Nejire's bus ride was eventful. Some punks got into a fist fight, a women fainted, etc, but we weren't getting into that. It started raining on the way, which Nejire was annoyed about. It had been such a clear sky this morning! Now everything was wet. This dumb cloak thing she had to wear didn't have a hood, and she forgot her umbrella.

The rain made everything gloomy. The cafe looked dull when she walked in. No one came in, except for the few teens or adults who came to escape the rain and grab a coffee while they were there.

"Hey Nejire." Kaoruko grumbled, looking through her phone. "It's the usual stormy day shit. It's Cali, why is there so much rain anyways?" Kaoruko grumbled. "Anyways, nothing much to do today. Wanna help make some cupcakes? Make them for your boyfriend~" She snickered, winking over at Nejire.

"Natsuo? Oh yeah! He's sweet." Nejire grinned, taking her cloak off and putting it inside of the kitchen area.

The bell to the door began to ring.

"Hello! How can I help you today?" Kaoruko asked. She had the perfect transition from her sarcasm to a perfect employee.

"I-I..." he noticed the people looking up at him and began to stutter. Instead of talking from the door, he sped up to the counter. "Do you have any vegan options?" He asked.

"Oh! Yeah! My friend is actually a vegan to I recommended a menu and options to my mom. I recommend the vegan cookies. Or bubble teas. Maybe the cake pops. No those aren't vegan. The pastel blue option on the Nejire menu is vegan free I think. Plus it's free if you know me, so-"

"Oh hey Nejire!"

It was Tamaki! He gave her his best smile, which was really wonky, but he was trying. He was still beaming with happiness just to see her. Nejire gasped loudly.

"Tamaki! How have ya been?! I haven't seen you in a while!" She asked, jumping over the counter and giving him a huge huge hug. "Has anyone been bothering you? I'll beat the hell out of them!" Nejire fussed.

"No, I'm fine. How was your ballet recital?" Tamaki asked, genuinely interested. He was a really awkward boy, and his height made that more obvious. He squirmed around, trying to find a good way to stand properly.

"Oh, well... I got a prom date!" Nejire beamed right back. She loved giving the same energy to others in the room.

"You did?"

"Mhm! He's really nice so far! His sister in law is a sweetheart though!"

"Oh..." He seemed upset. Slightly slouched shoulders, pouty lip, and his... was this dude breathing? Nejire didn't see the simple movement in his arms.

"Yeah. How have you been?" Nejire averted the conversation, not wanting to think about the not breathing thing. "How's school?"

"Oh, I'm homeschooled actually. Things have been good. I got a cat."

"Ooh! Pictures?"

"Here's Tatami holding her. I'm not very photogenic, so I don't take pictures with her." Tamaki mumbled and glanced down as she looked at photos of Luna and Tatami's

"You're very photogenic! You just have to be! You're so cute!" Nejire was truly offended by the idea that he didn't think he was photogenic. "It's just how you take the photos! I'll take a photo for you." She began to pull out her phone, but he placed his hands on hers really fast, before reaching back, and apologizing.

"Sorry! Please don't."

"Oh, of course! I'm sorry!" Nejire simply gushed and apologized back, before they began an apology contest. The conversation dulled as she walked Tamaki to a table and they began talking a bit.

"So... how's your dad?" Tamaki asked.

"Oh, he's good. He's so nice." Nejire laughed.

"That's cool. My dad isn't."

"Hey, at least you aren't living with him anymore. Taishiro is a lovely guy, but you probably already knew that." Nejire rambled.

They say there and talked for a bit more while Kaoruko gave them weird glances every now and then. Nejire already knew it was her Morse code version of calling Nejire a player, which she wasn't! Definitely not!

"We should Hang out more often. School gets out in a few months. We could go to the beach or something!"

"The beach?" His face scrunched up and was filled with cringe. "I burn up easily. Maybe at night?"

"Are you a vampire?" She was really just trying to make a joke, but it might've fallen flat, especially with her new job...

"Yeah! Sure?" He laughed, though, his face looked like he saw a ghost. "Wait, you and your date aren't dating or anything, right?"

"Yep! Just friends. Actually, he's my friend's boyfriend's brother." Nejire blew a raspberry, "so yeah, totally fine if we go out as friends." Tamaki simply smiled. "Can I have your number? So we can hang out?"

"Uh... sure?"

Nejire's phone began to buzz. It was on the table in front of her from when she got Tamaki's number. She looked at the sender and saw a cute emoji. Just a cute little kitten and a "Hi!", from Natsuo.

Nejire blushed at the simple idea of thinking about her even when they didn't have plans. She shot a quick "hi" back, and put her phone back down, not wanting to be rude to Tamaki.

"I just realized you never actually ordered anything."

Tamaki looked like he was blushing, though she couldn't tell. Which was weird because he was pale. It wasn't the same case as Kaoruko or Mina, because they were black girls. They were too pigmented to see a visible blush.

"It's fine. I'll order on the way out. I don't wanna eat while we talk."

"That's so polite! But that's not necessary. I'll pay." She limped her hand. "Or is it embarrassing to eat in front of people? I understand that." Nejire thought eating in front of others was weird.

"It's not. I just don't know what to order. I'm pescatarian, so... the vegan options look good but, I don't really know. And I don't wanna hold up a line."

What line.

"Oh, well... try anything, it's free!" She whispered. She really wasn't supposed to recommend anything to her friends that wasn't on the Nejire menu, or give free food to anyone, that was more of Mochi's thing. But whatever!

"I'm sorry, can you ask? I don't really wanna bother her." He begged. Nejire felt bad and nodded.

"Flavors? Preferences?"

"A bubble tea?"

"Sure!"

✨✨✨✨✨

About fifteen minutes later, Nejire waved Tamaki goodbye and looked at her phone.

"Hey, I'm heading to the cafe with my nephew. Wanna hang out?" 1:34.

Uh.

It was 2:00.

This man wasn't here.

"Sure! Sorry, I was with a friend!" She shot back after finally seeing the text. "you still on your way?"

"Nope, heading in right now"

Nejire looked up and saw Natsuo holding a little boy's hand. Luckily the place was a lot more packed because the rain had stopped. But Natsuo still held an umbrella.

"You walked?"

"No, I have a car. Roman got upset because we didn't walk though, so we walked from the park to here. He likes the rain." Natsuo looked down at the little boy, who was as short as Nejire's shins. Natsuo looked like the Jolly Green Giant next to him.

"Hi Roman! And how old are you?"

"Two!"

Messy crimson colored hair and blue eyes. He looked nothing like Moe. Touya had black hair. Nejire must've been staring a little too hard at the hair because he spoke up about it.

"Touya dyes his hair black. He doesn't like the red, plus he's a metal singer or something, so it matches his aesthetic or something." Natsuo shrugged, looking away. "Did something change? It looks different."

"Oh, well mama put flowers in the grass wall, and got more flowers. She wanted it to look like a Fairy garden, so she changed it up to look more magical. That's really it."

"Are you a fairy?" Roman asked. Nejire didn't know how to answer at all... She wanted to be-

"Yes! I am a fairy!" She wasn't backing out of the chance to be a fairy. It was her childhood dream.

"Woah! That's so cool!"

"I know right!" Nejire acted as if she didn't believe it herself, mainly because she didn't. She was just playing pretend! "Do you want one of our fairy cookies? It'll make you big and strong for all the nice people you meet! Better hugs!"

"Yeah!" Roman laughed.

"You're way better with kids than I am." Natsuo glanced down at her, who was looking at him with confusion.

"I'm just a kid who grew a bit taller." Nejire insisted on this being true. He would believe it.  She headed behind the counter with the two year old and picked out a cookie.

"You have got to stop giving people free stuff Nejire." Kaoruko said from her seat.

"How about no. It's a little kid." Nejire frowned at her friend. "Here Roman!" She handed him a simple sugar cookie. She didn't know his allergies, so she gave him something she knew couldn't have many allergies. It was gluten free as well, so that was good. "It's a gluten free sugar cookie." She whispered to Natsuo, pulling out her wallet so she could pay for the cookie.

"How long have you been here? Didn't you start work today?" Natsuo asked, sitting down with Roman on his lap. She sat in front of him, waving at Roman, who was adorable as ever.

"Hm... only an hour or so. I had my friend come, so we talked a bit. He left in the rain though." Nejire pouted, hoping he got home quickly. "How long have you been babysitting?" Pointing at Roman with her pinky

"Since he was born. My sister is a teacher so she can't watch them much. His sister is blind so my brother brings her everywhere so she doesn't get hurt or anything." Natsuo explained, holding up his nephew like the monkey held up Simba.

"I've never babysat before. Everyone thinks I'm irresponsible." Nejire laughed, kinda sad that people thought of her like that. "Kids are so lovely though! I don't want any, but they're so cute!"

She glanced down at Roman who had his teeth showing in a large smile.

"See!"