University life was alright, for the most part.

After all, he had gotten into the university for practically free, thanks to a scholarship he'd won, as well as made a couple of friends in the short span of time he'd been there—one of which was his dormmate, and the other, of course, being Kaede, whom he met about a month in.

And then there was the bumps, like having to adjust to his new life as an official adult. Or, rather, the unpredictability of it. A good example of this was just the day before, when that guy—Kaito, was it?—came into the cafe and bought Shuichi a coffee. ...For some unknown reason.

Speaking of which...

"Do you think that guy's coming back today?"

Shuichi glanced up from the napkin dispenser he'd been fiddling with and over at Kaede, who was staring out the cafe window. "Huh?"

"You know," Kaede clarified, "the guy who bought you that coffee yesterday. The guy you claimed wasn't your boyfriend?"

"He's not," Shuichi replied. "And he said he was, but... I don't know. I still think it's some sort of prank."

"Aw, come on, Shu." Kaede went over and snake an arm around his shoulder. "You have to have more faith in people than that. See? Here he comes now."

"What?" Shuichi looked out the window as well and, sure enough, the violet-haired man was striding up to the cafe. Kaito opened the door a few seconds later, the chime of the bell accompanying his entrance.

"Hey, Shuichi!" Kaito greeted as he strolled up to the counter. "What's up, man?"

"Uh, hi," Shuichi said simply, waving slightly, "I'm doing fine."

"Hi!" Kaede jumped in, waving at Kaito as well. "Welcome to our humble cafe!"

Kaito turned to her, suddenly noticing she was there. He scratched his head and gave her a quizzical look. "Uh... Who are you? I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but I don't remember seeing you here yesterday."

"Oh, right." Kaede took a step back, extending her hand out. "I'm Kaede—an employee of this cafe, and Shuichi's close friend."

"Oh, really?" Kaito's gaze briefly flickered over to Shuichi. A broad grin then stretched across his face as he took Kaede's hand and shook it. "In that case, I'm—"

"Kaito," she finished for him, much to his confusion. "I know. I accidentally eavesdropped on you and Shuichi yesterday." Kaede shot him a sheepish smile. "My bad."

Kaito blinked. "Oh. Well, it's nice to meet ya, Kaede."

"Yep, same here."

Shuichi observed this interaction with nothing than a hum—at least, until he remembered the reason Kaito had probably came in here in the first place. "Ah, um... Are you ready to order?"

Kaito turned to him. "Right. Yeah." His gaze shifted up towards the menu for a minute, then came back down to Shuichi. "I'll try a muffin this time. One chocolate chip, and the other, uh... What kind of muffins do you like, Shuichi?"

"Well, uh..." Believe it or not, Shuichi didn't really have any strong preferences on, well, most foods in general. He couldn't say exactly why that was, it was just normal for him. "I wouldn't say I have a favorite, but I don't mind banana nut muffins, I guess."

Kaito nodded. "One chocolate-chip and one banana nut muffin, then!"

Shuichi nodded back and opened his mouth to ask for his name, but stopped himself when he realized it was pretty much redundant at this point. So, instead, he told Kaito his total, put the money in the register, and told him that he'd have his order ready soon.

When he turned around to get retrieve the muffins, out the corner of his eye, he could see that Kaede had started talking to Kaito again. However, Shuichi was more focused on completing the order, so it was nothing more than inaudible chattering to him.

When he turned back around, he held a logo-printed bag with two muffins inside—one chocolate chip, and the other banana nut.

"Your order is ready," Shuichi called.

"Thanks." Kaito took the bag, pulling one of the muffins out to inspect it. Realizing it was the banana nut one, he held it out to Shuichi.

"Uh... Thanks." Shuichi wasn't sure if he could get used to someone buying food and drinks for him. Still, he mustered a polite smile he took the baked good. He gave Kaito a short nod, expecting the other man to turn and head out the restaurant.

Much to Shuichi's confusion, however, Kaito took a seat at the counter, on the stool closest to him.

"Ah, wait, you're staying here and eating?" Shuichi blurted, before realizing what he'd said and covered his mouth with his hands. "A-Ah, wait! No, I meant..."

Kaito, surprisingly, just chuckled at Shuichi's question. "Why wouldn't I? I have more time to eat today, since I got here earlier."

"O-Oh." Now that he thought about it, Shuichi realized that Kaito had, in fact, arrived at the cafe later yesterday than he had today.

"Plus," Kaito added, "like I said yesterday, we'll be seeing a lot of each other, so I wanna get to know you better."

"Ah..." Well, Shuichi had no excuse not to; it wasn't like people were rushing to eat here at the moment. And even if a customer were to pop in, more likely than not, Kaede would attend to them. "...Sure?"

Shuichi looked over at Kaede, who dismissively waved at him. "Go ahead," she said, "I can handle things for now."

Shuichi slowly turned back to Kaito. "Er... What do you want to know?"

Kaito gestured for him to sit down first. Shuichi turned and spotted a stack of extra stools tucked away in the corner. He retrieved the first one on top top and carried it over and placed it so that he would be sitting directly across from Kaito, then sat down.

Unwrapping the wrapper of his muffin, Kaito asked, "So, what major are you taking—uh, planning on taking?" He took a bite of his muffin before adding under his breath, "Damn credit hours."

Shuichi had unwrapped his own muffin as well. He turned it in his hand, searching for a good place to take the first bite. "Ah, well... I was planning on majoring in criminal justice."

"So I'm guessing you want to be a detective or lawyer or something?"

"A detective." Shuichi took a bite of muffin and swallowed. "But..."

Shuichi's eyes averted off to the side as he bit his lip. "Ah... Nevermind."

An awkward pause followed, and Shuichi could see Kaito's curious expression switch to a frown. Shuichi pretended not to notice.

"Wh-What about you?" Shuichi asked in an attempt to temporarily steer the conversation away from himself. "What major did you plan on studying?"

Kaito's eyes suddenly lit up and an excited energy surrounded him. "I'm planning on taking two majors, actually—engineering and physical science. Gotta get all the degrees I can achieve my life-long dream of being an astronaut!"

Shuichi tilted his head to the side. "An astronaut? That's... pretty ambitious."

"Good thing have tons of ambition, then!" A prideful smirk found its way onto Kaito's face as he thumbed to himself.

"Fair enough, I suppose..." Which wasn't a lie—Kaito did seem like he had the grit necessary for someone wanting to become an astronaut, if his attitude and, now that Shuichi noticed, clothing, were anything to go by.

"Anyways..." Kaito went on, taking another bite of his muffin. "How about clubs? Are you in any?"

"Ah, not at the moment. But Kaede and I plan on looking at some soon."

"Really? Let me know when you guys decide to do that then, yeah? I've been wanting to join one myself for a while, but I haven't found the time to check 'em out."

"Ah... sure."

Kaito reached over and patted Shuichi on the shoulder with his free hand. "Thanks, man!"

Shuichi felt a strange warmth in his chest as Kaito touched his shoulder. He couldn't pin down the exact emotion for some reason, but he ultimately decided not to dwell on it after Kaito had pulled away.

"Actually, now that you've mentioned Kaede," Kaito spoke again, "is she like your dormmate or what?"

"Er, no, no... We actually met when I started working here."'

"That makes more sense. Do you have a dormmate, then?"

Shuichi tapped his finger against what was left of his muffin. "Yeah."

"Oh? What are they like?"

"Ah, well... He's pretty nice and laid-back, I'd say. Used to travel a lot, too. Er, well, he still does, just not to the extent that he did in high school. He says he's been looking for his twelve missing sisters as well."

Kaito eyebrows shot up. "Twelve?"

Shuichi nodded.

"Huh." Kaito leaned back in his stool (at least, as far as he could go without tipping over), finishing off the rest of his muffin. "I think he'd get along well with Maki-Roll. She doesn't have any siblings, but she grew up around a bunch of kids in an orphanage."

A confused look crossed Shuichi's face. "...Maki-Roll?"

"A friend of mine," Kaito clarified.

"Ah."

Kaito nodded. "Anyways, she's pretty cool—at least, once you get to know her. Maybe I'll even bring her by here tomorrow. I think she'd like you guys." He then paused for a moment, thinking. "Shit, but then that means I'll have to bring—"

At that moment, a loud bang interrupted Kaito. Everyone in the cafe turned their attention towards the window to see a short boy with dark purple hair pressed up against the glass, a mischievous grin on his face.

Shuichi was the first to react. "Uh... Who is that?" The wave the boy outside gave them didn't help answer his question, so he turned around to look at Kaede for an answer, who just shrugged in response.

Shuichi looked back at Kaito, who was staring at the window with an irritated look. Before the former could open his mouth to speak, the latter abruptly stood up and said through gritted teeth, "I gotta go. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Kaito balled up the empty muffin wrapper and stuffed it into the pocket of his violet jacket before stomping off towards the exit; this did not go unnoticed by the boy outside, and he took off running as soon as Kaito reached the door. Kaito shouted swears after him before giving chase.

Kaede waved him off cheerfully. "Bye, Kaito! See you tomorrow!"

Shuichi, meanwhile, stared at the scene that had just unfolded dumbfoundedly because, honestly, how else could he react?

"Hey, earth to Shu!"

When Shuichi finally snapped back to reality, he saw Kaede waving her hand in his face, still smiling. "Don't tell me you're already whipped," she giggled.

He couldn't see it, but he was almost certain that his face was at least a light shade of pink. "H-Huh?!"

Kaede giggled again, helping herself to Shuichi's half-eaten muffin. "Just kidding. But you gotta have a more positive impression of him now, right? I mean, would someone pulling a prank on you try and get to know you like that?"

Shuichi put a hand on his neck, thinking. "I... I guess so."

Kaede smirked. "Told you."

Author's Note: Banana nut muffins SLAP

Okay. First of all: I am so sorry this update took so long to get out. Senior year's been kicking my ass, I have 4838348383 other WIP's, and a whole lot of other excuses y'all probably don't care about.

Secondly, what's your favorite type of muffin? I'm curious to know!

Anyways, hello Saimota nation, here's your food. I love my boys,,, And Kaede. And Kokichi—sometimes. Oh, and Maki—who'll be introduced in the next chapter, so stay tuned!

Also, thank you for all the support on this story so far! I'm glad you guys are liking it. Thank you for reading, and see you guys next chapter!

(And, if you're interested, come find me on Tumblr at strawberrymixt!)