AN: Ah, I'm so surprised I updated! But I did! It's a miracle! Six chapters in, and my motivation to work on this story is running at max, I love it. And I hope you do too-I don't know how long this will last.
Now as for pairings (since some have approached me asking about them), I'm trying to make it as ambiguous as possible for every character except for NozoEli (so basically it's like Nozomi and Eli are watching after their seven kids). Main reason for this is because I'm not sure which pairings will become my 'endgame,' and I don't want it to be forced either. So in the end, it's really dependent on how all this plays out because most of this story isn't planned; I only have a vague idea of what I want to do in order to progress the plot, and the rest just fall into place. It's just how I write things. However, since FF doesn't tag multiple relationships like AO3 does, if you look over on there, you can see that I have tagged this story as NozoEli and HonoKotoUmi. So you can say that the pairing + love triad is what's canonically going on, but the latter relationship hasn't been explicitly said (unless you count that one scene in the second chapter).
Aside from that, I do hope you enjoy. I'm having an amazing time writing this story, and because of that, my Negitoro is on a bit of a hiatus (but I'm still working on it though!). I'm far too attached to my cafe babies. For any other questions regarding the story, feel free to leave a review or drop a PM saying so.
Ciao. c:
When Rin took her first step out the cafe, she stopped in her place and stretched her arms towards the sky. In between the gaps of her fingers, she saw the patchwork of clouds that were sown on the blanket of blue, languidly moving without a care in the world with the light breeze. She took a deep breath then exhaled; she could almost taste the scent of coffee in the back of her throat.
Today was a good day.
She relaxed herself and turned to Hanayo, was still too busy staring at the form in her hands. Behind her glasses, Rin could see Hanayo's eyes wide with awe. The orange-haired snickered to herself.
"Still can't get over it, Kayochin?" Rin said as she leaned over and rested her head on Hanayo's shoulder. She could see the piece of paper trembling in her friend's hands, and Rin thought that at any given moment, Hanayo was going to rip her schedule to shreds.
"I...I can't believe that we got in," Hanayo muttered.
"I thought you were going to burst into tears for a meowment in there!" Rin laughed and separated herself from Hanayo to flash a grin her friend's way, only to let out an exclamation of surprise when she saw the bespectacled girl staring at her with tears spilling freely like waterfalls.
"I-I'm so," Hanayo hiccuped and sniffed, "so h-happy, Rin-chan!" More tears began rolling down her cheeks in an almost-comical fashion, and Rin was torn on joining her friend in crying or laughing.
Perhaps a mixture of both would do the trick.
So Rin gathered her friend into her arms and squeezed as hard as she could, not caring if Hanayo's schedule was more ruinous than it should be. The orange-haired girl buried her nose in Hanayo's hair and inhaled, the warm scent reminding her of freshly cooked rice. Rin broke into a face-splitting grin as she took another breath, which compelled a singular tear to fall from her eyes.
Seeing other people cry was always a weakness of hers.
After a moment of half-restrained wails and constant sniffles, both girls separated with their faces flushed and eyes puffy. They laughed at each other's appearance and wiped their tears away before shuffling off.
"Are you excited, Kayochin?" Rin asked as she sniffled.
A nervous laugh came from her friend. "For work. Not about telling my parents."
Rin stopped and after a couple of paces, so did Hanayo. The orange-haired girl stared at the brunette with an expression that was a cross between confusion and worry.
"You still haven't told them?" Rin asked. She couldn't believe it—how could Hanayo have the audacity to apply for a job, especially when her parents were incredibly strict?
The brunette blanched and looked uneasily to the side. "I didn't know how to bring it up."
"But shouldn't they nyow that you're doing this?"
"Yes, but," Hanayo's shoulders sank, "I knew that they would probably say no."
Rin approached her slowly. "So why—" She stopped herself when she saw Hanayo's violet eyes drift down to the cracked pavement, shining dully in the bright sun. The orange-haired girl said nothing as she quietly made her way over to her friend and grabbed Hanayo's hand. Rin gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze, and she felt a light pressure squeeze back.
"You really want to do this," she said, stating the very obvious. Rin studied Hanayo's eyes beyond the red frames they hid behind; she read worry, fear, a hint of sadness, but what surprised her the most was an almost-imperceptible shine that looked like determination.
It took a moment for the brunette to speak. "I do," she muttered softly.
"Then if that's the case," Rin gave a half-smile, "if your parents can understand that, then I'm sure they'll let you go."
Hanayo looked up and the orange-haired girl stared steadily as her friend's searched her own for something, perhaps a reassurance to hold onto.
"You really think so?" The brunette asked.
"I do," Rin said.
Then, like a crack, the determination in her eyes ripped open her mask of insecurity and shone brightly, her spirits as bright as the sun above. Rin's smile grew at the sight.
"You'll be there to support me, won't you, Rin-chan?" Hanayo's face broke into a grin, and Rin found herself returning every ounce of fervor the brunette felt.
"Of course! After all, if you want it with all your heart, then who's going to stop you?"
The both of them shared laughter, but in the midst of her grin Rin felt something nibbling at her chest that made it falter just a bit.
-X-
Maki sighed.
Today was a bad day.
It had been days—she didn't know the exact amount, perhaps a week?—and she was still stuck on the same piece. At this point, she felt no frustration; just discouragement and disappointment in herself. She still couldn't find what was wrong with the piece, despite the fact that she played every rhythm on beat and every pitch-
Maki took a breath and collected her nerves.
Okay, maybe she felt just a little frustration.
She sighed again and folded her arms atop the lid, then rested her cheek on them. Glumly, she stared at the beige wall covered with posters: they depicted basic rhythm notation, strokes for percussionists, labeled parts of instruments, choices for fine arts universities. They popped out in vibrant colors and words, but none of them captured her bored eye as she drifted from one to the other.
It was strange; all those fliers were professionally made, yet didn't resonate the same way that Muse poster did.
Maki shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She needed to focus on the task at hand. Wriggling a hand free from under her head, she reached out for her phone that had been resting beside the keyboard for the past two hours and a half as she "practiced." She unlocked it and pressed play on the music player that showed up.
Blue Rondo a la Turk began to play.
Instinctively, her foot tapped to the beat, her fingers making the tiniest of ministrations as her muscle memory took over. She closed her eyes and allowed the piece to paint a picture in her head as every pitch and rhythm passed.
Comparing herself to the actual piece, Maki began to wonder if the thing she was lacking was similar to what the music propaganda that hung lamely on the walls didn't have.
The song came to an end, and Maki took her time with opening her eyes. She sighed, quite possibly for the umpteenth time before her phone vibrated, which caused her to jump in her seat. She frowned, wondering who would have texted her. She took a glance at her screen and frowned at the contact name.
Nozomi.
Have you decided yet?
Maki rolled her eyes and began typing her response. She didn't know why she had exchanged numbers with the woman the second time she went to Muse; maybe it was because of the tarot reading Nozomi had given her beforehand.
No.
The woman's response was prompt.
Why not?
Because
Maki hesitated, her thumbs hovering over her keyboard as she tried to piece her thoughts together.
Because it's none of your business.
Of course it's my business, I'm the assistant manager.
The redhead rolled her eyes as another red smear made itself home on her cheeks.
Another text from Nozomi compelled Maki to stop typing in the middle of her reply.
You know, you could always say no to the job offer.
For some reason, a very cold wave chilled her, biting into her skin, seeping beneath her bones, and held onto her core with icy talons. It took her a moment to force her frozen thumbs to move again.
I know.
Why are you hesitating? You said you would get back to me after a day or so, and if I know how to read my calendar, it's been more than that.
Maki was beginning to feel a scowl dig itself into her face.
So?
So come by to give your response.
Can't I just do it over text?
No.
Why not?
Unlike her other replies, Nozomi took more time in this one.
You'll see.
Wait, what do you mean?
But Nozomi simply read her message and sent no reply. As Maki locked her phone, she sighed once more, then gathered her belongings.
That woman always left more questions than answers.
-X-
Honoka stared morosely at the register before her.
Today was a confusing day.
During school, she had been fluctuating between her moods as if someone had her tied on a string and swung her like a pendulum, forever swaying between elation and melancholy. Her classes had gone by well, exceedingly well: she had barely passed her latest quiz, and the teacher that she swore hated her since the moment she walked into the class was absent for the period. But when she was her friends, Honoka would feel her mood drop and her Inner Dog would flatten her ears against her head as she nibbled guiltily on her bread.
Honoka sighed.
"Someone's feeling a little down today," said a voice behind her, soon followed by the clanging of metal on metal. The orange-haired girl turned around and smiled when she saw who it was.
"Eli-chan," she greeted.
The blonde, whose arms were full of pots and pans, gave an awkward upturn of her lips. Honoka noticed that her eyes had a dull luster to them, unlike the muddy blue when Honoka first met her. The realization made the orange-haired girl's smile grow a little; Eli really was a pretty woman, and even more so when she allowed her emotions to show just a bit.
"What's up, kid?" Eli asked as waddled to the cupboards hidden under the counter near the girl. She opened one of them with her foot, then crouched down.
"Mm," Honoka gave another sigh, "nothing much, I guess."
"You don't sound too sure about that."
The younger of the two laughed. "I really don't, huh?"
"So," Eli paused from her activities to look up at Honoka, "what's up?"
The orange-haired girl interlaced her fingers together in front of her, thumbs fiddling against one another like the battle waging inside her chest. "Well, uh…."
"There."
Honoka blinked and furrowed her eyebrows together as she looked at Eli. "There what?"
"That's the problem," the blonde said as she placed the last pan in the cupboard, "You're not addressing it directly."
Honoka tilted her head to the side. "What's 'it?'"
"The problem." The silence from the orange-haired girl prompted Eli to continue, "You're not admitting to yourself what's wrong, and because of that, you want to avoid it as much as possible and nothing will get fixed."
A chill crept up Honoka's spine when she realized that Eli's statement hit home. However, she still kept silent and stubbornly mute.
"We keep things to ourselves because we don't want to be vulnerable and get hurt, so we bottle it up. But we always end up hurting ourselves anyways because keeping it inside does more harm than good." A very soft chuckle came from the blonde, and Honoka found herself warming up at the sound. "It's always easier said than done, though."
The girl gave a chuckle of her own. "I bet."
"Then I'll ask you again." Eli got up and closed cupboard door with her foot, but her blue eyes never left Honoka's. "What's up?"
The orange-haired girl took a moment for a breath, then slowly exhaled out her mouth. As she did, she could feel the tension in her chest leaving her; she felt much more relaxed, she realized.
"It's about Kotori-chan and Umi-chan," she muttered quietly.
"What about them?"
"I…" Honoka's eyes broke away from Eli's, "I feel like I've forced them into taking this job."
"What makes you say that?"
The orange-haired girl could feel a knot tying itself up in her throat, and she cleared it. "Because Kotori-chan quit her internship at this very prestigious fashion company, despite the fact she wants to go to fashion school, perhaps even one abroad, and even though Umi-chan said she doesn't have archery at the moment, I know that eventually she's going to choose between the cafe and the team, and I hate knowing that I've put not only her but Kotori-chan in that spot and—"
A gentle hand on her arm forced Honoka to stop abruptly. She didn't know when she started to cry, but she didn't care; everything she kept inside of her, the bottle of emotions that had been shaken time and time again finally decided to burst, and a fountain of tears began to spill. She feebly wiped her face, but she decided to give up when the tears became too much for her to clean.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Honoka," Eli assured softly, rubbing her thumb in a to and fro motion. Honoka found solace in the ministration, and began to calm every so slowly.
"B-but—"
"They did it of their own accord. I'm sure they told you that, haven't they?"
"Y-yeah, but—"
"Then they chose to do it, Honoka. It's not your fault; it never was."
Then the emotions bubbled up again. They frothed to the surface and bursted at the seams, and Honoka tackled the blonde into a tight hug. Eli let out a surprised exclamation but recovered quickly enough to reciprocate Honoka's embrace. Wails filled the air as the orange-haired girl sobbed with no boundaries, Eli rubbing her back and allowing her apron to get soaked with tears.
Even if the blonde couldn't see it, Honoka grinned all the while as she cried.
She never knew how liberating it felt to let everything go.
-X-
Nico wanted to slam her head against the counter.
Today was a frustrating day.
First, she had to prepare breakfast for the brats that morning, which wouldn't have been that bad if it hadn't been for the god-forsaken microwave that decided to break down, resulting in her scrounging up scraps in order to cook something for the kids. Then, she had to scramble for her belongings for college, and as much as she loved her siblings, they had decided to hang around her room, promptly messing up whatever papers she had prepared the previous night (they had apologized and quickly gathered up the reports, much to Nico's pleasure). And finally, after being in class for two hours and almost setting her culinary textbook on fire, Nico managed to get to work on time and expected to be alone for the four or so hours she had working the night shift.
But the deity of luck wasn't on her side today, and sent people to enter the cafe.
At any other circumstance, Nico would have been delighted, exuberant even, to have people come in, especially when the customer count broke into the late-twenties for the first time in a long while. But since she was the only one during her shift, Nico was tasked with cooking, cleaning, and manning the register.
By the end of it all, she wondered how she survived such an ordeal.
Now the sun was beginning to set, and it was at the angle that Nico hated the it most. Its rays, still bright enough to blind her even if she took a mere glance, shone through the windows and coated the counter with its orange light.
Nico sighed, then walked around the counter to take a seat on one of the many tall chairs lining the counter. She promptly slumped over, her head hitting the wood with a faint thud.
Sighing once again, she closed her eyes and felt the stress of the day convert into fatigue. It weighed heavily on her, and Nico was certain she would have fallen asleep if it weren't for the soft ringing of the bell that jolted her awake.
Squinting her eyes against the light, she saw a familiar redhead wearing an unsure frown.
"Hey, princess," Nico called out, "even if you're rich, you still have to respect the sign. We're closed."
At this, Maki's frown deepened into a scowl. "Don't call me princess," she bit. Nico found herself being amused and allowed a small smile to cross her face.
"Sorry," she said.
"It's fine," Maki began, her face relaxing to a subtle smirk, "I would feel bad for picking on a gremlin anyways."
Nico felt herself flush and she jumped down to her feet, wearing a disgruntled expression. That tit-monster was beginning to influence this kid too much. "Why, I oughta—"
"Where's Nozomi?" The redhead asked as any indication of emotion fled from her face.
The black-haired woman stopped then shrugged, but her face was still hardened with annoyance. "Dunno. I don't think she had a shift today."
Maki's eyebrows knitted together. "She told me to stop by so that I can talk to her about the job."
"A job here?"
"Where else?"
"Watch your attitude, princess."
Maki said nothing, but Nico was able to read how much the redhead wanted to call her a gremlin again. It was enough to send her into another irate frenzy if the girl didn't approach her with a folded piece of paper in hand.
"The application," Maki clarified, holding it out in front of Nico. The black-haired woman could see the imprint of a scribbled signature through the paper.
"You're joining?"
The redhead gave a one-shoulder shrug. "Might as well, if Nozomi's going to keep bothering me about it."
Nico felt herself being rubbed the wrong way with Maki's tone. She looked up, boring her red eyes dead-on into purple ones. Under the heavy weight of the woman's gaze, the girl shifted her eyes to the lower-left uneasily before looking straight ahead. Nico never broke away.
"This job means a lot to many people," Nico declared, images of young Eli and Nozomi grinning, a crying Honoka, a star-eyed Hanayo, a laughing Rin, the timid smiles of Kotori and Umi, and even her siblings flashed across her mind's eye.
Maki look at her with a mix of confusion and annoyance "And?"
"And so when you apply over here, that means you're serious."
The redhead said nothing.
"Are you serious about this?"
Nothing.
"Are you going to be putting your all?"
Still nothing.
"Are you going to be committed?"
Absolute silence.
"Will you put your heart in this, like the others?"
At that, Maki's eyes widened as if she had an epiphany and she stuffed the application in the breast pocket of Nico's apron. With a sudden burst of energy, the redhead ran to the door.
"W-wait, where the hell are you…." Nico's words trailed off as the bell sang its goodbye to Maki, who was now sprinting down the sidewalk. The woman scratched her head. "The hell is she going?" She mumbled to herself as she took out the paper in her pocket and unfolded it. She skimmed over it, only checking to see if the necessities were filled.
When Nico reached the bottom of the page, she noticed something scrawled on the bottom, on the "Other comments/questions/concerns?" portion of the application.
"'I'll be your pianist?'" She read aloud, unable to comprehend the meaning of such a simple sentence. After staring at it for several more seconds, she decided that she wouldn't find the answer on her own, and slipped it back into her pocket as she made a mental note to ask Nozomi about the whole thing.
Nico looked out at the glass window. The sun had sank below the roofs that built the horizon, the remaining light painting a beautiful landscape of an orange desert with indigo dunes.
She took a breath, taking in the very familiar, but very comforting scent of coffee,
She was going to be training a bunch of brats soon,
"Well," she turned around, taking in the sight of the empty cafe, "might as well enjoy it while it lasts."
She smiled to herself.
"This place isn't going to be quiet for a long time."
-X-
Rin-chan.
Kayochin?
I told my parents.
HOWD IT GO
It went...well, for the most part.
...What do you mean?
They were upset and were about to go off, but I told them that this was what I really wanted to do and they mostly agreed about it.
See! I told you it would work. :)
Yeah, I guess you're right….
You don't sound so sure, Kayochin :(
You kind of got me there, ha ha.
What's wrong?
I was just...second-guessing if joining Muse was the right choice.
Isn't it your dream to work there though?
Well yeah but….
So what's making you have cold feet?
I'm just wondering if I'm fit for the job, is all….
Did your parents say that?
My dad.
Hey, Kayochin, it doesn't matter what other people say. If you want to do it, then do it! Isn't that what I always tell you?
Yeah, I guess you're right :)
Nyaha! Of course I am!
Okay, goodnight, Rin-chan.
Okay! See you tomorrow, Kayochin! :)
Hanayo locked her phone and rested it on her chest. She sighed, staring into the darkness of her room, and as she exhaled she felt a small, content smile cross her face.
Today was a satisfying day.