KaeMaki Week 2018

A Cup of Redemption

"And then he was all like 'But Momota-Kun! I'm dying! I can't go out the house!' So we just left him there." Shuuichi finished, sighing softly. He and Kaito had just met up with Maki to go to the new coffee shop that had just opened up down the street from campus. Ouma was supposed to be there too, but he had gotten out of it by being on his 'death bed.'

"I see..." Maki wasn't even surprised. She was glad Ouma wasn't coming, if she was honest. The two of them didn't get along and she had no doubts that they would probably end up arguing.

"I don't see what his problem is. He always goes ahead to make sure he's included in the plans then boom! The little shit backs out at the last minute!" Kaito exclaimed as he pressed the button for the road crossing.

"I keep telling you guys to just not invite him but you never listen."

"Oh, trust me. If we didn't invite him it would be a lot worse." Shuuichi had been through his fair share of arguments with Ouma over simple plans with friends, most of which ended with Ouma tagging along uninvited.

"I don't see why you put up with his shit..." If Maki had her way, Ouma would never be allowed to leave his own house.

Nobody said anything, after that. Mostly because they honestly didn't have a good reason as to why they put up with him. The rest of the walk went by like a breeze, the trio only engaging in small talk about the weather, or what their plans for the week were.

They soon arrived at their destination, a little coffee shop just on the corner of the street. It was still very new, as it still had its 'Grand Opening!' banner up, as well as its first week open deal: 'Buy one hot beverage and get one free! Free cookies with any order over 800¥!' That was most of the reason why the group had chosen to check the place out, one of them would get their drink for free and they'd get free cookies! What more could they want? They also came to see how Kiibo, a close friend of theirs, was getting on at his barista job.

The trio entered, and Maki was surprised to see how busy the place was. It was full of students and adults a like, and everyone seemed to be engaged in a conversation with another. Nobody seemed to be alone, and she couldn't help but smile slightly. Kaito announced that he was going to get them a booth, and assured Maki that Shuuichi knew his order like the back of his hand (It wasn't hard. He always got a black coffee but then piled mounts of sugar into it. Maki never understood why he did that.)

Maki and Shuuichi got into the surprisingly short queue, and the pair discussed their orders with one another. Shuuichi said he was just going to get a hot chocolate with whipped cream, as he was taking a break from caffeine for a bit. Maki was just going to get a black coffee. Unlike Kaito, she didn't need all that sugar to make it taste good to her.

Maki soon found herself at the front of the queue, and her deep red eyes found themselves staring straight into lilac eyes. The girl in front of her, who was tall, blonde and admittedly kinda cute, gave Maki a wide smile.

"Hi there! I'm Kaede and I'll be your server today. What can I get you? Oh, wait let me guess..."

Maki raised an eyebrow as Kaede looked her up and down, the blondes eyebrow furrowing as she did so. To her left, Maki could hear Shuuichi giving his order to Kiibo. At least one of them was getting somewhere.

"I got it! You want a black coffee, right?"

Maki had to admit she was impressed and gave a short nod, "Yes. That's right. What gave it away?"

"Well," Kaede began, "You just look like that kinda gal. Plus...I may or may not have overheard your conversation! I will neither confirm nor deny that statement!"

This earned a chuckle from Maki, "Are you this chatty with all your customers?"

"Hm...Nope! Only the ones who are cute...And the ones who look like they're gonna rob the place." Maki couldn't help but wonder which category she fell into in this situation.

Kaede picked up on of the cardboard cups, "And what might your name be?"

"...Maki."

"Gotcha!" She scribbles the name on the side of the cup, "It'll just take a few minutes! I'll call you when it's all ready."

"Thanks. How much do I owe you?"

"500¥!"

Nodding, Maki handed over the money which Kaede took with a smile.

"See ya soon, Maki-Chan."

Rolling her eyes, Maki waked over to where Shuuichi was waiting.

"Hey. How did everything go?"

"Well, Kiibo said he's fine and he's enjoying his time here. He said his coworkers are nice, especially the blonde girl you had. Oh, and I got us chocolate chip cookies, if that's okay with you."

"Yeah, that's fine. That girl was...Strange to say the least. Not a bad kind of strange, though."

"Yeah I see what you—" Shuuichi was cut off as he heard Kiibo shout his name, "Well, I'll see you at the booth." And with that he left.

Maki wasn't waiting much longer, maybe another minute or so before she heard her name being called.

"One black coffee for Maki!"

Maki walked over to where Kaede was, who like before had a grin on her face.

"Here you are! I hope you enjoy." She handed over the cup, which Maki took with a slight smile.

"Thank you. I hope the rest of your day goes well."

"Thanks! Yours too!" And with that, Kaede went to go and attend to another customer, not before giving Maki a short wave goodbye.

Maki made her way over to the booth, where Kaito and Shuuichi were already in a conversation about something Maki didn't really care about. She slipped in on the empty side of the booth, and quietly sipped her coffee. It was good, and she could tell it had been made by someone who knew what they were doing.

"Hey, Maki Roll, you want a cookie?" Kaito asked, pushing the half empty plate in her direction.

"I think I'll pass, for now. Cookies don't usually go well with this kind of drink...Not that you'd know. You're better off getting something that already has the sugar content you're taking in instead of adding it yourself..."

"...Yeah but I feel more mature this way."

"...No words, Momota-Kun. No words."

"Jeez Maki Roll...Hey, what's that?" He asked, pointing to the cup.

"It's my name, idiot."

"I can see that! But what's that." He was pointing to something below where her name should be.

Trying the cup around, Maki saw what he was talking about. Underneath her name, was a message.

'Hey. You're cute. Call me? 0423- 565XXX - K ♡'

Maki felt her cheeks go red before she covered the message up with her hands.

"I-It's...It's nothing. Just a spill from the coffee..." It's a good job Kaito was easy to convince, and it was even better that Shuuichi hadn't been paying attention at all.

Maki looked over at Kaede, who was still serving with a smile. The blonde glanced over at Maki, and gave her a slight smirk with a wink before she turned back to her customer. Maki would definitely be texting her later.