Okay so this book

Is now going to go wild 

Less get it

Also Shinji doesn't die because why the hell would I not want him alive? 

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The next time you saw your new favorite customer, he was with his old friends from high school. 

You recognized them as Shinjiro Aragaki, the edgy student who like rarely ever came to class and Mitsuru Kirijo, the owner of the Kirijo company. Mitsuru has come in a few times a week for a few months and Shinjiro came in once or twice... Ever. Around midnight. So you were the one to serve him. He... Scared you. 

So to see this trio of ex classmates walk in at 10 at night? You were intrigued to say the least. Your night was about to get ten times more interesting. 

"Hello, hello! Welcome to Karma Coffee where late nights are a given and overtime pay is guaranteed. What can I get started for you three?" You've been trying to get increasingly more creative with your goofy slogans and that's what you came up with tonight. All three customers laughed slightly. Mitsuru was the first to step up. 

"I'll have a café au lait, sil vouz plait. And a blueberry lemon scone please," the redhead said, adding a bit of French flair for rhyming purposes. It was a nice touch. You nodded and jotted it down on your computer. 

"Oh and are we paying together or separately?" You asked, running your hand through your hair and messing with a strand. 

"Together," from Shinjiro. 

"Separately," from Mitsuru. 

"We didn't discuss this," from Akihiko. 

And yes, these were said all at the same time. 

You shook your head slightly. 

"Uh, do you need a moment to talk about this?" The three nodded and turned towards each other. You turned around to get started on Mitsuru's order but you could hear their hushed conversation. 

"...I thought we agreed to pay separately," said Mitsuru. 

"Considering this is the first time we've met up in months, please, allow me," Shinjiro responded. 

"We had this conversation outside, I thought we'd pay for our own things," Mitsuru again. 

"And I would like to buy everything. Think of it as a reunion present," Shinjiro. 

Then you heard a sigh and a pair of footsteps approached your station. 

"I'll pay," Akihiko said, running a hand through his hair. He put his card in the machine preemptively then turned around and glared at his friends. Shinjiro put his hands up slightly and Mitsuru couldn't meet his eyes. 

"That seemed to settle that, alright. Who's next?" Shinjiro went next. 

"Just a black coffee. That's it," easy enough. 

Akihiko ordered five shots of espresso. Five whole shots. Seeing the two he'd be spending his night with, you understood why. 

No one argued with him while the boxer paid for the food and drinks. 

Mitsuru's coffee was ready first since her order was put in first and you made it when they were arguing. Shinjiros and Akihikos were simple enough to make so you quickly did their while grabbing the scone with your left hand. 

Scone, plate, napkins, redhead. Coffee, saucer, give. Smile at her thank you, move to the next. 

Black coffee to the beanie man, on a saucer with napkins. A small nod to the cream and sugar so he knows where it is. 

You stared at the espresso in the cup in front of you. It almost stared back. You blinked at your reflection in the dark liquid. You swear you saw it blink back at you two seconds later. Did you create a monster out of coffee? Is this okay to serve to your favorite customer? You shook those thoughts from your head as you placed the cup on a saucer and hand it to the silver haired man, refusing to look at it any longer. 

He thanked you softly before taking a large sip, downing the espresso in one gulp. 

What. The. Fuck. 

You watched in abject horror at his display of pure dominance. He seemed to notice you staring and before bringing the cup down from his lips, he winked at you so quickly if you blinked you would've missed it. 

And blink you did only after witnessing this. 

Your cheeks turned a bright shade of red and you turned your back to the trio to hide your blush. 

You almost seemed to clean a hole through the cup you were wiping with a towel. 

Truth be told, Akihiko is an attractive man. That's a fact. You couldn't deny it even if you wanted to. And you don't want to. 

In Akihikos head you are extremely attractive too. And it's fun to mess with you like he did earlier. Seeing you blush was nice. 

"Hey Y/N," Shinjiro called for your attention and you almost dropped the cup. "So why'd you stay in Tatsumi anyway? I heard you got a pretty good scholarship to a high level college out of town." 

"Oh, hehe, yeah, that. It turns out my parents blew all my college fund money on their gambling addictions so with what I had left I moved out and got this job. I couldn't leave even though I really wanted to. Plus, I had some... Unfinished business here in town I never saw through. Luckily I didn't have to," you put the cup down and leaned against the bar, facing the three in front of you. 

"Unfinished business? Of what kind?" Mitsuru asked. 

"Of the mystery kind, I'm afraid. Not something I'm able to talk about openly. A trade secret," you joked and held your index finger against your lips. Your eyes darted over to the box next to the register for a second but quickly darted back. 

"Alright then, keep your secrets," the redhead giggled softly and you laughed with her. Akihiko chuckled and Shinjiro smiled but it never met his eyes. You wondered why. 

You might ask him later if it's not too invasive. 

"That's got me interested. Can you at least say some little thing about it?" Akihiko rested his head on his hand. You smiled slyly. 

"Let's just say... I had a few friends I wanted to meet but they ended up not being around. Sucks but it is how it is. Some people actually managed to leave Tatsumi," that was all you could say. 

The real reason was you didn't know why Strega disappeared all those years ago. You were afraid they'd pop up again and try and form another doomsday cult. You couldn't allow that to happen. So the plan was to... Eliminate them. Yes, eliminate them. 

"You know Yukari Takeba? She made it out. She runs a pretty high end fashion boutique over in Okinawa," Akihiko commented offhandedly. You nodded as if you knew who that was. A friend of theirs, perhaps? 

"Oh yes, she sometimes sends me products she's made to have me try them or model for her new website," Mitsuru said. "I'm not quite prepared to truly be a model so it's quite the ask whenever she does." Shinjiro let out a breath like a laugh. 

"You're a very gorgeous woman, makes sense why she would ask you," you said and saw Mitsuru blush a little bit. 

"Why, thank you. I appreciate it," she shyly said, unlike her stoic seeming demeanor. 

Once again, time seemed to fly by with these three keeping lively company. 

Eventually they all packed up to leave. You called out to Shinjiro before he could walk away. 

"Hey, uh, Shinjiro? If it's not too invasive, I noticed your smile didn't meet your eyes earlier. Is something the matter? I know we're pretty near strangers and all so you don't have to open up if you don't want to," you kinda rambled at him and he watched you with slightly raised eyebrows. Once you were done, he just kept looking at you then cleared his throat. 

"Kid, enjoy the time you have on this planet. You never know how long you have until it's almost gone," and with that, the beanie wearing man was out the door, leaving you more stumped than before you asked. 

You walked to the register and leaned against your elbows that were placed on the counter. Tilting your head slightly, you thought about what he said. 

Your hand reached for the small box next to the register and you traced your finger along the handle. 

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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OKAY I'M TIRED GNIGHT

See y'all soon <3