Second to None

32. tease

After a few days of not seeing Mayu at the office, Hirose called to check in on her. They decided to meet at a hip café in Harajuku. The interior was decked out in a thousand shades of blue—sky blue wallpaper, light blue coffee mugs, midnight blue countertops and more. 

Sipping on an iced coffee, Mayu briefed Hirose on her hiatus from the association and the academy. "I'll be out of work—a slacker—for an entire summer. It's awful!"

"Awful?! It's paradise if you ask me!" she exclaimed. "You get to actually appreciate Tokyo in the summer instead of working like a dog. You can wake up late, exercise in Yoyogi Park, eat brunch at a leisurely pace while us peasants are crammed into a commuter train to sit in a stuffy office all day!"

"Yes, but I wouldn't be going anywhere professionally."

"What's the rush? Yanagi said he'll have you back in the fall, didn't he? Plus, it's not like you have any financial pressures—you have a breadwinning fiancé who I know is providing more than enough."

"I told you, that's irrelevant to me."

"Yeah, I got that much from you, and I think you should learn to take advantage of it and... relax. You've been high-strung from the start."

"'Cause I'm worried about the future." Biting on her straw, Mayu murmured, "I want to make a future for myself..."

But Hirose's eyes were already somewhere else. In a whisper, she said, "Omigod, don't look, but—Echizen's here with Ryuzaki Sakuno! And..." She gasped, "There's another man with them! Is this a love triangle?"

Mayu turned instinctively at the mention of Ryoma's name. Sure enough, at the counter he stood holding hands with Sakuno. He wore his signature leather jacket and dark pants. Sakuno, as usual, was decked out in pink. Behind them stood Fuji Shuusuke wearing a button-down shirt and jeans.

As if sensing somebody watching, Ryoma's eyes darted towards their table. Meeting Mayu's gaze, he started approaching them.

Hirose kicked her under the table. "Told you not to look! Now they're coming this way."

"Isn't that what you prefer?" Mayu whispered back.

Hirose blushed but said nothing.

"Surprised to see you two here," greeted Ryoma with a crooked smile. "Hirose-san, Ohara-san."

"I could say the same," Mayu replied neutrally. Eyes on Fuji, she added, "Especially you."

"I needed a break from Keio and ran into Echizen and Ryuzaki here," explained Fuji. "And now, you and... Hirose-san, is it?"

"Hirose Kanae," Hirose smiled brightly and introduced herself. "I work at the tennis association like Mayu and Echizen."

Fuji arched an eyebrow at Mayu. "Since when did you start working at the tennis association?"

"It's a long story," she replied with a sigh.

"We've got time," Ryoma piped up. "Mind if we sit down?"

"Sounds good to me," said Fuji. "Do you mind, Ryuzaki-san?"

Sakuno shook her head timidly.

Knowing there was no way to back out of this awkward run-in, Mayu stood up, "I guess we'd better move to a bigger table."

The five of them moved to the innermost table, equipped with actual chairs painted teal. Fuji generously ordered cake slices for everybody and said it would be on him.

"That's so thoughtful of you!" gushed Hirose. From her overly enthusiastic tone, Mayu could tell that her companion had found a new target. "So, Fuji-san, what do you do? You said you came from Keio?"