alone.

the boy in the coffee shop.

hajimes pov:

he crawled out of his apartment above the coffee shop and ran his fingers through his messy hair. "chiaki can i take a day off?" he called to his friend and coworker who was already setting up.

"on our busiest day of the week? absolutely not. do whatever you need to do to get over your hangover and start setting up, i'm not doing this shit on my own" chiaki said shoving an apron at him

"i'm workin on it" he said tying the apron on. he grabbed a donut out of the glass case and starts making himself a drink

"that's coming out of your paycheck hajime!" chiaki sing-songed

"i know i know" he grumbled.

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after about 20 minutes or so he finally finished setting up the shop and ulocked the dorrs

"do you think he'll be back today?" chiaki asked starting up the register

"if he keeps it up yea-"

"you should talk to him you know, i see how you stare at him."

"i only stare cuz i wanna know why he's in here all the time. open to close everyday were open- its weird"

"yea totally not because you have a crush" chiaki teased

"how can i have a crush when i don't even know him?"

"whatever you say hajime" chiaki said.

just as the words left her mouth he walked in. hajime never learned his real name despite him coming in every single day for weeks. he put his name down as ko and that was all. hajime doubted that was his real name. as soon as he spotted him he started making the mysterious customers drinks. he got the same thing every single time- double hot chocolate with extra whip cream, chocolate shavings and marshmallows. in all honesty they didnt even have chocolate and marshmallows for hot chocolate but after seeing the disappointment on the strangers face he got them.

"already done- that'll be 3.02" hajime smiled

the customer slid the money over and grabbed his cup "have a nice day" he said softly

"you too!" hajime called as he sat down

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the mysterious customer spent the next few hours tapping away on his laptop as hajime served other customers. chiaki looked around at the basically empty store and shouldered hajime before gesturing to the customer. hajime shook his head no- chiaki gestured again in return, this time more forcefully. he sighed and made another drink for the customer and walked it over to him. the stranger looked up at him.

"o-oh i didn't order this" he said visibly nervous

"oh no it's okay. it's on the house. could i sit here?"

"w-what about the counter?" he asked pointing the register

"hajime i'm calling lunch- mikans coming with takeout do you want anything?" chiaki chimed in

"my normal-" hajime responded

"o-oh i should probably go then-"he said starting to stand up

hajime panicked a little internally "no no- please stay. its okay i promise." hajime said trying to get him to sit down

"i dont wanna intrude-"

"you wouldn't be- i promise. h-honestly I came over here and gave you the drink to get to know you better" hajime said blushing

the man looked perplexed "you wanna get to know me?"

"yea- you're in here everyday and stuff- you look like you need a friend" hajime smiled

the stranger smiled and looked down "well um- i'll stay if your friend's okay with it"

"fine with me!" chiaki beamed. she was so happy for hajime

"lets sit back down yea?" hajime said sitting. "so what's your name?"

"nagito, nagito komaeda"  he said softly

huh so that's where ko comes from hajime thought to himself

"i'm hajime hinata- its so nice to finally talk to you" hajime smiled.

"so um- what do you do for a living?" hajime asked awkwardly

"oh um- i'm a graphic artist- i design logos for companies and stuff" nagito responded staring at his computer screen. he was so anxious- he wasn't used to people

"is that why you come here so often?" hajime asked not minding the lack of eye contact. he was used to having conversations with chiaki while she was glued to a screen

"yea- the wifis better than at my house" nagito lied. it wasnt a complete lie- the wifi  was better here. but so were most of the coffee shops around his apartment. he just happened to be quite fond of a certain barista that specifically bought him marshmallows and chocolate for his hot cocoa

"ohhh that makes sense- do you live close by? i noticed you walk to and from here"

"yea- just right up the street" he said pointing out the window.

hajime looked out and noticed mikan getting out of her car. he quickly got out of his seat and ran up to her to unlock the door for her. mikan looked up at him gratefully- as it was currently snowing up a storm outside. he let her in before locking the door. chiaki ran up to help her and gave her a kiss on the cheek

"i missed you so much bunny!" chiaki smiled

"i-i was just here yesterday chi" mikan responded

"i still missed you- lets go eat" chiaki said leading her to the back corner booth where they always sat

hajime walked over and grabbed his food before joining nagito again "do you want some? i got an assload of food so i have more than enough to share"

"oh no- im okay"

"are you sure? it's really no problem"

"are you sure...?" nagito asked quietly

"absolutely positive- here- noodles or beef and broccoli?"

"um- noodles if that's okay"

hajime handed him the container of noodles and chopsticks "here" he smiled before digging into his own food. nagito took the container and nervously ate it. hajime noticed his nerves and gave him a soft smile to reassure him he was safe.

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after sitting and chatting for while hajime finally looked outside

"oh fuck-" he mumbled seeing the now 2 feet of snow on the ground.

he walked over and tried to push the door open but alas there was no budge. they were stuck.

hajime looked over and called to the group "nagito-mikan. i think you two are gonna have to spend the night"