Work Text:
Nanase scratches her pencil to her sketchbook even faster. She doesn’t want to lose sight to every single details of her object. She’s a slave for perfection when it comes to drawing. Everyone knows.
But with her certain object keeps moving, it’s not that easy.
It’s past lunch time, but people keep coming. The unexpected rush time, Nanase expects. Based on how the barista keeps taking orders from the lined-up customers. It’s been almost an hour.
Nanase knows, because she’s been studying the details of the busy barista’s look and put them into her sketchbook.
Nanase likes to draw random things, especially something she couldn’t get her mind off about.
She once drew the cute pigeons she saw on Ueno Park (which is the main reason why she always comes to Ueno, because, pigeons), once, when she was 11, she drew a fat, long neck baby dinosaur at 3 in the morning just because she couldn’t get it of her mind. She even drew Ikuta’s piano with dust on her highschool library’s unused table because she misses Ikuta so much at that time.
But Nanase has never drew a human before.
Not even once.
It’s not like she can’t, she doesn’t even know why herself. She has an absolute zero interest in drawing people’s features. Her art professor always told her, “Art is limitless, so why limit yourself?” And of course, Nanase will always reply with the exact same answer, smiling, “I will, sensei. Someday.”
Little did she thought the 'someday' is today.
***
Nanase decided to have some walks because her class ended too early than usual. She doesn’t want to go back to her apartment yet, it’s still to early. Even her own door would laugh at her if she come home at this hour.
That’s how she discovered a cute coffee shop on her way. ‘The Purple Corner’, the sign says, oddly familiar. Finally, something in her memory clicks.
Ikuta talks about this shop a lot. She said it’s very popular on Instagram, and let out an overdramatic gasp when Nanase said she haven’t heard anything about it yet.
“How could I live in Germany for almost 4 years now and still know about Tokyo more than you?!”
Well, Nanase doesn’t have an Instagram.
She goes past the door, straight to the ‘Order Here’ sign. She praised her own bravery act, considering how she is not really, a coffee person, nor going-out-by-myself person, but yet, standing here, ready to order a dark, bitter liquid she doesn’t really like, just for killing time. Introvert problems, after all.
“Good afternoon, may I have your order?” The barista is extremely bright in this sunny day.
“Umm,” Nanase stares at the menu. Coffee… What kind of coffee is not too bitter? Or is there something other than coffee she could have? Is there any sweets available in this store? She doesn’t want to look lost, but too bad she already did, because soon, the barista noticed and asks,
“Is this your first visit?”
Nanase nods.
“Hmm, should I recommend you something maybe?” And no one would believe how relieved Nanase feels at the moment.
“Yes, please.” She answered.
“The cheese tea is extremely popular.” the barista smiled. “It’s our signature drink.”
Tea, of course. Why hasn’t she thought of ordering a tea at the first place?
Well, it’s on the right side of the menu, she didn’t noticed it at first, okay?
So Nanase stares at the menu again.
Matcha cheese tea... Black cheese tea...—
“Dark cocoa cheese is my recommend,” She tapped her fingers to the table. “I mean, for you. It’s not tea, of course, it’s chocolate. But I guarantee on another cup, you’ll like this one. ”
Nanase furrowed her eyebrows. Not really sure why the barista recommend a tea menus, but convinced her to buy a cup of chocolate instead.
“So? Have you decided on something?”
“Ah, yeah—I mean yes. I’ll have one medium, dark cocoa cheese. ”
“Alright. Hot or cold ?” The barista smiled, tapped the monitor screen, processing the orders.
Nanase think again.
“Cold ?” It sounds rather like a question, and the barista smiled again. Why does she smiles so much?
“Good choice. And the name for this order is?”
“Nanase.”
“Nanase-san.” She repeated, scribbling the said name to the cup.
“Your order will be done in a few seconds, so please wait on this side until your name got called.” She said before turning around, getting Nanase's order ready.
Nanase wait as the barista took orders from the next customer in between preparing her drink. She can’t help but study the barista’s unique face features. She looked really Japanese, but also not at the same time. Her eyes are small, with pointed nose and… cute lips.
The lips is almost too thin for her face but, that’s why Nanase thinks it’s unique.
It shouldn’t fit, or at least that’s what the theory of ‘drawing a perfect human’s face’ she studied in her early year said. But somehow it looks perfectly matched.
She should tell her professor that the theory isn’t true.
“Nanase-san, dark cocoa cheese?” She heard her name echoing in the room.
“Yes.”
“Here’s your order,” she placed a little slice of lemon on the cup’s lid. A garnish?
“You don’t need straws, just drink it right away.” She handed the cup to Nanase, “The lid’s 45 degrees slant.”
Nanase is amazed by how deep the barista’s voice is, that she held the cup a little longer than needed. Does she sounds like this before?
“Thank you.” She finally takes her cup and go.
“45 degrees slant.” She repeats to herself, genuinely smiling.
***
She ended up staying for some hours, trying to put the cute barista into a drawing.
Nanase doesn’t draw human, sure. But she stepped out her line so many times today.
It’s just she can’t get her mind off “45 degrees slant.”, and it really sucks. Her hand is all itchy, wanting to draw the person, and the feeling is overwhelming. She just had to.
She hopes it isn’t illegal to draw somebody without them knowing.
Apparently, she’s too lost with her own scratches that she didn’t notice how the lines of people have dissapeared, and so as the barista.
Nanase looked up to her surroundings to find her object is walking straight to her table.
Crap.
She shuts her sketchbook immediately.
Their eyes met and Nanase managed to show a nervous smile on her face, but why is she coming here?
The barista smiled back —God, her smile — and just casually stopped in front of her, pulling out the chair and sit there, asking:
“You’re done?”
She already pictured herself going to a jail for considered stalking someone, through a drawing.
“Eh?”
Good job, Nanase. Play dumb. Just say you can’t speak Japanese or something, just say you should go, grab your things and run.
The barista chuckled. “Your drawings. Done?”
Just say “I don’t understand Japanese” and run.
But of course she didn’t say that, and didn’t run either. She speaks Japanese with her earlier, and she isn’t a fast runner. So instead, she apologized. What else can she does?
“I’m-I’m so sorry.” She prays to whatever god exists to just take her right now. Please.
“No, it’s fine! I’m actually glad somebody sketched me.” She said in her low voice, without any sign of judgement.
And Nanase wonders to herself, is it alright to feel a relieved?
“I’m Kazumi, by the way.”
Nanase was about to say her name in exchange until the other says “Nice to meet you, Nanase-san.”
Right. She already said her name before.
Kazumi furrowed her eyebrows looking at the cup on the table. Nanase hasn’t even touched it yet, Kazumi knows just by looking.
“You don’t drink it?”
And Nanase jolted a little. “Oh my god, I forgot!”
Kazumi chuckled, “I thought you hated my recommendations.”
“No, of course not. I’m just being so busy drawing—..” Nanase almost spit out ‘I’m busy drawing you’ but thank god she has enough self-control over her mouth.
But Kazumi understand what she’s going to say anyway.
***
Kazumi ended her shift a little late this afternoon. The sudden rush hour is expectedly unexpected. It’s weekdays, afterall.
What she doesn’t expect is how that girl secretly peeking up from her book with pencil on her hand, fastly scribble here and there.
Is she drawing something?
Nanase. Yeah, she remembered. It’s Nanase. The dark cocoa cheese girl with a really low speaking volume. The one who looked too confused to pick a menu, but was too shy to ask.
Kazumi isn’t really sure, is it just her feeling or she is peeking out to her? No, no, no. It’s the coffee’s counter. The Purple Corner is famous for its aesthetic interior, so, yeah. It must be it. But still, Kazumi couldn’t stop looking from the corner of her eye while pretending to tidying up the order counter.
“Looks like Kazumin got a new fan~” Misa chirped.
Kazumi throw her a confused look, but not interested.
“That girl, she’s been drawing you. I’m so jealous.” Misa stacks up the plastic cups on the table. “And her drawing is really good.”
Kazumi stops her track and now, turned to Misa, wih face like she just heard Misa said she hatched a baby basilisk last night.
But hearing Misa hatch a baby basilisk wouldn’t make her stomach twirls in excitement, she guess.
“What? Are you just going to keep pretending you don't know?”
“I’m not pretending.” Kazumi said, trying to ignore the blush on her cheeks.
“Look. You're literally blushing. Go and ask her already.”
Kazumi doesn’t want to have conversation like this right now. Especially, not with Misa.
“I’m working right now. I can’t.”
“Your shift ended 30 minutes ago.” Misa fold her hands in her chest, looking unpleased. Kazumi knows she’s already defeated. She always knew she could give excuse to herself, but not Misa.
Still, Kazumi tries and tries to think other reason to not go from the counter to that dark cocoa cheese girl’s table. A reason to refrain herself to go and ask ‘Hey, why are you drawing me?’ A reason to stop, to just stop thinking that the girl looks really cute.
“Okay, now you look like you want to poop. Stop it.”
Kazumi lets out an exasperated sigh. “What should I do? Walk there and say ‘Excuse me why are you drawing me?’”
Misa rolled her eyes. “I don’t know, what about a simple hi like a proper human?”
“You’re not helping, you know?” She whimpers.
***
Then here she is, trying to hold a conversation with this super shy dark-cocoa-cheese girl. Forgetting all kind of professionalism on work. Whatever. She ended her shift, she slipped off all of her working attributes, and she doesn’t commit any criminality. It’s not wrong to talk to your customer in another way if your shift already ends.
“It’s been hours, the ice must’ve been melted and the taste must’ve changed too. Should I get you a new one?”
It’s real though, both the change of the taste and she would get to the counter to get Nanase a new drink. She pays, of course.
“No, it’s fine, thank you. I’ll just- I’ll just drink it now.”
Nanase took a sip and all she get was the cheese cream on the top.
“It took a few sips until you get both the cocoa and the cheese on one gulp.” Kazumi explains. And so, Nanase drinks again.
She closes her eyes when she found the mix of the cheese cream and dark cocoa on her tastebud. Kazumi smiled at the sight. She knows the taste, and it really tastes like heaven. But seeing the pleasure flows on Nanase’s face is a whole different thing.
“So?”
“Amazing.” Nanase shakes her head in disbelief. “It’s really delicious.”
Kazumi put a smug grin on her face.
“Told ya.”
They both went silent again for a while. Kazumi is too busy thinking on what topic should she brings up next. She knows this girl in front of her is not good with strangers, let alone get something to talk about with the stranger. So when Nanase is being the one who speaks first, she felt like she accomplished some mission.
“So, the lemon is for the scent?” Nanase asked.
“Oh, you noticed.”
“Of course. It’s on my nose everytime I sip.” Nanase giggles, showing her eye crinkles. The way her eyes disappeared made Kazumi’s stomach twist a little. “45 degrees slant, isn’it?”
“45 degrees slant.” She felt an odd sense of satisfaction at the fact that Nanase remembered her nonsense fact.
“Shouldn’t you get back to work, Kazumi-san?” Nanase quickly continues, “I-I mean, I don’t want to disturb your work or something—“ Her face suddenly turns into a light frown.
“My shifts ended 30 minutes ago.” Kazumi sits up from her chair.
Nanase mouthed a small ‘o’ with her mouth, nodding. A smile reignited back to her face.
Kazumi holds her breath, not sure why did she kept it in the first place. Maybe it was her body’s nature, to build a little courage on the following sentence she’s going to speak.
“I was wondering if you have a free time after this?”