I can't believe I actually wrote what is essentially a coffee shop AU… What am I doing with my life?

This idea just hit me all of a sudden, and I knew that I had to write it down before I lost it. I didn't actually plan on writing an entire chapter (just the plot details), but here we are.

Chapter 1: Good morning

The air stings her nose as Ishikawa Izumi closes the door to her house behind her. She curses as she fumbles the key before managing to insert it into the lock. Once the key is safely pocketed in her coat, she heads downtown and hopes that the key incident won't set the tone for the rest of the morning.

The aromatic scent of coffee hits her as she steps into her favorite coffee shop. Acceptably priced coffee, lots of seating, and free wi-fi—what else could a person possibly need? It's nearly empty save for two people chatting in the corner, but that's to be expected since it's barely eight o'clock on a Saturday morning. She hears the bell ring at the door when someone walks in after her, which was her cue to hurry up and order her drink.

"Good morning," she greets the barista, who responds with a smile. "One latte, please."

"What size would you like?"

"Medium, please."

When she reaches for her card, the barista gives her an apologetic look. They point to a sign taped right in front of the card reader.

"I'm sorry, but our card reader is malfunctioning today. We can only accept cash until it gets fixed."

She nods and unzips the coin pocket in her wallet, digging through the mess to find the exact amount she needs. Upon realizing the sheer amount of coins she carries, she gives up and instead overturns her wallet into her hand, causing a few to fall onto the floor. Embarrassed and lamenting her apparent luck, she quickly counts out the necessary change and dumps it into the barista's hand before kneeling down to pick up her fallen money.

A hand enters her vision as she picks up the first coin, surprising her. She turns and finds a young man with brown hair kneeling on the floor with her.

"Here you go," he says, giving her a friendly smile. She looks back at his hand and finally notices the rest of her money sitting in it.

"Thank you," she says, taking back the coins.

He surprises her again when he offers his hand to help her up, which she also takes. She nods in thanks before taking her leave to find a table by the window to settle in. Unlike her, the young man waits by the counter after he orders. He is dressed in comfortable clothes, a light orange hoodie with gray joggers. When her coffee is called, she passes him again, giving him one last smile before taking her seat and opening up her ridiculously overpriced textbook.

She sips her latte, sighing in contentment as the warmth spreads over her body. Between the nice man and this wonderful drink, perhaps her day wouldn't be so bad after all.

Izumi comes again the next week, an hour later because she had decided to sleep in a little. There are more people in the shop at nine o'clock, so there's a bit of a line for coffee. Thankfully, her spot by the window is still open. After ordering her latte, she goes to claim her window seat and pulls out her laptop to work on her history term paper.

She's on a roll for a while, typing away for the better part of an hour. Her productive streak ends when a loud noise pulls her out of her concentration, and she automatically looks in the direction of the sound.

A teenage boy sighs before bending over to pick the cellphone he dropped. The older man behind him has a disgruntled look on his face as he watches the boy carefully check the phone for damages. Izumi feels her irritation rise. It's not as if the boy dropped his phone on purpose. He should be sympathetic toward him rather than judging him for valuing an expensive device. The scene makes her think of her encounter with the nice man from the week before.

Most people who frequented this particular coffee shop were regulars. Perhaps she'll see him again. She snorts. Yeah, right. She pushes away the fleeting thought and returns to her attention to her laptop, proofreading the passages she has typed up.

Izumi feels dead inside when she arrives the next week, and even more so when she sees how many people occupy the café. It's the weekend before finals week, so naturally everyone wants to get some cramming done before exams. She's half an hour later than her usual time due to oversleeping after suffering from sleep deprivation all week, so nearly all the tables are taken. She prays she'll be able to snag one after she orders her drink.

She's cheering on the inside when she finally approaches the counter, as there's still one table left. She orders quickly, turning the moment she finishes and… sees someone take the very last table. Her shoulders slump, and she sighs. She lets the barista know that she'll be getting her drink to go that morning. She'll probably go the library instead, but it's a little far and just a little too noisy for her tastes.

"Ishikawa-san! Latte for Ishikawa-san!"

Izumi grabs the latte and scans the shop one last time for an empty table. Instead, her eyes catch a familiar young man in the back of the shop, sipping on his coffee. There is an empty seat across from him. She hesitates, glancing at the door and back to the seat. She really doesn't want to go to the library.

She walks over to him.

"Excuse me," she begins, watching his eyes widen in surprise. "Is this seat taken?"

He recomposes himself and gestures toward the chair.

"Feel free," he replies warmly.

"Thank you," she smiles back in relief.

She pulls back her black hair into in messy bun to keep it out of her face and takes out her study guides. The man slowly drinks his coffee, observing the shop quietly. This time, he's wearing dark jeans and a white sweatshirt. It's simple but fashionable. His eyes are a light brown, almost orange. He is kind of… cute. Izumi catches herself before he notices her staring and busies herself with her schoolwork. However, something tells her that the amused expression he wears is related to her, and she feels her cheeks warm.

They sit in a comfortable silence for a while before the young man stands up, breaking Izumi's concentration.

"Good luck on your finals, Ishikawa-san," he says. "I hope you do well."

"Oh, um…thank you," she replies. "I, uh, hope you have a nice day."

He takes his leave, and she stares after him as he makes his way toward the door. He stops right as he steps through the door and looks back, shooting her a blinding smile before leaving.

Izumi stares at the now closed door with a mixture of confusion and interest. What was that?

"Oh my God, does Ishikawa Izumi finally have a crush?"

Izumi rolls her eyes despite knowing there's no way to communicate that through a phone call.

"No, I don't have a crush. I have had crushes before, you know. Also, you're five years too young to be calling me that."

"Whatever you say, Nee-san."

Izumi sighs, "All I know about this guy is that he's nice enough to help a stranger pick up her money and sit with her in a busy café. He could be a huge jerk for all I know. I don't even know his name."

"That can easily change," her sister replies with a laugh. "Come on, ask him out! He's cute, right?"

"How did I get such a cheeky sister?" Izumi sighs. "Fine, he's cute. I'll admit that. That doesn't mean I should date him. I just told you I don't even know his name."

"Oh, come on! That's what dating is for! To get to know the other person."

"No. We're not talking about this."

A sigh of defeat. Izumi smirks at her victory.

"Okay, fine. Can you help me with my math homework?"

Izumi celebrates the end of finals week by heading home and taking a three-hour nap. It was heavenly. However, her real celebration is being able to bring a book on her to-read list to the coffee shop on Saturday morning instead of the usual schoolwork. The past week of little to no sleep has taken a toll on her eyes though, so she wears her glasses instead of her usual contacts when she leaves her house. When she reaches the door to the coffee shop, she wonders what the young man will think if he sees them.

She freezes and groans. This is all her sister's fault for talking about dating. For God's sake, she didn't even know the man!

"Good morning, Ishikawa-san."

She jumps at the voice, letting out a surprised gasp as her hand flies to her chest. Be still my beating heart, she begs.

She can feel his amusement as she turns to face him, and she feels her face burn in embarrassment.

"Sorry for startling you," he says, clearly trying not to laugh. "I didn't think that would make you jump so badly."

"It-it's fine. Good morning to you as well," Izumi replies shakily, heart still racing. She pulls open the door and gestures inside. "After you."

He lets her order first, which brings a smile to her face. Considerate, as always. She grabs her drink and sits down at her favorite spot by the window, mildly disappointed when the man sits in the back again. Wait, what? Mildly disappointed at what? She shakes her head as she opens her book and tries to immerse herself within its pages.

It does not work.

She keeps catching herself glancing over at the young man, who no doubt has noticed her curious gazes. After ten minutes of should she, shouldn't she, she gives in and closes her book. Picking up her cup of coffee, she navigates through the sea of tables toward the back of the shop. He smiles at her as she approaches, and it's unfair how cute he looks when he does it.

"Is this seat taken?" she asks.

"Go ahead," he replies.

Izumi settles in and places her book on the table but doesn't open it. Instead, she leans her arms on the table and looks at her companion.

"What is your name, by the way?" she asks. "I never got it the last few times."

He looks taken aback, and it's such a stark difference from the smile he has been wearing that she almost laughs.

"I hadn't realized. Sorry about that," he apologizes sheepishly. Unfortunately, that's also pretty cute. "My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"It's nice to meet you, Sawada-san. My name is Ishikawa Izumi," she pauses, brow furrowing, "How did you know my name? I haven't introduced myself to you before."

Sawada looks a bit embarrassed (which also looks good on him dammit!) before replying.

"I heard the barista call your name a while back," he explains. "Sorry if I came off as creepy."

"No, you weren't creepy at all," she assures him. "After all, I could've learned your name that way as well."

He smiles at her response, and she finds herself smiling back at him. There was something about him that made her feel good—feel safe. Well, she's already made it this far. Might as well get to know the guy.

"Are you a university student as well?" she asks. Seems like a good place to start.

He shakes his head, and, for a moment, Izumi is struck with panic because oh my God what if the guy she's been thinking about is actually underaged. There's absolutely no way he can be older than her, not with those looks.

"No, I never took the entrance exam. I work for my family's business." he replies, and she lets out a breath she hadn't known she was holding.

"I see. What kind of business?" she asks, curiosity taking hold.

"It's a consultancy business. My family has run it for generations."

"Consultancy? Wouldn't you need a college degree for that?"

He lets out a short laugh, and she wonders what exactly it is that she's missed.

"Usually, yes," he agrees. "But my family has had a particular way of doing things for generations, and I've been tutored since I was in middle school to prepare for it."

"That sounds harsh," she says. "Do you enjoy it?"

"Yeah," he smiles with a hint of an emotion she can't quite decipher. "I do."

"That's good," she says, at a bit of a loss. "It's great that you've found a career that you love at this age. I'm envious."

"What about you?" he asks. "What are you studying?"

"Business. I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with it yet, so for now I'll apply for corporate jobs until I figure things out."

"That's fair," he nods. "It's hard to find something you want to do for the majority of your life. When are you graduating?"

"This coming spring."

"Well then, I wish you good luck in your job hunt," he says, glancing down at his watch. "Unfortunately, I have to go, but it was nice talking to you, Ishikawa-san."

Izumi is surprised by how disappointed she feels when she realizes how fast time passed as they talked, but she doesn't let it show on her face. She smiles at him.

"It was nice talking to you too, Sawada-san," she says, and then before she can stop herself, "Maybe I'll see you around?"

Stop talking, she tells herself. Now.

He looks surprised by her question, but his expression quickly melts into a smile and he nods brightly.

"I'll see you around," he replies. "Oh, I forgot to mention this earlier, but your glasses look very nice on you."

Izumi's face is positively on fire. Sawada just walks away as nonchalantly as ever, while she is certain she is going to spontaneously combust. He takes her empty cup as well when he leaves, and Izumi is once again touched and terrified. If he keeps this up, all this smiling and kindness, she knows that she will be done for. Once she is sure he is out of hearing, she opens her book and groans directly into its pages.

What has she gotten herself into?