A/N: This story had been initially published under another account. Due to complications (aka someone IRL stumbled onto that account); these stories have been moved to this account.

Sorry for the inconvenience. ;A;

Coffee Stains and Rain Drops

by razzentino

"Anyone can love a rose, but it takes a lot to love a leaf. It's ordinary to love the beautiful, but it's beautiful to love the ordinary."

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin, nor the cover image. Full credits go to their respective owners, Hajime Isayama and curryuku.

"Black coffee. Regular."

The barista looked up from the cashier, and was greeted with the sight of a tall, lanky brunette who had an impassive expression plastered on her face. Slightly intimidated by the customer's presence, she smiled weakly. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Ymir shook her head and handed a crumpled bill from her back pocket wordlessly.

The barista gave her change of coins in return before grabbing a regular sized cup and a marker, poised to write. "Your name, please?"

"Ymir. With a Y."

"Hello, Ymir," she said pleasantly as she quickly scribbled the unusual name onto the cup. "Your order will be ready in a minute."

Ymir gave a slight nod, and moved to wait behind the previous person who had ordered and was currently waiting for his coffee to be brewed. He was a man in a suit who was about in his late twenties, intently playing some game with a blob flapping across the screen of his smartphone.

She sighed, tapping her left foot as she resumed staring at the pouring rain outside. Due to the sudden downpour that had caught many out on the streets offguard, the café was packed with individuals trying to find a dry shelter as they waited for the sudden torrent to pass.

Another barista hurried to the counter with a steaming freshly brewed cup of coffee in hand. "Regular black…" she yelled, peering at the scribbled name on the cup.

Ymir's ears pricked up.

"…For Krista?"

Ymir exhaled heavily through her nose.

The barista glanced at the cluster of customers who were waiting for their orders, but no one made a move to step forward. "Krista?" she tried again, but no one showed any signs of response or whatsoever.

Although Ymir's expression was still as impassive and disinterested as before; her russet eyes flicked lazily towards the counter.

The barista gave a small shrug and left the steaming cup on the counter to continue brewing other orders. Customers disappeared like this all the time, and usually came back later to reclaim their drinks.

From the corner of her eye, Ymir shot a peek at the cup, and a quick glance at the man standing in front of her, who was still deeply absorbed in his game.

Another thirty seconds, and no one made a move to claim it.

Her right foot inched forward ever so slightly.

Another thirty seconds… and nothing.

With her head slightly bowed, she briskly walked to the steaming cup and grabbed it, all the while scanning her surroundings through her peripheral vision.

No one even glanced at her direction.

Raindrops continued to pound against her body, but Ymir didn't care. She could feel her waterlogged clothes weigh down on her body, clinging to her like a second layer of skin. She glanced at her watch in annoyance. Goddamn bus was goddamn late; and goddamn empty bus stop didn't have a goddamn roof.

She held her cup of steaming coffee tightly, savouring the comforting warmth in her hands as she moved her thumb to cover the opening. She was actually more concerned about getting her precious caffeine contaminated than her current drenched state.

At the corner of her eye, she noticed a young, petite blonde−and boy was she tiny− with an equally small white umbrella that Ymir knew would not be sufficient to keep herself dry− approach the bus stop.

Ymir took another long, slow sip as she silently assessed the blonde. Miraculously, the blonde was dry− she must be even tinier than Ymir had initially thought.

She noticed how the blonde had stopped next to her and was just wordlessly standing by her side. The first thought that popped to her mind was the startling height difference− Jesus, she was even tinier up close.

Ymir watched curiously as the blonde stretched to raise the umbrella over both their heads, barely managing to hold it steady; before offering a smile and shyly greeting, "Hi?"

A beat of silence.

"...You do realize your umbrella's small for the both of us," Ymir muttered gruffly, automatically guarded. Random acts of kindness− and from strangers no less, were something she definitely wasn't used to.

"Yes," the girl sighed, "I really should've brought a bigger one."

A lean eyebrow rose questioningly, in an 'are-you-flipping-serious' fashion. "…You're a freaking idiot."

The blonde gave a slight pout. "Wow. You're mean."

Ymir sighed. "Wow. You're an idiot."

The petite girl just smiled again. "It's better than one of us getting completely drenched."

"I'm already soaked," the brunette pointed out.

"Yes, I noticed," the blonde replied before rummaging through her bag and fishing out a pale pink handkerchief. "Here," she offered.

Ymir snorted, the edge of her lips pulled up in a slight smirk that radiated mirth. "Are you serious?" Did this girl really think a hankie was going to help?

The girl exhaled heavily. "I know it's not going to make much of a difference, but that's the most I can do now." Her raised, upright hand that was holding the umbrella shook ever so slightly.

Ymir's smirk widened. "Tired?"

The blonde glared at her weakly. "Why do you keep sounding like you're trying to pick a fight with me?"

With her ever-present snarky smirk, Ymir didn't bother to reply and reached out to take the umbrella instead. "Let me."

The girl seemed to study her carefully before sighing and releasing the umbrella. "That position is actually more tiring than one might think," she mumbled defensively.

"Ahuh," Ymir replied in a carefree tone, easily holding the umbrella over their heads. Subtly, she tipped it to her left a bit more, so that it would shelter more of the petite girl.

The blonde shook her head exasperatedly. "How long have you been standing here exactly?"

"Bout twenty minutes," Ymir replied monotonously.

The blonde gasped lightly. "Are you trying to catch hypothermia?"

Ymir rolled her eyes. "Duh, standing in rain and catching hypothermia's my hobby."

"… Are you always this sarcastic?"

"It's a talent."

Choosing to ignore Ymir's snarky attitude, the blonde tried, "Is your bus late?"

"Yep."

"Mine is, too," the girl mused. "It must be because of the weather."

The two lapsed into silence. It wasn't an awkward one, but it wasn't particularly comfortable either, as if both of them were waiting for the other to say something. The silence was then broken by the blonde after a couple of minutes, who suddenly supplied, "I like rain."

"You like catching hypothermia too?"

This time, it was the petite blonde's turn to roll her eyes. "I meant that I love listening to the rain."

Ymir spared the girl a sideways glance, before returning to stare at the deserted road in front of her. "It calms me too," she muttered under her breath.

At this, the blonde paused to look up at her, before smiling sweetly. "I'm Krista," she introduced herself softly.

Krista… Now why did that sound so awfully familiar?

The brunette sighed. "Ymir," she simply replied, still failing to understand why this girl was being overly friendly and worse still− why she was actually bothering to go along with it.

The two fell into another silence once again, until Krista yawned.

Although her disinterested gaze never strayed from the road in front of her, Ymir asked in a low voice, "…Not enough sleep?"

"Mm," the blonde murmured, staring at Ymir's cup with a hint of longing.

"You do realize there's a café from the direction you just came from."

Krista sighed dejectedly. "That's the thing… But something came up and I had to leave the counter. By the time I came back, someone had took my coffee." Krista smiled forlornly. "Since I was already late, I didn't have time to get a new one so…"

Ymir's eyebrows shot up ever so slightly. Ever so slowly, she spaced out her fingers, widening the gaps between them. The disbelieving gaze of wide russet eyes subtly lowered to the cup in her right hand.

Between her fingers, the word 'Krista' seemed to burn against her skin.

Oh… Shit.