Chapter Text
Takumi groans as light peaks through the curtains. He turns away and puts the covers over his head. It was till he started hearing the buzzing from his phone when he sat up. With a yawn, he grabs his phone.
It was Nozomi. Texting to make sure he didn’t sleep the day away. He chuckles tired, texting her back before getting out of bed.
He goes and does his morning routine. Shower, brush teeth, stare at the timer that reached zero years ago, and get dressed. He contemplates on what to do, his phone buzzes again. Nozomi.
So, this new coffee shop opened up
Want to go check it out
Tamuki sends an ‘ok’ back. It was like Nozomi would’ve been sad if he said no. He moved into a studio apartment about a year ago and has been holed up in there. She was always worrying about him being alone.
A buzz interrupted his thoughts.
Cool
It’s called Books and Brew as it doubles as a bookstore
Seems to be closer to you
We’ll meet you there!
We? Oh, yea. Moko was probably coming.
Takumi always felt a tad bit jealousy towards the two. They were soulmates after all. They met only a year after…
He stares down at the timer on his wrist. It sat at zero. It has stayed like that since Karua’s passing.
Takumi grabs his jacket and puts it on. Does he need it? No. But it brought comfort to him. The sleeve covers the soulmate timer. He didn’t want people seeing it, mainly himself.
He leaves his apartment. Walking towards the elevator, he passes his neighbor Hajime. The two just nod in greeting.
Takumi enters the elevator. Poor Gaku. He was glad he didn’t have that but then again, he wouldn’t have minded sharing Karua’s pain.
The elevator stops at the ground floor. He leaves and starts walking. Nozomi was right, it wasn’t far from his apartment. Just a 20 minute walk. He decided it would be better than driving.
As he walked, he passed other people. Some were alone, some with their soulmates. He wondered if any of the soulmate pairs he passed had finally met. Not everyone was lucky enough to be childhood friends and neighbors with theirs.
Takumi turns and enters the cafe. Books and Brew. It was a large, two-story building. The first floor was where the main cafe area, while the bookstore took up some of the first floor and all of the second.
He walks over to the counter and looks at the menu. Nozomi and Moko wouldn’t mind if he ordered. He needed caffeine and something to eat.
He orders a Vanilla Iced Latte and a Butter Pecan scone. After he pays, he turns to wait for his drink. Only to make eye contact with another customer.
A tall, pale male with shoulder length white-silver hair. His eyes were a dark blue. He wore a face mask along with a giant white parka, white jeans, and black converse. He must’ve had a problem with germs as his hands had black gloves on them. To his side, some sort of dog. He didn’t know the breed, but it wore a navy blue service dog vest.
“Uh…can I help you?” Takumi felt a bit intimidated. He couldn’t help it. This guy was staring into his soul.
“You look normal.”
Huh? “I’m sorry?”
“You look normal.” The man repeats. What was that supposed to mean?
“Aotsuki!”
The guy walked past when the barista called his name. He grabs the cup of coffee and gives Takumi one last look. He then walks out the door, his dog trotting by his side.
What just happened? Takumi tried to register what went on, not noticing Nozomi and Moko entering till he felt a tap on his shoulder
“Takumi? Are you doing okay?”
“Yes! I’m fine!” Takumi smiles, waving his arms. “I just had the weirdest interaction in my life.”
“Was it with that guy with the adorable dog?” Moko asks.
“Yea…”
“Sumino!”
Takumi turns to grab his items from the counter. “I’ll, uh, find a spot.”
He leaves the pair to order. He chose a table close to the window and sat down in one of the chairs. He sips on his coffee. He needed the caffeine.
Nozomi sat across from him a few minutes later. “Moko is waiting for our drinks. So that interaction?”
Takumi shrugged. “That guy was just…staring at me. No idea why. He was creeping me out.”
“Aw, you have an admirer,” Nozomi jokes. “Maybe it was a sign from Karua! She’s checking out from the afterlife.”
Takumi shifts uncomfortably and shakes his head. “No…it wasn’t that…”
“Ah, sorry! I forgot you really don’t like those jokes.”
“It’s fine!” Takumi reassures her. Nozomi had a different way of coping with her twin sister’s death, mostly pointing out stars that could possibly be her. “But this definitely wasn’t Karua.”
“This guy was that much of a creep?” Nozomi tilts her head.
“No…he didn’t really say much actually. But he told me I looked ‘normal’.”
Nozomi raises an eyebrow. “Normal?”
“Yea! No idea what he meant by that!” He takes a bite of his scone as Moko joins them.
“Sorry to intrude!” She smiles, handing Nozomi her drink. “Here’s your Watermelon Lemonade.”
Nozomi smiles. “Thanks Moko. Takumi was just telling me about that guy. He called him normal looking .”
Takumi nods. “I just don’t get it.”
Moko hums, sipping on whatever protein shake she ordered. “You know, that is strange. But I feel bad trying to pry into why he said that. He had a service dog so…”
Takumi nods. He taps the side of his cup when something catches his eyes. Something different. Something is wrong.
“Takumi? What’s wrong?” Nozomi reaches and grabs his hand in hers.
Takumi bites his lip as he rotates his arm so his wrist is facing up.
“Sorry, I saw something and I just want to make sure…” He slowly rolls his sleeve back, staring at the timer on his wrist. His eyes widened.