My phone suddenly vibrated. When I took out my phone saw the message, I realized that I was planning on meeting a certain someone today.
She had messaged me that she had managed her schedule a bit.
I wanted to know what had happened to her, but there was another issue on hand. If I didn't go there today, she was sure to chew me out.
I exited the gate and turned in a different direction than my home. I had gone to that place once with my mom when I was small. So, I remember that place.
I continued to walk along a straight footpath. I was walking while surveying the surroundings.
There were houses everywhere. After walking for a while I came across a small park. Children were playing while their parents kept watch on them.
"Oops."
I stumbled a bit when suddenly a cat appeared out of the blue. The cat was full black with a pair of golden eyes giving it a menacing look.
"It's not a bad omen, is it?"
I asked to myself.
About five minutes after my encounter with that cat, I spotted the café I was looking for.
I used the zebra crossing and stood in front of the café.
I slightly pushed the glass door and went inside. Immediately the sweet aroma of roasted beans and coffee made its way towards my nostrils and I sucked in a deep breath.
I liked coffee since I was a child. This very café was the reason why I started liking coffee. I still remember that taste and that feeling when I had first tasted the coffee at this café.
The café was full of people.
I made my way to one of the empty seats on the left corner. I sat down in the soft, cushioned metal chair and the metallic table was reflecting the setting sun.
In that cafe, I stood out like a sore thumb. I was the only teenager in the whole café. The café was located near the business area. The famous multinational company, "Tokyo Technologies" was just behind this café. So, most of the people who were currently here were businesspeople having their own discussions. Mostly, business-related matters.
Since I was the only teenager here, I felt a bit out of place. I looked around and saw that all the waiters and waitresses were occupied. It meant that I had to wait for a while.
I decided to look outside from the transparent glass to spend the time.
The streets were crowded with people. People were talking carrying their heavy bags, some lashing out at their partners, while some children were complaining to their parents, not to mention the sound of vehicles, all made the outside noisy. However, things were calm in this café. My eyes wandered to the pavements which were covered with pecking pigeons.
I heard the sound of heels clicking as someone approached me.
"Excuse me, sir. Can we please have your order?"
A female waitress asked me, clad in a tight mini skirt and a top that leaves nothing to the imagination. She was wearing heels which I thought was impractical for a waitress who had to walk here and there all the time. But she knew that they made her legs look amazing. She had a smile plastered to her face the whole time and she was chewing her gum noisily between each word. I ordered a Soya Latte.
After a while, she brought me my order and placed it on my table with practiced and refined movements.
"Wait for me a little, boy."
She winked at me. This was she just being her usual self.
I sighed deeply. I drank my coffee while fiddling with my phone.
I looked at the time. There was still some time left before her shift ended. I put the phone in my bag and again gazed outside. My mind wandered and the face of her broken expression flashed. Why had she made such expression there?
"Sorry for the wait!"
A familiar voice woke me up from my reverie.
"Why did you call me here?"
"I just wanted to see the face of my cute cousin, which I hadn't seen in a while!"
She said with the same old teasing smile on her face. She was my childhood friend, Watanabe Sakura, no, I think an older sister would be more accurate here. She was two years older than me and was in her first year of university. She worked here part-time, saying that she couldn't rely on her parents now that she was a college student.
"If you called me here for such a petty reason then I'm leaving."
"Wait. That's not the only reason!"
She grabbed me by the hand when I stood up to leave.
I again seated myself when two servings of coffee arrived.
"So, how's your school going?"
"Normal."
"You are having no problems, I guess."
"No problem at all."
She took a sip of her coffee and placed it down with a clank. A serious expression on her face.
"So, do you have one?"
"What?"
"Don't play dumb. Of course, I'm asking do you have a girlfriend or not?"
Her eyes were glittering. And I knew that she was about to go into her teasing mode.
"None. I don't plan to have one as well."
I replied, as curt as possible.
"You are no fun at all."
She sulked in her seat, disappointed, and kicked me under the table.
"That hurt, you know."
Upon that, she gave me another kick, much stronger than before.
We both finished our coffee.
After paying our bills, we exited the café.
She was walking alongside me humming the same old melody that she used to hum all the time when she was a kid.. We just kept quiet.
I took a quick glance at her and thought to myself.
(This girl is beautiful though.)
She had brown hair, reaching to her shoulder with a pair of tempting azure blue eyes.
She was wearing a high-waisted dress with a cute black ribbon at the front near her chest region. She had a waterproof bag, with lots of makeup stuff packed inside. She was wearing shoes that took inspiration from schoolgirl aesthetics but the heels gave them a mature contrast.
She had an innocent-looking face but the black miniskirt kept her from coming across as innocent.
"So, do you have one?"
"Hmmm? What do you mean?"
"I mean do you have a boyfriend?"
She stopped dead in her tracks. She turned around with a serious expression on her face and that soon changed into a malicious grin. From that, I knew that I had stepped in a landmine and it was gonna explode now.
"Ho, ho. So, you are interested whether I have a boyfriend or not?"
"Don't tell me! You were planning to confess to me if I didn't have a boyfriend?! I-I'm not ready for that yet! I'm not mentally prepared! In the first place, I have only seen you as my cute younger brother! I didn't know you had feelings for me. What should I do?! What should I do?! What should I do?!"
There she goes again. I could hear her giggling. She was clearly enjoying this, wasn't she?!
I was a bit annoyed by her constant teasing but I also felt glad at the same time. This girl, no matter what sort of person I become, will always see me in the same light. I will always be her little brother that she likes teasing.
Even after 'that' incident, she acted normal around me. She didn't even know the background of 'that' incident and I had never talked to her about it. But she continued to be at my side when no one else was. I was really grateful to her for that.
I watched the sight of her laughing and a warm sensation filled my heart. It made me happy that I still had someone I could say my 'family'.
She quieted down after a while. She had some tears on the edge of her eyes, probably because she had laughed too much.
We resumed walking. She kept teasing me all the way. While listening to her constant ragging, I hadn't realized that her apartment was already in sight.
"Let's talk some time again, Kaito."
"Aye, aye. It's not as if I have any choice."
"Ouch."
She jabbed me at the abdomen while glaring at me.
I decided to ask something that had been on my mind.
"Is it alright for you to be walking around freely like this with me?"
"Huh? What? Is there a problem?"
She asked me, completely ignorant about what I was getting at.
I rephrased the question.
"Is it alright for the daughter of the CEO of 'Tokyo Technologies' to be walking around with someone like me?"
She stifled a sigh.
"Listen, you. It is for me to decide who I walk with or talk with. Other people don't have any say in that matter and I don't care even if they say something about it. If someone directly confronts me and says to me that I shouldn't be hanging with someone like you, I would be sure to tell them that you are….."
She stiffened and straightened her back almost immediately when I narrowed my eyes. She looked around to see if anyone was around when the realization dawned on her.
"I'm sorry…"
She said in a low murmur.
"Anyways, see you again."
She was quick to revert to her usual self and bid me bye with her beaming smile.
My apartment wasn't that far from hers.
I reached the apartment and looked up, on my floor.
Ichinose was standing outside and there's was another person with her.