[Team Three] Crush
Hello! I'm Michelle and am one of the new ones here. I tend write very cliched stuff but hopefully will be able to explore more things through shiritori. よろしく ♥
Also, this might seem rushed because I usually write really slowly, so yeah xD;;
“Enough with the fooling around and get back to work.” Shori says in reply to Marius’ pitiful whines as he calmly empties the rolls of coins into the cash register, glancing towards the back of the counter where Fuma has Marius trapped in a headlock.
Fuma wrinkles his nose at Shori before taking a cursory glance around the cafe. Since it’s past dinner time and most of their clientele comes from the nearby companies, the cafe is usually bustling during lunch time but dinner is almost always a quiet affair. Even now, there are only three ladies seated at a booth table in the corner, drinks half-finished but too engrossed in their own conversation to pay them any heed. “It’s not like there’s anything much to be done anyway.” He shrugs and goes back to torturing Marius, who continues trying to swat Fuma away.
Sou emerges from the kitchen, wiping his wet hands on a dishcloth before setting it down on the countertop. “Fuma-kun is probably feeling lonely since Kento-kun isn’t here either today. Right, Fuma-kun?” Sou asks with an impish grin, which turns into a full-out laugh as he ducks behind Shori to hide from the dishcloth that Fuma chucks in his direction. Marius uses this opportunity to escape from Fuma’s clutches, shuffling to hide behind Shori as well, who mock-sighs and wonders out loud why he’s always stuck with such idiots. Too caught up with fooling around, they miss the melodious chime of the bell above the door, signalling the arrival of a new customer.
“Bullying the young ones again, I see.” Fuma turns around when he hears a familiar voice. He has to bite the inside of his cheek to stop a silly smile from growing when he sees Kento chuckling at them from where he is leaning against the frame of the door, bag casually slung over his shoulder. After exchanging greetings with Kento, Shori and Sou grin knowingly at each other and disappear into the kitchen. Marius looks torn between wanting to follow them and staying outside with Fuma, but eventually trudges along when Sou tempts him with cake. “I’m sorry, but I think my appearance has scared your targets away.”
“Traitors.” Fuma mumbles under his breath, ignoring the giggles he hears as he leaves the counter to show Kento to his usual seat next to the window. “The usual?”
“Yes please.” Kento replies, smiling gratefully. He takes out his laptop and starts typing away as Fuma busies himself preparing his caffe latte. As the owner and barista of the cafe, Fuma had chosen this location as it was quiet and yet had a steady stream of customers, and he had thought it perfect for a cafe where people were able to relax and be themselves. At the beginning, he had been the only one handling everything but as more people came to know about the place, he decided he needed more help. Now, they are well-known not just for their coffee, but for their cakes as well, thanks to Sou. Kento had started frequenting the cafe about a year and a half ago, when he began working as a researcher in a nearby company, as Fuma gathered from one of their first few conversations. Kento was the first one to strike up a conversation, complimenting the decor of the cafe and the fragrance of the coffee, claiming the smell helps him to calm down. Since then, Fuma has lost count of the number of conversations they have had.
“You should ask him out on a date.” Shori comments helpfully, when he pops out of the kitchen to find Fuma peering into the mug like he’s trying to find the meaning of life. “Don’t try and deny it anymore. We all know you have a thing for him. Well, at least Sou and I do.”
“What makes you think he’ll agree? We’re both guys after all.” Fuma sighs, picking up the mug and starts making his way to the table. “Forget it. It’s just a crush and will go away soon.”
Shori reaches out to grab Fuma’s free hand, stopping him in his tracks. “We’ve told you before, he looks at you a lot when you don’t notice. It’s actually really obvious, both of you are just slow.” Fuma gives him an incredulous look, to which Shori simply rolls his eyes and shoves him a slice of chocolate banana cake he had taken from the cake counter. “Just try.”
When Fuma places the mug of caffe latte and slice of chocolate banana cake on the table, Kento looks up at him questioningly. “You seem stressed, so the cake is on the house.”
“Thank you.” Kento motions for Fuma to take a seat opposite him before taking a bite from the cake. “This is delicious!”
Fuma breaks into a smile at the sight of Kento’s blissful expression. “Sou will be happy to hear that.”
They fall into a comfortable silence for a few moments as they watch people walk by. However, when Kento picks up the mug and tries to take a sip of his coffee, the steam fogs up his glasses and Fuma bursts out laughing at him. Kento rolls his eyes at him before taking off his glasses and placing it inside his bag. Fuma’s laughter catches in his throat when Kento looks back up to meet his gaze; he’s taken aback by how breathtaking Kento’s eyes are and he almost forgets to breathe.
“I like you.” Fuma breathes out in a rush, mentally slapping himself when his brain catches up with his mouth. He had envisioned a few scenarios for a confession (not that he had planned to confess though) but none of them were like this. “No- I mean I…” Fuma tries to backpedal and retract his words, but he’s distracted by the blush creeping up Kento’s cheeks and taking in a deep breath and squaring his shoulders, he decides to throw all caution to the wind. “Say Nakajima, the next time you’re free, would you like to go somewhere together?”
“Like with everyone?” Kento asks, puzzled.
“No, just the two of us.” Fuma’s heart is pounding rapidly in his chest but he is glad his voice comes out low and steady, belying his nervousness.
“Oh. Are you asking me out on a date?” Eyes twinkling, Kento leans forward to rest his elbows on the table and props his chin up with both hands.
Kento’s reaction is more favourable than he had expected and this spurs Fuma on. Keeping the atmosphere light, he replies, “What if I am?”
“Okay.” Kento smiles, corners of his eyes crinkling as he reaches over the table to take Fuma’s hand, entwining their fingers together. “Please take care of me.”
Fuma gently squeezes Kento’s hand and smiles happily back at him. “Don’t worry about a thing and leave it all to me. I’ll make sure you won’t have any regrets about this.”
Tagging yomimashou~ :3
Also, this might seem rushed because I usually write really slowly, so yeah xD;;
“Enough with the fooling around and get back to work.” Shori says in reply to Marius’ pitiful whines as he calmly empties the rolls of coins into the cash register, glancing towards the back of the counter where Fuma has Marius trapped in a headlock.
Fuma wrinkles his nose at Shori before taking a cursory glance around the cafe. Since it’s past dinner time and most of their clientele comes from the nearby companies, the cafe is usually bustling during lunch time but dinner is almost always a quiet affair. Even now, there are only three ladies seated at a booth table in the corner, drinks half-finished but too engrossed in their own conversation to pay them any heed. “It’s not like there’s anything much to be done anyway.” He shrugs and goes back to torturing Marius, who continues trying to swat Fuma away.
Sou emerges from the kitchen, wiping his wet hands on a dishcloth before setting it down on the countertop. “Fuma-kun is probably feeling lonely since Kento-kun isn’t here either today. Right, Fuma-kun?” Sou asks with an impish grin, which turns into a full-out laugh as he ducks behind Shori to hide from the dishcloth that Fuma chucks in his direction. Marius uses this opportunity to escape from Fuma’s clutches, shuffling to hide behind Shori as well, who mock-sighs and wonders out loud why he’s always stuck with such idiots. Too caught up with fooling around, they miss the melodious chime of the bell above the door, signalling the arrival of a new customer.
“Bullying the young ones again, I see.” Fuma turns around when he hears a familiar voice. He has to bite the inside of his cheek to stop a silly smile from growing when he sees Kento chuckling at them from where he is leaning against the frame of the door, bag casually slung over his shoulder. After exchanging greetings with Kento, Shori and Sou grin knowingly at each other and disappear into the kitchen. Marius looks torn between wanting to follow them and staying outside with Fuma, but eventually trudges along when Sou tempts him with cake. “I’m sorry, but I think my appearance has scared your targets away.”
“Traitors.” Fuma mumbles under his breath, ignoring the giggles he hears as he leaves the counter to show Kento to his usual seat next to the window. “The usual?”
“Yes please.” Kento replies, smiling gratefully. He takes out his laptop and starts typing away as Fuma busies himself preparing his caffe latte. As the owner and barista of the cafe, Fuma had chosen this location as it was quiet and yet had a steady stream of customers, and he had thought it perfect for a cafe where people were able to relax and be themselves. At the beginning, he had been the only one handling everything but as more people came to know about the place, he decided he needed more help. Now, they are well-known not just for their coffee, but for their cakes as well, thanks to Sou. Kento had started frequenting the cafe about a year and a half ago, when he began working as a researcher in a nearby company, as Fuma gathered from one of their first few conversations. Kento was the first one to strike up a conversation, complimenting the decor of the cafe and the fragrance of the coffee, claiming the smell helps him to calm down. Since then, Fuma has lost count of the number of conversations they have had.
“You should ask him out on a date.” Shori comments helpfully, when he pops out of the kitchen to find Fuma peering into the mug like he’s trying to find the meaning of life. “Don’t try and deny it anymore. We all know you have a thing for him. Well, at least Sou and I do.”
“What makes you think he’ll agree? We’re both guys after all.” Fuma sighs, picking up the mug and starts making his way to the table. “Forget it. It’s just a crush and will go away soon.”
Shori reaches out to grab Fuma’s free hand, stopping him in his tracks. “We’ve told you before, he looks at you a lot when you don’t notice. It’s actually really obvious, both of you are just slow.” Fuma gives him an incredulous look, to which Shori simply rolls his eyes and shoves him a slice of chocolate banana cake he had taken from the cake counter. “Just try.”
When Fuma places the mug of caffe latte and slice of chocolate banana cake on the table, Kento looks up at him questioningly. “You seem stressed, so the cake is on the house.”
“Thank you.” Kento motions for Fuma to take a seat opposite him before taking a bite from the cake. “This is delicious!”
Fuma breaks into a smile at the sight of Kento’s blissful expression. “Sou will be happy to hear that.”
They fall into a comfortable silence for a few moments as they watch people walk by. However, when Kento picks up the mug and tries to take a sip of his coffee, the steam fogs up his glasses and Fuma bursts out laughing at him. Kento rolls his eyes at him before taking off his glasses and placing it inside his bag. Fuma’s laughter catches in his throat when Kento looks back up to meet his gaze; he’s taken aback by how breathtaking Kento’s eyes are and he almost forgets to breathe.
“I like you.” Fuma breathes out in a rush, mentally slapping himself when his brain catches up with his mouth. He had envisioned a few scenarios for a confession (not that he had planned to confess though) but none of them were like this. “No- I mean I…” Fuma tries to backpedal and retract his words, but he’s distracted by the blush creeping up Kento’s cheeks and taking in a deep breath and squaring his shoulders, he decides to throw all caution to the wind. “Say Nakajima, the next time you’re free, would you like to go somewhere together?”
“Like with everyone?” Kento asks, puzzled.
“No, just the two of us.” Fuma’s heart is pounding rapidly in his chest but he is glad his voice comes out low and steady, belying his nervousness.
“Oh. Are you asking me out on a date?” Eyes twinkling, Kento leans forward to rest his elbows on the table and props his chin up with both hands.
Kento’s reaction is more favourable than he had expected and this spurs Fuma on. Keeping the atmosphere light, he replies, “What if I am?”
“Okay.” Kento smiles, corners of his eyes crinkling as he reaches over the table to take Fuma’s hand, entwining their fingers together. “Please take care of me.”
Fuma gently squeezes Kento’s hand and smiles happily back at him. “Don’t worry about a thing and leave it all to me. I’ll make sure you won’t have any regrets about this.”
Tagging yomimashou~ :3