“Kurumi, do you know that girl?” Chisato lifted up her coffee up as she silently pointed away at the a girl silently making a cup of coffee behind the counter. She had black hair tied in a ponytail tucked properly inside her hairnet and covered with a cap, and those striking purple eyes… They were cold but also gentle.
“Ah… I don’t know her, but I think she might be that transfer student today.” Kurumi focused on her laptop screen as she played a well-known fps game. “Is that why you wanted to go here? You said you wanted to try out the coffee.”
“I did. This coffee is nice, but I feel like something is lacking also what? There’s a transfer student?” Chisato’s scrutinizing gaze followed the black haired girl. Watching each of her movement, how graceful her hands moved, the sometimes clumsy expressions. She a cutie.
“You should wake up from your class naps every now and then. Yeah, to the class next door. Fuki might know her.” Kurumi suddenly grinned as her laptop screen flashed ‘Victory’. “Alright, take that noobs.”
“You should really lay it off the fps games sometimes…” Chisato sipped her coffee, her eyes still following the girl. “Wait, if she’s on the same class as Fuki, then she’s the same age as us?”
“Not sure, heard she was a year younger.” Kurumi stretched her arms above her head before lazily putting it on the back rest of her chair like a gangster. “Something about getting suspended from her last school for punching a classmate or something.”
“Whoa.” Chisato continued to watch the girl. She seemed pretty… Well she’s pretty. She seemed nice though… Maybe, innocent?
~*
“Hey, Fuuuuukiiiiii~” Chisato spread her arms wide before grabbing the short girl right in front of her with all her might.
“What in the? What are you doing Chisadumbo!?” Fuki immediately slipped away from Chisato’s arms as she raised an eyebrow at her. “What?”
“Isn’t that a bit mean? No matter how you look at me, I’m a cute and jolly 17 year old~ And not an elephant.” Chisato sighed as students continued to pass by in the hallway.
“I meant no offense to the elephant, but I meant to call you dumb Chisato.” Fuki sighed before turning towards the door to her class until a hand stopped her from entering. “What?”
“I wanted to ask something.”
“Why don’t you lead with that next time?” Fuki turned around and walked towards the corner in between her and Chisato’s class. She crossed her arms in front of her. “What?”
“Tell me about the transfer student in your class!” Chisato grinned at her like a puppy finding a chew bone. “What’s her name? How old is she? Where is she from? What school? Did she enter a club yet–“
“Hold it right there, Chisadoggo. One at a time.” Fuki chopped Chisato’s forehead, a clean hit.
“Aghh~ Just tell me! Spill the beans~” Chisato stood close to Fuki as she waited patiently in full interest.
“Her name’s Inoue Takina, and why don’t you ask her the rest yourself?” Fuki looked at someone behind Chisato and quickly escaped to the classroom.
Chisato quickly turned behind her and was suddenly face to face with that pretty face with the bright amethyst eyes. She wouldn’t call it quite up close and personal, but she would indeed call it too close for a first meeting, especially if their noses were almost touching.
“Gwah! S- Sorry!” Chisato immediately took a few steps backward and the girl only bowed at her, beelining for the door to their classroom. She tucked her hair behind her ears before disappearing inside. You’re blushing? That’s cute…
~*
Chisato would like to think that those red ears meant she blushed because her heart skipped a bit at their interaction. Her shy reaction was extremely cute…
“But anyone would be surprised in that situation huh…” Chisato balanced a pencil on her upper lips as she stared outside the window.
“Hey you! Focus on the problem!” Their teacher, Nakahara Mizuki, threw a super sharp chalk her way that was swiftly dodged in time, hitting the poor guy behind her target. “Stop daydreaming, Nishikigi!”
“Please don’t turn your students into practice targets!” Chisato answered back with a grr and the teacher just sighed before picking up a new piece of chalk and writing on the board. She was so cute though… I wonder what her voice is like…?
~*
Chisato looked at her phone.
“Since you were being such a brat in class today, I went home without you. Ah, I took your umbrella.”
“Mizuki… I am going to murder her and leave her body in corn field…” She clutched her phone as she angrily stared at the pouring dark sky in front of the school gates. Her phone vibrated again, but a message from a different person.
“Chisato, we have plenty of customers together. Hurry back.”
Chisato sighed as she put her phone in her bag. Thankfully school bags are designed to be slightly waterproof… She made sure her books were arranged neatly, and a hand towel on top for security… “Alright.” She dashed out into the pouring rain hugging her bag.
She leered her eyes as she finally reached a convenience store she could probably take shelter for a while to wring her clothes. There was a bit more until she reached home.
Upon stepping into the clearing, she saw someone else standing under the shade, slender white hands wringing the water from their clothes. Chisato looked up and wow, were the gods and goddesses of chance blessing her.
“Oh.”
“Ah…” The black haired beauty from the class next door immediately recognized her. “Hello…” She bowed her head a little before letting go of her drenched skirt that she just wrung.
“Hi…” Chisato blinked as she found herself staring. The uniform the clung to her thin body stature, the drenched long black hair, the bangs clinging to her forehead as droplets of rain trickled down that pretty face… and the confused amethyst eyes staring right into her. “Ah, uh… I’m not a suspicious person? I’m wearing the same uniform as you and–“
“Pfft… I know?” The pretty girl laughed, those thin lips pursing together, as those amused eyes looked at her.
“W- Well… Yeah. Um… I’m Nishikigi Chisato.” Chisato slowly walked up next to her, her wet shoes making splishy splashy noises as she walked. “Nice to meet you…?” She lightly bowed at the stranger, while still keeping her gaze on her.
“Inoue Takina… but you knew that already, I suppose?” Takina also nodded at her as she held her dripping wet school bag in front of her. “No umbrella for you too, Nishikigi-san?”
“Ah, just call me Chisato. ‘Nishikigi’ isn’t it a bit hard to say?” Chisato smiled at her. “And yeah… My stupid cousin took my umbrella and went away with it even though she had a car…” She gritted her teeth as she leered at the direction of her house.
“Well, Chisato…-san then.” Takina followed Chisato’s gaze, as they both looked down the road. “Hm?”
“No need for -san~ Of course. Ah!” Chisato suddenly clapped her hands together. “Wanna go to my house? It’s just down the road. I can lend you a change of clothes for the mean time, we can wash and dry your uniform.”
“Do you invite anyone like this to your home?” Takina looked at her suspiciously.
“Of course not. I just do them to people I consider as a friend, right, Takina?” Chisato gave her a bright smile.
“F- Friend?” Takina blinked at her in surprise.
“Yep, yep. Well then let’s go partner~!” Chisato grabbed Takina by the wrist as they ran under the pouring rain.
“Eh? Ehhh??? Chisato-san!?”
“Let’s go, go~!”
(The Beauty Over There/END)
Bonus
“CHISATO-SAN IS HEREEEE!” Chisato opened the door to a cafe named ‘Cafe LycoReco’ swishing the door outwards with so much force as she stepped inside drenched from top to bottom.
“Ah~ The annoying one’s finally here.” Mizuki only looked at the doorway from her seat inside the cafe. She took a swig from her glass of sake. “Glad you made it in time, all the customers went home already because the rain already let up.”
“I would have been here to help out, if you didn’t go and take my umbrella, you unmarried drunkard!” Chisato pointed at her, some of the water from her hair and hands splashing a little on the wooden floors. “Gah! Now the floor is wet! Ah, sorry, Takina–“
“Um… Nakahara-sensei?” Takina stood next to Chisato, equally dripping wet from the rain.
“Oh, Inoue-chan. Hi~” Mizuki waved at her then turned to Chisato. “Wiped that already!”
“How am I gonna wipe it if no one’s giving me, her, us, towels!?” Chisato raised her hands above her head in a tantrum, and as if summoned, two tall men entered the main floor of the cafe with two sets of towels. One of them had long dark hair, and another a stunning blond man. “Sensei~ Yoshi-san~”
“Here you go, dry well. I’m Mika, I’m the manager of this cafe.” The long dark haired man introduced himself and flashed a gentle smile towards Takina. “Here, Chisato.” He handed Chisato a towel, as the blonde man handed one to Takina.
“I’m Yoshimatsu Shinji. I come here often, so I’d say I’m not really someone who worked here like everyone else, but I do know the ins and outs of the place.” He gave Takina a towel and smiled at her.
“So as you may have already noticed, the annoying drunkard over there is my cousin, and then these two are my dads!” Chisato grinned as she wrung her clothes and dried her hair.
“T- Two dads?” Takina blinked as she tried to dry her hair as well. “N- Nice to meet you, I’m Inoue Takina. I apologize for suddenly dropping by unannounced…”
“I didn’t know you two knew each other.” Mizuki sipped from her sake again as she watched them.
“We didn’t know each other until today? Ah, but I did know about her.” Chisato smiled as she pointed a thumb at Takina. “You worked at the cafe in front of the station right? Ah, did you have a shift today?”
Takina looked at Chisato after rubbing the towel on her long black hair. “No, I was training there until yesterday, but I was told I didn’t cut it, so I was, to put it simply, fired. I was going to look for a new today, but there was this sudden rain…”
“Ah… Why would they fire someone as cute as you? What’s wrong with them? Oh yeah! Sensei, sensei. Aren’t we looking for a part-timer?” Chisato looked at Mika, and there was a silence between the two of them for a moment, as if trying to talk with their eyes. “Why don’t we get her?”
Takina blinked as she watched Mika and Chisato talk. “C- Cute…? Thank you…?”
Shinji only turned to her and laughed. “Just let them be. They bond like that. I do agree though, this place could use a hand.”
“See?! Let’s get her, please?” Chisato grinned as smiled at Takina.
“Okay. Anyway, for now, go take a bath. Before you two catch a cold.” Mika handed them another towel as they dry up.
“By the way, where’s Kurumi–Ahchoo!” Chisato sneezed as the door next to her that lead to the bath and the backrooms opened.
“Oh, Chisato, you’re here. Was worried for you since Mizuki went and picked me up. We got back together.” Kurumi patted her blonde hair with a towel. “Oh, you’re the transfer student.”
“I’m Inoue Takina, nice to meet you.” Takina bowed at her.
“MIZUKI! WHY WOULD YOU DO ME LIKE THIS?!” Chisato pointed at Mizuki who only shrugged. “Gwah–Ahhchoo!! Let’s go, Takina~”
“I’m Kurumi– and yeah you can go use the bath.” Kurumi waved her hands at Chisato who walked past her and Takina who only nodded at her.
~*
The water from the shower head dripped in a steady rhythm towards the marbled bathroom floor. Steam rose in the air as the bath tub overflowed into the drainage.
“Fooo~ I’m alive~” Chisato sat on one corner of the bath as Takina followed her quickly. “Finally some warmth…”
“That’s true…” Takina agreed as she closed her eyes and let the warm water embrace her body.
“Takina…” Chisato leaned her arm onto side of the bathtub, a hand hanging out as she rested her cheek on her forearm. “You don’t seem like the type to forget your umbrella… What happened?”
“Ah… I was looking for new part-time jobs and ran into a little girl and her little brother stranded in front of the park… So I gave them the umbrella.” Takina scooped some water in her hands, and then opened her hands as the water slowly flowed back to the bath. “…It would be bad if their parents got worried because they were home late because of the rain.”
Chisato watched her as she talked, the solemn emotions that showed only in those purple eyes, it pulled at her. The sadness and loneliness that was briefly there as she mentioned about the children and worried parents, Chisato knew that there may be something else.
“Do you not have someone like that?” Chisato asked with a quiet voice.
“…I moved here alone after being suspended from my school in Kyoto.” Takina looked up from the water and then towards Chisato. “With how fast rumors spread, I suppose you already know that.”
“Rumors are just rumors.” Chisato smiled. “I’m not gonna ask you to tell me.”
Takina looked back down at the water. “Thank you.”
“You’re gonna accept, right?”
“The what?”
“The part-time, here.” Chisato grinned. “We’re a cafe too.”
“If you’ll have me, then… I will take it.” Takina moved her hand in the bath water. “Is it really okay? For me to just take this work like that.”
“Yeah. In return, let’s have tons of fun as we work together.” Chisato smiled at her as she hold up a hand for a hand shake. “Please take care of me from now on, Takina.”
Takina looked at the extended hand for a bit before taking it. “…All right.”
“Any questions?”
“…There’s too many I don’t know where to start.”
(END)
