It was cold, yet the sun still shone down intently, making the morning bright and cheerful, reflecting off the glass that stood in front of the male. He sighed and looked at the front of the shop, taking in all the memories he had of this place.
All of the days he had spent as a child running around the inside, the times he had begged for a cup of obaa-chans' famous coffee but was told no due to him being too young, the days he had made himself almost throw up by over indulging himself in his obaa-chans' pumpkin soup.
So many things had changed now, and so many things had been let go. So many things he could never get back again; that he had regretted that he ever lost. He sighed once more and shook his head, looking at his watch. It was only 7:33 in the morning and he was already standing outside his newly acquired shop; the shop that wasn't even going to be announced to be re-opening for at least another week.
He had decided to come on his own whim to sit inside and get a feel for the shop, see if anything had changed and to see if he could still remember all those days and nights he had stayed in the small café.
'Just Another Coffee Shop' his Grandmother had named it, being the overly cheerful and modest woman that she was. It was printed on the shop in a plain verdana font, coloured bright orange, with a white rim on each letter.
It was so plain. So… average. Yet it was so extraordinary for those that ventured inside.
He rested his head on the glass door and reached into his pocket, fondling the key idly
"A…Ano…" A soft voice rang out behind him, cutting him from his day dream. He turned his head sharply to see the source of the voice, his emotionless eyes cutting deep into her gaze, causing her to look down.
Her fringe slightly covered her eyes from view and the red that flooded her face was barely visible from the angle of her head. She played idly with her fingers, trying to look into the man's eyes but failing every time
Her face grew hotter thinking that she caused unnecessary attention to herself and was now being stared at
"If y-you were h-hoping to g-go into the c-coffee shop, it's c-closed…" She said very softly, turning her head away from him
"I know that." He said plainly, staring at her intently.
"A-ah… Th-then what are you d-doing here?" She asked, before inwardly cursing herself. The question had come out naturally out of curiosity, but she had not meant it to be worded so rudely
"I'm… going to make myself a coffee." He replied with a slight hesitance, as if he were unaware what he was doing there himself and had decided at that moment. She raised her head and looked at him, confusion apparent on her face. Her eyebrows rose as she watched him take the key out of his pocket and unlock the door. He opened it slowly and looked back at her from the doorway, "Would you like one?"
She froze at the question, completely unsure of how to response. He didn't wait for an answer and proceeded to walk in on his own. In her small panic, and her family tradition of not wanting to seem rude without a justified reason to be, she squealed in response a small "H-hai!" and followed him swiftly
She sat at the small 3 person circular table that was both closest to the window and to the counter, playing with the hem of her skirt that sat on her knees, looking at Gaara every other second out of curiosity.
Gaara on the other hand immediately sat on the counter out of habit and quickly jumped back off, hearing a small creaking from the old wooden counter. He smiled to himself slightly, a smile that soon passed due to the remembering of the guest in the room.
'I guess I'm too big to be sitting on the counter now' he noted to himself, more memories flooding his mind. He looked over to the girl, who seemed to be conflicted between watching him and playing with her clothing.
"What would you like?" He said, maybe a bit too bluntly, giving off a harsh feeling. She looked at him with a small amount of fear flooding her eyes before looking away again, stuttering to herself. "To drink, I mean." He reiterated.
"C-Caram-m-mel M-Mac-c-" Speech had completely escaped her as she slowly realised what kind of odd social climate she was in at the moment; a scenario that anyone who knew the young girl would know that she would have a mental implosion in.
"Macchiato?" The stranger finished for her, to which she just nodded in confirmation. "Coming up."
She was left in silence for another few minutes. A thousand thoughts flew around her mind. Who was this man? Was he related to Obaa-chan? Was he the heir of a fortune that bought this place on a whim? Is he just an eccentric who wants a shop?
She was interrupted as her drink was placed in front of her and the mysterious man took a seat directly across from her.
She grew red once more and bowed her head deeply "A-Arigato!" He simply waved off her thanks and took a sip of his coffee, staring out the window towards the street with one of his legs resting lazy on the other.
They drank slowly in silence, enjoying their drinks in the quiet that enveloped them
'Amazing…' Hinata thought to herself. 'It's almost as good as obaa-chans''
Gaaras' pale turquoise eyes flickered over to her for a second, watching her place the cup to her soft pale lips and taking gentle sips, her faded violet eyes becoming brighter with every sip.
"It's a good thing you can drink it, at least" He interrupted her, causing her to become confused, looking at him "Seeing as you can't say it." Their eyes locked and he gave her the slightest of smirks, making her face redden more so than she thought was possible.
"N-ne, w-what relation d-do y-you have to Obaa-chan?" She asked out of the blue, making the boys eyebrows shoot up, only to be quickly lowered once more as he caught his composure. He brought his mug to his lips slowly
"I'm… her youngest grandchild." He stated, taking a sip from his coffee, Hinata's eyes widening from this piece of information as she stood up quickly
"Y-you're T-Tanuki-kun?" she said in the loudest voice a shy girl like her could muster, causing Gaara to spit his beverage over the table, his face a bright red from the nickname his grandmother had given him when he was five years old
"G-Gaara! My name is Gaara!" He corrected with an embarrassed tremor in his voice.
He cleared his throat as Hinata realised what she had said and turned her head away from him, walking to the bathroom quickly
"I-I'll get some tissues!" She said hurriedly, leaving the man in silence.
She came back soon after, cleaning the table quickly, averting the gaze of the red-head she had just embarrassed herself in front of.
"Arigato… Ah." He said to himself. "How rude of me. What is your name?" he asked, looking at her with an emotionless face.
"H-Hyuuga Hinata…" she stuttered, playing with her fingers once more.
"Tell me, Hinata, were you close to my Obaa-chan?" he looked at her with a serious expression which made her breath catch in her throat. She just nodded briskly and coughed "Are you… the one she called… 'A Raven Beauty'?"
Hinata smiled to herself and nodded slightly "Obaa-chan w-was always t-too nice to m-me…" she looked at him and cocked her head to the side "H-how do you know?" she asked quietly, taking a sip from her drink
"She's sent me letters for the past 3 years saying how there's a 'Raven Beauty' that visits her shop frequently," She smiled at this, knowing that obaa-chan thought highly of her "Saying how I should marry her" He finished.
Hinata choked on her drink and dribbled it slightly, receiving an odd look from Gaara.
"H-how d-did you know it w-was me?" She asked incredulously, wiping the coffee that dribbled down her chin.
"You knew my nickname." He stated plainly, looking back to the window. She looked down and nodded slightly. That was pretty obvious, when she thought about it. "And-" her thoughts were interrupted
"You fit the description." She blushed and looked at him, her cheeks a dark crimson. That was the closest she had got to a man calling her beautiful. Well, a man who was not related by blood.
She looked at his thin face stare lazily off into space, his pale eyes seemingly glowing in the light of the morning sun through the glass window.
"So, Hinata." He said, shocking her once more from her stupor, "I have a favour to ask."
She raised her eyebrows at this and her lips parted slightly "H-hai?"
"For both my obaa-chan and I, and for the good of this shop, I would like to ask for your assistance." She continued to stare at him, his vague request not helping her understand what he actually wanted "Could you please, help me run this shop?" he leaned forward on the table and looked at her with a slightly softened face, his eyes slicing through her defences.
"H-Hai!"