Coffee's Scent For Longing

Prologue

Ichiyo Higuchi, a young woman 'that has a job that is not fit for her'. That's something she's been told countless times for years. She never let it get to her heart, as she knew that she had to put up with these comments. She did everything for her sister. She worked every single day just to provide for her little sister. Many people have called her 'selfless', but she isn't sure if she can agree. She can't say that she's satisfied with the way she lives, but she isn't living paycheck to paycheck anymore. She had a job at this fancy casino, and while the casino had many illegal activities, it paid well. There were definitely aspects that she would prefer to not deal with, but she's met someone that's kept her there. Ryunosuke Akutagawa. He worked for some sort of loan shark business (she wouldn't know, he didn't talk to her much), and she was entranced by him. He always somehow kept her taking those dangerous risks. Once they had the same client, this man owed a debt to Akutagawa's organization and the casino. Every time another job opportunity arose, she took it in hopes of seeing him again. She never saw him again though, much to her disappointment. Her coworkers say it's good-ridden because he wasn't a very 'kind' person. Her standards were low, so she didn't expect much. She was teased for months by said coworkers, they called her 'lovesick' and all those types of things. She found it all ridiculous.

Her efforts were all futile, she laid down disappointedly on her sofa staring up at the ceiling. The mood in the room was soiled by her sulking, as her sister flicked her cheek.

"Ack!" She flinches, her arms flying up to her face defensively. She was completely caught off guard. She stares at her sister in shock, who is crossing her arms with an attitude.

"Sis, you need to get off your ass." Higuchi groans in response while sitting up. She can't find words quickly to retort her sister, as she wasn't wrong in any way. "You should get a new hobby or something. You need to get this boy off your mind."

And that's what they did. They wandered around the area for things to distract Ichiyo with. Ichiyo thought all these efforts were no good, she couldn't find herself being interested in anything. They stopped at various stores, entertainment places, wherever they could go. She found herself getting quite tired, but her sister nagged her to at least stop at a café she liked. Ichiyo begrudgingly followed her sister in, to her surprise the café was quite nice. It was simple, the decorations being modern, but still traditional at the same time. The counters and tables were a wonderful shade of mahogany wood. She stood in the café in awe, she never thought she would enjoy such a place.

"Sis, stop staring into space. Let's order somethinggg!" Her sister's nagging brought her out of this trance, she nodded in response following her to the seating that she recognized as a bar counter.

"Is this place a bar or something?" She looks at her sister curiously, resting her arms on the nice countertop. Her sister thinks for a second before nodding.

"Yeah, I think it's a bar after a certain time. Not that I've been sis." She smiles nervously, making Ichiyo laugh. She knew her sister wouldn't be going to bars with her friends, she knew that very well.

"Loosen up, I wasn't setting you up or anything." A worker finally walks up to their chairs. She was a young woman with silky black hair. She had a gentle aura to her, she wore a very sweet smile on her face. Her voice was a shock to Ichiyo, this woman's voice was incredibly soft.

"What can I get for you two?" Ichiyo couldn't help but feel relief at the woman's voice, it was incredibly calming. Her sister asks for mochi, not surprising her at all. Her sister loved sweets, and honestly, she loved them too.

"Ah, I'll get an espresso, thanks." The woman wanders off to get their orders, leaving Ichiyo to stare off into space.

"Her voice is really nice isn't it?" Her sister says smugly. "I knew it would distract you." Ichiyo sighs in defeat, looking at her sister with a smile.

"You know me so well huh?" Her sister simply grins in response, proud that she proved that she was once again correct. Ichiyo smiles, she ended up being quite happy with the way the day went. She was glad she could have this nice day to hang out with her little sister. Her work was distracting her a lot lately, and her sister could easily notice. Ichiyo thinks that she can hide what she thinks, but it's completely the opposite.

The waitress eventually comes back with their orders, and the sisters engage in conversation. Ichiyo tries to stay present in this moment, she truly wishes she could stay here forever. Her paradise is cut short when a man wanders out from the back room. He has a familiar presence, that she easily recognizes. Her eyes widened in shock as she began to choke on the espresso she had. Her sister freaks out in response, patting her back frantically. Ichiyo holds out a hand dismissively to tell her sister she's fine, but she does immediately stand up and call out for the man.

"Akutagawa???" The man turns to her in response, his face displaying anything but excitement. He puts the cup he has down and walks up to her.

"Higuchi right? That casino worker?" Ichiyo nods eagerly in response, this is now most definitely the best day of her life (her sister later disapproves of this statement). She smiles brightly, which Akutagawa does not reciprocate, looking quite unamused by her gesture.

Her little sister didn't hear the end of it for weeks. The walk home? Filled with Ichiyo's earsplitting excitement about meeting the man again. Dinner that night? Filled with her fantasies of their future meetings. The next morning? Filled with her plans to revisit that café before work.

Her sister was sick and tired, she eventually stopped hearing about it. But that silence brought another problem back in their shared apartment. Ichiyo's sulking. From what she had heard, the man her sister was infatuated with became 'busy' and stopped showing up to the café. Once again she tried to distract her sister, she spent days trying to cheer her sister up.

After a long day of work, Ichiyo came home in the early morning. She expected her sister to nag and take her out for a long 'exciting' day. But the house was empty. Completely empty.

She called out for her little sister, and she received no answer.

Ending Notes (Copied from ao3):

SORRY FOR DISAPPEARING FOR SO LONG. I'll probably be updating this more often than Face it all Together at Skyfall. I'll be on hiatus for that (more explanation there). I'm not sure about my updating schedule just yet but here is a fic that I had planned to start in February (obviously that didn't happen until now!)

Shoutout to my pookie wookie Beau for helping me again with this fic! She helped me with the title and will continue to be my proofreader! Anyways as usual, chapters will be uploaded on wattpad in the following week! (I'm more active on a03 than wattpad but choose whatever service you prefer.)

@carm0xide on tiktok!