Chapter Three

Naya stepped off the train after about 30 minutes. She didn't dare go any further cause she knew she'd never get back to the dorm. She slowly walked around the station as she tried to find her way out. She turned down a nearby hallway and caught sight of a tiny stairway. Heading straight for it, she glanced at the sign above that read 'Kanda Station' and made a mental note to remember that. She went up the three stairs and saw another set of stairs that led outside. She stood at the top of the stairs and gazed at the street around her. She tried to note anything that she could use as a landmark to find her way back. She was surprised at how easy it was to get out of the station, shuddering as she remembered Shibuya Station and if it hadn't been for Mina and Seriina, she probably would've never gotten out of there. After several minutes, she took another deep breath and stepped down the street. She went about three blocks because she didn't want to go too far from the station entrance and turned down a little side street. She raised her eyebrows at how narrow the street was, but slowly walked through it eyeing the shops that it contained. Several had lanterns dangling from overhangs above the doors, some had wooden doors and windows that had checker board windows, and others had nothing but a door and a small window. Sometimes she could make out the names of the shops but others she couldn't read it because her knowledge of kanji wasn't quite that advanced.

Turning down another, even smaller side street, she came out onto another street and made her way down toward what she hoped was the main road back to the station entrance. There were quite a few people walking along the shops on this street so she tried to avoid running into people. She suddenly stopped and looked around her. A few doors in front of her, she made out a sign that she was actually able to read. It said 'The Grind' and knowing there had to be coffee there, she made her way to it and opened the wooden door. Stepping inside, she was shocked at how big the place was given that on the outside, it looked like it could barely fit twenty people in it. There were two rows of square tables and chairs that ran down the middle of the room. On the right side booths with cloth covered cushions ran along the wall. On the opposite side there was a long shelf that ran the length of the wall with numerous stools that were pushed underneath. In front of the window were three small tables with a cushioned bench along the wall beneath the windows and three chairs that faced the window. She nodded in approval and made her way to the counter toward the back. It too had stools along the length of it for anyone who preferred sitting at the counter. There was a large cooler next to it that was filled with pieces of cake, brownies, cheesecake, date squares and a few other delicacies.

Seriina would die if she saw this. Naya thought to herself as she smirked.

'Welcome' she heard a deep voice say.

She turned and saw a rather handsome guy standing behind the counter. He was about 30ish with short black hair and had a smile that would definitely make a person feel welcome.

'What can I get for you?' he asked pleasantly.

'This might sound weird,' she began shyly. 'but do you by chance have flavored coffee?'

'Sure do,' he answered cheerfully. 'The flavor today is hazelnut cream'

Naya nearly jumped for joy.

'Large, please.' she said happily. 'The largest you have.'

The man nodded and grabbed a very large glass mug off the shelf behind him. Naya's eyes widened when she saw just how big a large was. Finishing that should keep her caffeine level good for at least a few days. The man turned back to the counter and placed the steaming mug on the counter.

'That will be 250 yen.' he said, grinning again.

Naya fished out her wallet and paid him.

'Cream and sugar is on the other side of the cooler.'

She nodded, grabbed her coffee and went to get some sugar. She sat down at a booth at the very back of the cafe and sipped her coffee. Right beside her table was a couch, two chairs and a coffee table. She nodded again in approval and looked at her surroundings. There were various pictures covering the wall. Some were outside still scenes, prints perhaps of paintings and a few were whimsical cariatures of she had no idea what. The booths had small lamps near the wall on the tables, and the fixtures hanging above the other tables were rather elegant flower patterns. The roof also had bar lights that probably made the room really bright when it got dark. This was definitely a comfortable place and the coffee was to die for. She decided then and there she would make another trip.

'New here, huh?' the proprietor asked, curiously as he began wiping the tables with a damp cloth.

'Yep,' Naya replied sheepishly. 'Though I'm not exactly sure where 'here' is.'

'Well,' he answered, moving to another table. 'you're in Chiyoda ward.'

Naya shook her head as she had no idea what that meant, let alone where it was.

'Let me guess,' he said laughing. 'you're a student and this is your first time venturing out beyond the campus.'

'How did you know?' she asked, amazed.

'Cause I was you several years ago.' he commented, grinning. 'I'm from Kobe and I chose to come here for university cause I really wanted to get out of my hometown. You'd think growing up in another large japanese city that Tokyo would be nothing to me, but Tokyo is in a class for itself. Nothing prepares you for this city.'

'I'll say,' Naya agreed, amused. 'I thought Denver was a big city, but when I was flying over as the plane was landing, I nearly died at how big Tokyo was. I was tempted to write my aunt a letter telling her that if she never hears from me again, its because I got lost and any search party she sends was likely to be lost as well.'

He burst out laughing as he headed back behind the counter. Naya finished her coffee and decided it was time to go back to the dorm. She took the mug up to the counter and thanked her host for the nice conversation and the delicious coffee.

'I hope to see you again.' he said, smiling as she headed toward the door. 'I also hope you don't get lost on your way back.'

'I most certainly will,' she answered, smiling back. 'and pray for me!'

She stepped out into the street that was even more crowded than before and made her way back to the station entrance two blocks away.

'Konnichiwa, Matsuda-san.' Naya called as she walked through the door of the Grind. She headed toward the back of the shop, dumped her backpack on a table at the back corner which had become her favorite place to sit.

'Hey!' Matsuda answered, as he turned and grabbed one of the large mugs off the shelf.

After filling it with flavored coffee, he placed it on the counter in front of her. She paid him and sauntered over to the shelf beside the cooler. It seemed funny to her that after only two weeks of coming here almost every day, she didn't have to order anymore. He already knew.

'I think I need to find another coffee place already,' she said jokingly as she stirred the sugar into her coffee.

'Why's that?' Matsuda asked curiously.

'You know me too well already.' she answered as she headed to her table.

'Well any good host would know what their regular customers want before they even ask,' he answered, grinning.

'So I'm a regular now?' Naya asked as she sat down.

'Yep,' he replied, smirking. 'If I didn't close, none of you regulars would leave.'

Naya laughed as she unzipped her backpack and pulled out her binder and some notebooks. She fished out her discman and flipped through her cd case for something to listen to while she studied. After settling on Vivaldi, she popped the cd into the player and hit play. She opened her binder, grabbed the notebook that corresponded to her biology class and began copying the day's notes.

An hour later and finishing her anthropology notes, Naya decided to stop procrastinating on her math homework. How she hated math! She'd always done well in the torturous subject but that didn't stop her from loathing it. She was rifling through her backpack for her math assignment and textbook when she heard a voice that was loud enough to hear through her headphones.

'Who the hell pissed off the wind gods?'

Naya frowned as she looked up and saw a guy she'd seen here a few times before. He was rather tall, she guessed about 5'9", slim with short-ish black hair that was spiked in the back. He was wearing his glasses but she'd seen him without them before. He had brown eyes, high cheekbones and a wide grin. He wasn't actually bad looking if one considered such things. He took off his jacket and tossed it onto the bench of one of the window tables. He was wearing a black shirt that had a tiger on the front that appeared to be roaring, and black jeans. She watched as he went to the counter and started talking to Matsuda.

'Man,' she thought to herself. 'Tiger boy is a big thundering twit.' Shaking her head, she pulled a pad of paper from her backpack and opened her textbook.

When she was finally caught up on her homework, she stood up and stretched. Glancing at her watch, she was shocked to find it was 8:30 pm. Quickly shoving her books into her backpack, she slung it over her shoulder, took her coffee cup up to the counter and ran out of the shop. Racing down the street, she turned into the station entrance and all but jumped down the flight of stairs. By the time she got to the platform, she could barely breathe. She sat down on a nearby bench to catch her breath and glanced around her. She saw Tiger boy standing on the other side of the platform looking down the tracks opposite to where she was sitting. He turned his head and catching her eye, gave her a slight smile and quick nod. She did the same as the announcement for the arrival of her train came over the station intercom. A few seconds later, the train pulled up and came to a stop. She stood and walked over to the door nearest to her. After waiting for people to get off, she went in and sat down by a window. Peeking out the window, she saw him getting on his own train, which was going in the opposite direction.