Chapter Text
Reo Mikage was perfectly proud to admit he lead somewhat of an ordinary high-school student’s life.
He would wake up after leisurely ignoring the irritating buzz of his overly priced alarm clock, (courtesy to his parents), get ready for school while lathering on his stupidly expensive skincare, and wade through the rest of his day thanks to the unspeakable ease that came simply with being Reo Mikage.
Growing up, Reo was handed every one of his childish whims to him on a silver platter— money, toys; even people could be bought, he learned quickly. The kind of things that could only temporarily pacify Reo’s inexplicable appetite for a challenge, something beyond the chartered bounds of his parents’ tightly wound arms.
So, when the time inevitably came and Reo finally enrolled in state college, much to his parents’ disapproval, he knew that there was only one thing to do to tear free from the unspeakable frustration that came simply with being Reo Mikage.
He had to get a job.
”Welcome to Daily Brew, what can I get you?” the falsetto grandeur of Chigiri Hyouma’s usually deadpan voice made Reo snort from his position behind the counter, thankful he had his back turned to whoever was ordering to spare him from a nasty glare from the redhead.
As Chigiri rung up the order and placed the sticker in front of Reo with slightly more force than could be deemed necessary, the latter sighed, raking a hand down his face to stifle a yawn as his heavy lidded eyes flitted towards the paper.
Tired.
Reo was unbelievably tired, albeit the blame was solely on him, since he had decided to stay up till the early hours of the morning rushing to submit his coursework, and before he knew it, light had already begun to spill through the shitty blinds of his dorm room and his roommate was rising sluggishly.
He could barely withstand the weight of keeping his eyelids open as he tried to ignore the sticky residue of some covertly sweet syrup on his apron and instead focused on the cheap plastic cups that seemed to pass through his hands like rocks on water— order, syrup, espresso, creamer, lid.
Repeat.
Although the routine sounded tedious, Reo rather enjoyed the normality of it— after being shunned by his parents following his abrupt decision to forge his own way of life without their generous guidance, he was forced to rid all traces of Mikage from himself until he managed to squeeze his way into society as just Reo— the average broke college student clocking into his part time job to sustain himself and his crippling ambition.
Besides, Reo quite liked the quaint cafe; he enjoyed gossiping about funny-looking customers with Chigiri over chamomile tea, or seeing who could concoct the most disgusting drink with Bachira and Barou long after closing hours. Reo had even decided that he enjoyed sitting in silence during his breaks alongside the enigmatic Rin, which was surprising given the brooding man’s track record of snapping at anyone who interrupted his self inflicted alone time.
So, despite the constant onslaught of tedious drink-making, ignorant customers, and overall average pay, Reo was finally content with his life, completely free from the irredeemable vice of his last name and ready to embrace whatever challenges came with his new lifestyle.
Reaching up to fish the next order from above the counter, Reo began his usual routine—order, syrup, espresso—wait, what the fuck?
“Chigiri, is this some kind of sick joke?” Reo spluttered, completely bewildered by the scribbled order that almost completely filled the scrap of paper and was—quite frankly a ‘drink’ that rivalled even Bachira’s most heinous attempts at coffee-brewing.
”Nope. That’s what the guy asked for,” the redhead replied flatly, popping the ‘P’ and shaking his head in equal exasperation at the alarming reality of strange orders that inevitably came with running a small business in an area swarming with caffeine-operated college students.
Reo pursed his lips in defeat, not even wanting to face whatever freak had requested the insanely detailed drink that had so much syrup in it that he may as well have just given them the whole dispenser and scribbled out the ironic ‘latte’ that completed the order.
Reo began to work, although it felt more like he was being tortured as he pumped ounce after ounce of premium strawberry cream syrup into the mixture of milk and espresso—seven shots of it, to be exact, which—unless this mystery man was attempting to go into eclectic shock, was way too much caffeine for the average human being.
Maybe this insanely unhealthy freak wasn’t human? Reo continued to ponder while frothing the vanilla bean cold foam, his jaw going slack in disgust as he reluctantly shook in the three packets of granulated sugar and mixed.
Definitely not human.
Finally, after drizzling on an obscene amount of strawberry syrup, Reo took a deep breath to stifle an utterly repulsed sigh and turned towards the collection counter, ready to face whatever monster had decided to claw its way up from Hell and take full advantage of Reo’s unwavering loyalty to his job.
“Order for… Nagi?” Reo called out hesitantly, reading the single name scribbled onto the cup as he scanned the dissipating crowd for the man himself to no avail until—oh.
Violet irises clashed with stormy grey as Reo felt the bustle of the cafe tune out into white noise and he paused to take in the man stood before him. He was tall—slightly taller than Reo and clearly built, despite the oversized clothes that were draped effortlessly across his hulking frame, it was obvious to anyone who dared to look. Ivory coloured hair fell in soft tufts across the stranger’s forehead, partially shielding one of his eyes, and Reo suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to reach out and push it back.
Snap out of it, dumbass!
Reo quickly gathered himself, clearing his throat and plastering on his ‘customer service smile’, as Chigiri liked to call it. After setting his sights upon the unfortunately beautiful culprit behind what could very well be deemed a crime against humanity, Reo felt all traces of exhaustion and confusion dissipate from his body like smoke from a wildfire.
”Thanks… Reo.” Nagi replied almost awkwardly, the deep timbre of his voice relaying flatly, as if he were tired as he squinted harshly at the name badge plastered helpfully to Reo’s shirt, and in that moment, the purple haired man silently thanked Sae for enforcing a correct uniform policy on all employees when he became manager. If it meant Reo got to hear his name fall from this handsome stranger’s perfect mouth, he would plaster the damn badge to his forehead if he could.
“So that was the weirdo, huh?” Chigiri mused, leaning his taut elbows on the countertop and cocking his head coyly at Reo, who was still in somewhat of a daze as he watched the white-haired man leave, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings as he navigated through the crowded cafe with about as much grace as a bull in a china shop.
”Chigiri, did you see him!?” Reo exclaimed loudly, as if that would emphasise his immediate interest in the handsome stranger, turning his head towards his smirking co-worker so fast he was afraid he might give himself whiplash.
“See who?” Bachira mumbled through a mouthful of whatever pastry he had managed to scrimmage from behind the counter during his break, causing Reo to frantically shake his head at Chigiri, his eyes widening in a silent plea to spare him of the embarrassment of the entire establishment becoming aware of his newfound crush.
Chigiri’s grin only widened in response to this as Bachira leaned forwards, his eyebrows furrowing in interest as he took in Reo’s helpless expression compared to Chigiri, who was practically frothing at the mouth in satisfaction.
Asshole.
”Yeah, Reo—see who?” the pretty redhead scrunched his face up in mock intrigue as Reo groaned, burying his own flushed face into his palms and wishing the floor would suddenly collapse beneath him and swallow him whole—even that would be less embarrassing than being faced with the combined wrath of Chigiri’s teasing and Bachira’s astounding inability to keep his mouth shut for more than two seconds.
“It’s nothi—“
”Reo has a crush on a weird customer that apparently enjoys ingesting the edible equivalent to wiper fluid,” Chigiri cut in gleefully, his lips twitching as Reo turned to pin him with a harsh glare that quickly melted into a defeated frown while Bachira began to ‘ooh’ impishly, pursing his lips together into a pout and making over exaggerated smacking noises.
Reo groaned exasperatedly once again, smacking the back of Bachira’s head and rolling his eyes.
”Thank you, Chigiri,” Reo gritted out flatly, to which the redhead simply smiled innocently, shrugging his shoulders and returning to the register to swap with Rin, who spared the trio nothing more than a fleeting glance of acknowledgment before stalking to the back room to enjoy his break alone.
”He’s not really weird,” Reo grumbled in a pathetic attempt to justify himself to Bachira of all people—who simply raised his eyebrows suggestively before sauntering away most likely to go and harass whichever unlucky co-worker was nearest.
Reo leaned against the counter, thankful for the slow atmosphere of the cafe as he allowed his mind to drift back to Nagi, a frown appearing on his face before he could stop it. Nagi wasn’t weird— despite Reo himself originally thinking the same thing. Maybe that horrendous order that had permanently ingrained itself into the darkest depths of Reo’s mind was simply a one time whim; there was no way he actually enjoyed that thing. Maybe his complete lack of social awareness as he stumbled awkwardly out of the cafe could be chalked up to tiredness, or some other redeemable coincidence.
Yeah, it must have been that—Reo concluded as his shift drew to a close and he began to gather his things.
Right?
Wrong.
After their first fleeting encounter, Reo had anticipated seeing Nagi again, perking up every time the bell above the door rang and deflating just as quickly upon no sign of the man— much to Chigiri and Bachira’s amusement.
Then, finally, after three days of nothing, fortune decided to favour Reo as he sluggishly clocked in to his (Chigiri’s) 7am shift. At first, he had half a mind to drag Chigiri to work by the very hair on his head after losing a bet to him and being forced to cover his weekend shift, however the minute Reo caught sight of a mop of white hair and a terrifyingly endearing pout, he made a mental note to thank his best friend upon his return to work.
Nagi Seishirō, as Reo had learned to call him was completely, undeniably, irrevocably weird, and the worst part was that Reo couldn’t find it in himself to care as he watched the white haired man fumble over his words and blink owlishly at Rin as he asked him to repeat his order for the second time that morning.
Cute—Reo thought.
Rin, however, did not think so, and Reo was forced to stifle a laugh as he watched the dark haired man attempt to adhere to basic professionalism by coaxing an incredibly detailed order for an incredibly disgusting sounding drink out of the human embodiment of a sloth.
Miraculously, Rin had managed to ring up the order without ripping his hair out (although Barou did have to take over register duty for a while as Rin glared at a painfully oblivious Nagi), but it was up to Reo to bring whatever nasty concoction Nagi had requested to life.
”Order for Seishirō!” Reo called out with slightly more enthusiasm than deemed necessary for a minimum wage job, which prompted a deadpan stare from Barou, although Reo didn’t even have the decency to be ashamed of his fervour as he caught sight of Nagi seated at the collection counter, seemingly engrossed in something on… a gaming console?
Coughing pointedly, Reo tapped his knuckle against the counter in front of Nagi, leaning down as the latter looked up in confusion, before recognition flitted across his face and he tucked the device into the pocket of his hoodie.
”Sorry Reo,” Nagi mumbled as Reo reeled inwardly at the fact he hadn’t yet stuck on his name badge, trying his best to mask the fact that he was already utterly smitten with this awkward stranger simply for remembering his name.
”No problem, Nagi,” Reo replied coolly, as if he wasn’t currently fighting the embarrassing urge to roll around on the hardwood floor kicking his feet and giggling like some loser.
”Seishirō is fine—I call Reo ‘Reo’ so ‘s only fair,” Nagi mumbled, shrugging casually as Reo allowed a small smile to grace his features and he nodded, placing the too-sweet drink in front of the taller man and resisting the urge to snatch it back and dump the contents into the nearest biohazard disposal bin.
“So… do you like gaming? I noticed you were playing before,” Reo blurted out, immediately regretting his decision as Nagi furrowed his eyebrows as if in deep concentration, taking a loud sip of his drink, the uncomfortable silence stretching between them made Reo want to scream.
”Yeah, I play all the time; ‘s not a hassle and I like beating bosses. Do you also like gaming, Reo?” Nagi rushed out the entirety of the sentence in a quiet voice that almost sounded pre-rehearsed, but Reo was simply relieved he spoke. In fact, this was the most he had ever heard Nagi speak aside from when he was somehow able to easily recite whatever complex scripture of an order he had devised.
“Yeah of course! I like…Minecraft?” Reo lied through his teeth, knowing damn well that any sort of mobile games bored him out of his mind. Reo let out a nervous laugh to fill the pause after he had finished speaking as Nagi hummed in response, nodding as if Reo had said something deeply philosophical, and Reo could’ve sworn that a ghost of a smile even crossed the man’s usually unreadable features.
”Nice,” Nagi finished simply, continuing to sip his drink out of the cheap plastic cup that appeared much smaller in his large hands than it did moments ago in Reo’s, and only then did Reo realise that Nagi was still sitting at the collection counter, his hulking frame just barely fitting in the small space, long legs bent uncomfortably under the table, although the man seemed content enough.
”Sorry for keeping you, Nagi, you probably want to sit down properly or—or leave or something,” Reo spluttered, suddenly burning with embarrassment at the fact that he may have been coming on too strong, although the white-haired man only frowned in response.
“Seishirō,” Nagi corrected almost immediately and Reo felt the burn in his chest subside temporarily.
”I like it here with Reo—too much effort to go somewhere else, unless i’m…in the way?” he continued, trailing off in genuine confusion towards the end, and Reo felt his stomach flip, shaking his head rapidly.
”No!” Reo exclaimed loudly, wincing as Nagi blinked rapidly, probably shocked by the ferocity at which Reo had abruptly disputed him with.
”Sorry,” the purple-haired man apologised sheepishly, to which it was Nagi’s turn to shake his head, holding out a thumbs up with his free hand as the other brought his drink to his mouth again.
”I like it here with you too,” Reo admitted hesitantly, his eyes flitting between Nagi’s own rapidly, scanning for any sense of discomfort, and when he found none, a small lump of giddiness wedged itself between Reo’s heart and he offered the taller man a smile.
Nagi opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of over exaggerated coughing coming from behind Reo.
Reo felt his face heat up in embarrassment as he turned around to face a smug-looking Bachira and a disgusted-looking Rin, both of them eyeing up Nagi, who had long finished his drink and was now engrossed in watching the ice in the cup melt.
”No slacking on the job, Reo!” Bachira teased in a sing-song voice that made Reo silently mouth some very deserved profanities at him in the comfort of having his back turned to Nagi, to which Bachira gasped dramatically, clutching his chest and frowning as if deeply hurt.
“Team meeting in ten,” Rin informed bluntly, to which Reo nodded at, silently thanking Rin for unintentionally coming to his rescue and saving him from any further taunting in front of Nagi, who he hoped wouldn’t catch on to Bachira’s less than discreet facial expressions.
The two finally left, although it was more Rin dragging Bachira along with him like some sort of exasperated parent while the latter complained incessantly.
”Sorry about that,” Reo muttered sheepishly, to which Nagi nodded, swirling around the remaining ice in his cup and pausing to look up at Reo. Although devoid of any remarkable emotion, Nagi’s eyes truly were striking—sharp edged linoleum and tender graphite fused together in a captivating camaraderie of steel grey.
“ ‘S okay. I’ll probably go home now anyway—see you tomorrow, Reo,” Nagi murmured matter-of-factly, already yawning despite the fact that it was barely even noon yet, but Reo could only focus on the end of his sentence.
See you tomorrow, Reo.
As Reo waved goodbye and watched until Nagi’s unmissable figure had slipped away somewhere between the sea of students outside the cafe, he felt excitement fester somewhere deep in his heart—somewhere that was slowly hollowing out to fit snowy hair and tired eyes.
See you tomorrow, Seishirō.