harrukan-blog

[harrukan-blog]

NAGISA;

     Nagisa leaned forward, his face practically pressed against the counter top, while Haru spelled out his order. “Ohhh,” he said after it was clear Haru had finished, “an iced vanilla latte? Those are always yummy! And, lucky for you, I make the best ones in town. Really. I swear that’s not an exaggeration– just ask Makoto!”

     After folding the menu, Nagisa threw it back in the drawer. Then, he rung up Haru’s total on the cash register, but didn’t ask him for his credit card. Instead he reached into his pocket and swiped his own card through the expecting slot. The machine dinged when it spit out the receipt. 

     “This one’s on the house.” Nagisa winked and handed Haru the slip of paper. “So just wait a sec, ’kay? It’ll be right out!”

     One dazzling smile later and Nagisa was fiddling with the coffee machines behind the counter. He moved so fast it was almost as if he was the protagonist in a sped-up video game, blurring in and out of sight while he filled a cup with Haru’s order. Once the drink was complete, he grabbed a can of whipped cream to top it off, swirling the tip like it was an ice cream cone.

     “Aaaand here you go! One iced vanilla latte, brewed to perfection, but still one hundred percent alcohol-free!” Nagisa looked around in mock-suspicion and then lowered his voice. “There’s a little extra whip, but don’t tell anyone, okay? It’ll be our secret!”

     With one eye on his book, and one eye on Nagisa, Haru waited for his drink. Nagisa seemed to be really good at his job, and Haru wondered how long he’d been working there.

     Once Haru’s drink had been passed over to him, he took it gratefully and took a sip. He smiled at Nagisa’s joke, fiddling with the pages of his book. Suddenly, his expression turned grave, and, as if he’d taken Nagisa’s joke to heart, he nodded, crossing his heart as if to say, “I won’t tell!” 

     And then he smiled and laughed, quiet and soft.

     “Thaaank...y-you.”

     He took another sip of his drink, and closed his book. He looked around; there was no one else who needed their order filled. The cafe was only populated with the occasional person sitting at a table on their laptop, taking advantage of the free wifi.

     Haru found he had more confidence with fewer people around.

     “Th-This is...verrrry good. I-I’ll have...to come h-here...more offfften, um...” He trailed off, looking at Nagisa’s nametag, before picking up again to finish off his sentence. “...N-Nagisa.”

[harrukan-blog]

NAGISA;

     Customers bustled in and out of the shop, crowding the front while they chatted away. Some of them never looked up from their phones. Nagisa didn’t mind that too much– he knew these people were busy, and that they just wanted their coffee so they could get to wherever they were going– but when they were too distracted to even say thank you, well, that bothered him a little bit.

     After the lunch rush was over and the front quieted down, Nagisa wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. “Phew!” He shot one of his coworkers a pair of finger guns. “How about that? It was pretty crazy, right? I thought we’d drown for sure!”

     The bell hanging above the front door jingled. Nagisa glanced at the clock– 2:15 PM, it said– and then he turned toward the man who had just walked in with a great big smile. “Hi! Thanks for stopping by our totally cool, super fantastic cafe! How can I help y–?”

     Nagisa suddenly grew quiet. The customer– a stranger who he had never seen before– looked absolutely terrified. “Wait,” he said, his exuberant smile softening considerably. “I think I get it– you’re the strong silent type, right? Y’know, like on TV? Okay, hold on…”

     Ducking behind the counter, Nagisa rummaged through the cabinets, and then finally pulled out a menu before presenting it to Haru. “Here! Just point to what you want and I’ll make it for you lickety-split, and, um, if you want, like, extra whip or something, just gimme a thumbs up! Okay?”

     Haru stared at Nagisa for a long minute, his eyes widening at his suggestion that Haru was the “strong silent type”. 

     “I-I’m nnnnot,” he began, but cut himself off, not wanting to make a fool of himself in front of everyone in the coffee shop. He grew silent and Nagisa held out the menu for him.

     After that, Haru was a little less on edge. He gave Nagisa a grateful half-smile (which, for all intents and purposes, looked a little weird, considering he was still chewing his lip ring), nodded, and then looked over the menu before pointing at what he’d wanted: first, the part that said “iced”, and then the part that said “vanilla latte”. Then, Haru pulled his hand away, and, quieter than he’d meant to, he said, “Thaaaat’s...a-all,” feeling that he needed to say something to make sure Nagisa knew he was finished his order.

     Even if that meant, y’know, fucking up every single word he said.

     He just hoped Nagisa wouldn’t say anything.

     Then, he sat down at the bar near the register, and pulled out a book to wait.

[harrukan-blog]

@firetruth

     Haru had made a very stupid mistake; he’d gone into Green Bean Coffee all by himself— without Rin— which meant that he had no one to speak for him. And god knows, he sure as hell couldn’t speak for himself.

     He considered just turning around and leaving, without the iced vanilla latte that he’d wanted so badly that he actually went into a coffee shop, but before he could, the small blond barista behind the counter called him over with a smile and a wave.

     He approached the counter, chewing nervously on his lip ring, before standing there and looking completely and utterly terrified to the point that he was shaking.

     Look what you’ve gotten yourself into this time, Haru. 

[harrukan-blog]

roaroftim-e.

     Sabrina looked from her hand, to Haru, and then back again. She was shocked at his mistake; no one had ever done such a thing in her presence before. A snicker bubbled up in her chest before growing into a full-belly laugh. “Ha! You’re a riot, you know that, right?” After wiping a tear from her eye, she forcibly quieted herself down. Then, she cleared her throat and said, “That’s really cool, to be honest. I swim all the time for, like, fun and junk.” With her next words, her voice grew quieter than it had ever been. “Whenever I’m in the pool, it’s like I’m in a whole ’nother world, y’know? Like… it’s just me, and the water.”

     Silence fell over her shoulders. For a moment, Sabrina zoned out. Time flickered in waves around her; some places slowed, while others sped up, before everything eventually fell back into normalcy. Then, she snapped back to attention, and smiled at Haru. “That probably doesn’t make much sense, though. Ah, well. Whatever.”

     Haru immediately shied away as Sabrina laughed at him. He looked off to the side, and wanted to put his headphones back in. Suddenly, he wished that he could disappear. What was so funny? He made a mistake, and that was that. But, she seemed to have moved on. She mentioned swimming, then, and he perked up a little. He was happy to hear someone talk about something he loved so much.

     That didn’t last long, though, because she stopped talking and he felt awkward. Haru had nothing to say, and he shuffled. Until she spoke again. “U-Um...a-actually.” He cleared his throat, trying to get his bearings. “I-I-I,” shit, I destroyed that, “f-feel the same way. I-In the water.”

[harrukan-blog]

roaroftim-e.

     “Haruka, huh? Doesn’t that mean, like, spring or somethin’?” Sabrina rubbed her chin in contemplation. “Yeah, I’m sure it does! I remember it from that one anime… I think it was called Free? Ehhh… I was pretty weird–there were a lotta shirtless dudes–but it was all right, I guess.” While she talked, her voice got progressively louder. When she noticed this, she hung her head and dragged a hand down her face. “This ‘being quiet’ thing is a lot harder than it looks, you know,” she muttered. But she was going to continue to try. If she didn’t, she knew she would spook Haru, and she didn’t want that. 

     Slowly, Sabrina extended her hand to Haruka. Then, she grinned. “Oi, I just noticed something. Your hair. It’s pretty wet, ain’t it?” She nodded to herself. “Uh-huh, definitely! Now… either you’ve been gettin’ some serious sprinkler action, or you’re a swimmer. Is that right?”

     When asked about the meaning of his name, all Haru replied with was a quiet, “Yes.” I’m really not very good at this! Why is she even talking to me? As she went on about some anime she’d seen, he silently listened. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all. Even though she was progressively getting louder, at least she was trying, and that was something most people did not do. He was intrigued, and surprised by this girl, and he decided he’d give her a little more of a chance.

     Haruka stared at Sabrina’s outstretched hand, and then gently reached out and shook it. But he didn’t do it properly. He only grabbed one of her fingers and shook that instead of her whole hand, and once he realized his mistake, his face went white. How do you even make that mistake? “U-U-Um.” He paused. “Y-Yes. I-I...swim.” This is why I don’t talk to people!

[harrukan-blog]

roaroftim-e.

harrukan *

     “Hey, wait!” Sabrina ran up to Haru. Then, she held her hand in front of her mouth. “I wanna try this again,” she said. Her naturally loud voice was muffled by her hand. “Hi! I’m Sabrina. I like soccer and stuff. What’s your name?”

     Haruka pulled out one of his earphones. She wants to try this again, does she? He sat silently for a while after she spoke, and then, slowly, as if testing the water with one toe, he said, “My name is Haruka.”

[harrukan-blog]

roaroftim-e.

     “Huuuuh? Why noooot?” Sabrina pouted. “I’m pretty, and charming, and exciting! How can you not what to shower me with attention? Like, really. I just don’t get it!”

     “You’re too loud.” Haru sighed and continued on walking. “And annoying...” he mumbled, hopefully inaudible to Sabrina. And why should I care if you’re pretty?

[harrukan-blog]

roaroftim-e.

     “Hey, wait! Where do you think you’re goin’?” Sabrina chases after Haru like a hyena chases after its prey. “Pay attention to meeee….!”

     What is she, Nagisa? Haru wondered, as he continued to walk away. “No.” That was all she was getting. She and Nagisa would get along, I bet.

[harrukan-blog]

hagar3n.

     “Ha! There you go, actin’ all innocent again…” Edward met Haru’s      glare with one of his own. “That’s a nasty habit of yours, y’know.      In fact, I’d say it’ll get you hurt one a’these days. So don’t blame      me if you end up gettin’ knocked in the jaw for it.”

     Haru huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Shut up,” he mumbled, glaring down at his feet. Edward was starting to make him nervous, and it was becoming obvious.

     It was then that he heard his name being called. A tall, brown-haired boy came up to his side and leaned into his face. “Haru-chan! Why’d you run off? Did I make you mad?” 

     Haruka’s only reply was, “Drop the -chan, Makoto.” And then he glanced back at Edward, and scooted a little closer to Makoto’s side.

     “Oh!” Makoto yelped, looking in Edward’s direction. “Did you make a new friend, Haru?” Haruka only shook his head.

[harrukan-blog]

hagar3n.

     “You’re annoying. You know that, right?” Edward sighed.      Was this guy even worth punching? He doubted it.       “Speakin’ of which… your vocab is real extensive, ain’t it?”

     Haruka’s face screwed up, into a half-frown, half-glare.       “I didn’t even do anything.” He wished, suddenly, that      he’d stayed home. He turned his head, looking off in      the opposite direction. He grumbled out an annoyed, “Hmm.”

[harrukan-blog]

roaroftim-e.

     “Cool story bro, tell it again,” Sabrina shouted loudly. “Really. Sounds like a cool one.”

     “Ha. Ha,” he said flatly, getting up and turning to walk away. He’d just find somewhere else to do his homework. Whatever.

[harrukan-blog]

roaroftim-e.

     “You’re being too loud.”

[harrukan-blog]

hagar3n.

     “Well, ain’t that cute. The chronic-starer feigns      innocence… say, what’s next on your agenda?      Punching me in the face and then pretending      you aren’t to blame?”

     Haruka was thoroughly unamused. “Hmm,” was his only      response. He did not like strangers, and especially not ones      who minded his people-watching habits.

[harrukan-blog]

     scrEAMS i need to make pages

[harrukan-blog]

hagar3n.

     Edward side-eyed Haruka. Why? Because he wanted to fight.

     Haruka frowned and turned his head. “What?”

[harrukan-blog]

hagar3n.

     Haruka side-eyed Edward. Why? Who knew.

[harrukan-blog]

Cleaned up the last sketch and added Mako-chan.