SaiOuma Stories

Sweet

Shuichi can't decide if it's love or hate between getting up at 6 to make it to his 7am classes before he makes it to his job at the police station. If it's not Kaito's and Maki's long runs before sun down, than it's the walking he does from campus and back.

It's a 10 minute walk, he said.

It will be good for him, he said.

You'll learn to love it, he said.

Sometimes Kaito's positive outlook is Shuichi's death. He needs a car. He really needs a car. He's secretly hoping he'll get one for his birthday this year. Being one of those school birthdays when as a kid they gave him pencils and new backpacks for the new year. Would a car count as school supplies? He hopes so.

He woke up this morning pointlessly. It was a rainy season and it had been pouring all night, to top it off, he got one of those 4 am emails saying his office flooded on the first floor and work was canceled. It was a Saturday too. No work. No classes. He's free.

Yet he's still up and dressed by 6 to go walking. Old habit he fell into. It wasn't raining that bad outside when he left the boys dormitories. Just sprinkling a little bit. He yawned in the early air. He needs to learn how to sleep in, then maybe he'll feel human again. For now, it's still a coffee ran systems and fake good morning smiles.

He was scrolling through missed text messages when he saw Kaede's text from last night.

Kaede: Hey! I went to this café that just opened up a block from our campus. Try it sometime! I'll send you location. It's really good and has cute baristas😙😉

Sure enough, the following text was the location. He sighed. He supposed a coffee or four would do him some good. He's looking to relax anyway. After the work sent by his boss on recent pet cases, he needs his mind on something else. Maybe he could work there, he hopes the café let's people do that. Some he's been to only have grab and go services.

He double checked the location and started the Okay-walking-distance. Just 5 minutes. Getting lost in thought always helped, it sped up time and soon enough he found himself standing in front of a cute café.

It gave off a warm feeling in the dark morning with the clouds heavy over head. The windows were big, so you could see in. He could tell they just opened at least a week ago because the employee sign was still up. This place looked the perfect between fancy and casual. The cool yet bright color scheme gave a feeling of home. This was his kind of café.

The sign on the glass doors read 24 hour open. Shuichi gawked at it. He rarely finds a café open around the clock. He pushed open the door to hear that familiar chime. Little tables were set up near the windows, ranging from a one seater to a four seater. The smell was rosemary mixed with the all famous freshly crushed coffee bean. There was a place to put umbrellas and a free charge-your-devices under any table next to a wall.

Each table had a cute little dish of sugar cubes stacked on top of each other in a pyramid. With coasters set around it to rest drinks on. He looked at the place you'd order from and you can see straight back into the kitchen. It wasn't a mess at all. Tea cups, coffee cups, and anything necessary was stacked neatly and looking presentable. Coffee makers separated equally along the granite counters tops. People could even sit at the front bar table and chat with bartsias.

There were only three other people here already excluding those who work there. Maybe it gets busier the longer the day leads on. He saw a stack of menus on the side table, so you could take your time to choose what you want. He picked one up and scanned what they made here.

Which ended up being every possible tea, coffee and mix imaginable. Little foods and things to snack on. Even free hot chocolate came with one of their expensive drinks. But only during the on coming cold seasons. He wasn't feeling that tired, and they had so many options, so he made his pick. When he looked up there was someone seemingly waiting for him.