Track 06

The cafe Hikari had started working at just a few weeks after the girls had moved to the city was a pretty quiet one. It was one of the lesser known cafes in the city, and if she were honest, that was just the way she liked it. The peace and quiet gave her plenty of time to think to herself and even work on her songs when she could. This day happened to be one of those quiet days, so the snow leopard sat up at the bar of the cafe scribbling in her notebook while she waited for customers to arrive.

When she heard the sound of the bell chiming as the door opened, she quickly stood and turned to greet the customer with a smile. At least, however, until she saw who the customer was. As usual, Rom of Shingancrimsonz was there for his morning coffee on his way to work. It was bad enough that she had to see him all the time at the studio, but to see him at her job, too?

Though… he was the one who took her to the cafe to get the job, but that wasn't the point! "If I had known you would be in here every single morning, I probably wouldn't have applied for this job."

"Good morning to you, too," he responded, a grumpy tone in his voice. What was her problem with him? Was this only because he was a little hard on her and Kamiko for covering their songs? And even after he was nice enough to help her get this job? And help her get her new drum set? Though… that part she knew nothing about. He sighed, deciding not to push the subject. "Could I get my usual, please?"

"Right…" She got to work on his coffee, while he took a seat at the bar. Did he come in every morning before she worked there too? Or was this something he started doing after he told her about the job?

She glanced back at him, noticing his stressed expression. Maybe he had a lot going on at work… It probably wasn't exactly fair of her to be so cold to him after he did help her get the job, and even allowed her to vent to him about Kamiko just a few days before.

Deciding to be nice, she sat a freshly baked muffin next to his coffee. "You should probably eat something before you go. This is on me today," she told him. She immediately felt embarrassed afterward, and followed up with, "But… don't expect this all the time, or anything… We just made too many today, that's all."

Smiling at her sudden act of kindness, Rom took his drink and pastry from the bar counter and stood, ready to leave for work. "See, you do know how to be nice!" he commented before taking a bite of the muffin and turning to leave. As he did, he noticed that Kamiko must have arrived just moments before. "Ah, hey Kamiko," he said to her while walking past her to leave, his mouth still full.

The lioness had a huge grin on her face as she looked back and forth between the two leopards. When Rom was out the door, she sprinted up to the counter Hikari was working behind, earning a groan from her best friend. "You didn't tell me Rommie visits you at work, Hiki~"

Hikari shook her head and leaned forward against the counter. "I know, right? He comes in every single morning… It's super annoying!"

"Oh, pleeease! I saw you give him that free muffin!" Kamiko teased.

"I only did that so he would leave," she said passively as she turned away from Kamiko so she could pretend to get back to work. She grabbed a towel and started wiping the back counter where she had just made Rom's coffee.

"Or maybe because you like himmm~" the lioness responded with a giggle. Wouldn't it just be perfect if she could get her best friend to open up a little and finally get a boyfriend?

Growling, Hikari continued to scrub the same spot on the counter. "Why can't you just drop it?" she said through her teeth.

"Why can't you admit that I'm right? You always get so cute and blushy whenever he's around! Or even just at the mention of his name!" Kamiko wagged a finger at the snow leopard. "You're just upset that you're the one who is easy to read this time!"

Hikari spun around, glaring at her friend, her face as red as a rose. "Listen, if I give you a free muffin, too, will you just go home?" Without waiting for her answer, she slammed one down on the counter in front of her.

The lioness squealed. "Aww, Hiki! You shouldn't have~" Finally she got up from her seat and looked to Hikari with a little more of a serious look on her face. "I hope you know I'm only teasing you. But if I'm right, you have my support! I'll see you at home!" And with that she skipped out the door.

Hikari crossed her arms and rested her back against the counter with a sigh. Just because she looked up to this guy (not that she would ever tell him that), did that really mean she liked him that way? She closed her eyes and thought to herself for a moment…

Of course not! This was just the way Kamiko always saw things. She shook her head and smiled. Someone like her didn't have time for relationships, anyway!

Later that night, Hikari sat at the bar in Angelica's working on her song when Crow entered the cafe.

"Whatcha got there?" he asked, sitting in his usual spot.

Quickly, Hikari shut her notebook. "Ah, just a song I'm working on! But I was just about to take a break!" she told him with an embarrassed laugh. She certainly didn't want him to know how much she was struggling with her own song. Sure, he could help her the way she did for him, but it wasn't the same.

Of course, the most embarrassing part was the fact that she kept getting distracted. While Kamiko's teasing had been getting on her nerves, deep down she wondered to herself if there was some truth to it. Did she actually like Rom? She really had no way to judge it. Hikari had avoided having crushes and relationships her whole life and didn't even know what it felt like.

Breaking her from her thoughts, she heard Crow pipe up. "Taking a break? It looked like there was barely anything written on that page…" He placed his hands on his hips and eyed her suspiciously. "Tell you what… You helped me with my song the other day, so why don't you let me repay you by helping you out?"

Hikari shook her head, offering a smile his way. "No, that's okay. I'd really like this first song to be one that I complete on my own, you know?"

The hedgehog shrugged as Angelica brought him his milk and a plate of curry. "Whatever you say. I'm sure it will come out fine either way. Besides, everyone is taking a week off to go home, soon, so that should give you plenty of time to work on it."

That's right! She forgot that was coming up so soon. If she really wanted to, she could lock herself up in her room at Kamiko's mansion for the whole week to work on the song and not be bothered by a soul… including Rom. A whole week without distractions… that's what she really needed.

"You're right!" she said, grabbing her things and jumping down from the barstool. "I'll set my goal to finish this by the end of next week! Then once everyone gets back, Monochrome Blush can finally debut our first original song!"