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✎ "dad! I'm back!" An announced as she abruptly burst into Weekend Garage, her dad's cafe, Akito trailing right behind her. there stood her dad, right behind the counter.
pouring a final cup of coffee for the evening, he greeted her, "I see you're back early, and as rowdy as usual!" Ken teased his daughter, before fully opening his eyes to the sight in front of him, that's when he noticed Akito was there as well.
"oh. hello there, Akito," he smiled softly at him, as he handed the cup of coffee to a customer sitting at the counter. "wassup, Ken," Akito waved with one hand, the other one in the pocket of his jacket.
meanwhile, the customer digged in his pockets for a few dollars to pay the price and slammed them down on the counter before shoving past Akito and An to exit the cafe.
"jeez! this is the time of day the customers choose to get aggressive, huh?" Akito glanced to the side in disapproval, though, An and Ken just chuckled at the comment. "maybe he's having a bad day?" An joked, but Akito kept that annoyed scowl on his face.
"anywho, where's Kohane and Toya? those two are usually with you guys as well," Ken asked, raising a brow as the other two approached the counter... "it's pretty unusual seeing just you two together," he said, staring at them to realize they didn't seem to be enjoying it, either.
"Toya stayed after school for library duty," Akito replied, so did An, "and Kohane's hanging out with her classmates," she added. Akito then briefly sat down at a booth, resting his head on the table, making An sigh.
"without the others, what am I supposed to do with this party pooper!?" An groaned, making Akito perk his head up to look her in the eyes. "it's not like you're that much more exciting!" he exclaimed before laying his head back down on the table.
"Akito here's just upset he has to stay after school for Supplementary English classes tomorrow!" An smirked. "oh, shut it, you!" Akito huffed, feeling so much despair that he probably felt like digging his own grave just to sit in there for the rest of his life.
"quit being such a drama king, then!" An teased, sitting down at the booth as well, right across from Akito. too bad all she could see was his ginger hair, as he was burying his face into the table, but he would be lying if he said An's enthusiastic aura wasn't making him feel a bit better... maybe a little... meanwhile, Ken just stared at the two frenemies in silence.
"I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick, I'll be right back," Akito stated, raising his head to reveal his genuine smile that he tried to hide before.
Akito often flashed that fake "nice guy" smile, making his genuine smile a rare occurrence, but An always felt like she won the lottery whenever she got to see it.
that was only every once in a while, though, and she wasn't sure why it kept her heart pounding whenever she took a second to think about it. the truth was, there were many things she wasn't sure of when it came to Akito Shinonome, one of the notorious members of her group.
"he should show his real smile more often, he looks kinda... cute... like that... w-wait... wh-what am I thinking!? why would I think that!?" An thought, before quickly snapping out of that mindset, and her weird and unusual thoughts soon got replaced with the questions of why and all that. the result of so called "that" taking it's place as a shiver down her spine in wonder of what even made her think that all of a sudden...
by the time An floated back down to reality, Akito had ran off to the bathroom already. "An?" her dad called out her name, noticing she was acting strange.
"oh!" she almost jumped out of her seat. "yes?" An answered, her cheeks subtly pink from her thoughts about Akito a few moments before, and she could slowly feel them burning up even more, like an open fire, in the fear of getting caught with her cheeks that red. the worst thing was that they just kept getting redder by the second, making her heart ache.
"oh..." Ken utters in realization, keeping his eyes on his daughter. a smirk spread across his face, ready to tease her. "I get it now... you like-" but An quickly cut him off before he could say anything of the sorts. "a crush on... him!? no way!" she whisper-shouted to her dad.
"well, you're getting awfully red about it," he laughed, pointing at An's cheeks. I mean, how would An having a crush on Akito even be possible? they hate each other, and that would never change! ...but that pounding in her chest said otherwise... it had different plans than what An thought she had wanted... god, this doesn't make sense.
An's dad continued, "and you never even gave me the chance to say who..." he chuckled to himself, making An turn so red that she could've been mistaken for a tomato.
"d-dad, c'mon! are you sure you're feeling okay!? are you even thinking clearly!?" An cried out, thinking her dad must've gone totally insane to think she would ever like that self-centered jerk, or so show called her group mate, Akito, out of anyone else in the whole damn world.
"some other girls might fall for that stupid face of his... and those beautiful green eyes... and that ridiculous 'nice guy' act that he always uses to cover his true colors... but I won't be one of them!" she shouted, seeming pretty at ease with that "fact." though, she was already rambling on and on about him without even realizing it.
"it sounds to me you already like him, An," Ken teased, making An shake her head rapidly in denial. "we're nothing more than enemies, everyone knows that!" she huffed, putting her hands on her hips in confidence. jeez, that is what you call true denial...
"oh, and also, he's a ginger..." she added before continuing, "and he's not even my type whatsoever!" she insisted, making Ken sigh..
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✦ - 10/22/2023
