Shuichi took a deep breath as he walked into the bookstore, or really, his first shift. As he glanced around the store, he saw many customers of all shapes and sizes wander and shop about, minding their own business. The occasional child would screech and cry, but that wouldn't bother Shuichi too much (the only thing that would get on his nerves would be peppy Christmas music that would blare throughout the store, over and over again). Overall, the bookstore was quiet, and the speakers sputtered out gentle piano music. Currently, Nocturne op.9 No.2 was playing; it sent Saihara through a calm state, and it reminded him of the night Kokichi played piano for him.

After a minute of standing in a daze, Shuichi punched-in and officially began his shift. He was given a whole crate of books, and he must admit it was heavy. But, Shuichi was grateful that, as Kokichi had said, his visits to the gym payed off. Saihara lifted the crate and carried it off to the true crime section (his favorite; he squealed internally) and set it on the ground. The male began to place books atop the shelf in alphabetical order, and actually found it rather enjoyable; organizing things always had appealed to Shuichi, sorting things out, puzzles and such. Speaking of puzzles, the male would daydream and imagine him and Kokichi working on puzzles together—it was a pure thought, something Shuichi wished would come true.

Not too long ago (maybe a couple weeks at best) Shuichi and Ouma had gotten together with Kaede to—once again—discuss where it would be best to hold the maid and butler café. They had wrote down a Plan A, backup plans and ended up deciding on holding it at the coffee shop on campus. Their night ended out by eating semi burnt popcorn and watching bad movies. Both Kaede and Shuichi had ended up leaning their heads on both of Ouma's shoulders. Shuichi felt his heart ache at the sight of Kaede holding Kokichi's hand, and he held her's back. He attempted to shake the memory from his head, and even though he wasn't a fan of it, Shuichi would be more than happy to drink so much alcohol that the memory would wash away from his head.

A while had passed (an hour per-say), and Saihara had finished up re-stocking books for a couple shelves, helping a customer find a section or book every-so-often (he would come to the store a lot, so he practically knew the layout like the back of his hand). He stretched, lifting his long arms over his head, arching his back. And, as he did, he heard a big thump in the next row of books. In the adult-oriented section, a short boy with orchid hair crouched down and picked up a couple books, stacking them on the shelf.

"Kokichi. . .?" Shuichi wondered aloud as he glanced over into the adult section. He then confirmed it was his crush, and, out of excitement, he practically ran to him, "Kokichi, you work here, too?" The boy quizzed with a smile.

Said boy jumped, shoving a book onto the shelf quite frantically (Shuichi couldn't quite catch what it was, but judging by how quickly he lodged the novel into the shelf indicated it wasn't something clean). His face was flushed, and a drop of sweat seemed to be trailing down his forehead. "S-Saihara-Chan?! What the," he lowered his voice and glanced around, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Shuichi chuckled, "well, I work here. . .and I'm on my shift," he explained with a smile.

The short boy nodded, continuing to do his job. The tall boy remained silent and occasionally glanced towards the books his crush was handling. Lots of them were definitely targeted towards adults.

"So, when do you get off your shift?" Shuichi quizzed, looking to the side, occasionally bouncing on his heels (he had gotten that habit from Kaede). He felt the color red creep up his cheeks as the short boy snuck a glance at him.

"In a couple hours," he started," or maybe in one? Or threeee~? Who knows!" He closed the crate, and picked it up.

The taller male chuckled with a sweet smile, "I'm getting off work in two hours, also, so. . .wanna go get some coffee back on campus?" He asked. Saihara began to feel his heart beat from nervousness—it wasn't a date or anything, he just wanted to hang out and get coffee with his crush. Though, if it was a date, Shuichi would be even more than happy to attend.

"Mmmm, I dunno, was thinking about hangin' out with Kaede," Kokichi mumbled with a smirk. The imp seemed to notice the other's 'jealousy' and snickered, "Jeez, I'm kidding! I haven't spent too much time with my best friend, so of course we can go!"

Shuichi gulped, "a-ah, yeah. . ."

"Welp, you should probably get back to work~! Don't wanna get fired on the first day~!"

"Ah! Uh—yep—I'll see you after the shift, or—"

Kokichi smiled and peered over to the others crate. It seemed to lack books. "Shu-Chan, your crates' empty too, lets go put them in the back room together," he suggested with a small—yet playful—tone.

Shuichi only mustered a nod.

He quickly grabbed his empty crate, and made his way back to Ouma, who patiently waited for him. But that was a lie; he hummed loudly, and occasionally groaned impatiently.

"I'm here, I'm here," Shuichi reassured.

"Jeez! Finally! It took you like, an hour!"

"You mean five seconds, right?"

"Mhm, whatever!"

Ouma skipped ahead with his crate, Shuichi followed quickly behind with his. They reached the backroom and were supplied with another crate, the second to last one before their shift was indeed over. They began to re-stock once more, conversing as they did so.

"Haha, Hey Shumai, I'll be riiiight back, 'kay?" Kokichi smiled widely at the other, "gotta piss!"

As Ouma trotted away, Shuichi rolled his eyes, "TMI, Kokichi. . ."

After around what seemed to be an eternity (it was only ten minutes, really) Saihara began to grow somewhat worried. He kept attempting to pass it on as 'technical difficulties', but something wouldn't let him. He finished up restocking the shelf, and pranced off to the bathroom to check on Ouma. Saihara trotted to the bathroom door and opened it to hear Kokchi's voice—he was on the phone, on a call. As the male began to turn (he hadn't wanted to eavesdrop more than he already had), he heard Kaede's name. He stilled as if he were frozen in a chamber; the door had almost creaked, and he knew it was wrong to listen in on a call, but he had to—he couldn't help himself.

Curiosity can do so much.

"I dunno, I just lean more towards guys. . .but I guess there's a spark about girls, soooo. . . c'mon. I just need some help, Kayayday," Kokichi's voice echoed.

"Bi? The hell is that?" Silence, "ooohhh, I seee!! But. . ."

Shuichi gulped. He raised his thumb to his lips and began to naw at his nail; his heart pounded, he could practically feel it against his chest, the pumps and throbs of the organ sounding like a ticking time bomb. He felt as if there were a big hole in his chest. A familiar sinking feeling made itself known in Shuichi's stomach. He felt sick.

"Mmm, I'll keep it in mind~ I don't wanna confirm just yet, I'll dieeee!!" There was silence yet again, "awww, I knoww, thanks Kayayday~! Welp, I gotta get back to work before Shuichi gets lost, tootles~"

Just as Shuichi heard the stall door unlock, he booked it out of there, not giving a damn if he made a sound. He rushed back over to his empty crate. To lessen suspicion upon himself, he dumped a couple books from Ouma's crate into his own, and slowly began stacking books whilst his head throbbed.

"Saihara-Channn~! Sorry, I'm back~ Had to take a call," he explained while sauntering over to the other male and reaching back into his crate

"It's—It's fine, Kokichi," he replied shakily.

The boy with orchid hair squinted his eyes at Saihara, attempting to decipher why exactly he was shaken. He hummed as he came up with a couple solutions, deciding to bring them up for a conversation later.

Every once and awhile, he and Saihara would have something called (as Ouma had named it) 'the conversation'.

(He knew it was cringe and boring, but he insisted that he couldn't think of anything else.)

It was a time when he and the other would sit down and talk about what was on their mind—be completely honest with themselves and the other. It was kind of a therapy session, as both boys hadn't had enough money to pay for therapy (as it was unreasonably expensive). It helped them grow as friends, and this very thing manifested them into best friends. And ironically, even though Ouma lies constantly and is know for that, he had come up with that idea. It was super cool to Shuichi.

Hopefully it would go well.

Time had passed, and both boys had finished their shift, not a single bad customer. Ouma had left work with a potential answer, while Shuichi left with a sense of dread.

Kokichi hummed as he stepped on the cracks of the sidewalk, Saihara beside him walking like the normal human he was. The fluffy clouds reflected within his golden eyes as his dark clothes absorbed the heat of the sun. Soon after leaving, they had traveled back to their dorms to change into more comfy clothes.

Now, they sit in the café. Shuichi sipped his usual black coffee, while Ouma chugged a bottle of (sickeningly sweet) grape panta.

"Hey, Kokichi, did you send the email yet?" Shuichi asked as he set his cup down atop a wooden coaster.

The trio had decided to have their maid and butler café in the current one they were now sitting in. They couldn't host one in the seminar room, nor other parts of the building; all that was left was to email the café manager and ask if they could use it for a day. Ouma was in charge of sending said email.

"Uhhh," Ouma spoke into his panta bottle, "what email?" His eyes darted up towards the other male, who now had an expression of disappointment and frustration.

Shuichi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "you were supposed to send the email last night. . .you have their business card, right? It's supposed to have their email. . ."

Ouma excused himself from the table. He skipped over to the front counter (cutting people in line, what an Ouma move) and snagged a business card from beside the cash register. He strode back to the table with a smirk of immense pride and plopped back into his seat. "Yes," he said.

Saihara couldn't help but chuckle. "You really are something, Kokichi. . ." He muttered into his coffee cup.

He basked in the warm steam that brushed against his face as he sipped his drink, though he almost spit the coffee out as Ouma leaned back, resting his shoes on the table.

"K-Kokichi! You can't do that, we're in public—you're not at home," he scolded in a loud whisper.

The shorter male only rolled his eyes and set his feet onto the floor. He narrowed his eyes towards the other, setting his cheek atop his palm. "There," he said, "better?"

"Mhm," Shuichi hummed.

"Such a party pooper," the short boy mumbled under his breath. "Oh, that reminds me!" He snapped his fingers and focused onto Saihara, "why were you all down in the dumps earlier? You were all nervous, Shumai~"

"Uh. . . Nothing was wrong?" Lie.

Ouma whistled, "oh, why does my beloved Shu-toy lie! It makes me want to-" he cut himself off by his crocodile tears spilling down his cheeks. His cries were worst than a baby's wails and screams.

"W-Wait! K-Kokichi, don't cry! I'll admit!" Shuichi attempted to calm the other down as both males received vexed looks from other customers, "people are staring. . ." He whispered.

Ouma seemed to suck up the tears, them disappearing as quickly as they emerged. "Oh boy, I feel so much better!" The male crossed his legs, narrowing his eyes at the other male. Screwing on the green cap to the bottle of grape panta, he sat it to the side, "anyways! I would like it if dear Shumai roll would tell me why he was so down!"

Fidgeting his fingers beneath the table, Saihara sighed, "I may have heard your call," he admitted sheepishly, "you know, the one you mentioned earlier. . ."

"Oh," Ouma frowned, though it was a subtle one.

Shuichi gulped. Was Ouma mad at him? Were they going to have an argument (and in public for that matter)? What if he upright just left?

Oh shit, he thought.

"I'm really mad at you, Saihara-Chan. How dare you eavesdrop on a very important call? How rude."

Shuichi frowned, "Ah. . . I'm really sorry, Kokichi—"

"But that's a lie."

"Huh?" Shuichi looked up to see the boy smiling wide with joy.

"I said that it's a lie, Shu," he replied bluntly, voice soft and filled with sultry.

"Ah, that's relieving," Shuichi chuckled with a relieved sigh. Sometimes Ouma can really trip him up.

"But I am mad at you for one thing, Shuichi."

"Oh? What is it?" The navy haired male felt his stomach churn. A wave of tension washed over them like a disastrous tsunami.

"I'm upset that you lied about it. How dare you lie to me." Ouma leaned back in his chair, "and to make up for it," he smiled wide, "I want you to buy me panta for the rest of the month!"

"I won't buy you any until you email the café," Shuichi said.

"Ugh, fiineee! You're such a cheapskate, you lying sack a shit," The short boy huffed.

Shuichi chuckled. He swished the coffee in his mug around, gazing into it and watching his reflection. The male frowned, "Kokichi, what are you gonna say to Kaede about your decision on. . .you know."

"My sexuality?" He questioned.

"Yeah. . ."

"Hmmm, well," Ouma took a swig of his soda, then set it down, "I think. . . I like guys more." Ouma's response seemed real, serious. Shuichi appreciated that.

"Is that so. . ." He mumbled.

"But I guess there's a spark for girls," he said.

Shuichi nodded.

"Though, I feel weird about having se-"

"Intercourse. . ." Shuichi corrected.

"Yeah yeah, Mr. Auto Censorship." The boy giggled at Shuichi's face. He thought it was kinda cute; he looked adorable when mad.

"Anyways," The short male said, "I don't think I wanna put my huge meat stick into those fleshy tacos!"

Shuichi couldn't help but giggle.

"But they can be nice," he grinned, "girls, not pussy or whatever that's called."

"Ah. . ."

Both boys eventually went quiet, but it was a comfortable silence. It was nice. They stopped talking about it for the rest of their time there, indulging in the quiet.

Before both boys left the café, Shuichi had reminded Ouma to email the café by that night. The short boy promised he would, though Shuichi remained weary about it.

The festival was nearing, and Shuichi was sure that it would go as planned.

Or was that just false hope?