiled brightly at her. Akane was stunned by his upbeat attitude. "You wouldn't happen to have the time, would you?"

She looked at her watch. "It's 5:14."

His eyes widened in panic. "I'm gonna be late for my shift!" He began to run off, but Akane, thinking about how he just ran into a wall, called after him.

"Wait! Can I walk you there? I know you can take care of yourself, but I'd feel a lot better if I went with you."

Mousse thought for a moment and then grinned. "Sure."

On the walk to his work, a place called the Cat Cafe, she learned a lot about him. How he came to Japan from China with his childhood friend and her family, and how he only worked part-time and spent the rest of his time performing magic on the streets. He spent a lot of time on their walk talking about his friend, whose name was apparently Shampoo. It was a little much, Akane thought, but she liked the way his face lit up when he talked about her. In return, she told him about how she loved martial arts, and was in her university's drama and volleyball club. She also talked about her family. How her father trained her and how he cried all the time, and how her sisters moved out so she was the only one still living at home.

When they finally arrived at the cafe, Akane was almost sad to leave him. She really liked Mousse and she really wanted to keep talking to him.

"Hey," she said. "You want to hang out sometime?"

Mousse looked stunned. "Wow, well, I'm very flattered but I'm already interested in someone else."

"I meant as friends, you dope."

"Oh." His face turned bright red, but he smiled through his embarrassment. "I'd love to."

"Great. You live here, right?" Mousse nodded. "Then I'll see you soon." She smiled at him one last time then walked home.

Since then, they've grown to be extremely close. Akane hated boys with a fiery passion, but Mousse was sweet. She trusted him completely and they told each other nearly everything, from their everyday lives to their biggest secrets to (mostly Mousse's) romantic pursuits. Of course, they couldn't meet up as often as they'd like, with her classes and extracurriculars and his work schedule, so they mostly talked over the phone or through text. But today, they were both free and celebrating.

"How do you forget something this big?" He asked, exasperated. "You must be really tired, I mean, you look awful."

"Gee, thanks." She grunted, trying to keep herself awake. She ordered a coffee and hopefully it would wake her up some. She yawned and said. "I was going to get a coffee before I came here, but then this guy thought it'd be a good idea to flirt with me."

"How did that keep you from getting your drink?"

"It was the barista. He was this short guy with a pigtail. He asked me for my number. While he was working. Who does that?" She rolled her eyes remembering the incident. "So, I left before I paid and I didn't get my coffee." Mousse just stared at her in confusion. "Don't look at me like that!" She glared.

"I'm sorry. I know you hate when guys flirt with you, but I think you overreacted," he said.

Akane slumped in her seat. "And here I thought you'd be on my side for this."

"I am on your side. I just think that you need to calm down sometimes. You don't tend to think straight when you're mad." He tried to reason. "You should have just said that you don't have a phone."

She went quiet. The waitress came by to give them their drinks and told them their food would be there soon. Not wanting to admit out loud that her friend was right, she sat up and took a sip and grimaced at the too bitter taste of her coffee.

"I should have at least gotten my coffee first, because this is almost as bad as mine."

Mousse laughed. "Nothing is as bad as your coffee."

"You be quiet."

"Anyways, back to the reason we're here," he said. "How excited are you to be playing Juliet?"

Akane beamed. "I haven't stopped thinking about it! This has been my dream role for years. I can't believe it's actually happening!"

"I'm so proud of you." Mousse smiled at her softly. "When's the show?"

"It's not until December. Unfortunately, I've got volleyball too so I'm going to be busy all semester." She sighed and ran her finger around the rim of her mug. "I don't think I'll have any time to sleep."

"Oh, before I forget, guess what happened!" He said, excited all of a sudden.

"What?"

"Xian Pu and I had dinner together! She came home late from her dance class and we ate our food together. I mean, we just sat next to each other and she didn't say anything to me, but I really think she's coming around to like me!" He continued talking about Shampoo and Akane tried to look interested, but she couldn't stand him talking about her. She had only met Shampoo a couple of times, and while the two of them didn't get along very well (Shampoo seemed to have some odd hatred of her), Akane empathized with her. She knew what it was like to deal with boys who just wouldn't give up on you, and it got on her nerves. She tried to convince Mousse to move on from her, but nothing she did worked. What made it worse was that Shampoo was already in a relationship. Akane didn't know much about her partner, just that their name was Ukyo and that they had another partner as well. She didn't understand how someone could be able to handle having two relationships at a time, or how the two parties were okay with it.

She was relieved when he finally finished his rambling about the 'love of his life.' After that they just discussed what's been happening in their lives while they ate. Akane said that the dojo just had an influx of new students and her father couldn't be happier and Mousse told her about a new magic trick he'd been working on. Soon after, they left the restaurant and went their separate ways because Mousse had to work.

Akane walked home, feeling dizzy from her lack of sleep. When she finally made it home after what felt like hours, she didn't bother announcing herself home, as she knew her father would be in the dojo, and went straight for the stairs. She opened the door to her room, changed into her pajamas, and landed roughly on her bed. Once her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light.