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Kaito grabs the door for Sayaka on his way into the coffeeshop, because it’s just polite, but his eyes shoot over to the front counter almost automatically as he follows her inside. He can hear Sayaka giggling quietly over the sound of the music, but has no time to pout at her for it; he can see Kaede standing behind the cash register, this big friendly grin on her face as she chats with a customer.
There’s this weird tap dancing routine Kaito’s heart always does in his chest when he sees her, and today is no different. Ducking his head to disguise a blush, Kaito shuffles the rest of the way inside the shop and makes his way over to stand in the back of the line, glancing at Kaede every so often as he does.
“What, no wolf whistle?” Sayaka teases, nudging his arm. This time, Kaito does pout, ruffling his friend’s hair before he turns to face forward again with a scoff.
“Not like that,” Kaito grumbles. A wolf whistle implies that this is purely appearance-based, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. Well—Kaede is gorgeous, there’s no denying that. Her soft pink eyes take on a sort of amber tint under the yellow lights and the way her blonde hair falls over her shoulders when she wears it down…
…What was Kaito thinking about? Oh yeah, he likes Kaede for her personality first and foremost! She’s optimistic and friendly, always ready to greet people with a smile. Kaito understands, of course, that that’s just a natural part of working in customer service, but he’s talked to Kaede enough to know that that’s also just how she is. She’s murmured to him over complementary mugs of hot chocolate that she truly does love this work, getting to interact with regulars and new customers alike, getting to see them smile after trying something good—it’s just a part of who Kaede is, that enthusiasm for her work. It makes Kaito feel a little weak in the knees.
“I know, I know.” Sayaka is smiling at him, but Kaito knows she does understand. She’s heard too many of his rambles to have any delusions of it being anything else. “So, are you going to ask for her number today?”
“What? No.” Kaito shakes his head firmly. “She’s on the clock, that’d be weird.”
Besides, Kaito isn’t just concerned with the notion of overstepping his bounds in a customer-barista relationship. He’s also just… not sure he wants to go there yet. He treasures the butterflies in his chest, the way his stomach swoops with equal parts infatuation and admiration when he listens to Kaede talk about how to make a cappuccino. Sure, fantasising about dating her is amazing, but for right now… Kaito just wants to crush on her a little while longer first.
Sayaka seems to accept his comment, looking thoughtful as her eyes drift to the front. “Chabashira-san is here today too,” she comments. Kaito spots the woman in question frowning down at their coffeemaker, possibly experiencing some difficulty with operating it. Their other co-worker, Tsumiki Mikan, who Kaito likes but doesn’t know as well, rushes over to help her out, and Kaito watches as she and Tenko fret over the technology.
It’s mean, but Kaito chuckles at the commotion. “She sure is. We’d better make it quick at the front, wouldn’t wanna cause any trouble.”
“You’d better,” Sayaka corrects, moving forward in line. There’s only one group of customers between them and Kaede now. Kaito wipes his sweaty palms off on his pants. “I think I’ll be just fine.”
Kaito grumbles quietly. She’s right, of course—Kaito invokes Tenko’s ire by being a man, and if not by that then by being annoying (her words)—but that doesn’t make him any happier about it. When Sayaka giggles again and pats him on the arm, Kaito feels himself softening. They’ve been friends for so long that it’s just impossible for him to stay angry at her. She’s his closest confidant, his earliest sidekick. Even if she takes the piss out of him from time to time (and hell, maybe she should) Kaito knows she’ll have his back in the moments when he needs it.
The people ahead of them move towards the pickup counter. When Kaito steps forward, Kaede visibly brightens, a tongue-in-teeth smile spreading across her face.
“Momota-san, good morning!” Kaede beams, and Kaito feels himself matching the look, albeit more bashfully.
“Hey, Akamatsu,” Kaito greets softly. “How’s the morning rush treating you?”
“Not bad so far, you know how it is.” Kaede chuckles, then seems to notice Sayaka, her ears taking on a slight pink tint. “Oh, Maizono-san, hi! Sorry for ignoring you, I didn’t mean to.”
Sayaka waves her hand. “Don’t worry about it. It’s nice to see you, Akamatsu-san.”
Seeming to relax, Kaede compliments Sayaka on her new earrings—which Kaito hadn’t noticed, girls have such sharp eyes for that stuff—before going on a gushing ramble about how pretty Sayaka is. Kaito pretty much half-listens, not out of irritation or jealousy or anything like that, but more because he’s distracted by how close Kaede is now, even with the counter in between them. She’s tied her hair back into a bun and a few loose strands have escaped. They frame her face prettily. Kaito wants to reach out and brush them out of the way. Maybe he could blame it on not wanting her to dip her hair in the coffee.
“So, you guys want the usual today?” Kaede eventually prompts, breaking Kaito out of his embarrassing train of thought. Face red, Kaito nods without even entirely registering what the usual means. After Sayaka agrees, Kaito pulls out his card to pay for the both of them, trying to regulate his breathing and simultaneously bite his tongue so he won’t say anything embarrassing.
After another pause, Kaede smiles and passes them their receipt.
“There you go. Tenko will have that ready for you at the other counter, okay?”
“Yeah, thanks,” Kaito says. He can’t help but say it just a bit—or maybe a lot—warmer than he would with any other baristas in his life, even the regular ones. Sayaka is discreet enough not to snicker until they’re out of Kaede’s hearing range, at which point Kaito groans and lightly pushes her shoulder. “You’re so mean.”
“I didn’t even say anything,” Sayaka insists sweetly. Kaito shakes his head so she knows how truly and unbelievably disappointed he is in her, and the two of them stop by the pickup counter to wait.
Another one of the regulars is waiting by the counter with them, Oowada Mondo; he looks up with a grin as they come over and waves like they’re not standing two feet apart.
“Good fucking morning, you two!” Mondo greets. He doesn’t have much of an inside voice, not that that bothers Kaito.
“Morning, man!” Kaito clasps Mondo’s hand in his and pounds on his back. Sayaka, for her part, gives him a fist bump. “You got anything exciting going today?”
Scratching the back of his neck, Mondo shakes his head. “Nah. I’m pooped. Just got some homework to do later, so I need caffeine before I can get into it, and my coffeemaker’s still shot.”
Kaito glances over to the machine Tenko and Mikan had been fussing over and is relieved to see that it no longer seems to be an issue. It would put Mondo in truly dire straits if it was. “Oh yeah, homework? Aren’t you gunning for an internship?”
“Can’t neglect my studies in the meantime,” Mondo grumbles. “Taka’d be pissed… Anyways, what’s up with you guys?” He tilts his head to the side. “You come here to ogle the barista anymore?”
For a moment, Kaito seriously and genuinely contemplates the merits of socking Mondo in the face, right here. Next to him, Sayaka laughs and pulls Kaito’s arm down to his side.
“A little bit, but the coffee is a bonus,” Sayaka says. Kaito lets out an embarrassed whine.
“Is it that obvious? And I don’t ogle her!”
Mondo gives a grunt that sounds, more or less, like he doesn’t agree but isn’t willing to fight about it. “Yeah, it is. It’s cool though man, I’m shit at picking up women too.”
It’s actually hard to decide what’s more offensive about that, so Kaito decides not to think too hard about it, heaving a sigh and sweeping his hand through his hair. He cracks a smile when Mondo chuckles, glancing back over his shoulder at Kaede.
It really isn’t ogling, though. Kaede is pretty, but Kaito had been a regular here before she even started working. It’s just… There’s just something about her that makes Kaito want to keep coming back. Not just to see her but to talk about her, to learn about her. Kaede is working on her undergraduate degree in music theory right now, hoping to become a travelling concert pianist. She’s expressed the desire to write a song that will make people truly feel. How could Kaito not admire someone like that?
Tenko comes to the pickup counter with narrowed eyes, sliding three drinks across. “Maizono-san and degenerates, your drinks are ready.”
“Ooh, thank you!” Sayaka comes closer to collect her blueberry frappuccino. Kaito frowns slightly as he selects his own mug. Apparently Kaede had decided his regular drink is a white chocolate mocha, but you won’t be hearing any complaints from him there. No, he’s frowning because…
“I dunno if it’s a good business practice to be calling your regulars degenerates, Chabashira,” Kaito says.
“Who asked you?” Tenko sneers.
“Yeah, who asked you, man?” Mondo nudges Kaito’s arm before chuckling. Kaito scoffs and shakes his head, but relaxes quickly, especially when Mikan comes from around Tenko’s back to slide two plated poppyseed muffins across the counter. Kaito and Sayaka’s favourites.
“M-Morning, um, everyone,” Mikan greets. She quickly scampers away before Kaito can greet her in turn, but he doesn’t hold it against her. She’s kind of shy. Kaito still waves a bit at her back, just in the interest of not leaving her hanging where Tenko can see it and get offended.
After collecting his things and wishing Mondo good luck with his homework, Kaito follows Sayaka towards the seating area. He lingers at the front counter, though, turning to look at Kaede as he starts to pass her. She’s reached a break in the customers and is using her phone camera to adjust her hair, her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth with concentration.
It’s cute. Kaito tries not to think too hard about how cute that is.
“You want some help?” Kaito asks despite his better judgement. “I can like, hold the phone for you or something.”
Kaede jumps a bit, as if she hadn’t expected to be spoken to, but smiles when they make eye contact. “Don’t worry about it! I don’t really expect my hair to stay super fresh like this anyway, ehehe.” She puts her phone away and tilts her head to the side. “Did you need something, Momota-san? Sorry if I was ignoring you.”
Kaito shakes his head. “It’s fine. We got our stuff, so I’m good. Just…”
Actually, Kaito’s not sure what he’d wanted to say. He’s not planning on asking Kaede out, or trying to establish a relationship outside the shop—at least, not yet. Not until he gets the impression from Kaede that she might actually want that. But…
“When do you break?” Kaito asks. “You mentioned you were working on a song last time we talked, right? I wanna know how it’s going.”
“Oh!” Kaede’s face flushes a pretty pink. She lets out a quiet laugh, but smiles at Kaito, this more awkward thing that he thinks is her real smile rather than her customer-service one. It makes his heart do the same gymnastics routine as all the rest. “Sure, I can tell you… Um, there hasn’t been a ton of progress, though.”
“No problem,” Kaito dismisses. I wanna hear just about anything you wanna talk about, anyway.
“Okay. Well, I have my ten in an hour, so I’ll come find you then.” Kaede smiles at him. She adjusts the ties on her apron, looking down, then looks back up at Kaito with a broader smile. “Thanks for asking, Momota-san.”
“Sure!” Kaito beams at her, waiting for Kaede to wave him off before he turns to follow Sayaka to their table.
And hey, he’d never admit this out loud even if you asked him directly, but—Kaito borderline skips all the way to their seat. It’s a nice feeling, having a crush.