Like clockwork, the door jingles and the sleepy-eyed girl enters the store. Every Tuesday she comes in at two o'clock on the dot, her short hair tied up in a little ponytail and her cat-ear headphones around her neck. With a small wave, Hinata begins preparing her coffee before she can even order it - she doesn't need to, at this point.

Her fingers are covered by an oversized sweatshirt that grips the sides of the warm cup, her other hand fishing through a Mario wallet for the money.

"Ah, here!" She mumbles in a quiet victory, pulling out the bills and handing them to him happily. And Hinata, staring at her happy smile, is once again struck by just how cute this girl is.

She hurries over to her usual seat, the tiny little armchair in the corner. And like usual, her backpack is deposited at her feet, her coffee is placed on the table, and her 3DS covered in stickers comes out of her bag. After shuffling through multiple positions, she eventually reaches one where she could play one-handed, holding her coffee in one hand and the game in the other.

And, like usual, Hinata stares at her and struggles to decide if he should talk to her.

And, like usual, he doesn't.

Next Tuesday happens the exact same way. Different sweatshirt, and this time she wears patterned shorts instead of a fluffy skirt. Her order is the same, her seat is the same, and her 3DS still looks the same, stickers crammed onto every empty spot and every rounded corner.

And Hinata still has the same issues trying to talk to her.

She'd been coming for months now, and all they ever exchange in the form of conversation is her order and his delivery. Working behind the counter doesn't leave much room for conversation, but he wishes it did. Halfway through every time she came, Hinata's shift ends. Every time, he contemplates walking up to her and striking a conversation. And every time he stopps himself, making countless excuses and dancing around the issue.

He groans loudly, slamming his fist against the wall in frustration.

"Everything okay back here?" Naegi walks in with concern etched on his face.

Ohhhh shit, Hinata thinks. Naegi is a caring guy. Like, seriously caring. And so Naegi is going to want to know why Hinata is angrily punching the wall of a Starbucks kitchen. And then Hinata is going to have to explain. And Naegi will want to make him feel better. Which will all just lead into the same cycle of making Hinata feel pathetic because he can't talk to that one cute customer.

A smile plastered on his face, Hinata turns to face his friend. "Yeah, it's all cool."

Naegi narrows his eyes. "Okay, I know I'm not a crazy mystery-solving detective like my girlfriend, but I don't think I need to be to tell when you're lying, Hinata. You're not good at it. The lie is literally written all over your face. So, want to start over? Everything okay?"

Hinata sighs, all pretense gone. "I am a wimp, Naegi. You have employed a wimp."

A raised eyebrow is his response.

"There's this girl -"

"The cute one in the various sweaters who plays her DS every Tuesday while you stare at her like a lovesick puppy?"

Heat rushes to his face and Hinata suddenly loses all ability to speak. "Um, uh, no, I don't - I don't stare at her like a lovesick puppy."

"But you admit you stare at her?"

"Um."

Naegi laughs, a bright smile on his face. "Hey, it's fine, that just means that you have a serious crush to work out."

The wall takes another hit as Hinata groans.

Hinata steels himself the moment he hears the soft jingle of the bell.

Step One of the 'Finally-Get-My-Shit-Together-And-Talk-To-The-Cute-Girl-Plan': Make her coffee. Like usual. Except this time instead of labeling it the usual 'Pokemon Master', he's going to ask for her name. Her real, actual, non-Pokemon related name.

She stumbles in, patiently waiting in line for her coffee.

"Hi," Hinata says quietly as she reaches the counter.

"Hi," She replies, all easy smiles and shy whispers.

"I know your order already, but, well, I actually don't know your name..." Hinata trails off, Sharpie marker at the ready above the coffee cup.

She smiles softly, like she always does. This girl, Hinata had learned, was just a collection of pastel colors and soft edges and 8-bit music. "I'm Chiaki. Chiaki Nanami. I don't know why you need my name, though - Pokemon Master was working just fine for me."

Hinata laughs, and she giggles along with him. "I'm glad, though," she says, pausing a little. "That you know my name now. It was weird, being the only one in this relationship who knew the other's name. I think."

"Huh?" Hinata stares at her, dumbstruck. "How did you-"

She points at the small black nametag pinned to his apron spelling out HINATA in all caps. She smiles again, and he feels his face go red. Again. It's become a recurring theme.

Somebody in the line behind Chiaki makes a loud, exaggerate groaning noise and Hinata quickly scribbles 'Chiaki' on the cup in his long, looping handwriting.

"Decaf?" He asks, more out of courteousy than an actual need to know. She orders caffeine every time- she always looks like she's a minute away from falling asleep, at every moment except for when she plays her video games.

"Yeah," She smiles again, and fishes out her money, much faster than usual. He takes it from her, and she waves as she walks to the side counter to collect her order.

"Fucking finally," the impatient man behind her mutters as he walks to the counter. Hinata glares at him the entire time he takes his order.

He brings his 3DS.

Hinata's not really sure why he didn't think of this before now; it's not for lack of having one. Hinata likes to sit on his couch and play Fire Emblem for hours on end when he should be doing other things, like taxes or whatever he's supposed to do as an adult now.

So he brings his 3DS to his Tuesday shift and mentally prepares himself.

At three, his shift ends.

Naegi just gives him a knowing smile as he passes by in the kitchen. "Good luck!" He grins, and Hinata swats him as he walks out.

She's sitting in the armchair in the corner, the one that everyone knows to avoid every Tuesday because that's hers. Her bag is messily strewn next to her, piles of paper sticking out at odds angles. Her earbuds are plugged into her 3DS while she stares intensely at the screen, dragging her eyes away at rare moments so that she can quickly drink from her coffee cup.

Acting as natural as possible, Hinata maneuvers his way through the maze of armchairs and tables until he reaches the chair right next to Chiaki's. She glances upward when he sits down and smiles.

"Hi," she starts.

"Hi," he responds. "I, uh-" He gestures to his 3DS. "I have some games, if you maybe want to try to do something together?"

And damn, if only he had done this so much earlier. Because Chiaki's soft smile turns into a bright, stunning grin - one that would put the sun to shame.

"Yes!" She laughs happily, physically bouncing a little bit in excitement. "What games do you have?"

"Uhhh..." He digs through his backpack, grabbing the games at random. "Pokemon Y, Fire Emblem Awakening, Mario Kart, Bravely Default...oh! I also have some Professor Layton games."

"You have Pokemon?"

"Yeah - do you?"

"Of course!" She smiles again, like this should be obvious.

"Then, okay, do you want to have a Pokemon battle?" Hinata figures he should be okay. He beat the game, and his team is pretty strong - all high level 70's to mid 80's. He should be able to beat her in at least one battle.

Hinata doesn't beat her in one battle.

Hinata doesnt't beat her in anything.

After his sixth loss, he suggests that maybe they should try something else.

So they do.

And he loses.

Every time, every game.

And he kind of loves her more for it.

"Holy shit, Kuzuryuu, I'm done for."

The short boy is laughing at him, he knows it. The same glare is plastered across his face, like usual, but Hinata can see the glint of laughter in his cruel little eyes - Kuzuryuu is taking joy out of this. Which maybe Hinata should have seen coming, but Naegi had the day off and Kuzuryuu was there.

"Get your shit together and fucking ask her out, you idiot."

"Like you did with Peko?" Hinata shoots back, red-faced and blushing.

"Fuck off. My relationship with Peko isn't like that, dumbass."

"Sure."

Kuzuryuu glares but doesn't say anything else about Peko, which is Hinata's cue to shut up on the subject as well - unless, of course, he wants a fist in his gut, or maybe a knife. You never really know what you're going to get with Kuzuryuu. So Hinata snaps his mouth shut and moves on from the topic. Despite Kuzuryuu's tiny gangster aesthetic, he's surprisingly touchy.

"So, what are you going to do?" Kuzuryuu asks.

Hinata responds with a raised eyebrow and a, "Huh?"

Kuzuryuu sighs like he is dealing with a five-year old. "Oh my god, Hinata. Where the hell are you going to take her? How are you going to ask her out in the first damn place? You're not the kind of person who can just wing it, idiot."

Sometimes Hinata likes to pretend that all of Kuzuryuu's cursing is how he shows his love for others.

"I don't know!" Hinata blushes, his voice raising indignantly. "I haven't really come up with a play-by-play on how to advance my relationship with her! I hardly even know her-"

"Nah," Kuzuryuu corrects him. "She hardly even knows you. You've been her creepy stalker for a while now, it's not like she's a damn stranger to you."

"I'm not a stalker!" Hinata protests.

"Sure." Kuzuryuu replies in the exact same tone Hinata had used on him earlier, and well, he has to give Kuzuryuu credit for that one.

She comes in again.

On a Monday.

Jolting up from the hazy, 'I-have-too-many-tests-and-projects-scheduled-the-same-week-and-I-haven't-gotten-sleep-in-three-days' stupor that Hinata had been in, he glances at the door, which jingles as it opens. And Chiaki is there, bundled up in a jacket and fluffy boots. Rubbing her nose and smiling at him, she gives a little wave as she enters the warm and cozy coffee shop, dropping her bag next to a different seat than usual - since it wasn't Tuesday, some businessman is doing business in her usual location.

"Hi!" She cheerfully greets him at the counter.

"He-" He yawns in the middle of his response. And again, with the blushing.

"You sound like me." Chiaki smiles, laughing in that quiet way of hers. "Super tired, all the time. Have I been rubbing off on you, Hinata?"

"Not so much," He laughs tiredly. "More like all my teachers are out to get me. I swear they plan all this behind their backs."

Chiaki nods sympathetically. "That's awful."

"Anyways," He starts, eager to stop thinking about his looming projects and dropping grades, "I actually - I've got a question for you." Maybe it is because he is half-asleep and that usually leads to an abnormal amount of confidence and stupidity in his choices, but he feels no fear when he smiles and asked: "Any chance you might want to go out with me this weekend?"

Chiaki's face looks as bright as his usually feels around hers. "Um!" She practically squeaks, fiddling with her bag as she glances at anywhere but him. "I would - I'd- I'd like that! I think!" Blushing furiously, she stares down at the floor, uncharacteristically shy.

Hinata grins. "Okay, we can go to the movies, maybe?"

"Okay, um, yeah, I'd like to do that too, I think..." She's bright red and awkwardly shuffling, so Hinata just holds out his hand for her money and gives her a smile, trying to dispel the embarrassment, which, coincidentally, he is not free from either.

"Thanks! I'll see you then!" She squeaks again, before rushing off.

Minutes later, she comes back, clearly more calm but still blushing a shade of red that would put fire trucks to shame. Something light flutters onto the counter - a piece of paper.

"I forgot to give that to you, earlier." She smiles and heads back to the corner where she set up.

In scribbled, large handwriting, a phone number is written - with a tiny Pikachu smiley face in the corner.

hey, chiaki? is this u is this the right number

hinata?

yeah!

this is the right number! hi, hinata!

hi!

:)

ok. okok so um. movie

(‐＾▽＾‐）

is 7: 45 good for u ? there's a theater close to the starbucks and there's that new disney movie playing and idk i just kinda figured u might like that and i mean i would like it too so like idk if that's cool i could pick u up and we could see that

okay! i love disney (*＾▽＾)／

wow ok thats great! i'll see u then

im really excited, hinata. thank u for asking me to come along!

Hinata stares at the dull glow of his screen as it lights up the blue darkness of his room. He hasn't been this happy in ages. He's nervous; he feels like he should be trembling from head to toe and he kind of wants to curl up in his blankets for the rest of his life and never leave. But at the same time he wants to jump up and down like a five year old, just because he got his crush's phone number. They were going to go on a date. An actual date - not a 'hey wanna play video games in a coffee shop' date.

The lights are still off in his room, though, and he's pretty sure that if he tries to jump on the bed he'll hit his head on the ceiling and trip over the books on his floor and the whole thing will go to hell, so he doesn't. Instead, he finds himself smiling up at the ceiling with a dumb grin that he can't seem to get rid of.

In the end, the movie is good but the company is better.

Hinata finds that Chiaki is very expressive in movies - she cries through the whole ending, gripping onto his arm and shoving her runny nose into the sleeve of her sweater. Hinata also finds that talking to her outside of the store opens up a realm of possibilities - being by themselves, it's like a million doors opened and neither of them can seem to stop talking. It's a constant stream of video game debates and laughter and secretive blushes and Hinata handing Chiaki an entire tissue box when the movie ends.

They take their time everywhere they go - the movies, the Starbucks they visit afterwards (this time, both as customers and Hinata has never felt better than when he ordered his own coffee from the other side of the counter). Eventually, they end up in some park, somewhere, pulling their jackets closer against the chill and holding their steaming cups of coffee closer to their faces.

"So," Chiaki starts, and Hinata's not sure whether her face is red from the cold, from the laughter, or because she is blushing. "You should maybe tell me more about yourself, Hinata."

"Oh, huh." Hinata blinks. "There's not really much to tell." And he means it when he says it, racking his brain for information that Chiaki might want and coming up with none.

She frowns. "There has to be something, right? What are your hobbies, your home life, your talents?"

"Uhh..." He thinks about it. "My hobbies? I...don't really have any, not that I can think of. My home life is fine. Nothing special, really. And I don't know, my talents are kind of nonexistant." He forces a smile, trying to brush it off. "I'm honestly surprised you like me," Hinata says truthfully. "It's not like I'm really worth much."

Chiaki whips her head around, surprise evident in her expression. "Why would you think that?" She asks, eyes wide and upset. "Hinata, I- I really- I really like you. Please don't say those things about yourself. Please."

He leans back, staring at her incredulously. "Wait, uh..." His voice cracks, and he coughs through it. "Really?"

Nodding her head vigorously, she grabs his hand. "Promise you won't say those horrible things again. You're worth so much, Hinata. And...I'd like to get to know you more, every amazing part of you..."

Hinata still can't believe that she feels so strongly about this, enough to push him and try to help him move past his negative thoughts. Quickly, she pulls him into a warm hug, wrapping her arms around his waist and breathing into his shirt. "I don't want you to think like that," She admits quietly. "I've liked you for a while now, I think, even when we didn't really know each other...It really hurts, to hear you say that about yourself, when you're one of the kindest people I've met. You have so much good in you, and to hear you say that you don't see it? It's...it's hard, Hinata."

He lets out a noise of surprise and pulls her closer into the hug. "I - I'm sorry -" He starts, but she stops him.

"No! You don't - you really don't have to be sorry for anything, Hinata. Just promise you'll try to move past this. You deserve to see as much good in you as I do."

"I," He clears his throat and looks her in the eye. "...Okay. I promise." And with a small smile, he pulls her into the hug again. "Thank you, Chiaki."

Next Tuesday, Chiaki enters the Starbucks with a mile-wide smile on her face and Hinata waves an already steaming coffee boldly marked POKEMON MASTER in the air, an identical smile on his face.

Today he has no trouble talking to her when she comes up to the counter.

"Hi," he smiles.

"Hi," Chiaki replies.

And it's almost like nothing has changed from their first awkward hello, but really, everything has - and Hinata has never felt happier than the moment Chiaki laughs and heads back to her seat, cat-shaped headphones around her neck and a 3DS in her hands.

wOW i have never written a one-shot this long before i think i deserve a prize

anyways, i did it. i did a coffee shop au. i just couldn't stop myself.

this fic is dedicated to my amazing bae anna, bc she and i met through our obsessions with sdr2 and hinanami and she's such a good friend and fantastic person and i felt like we both needed some happy hinanami in our lives tbh

ok so in other, non-sdr2 related news, i just want to mention here that my next update for my ongoing knk story, a pair of monsters, might have an even slower update than usual bc i have a lot of one-shots to finish first, in addition to being currently unable to think about anything but big hero 6 rn. it's not on hiatus - i'll just be taking my time with the next chapter. cool? cool.

let me know what you guys think!