And today, she is sitting at the far left corner of the café again.
Takamina always wonders why did she come into the café only late at night, typing furiously into her laptop, occasionally taking a sip of that cup of hazelnut soymilk latte, half sweet (“no,” Takamina protests, “I’m not taking special notice of you,” many weeks later when she was being asked).
It is by coincidence that Takamina discovers whom the girl is – going by the pen name of Kojiharu, a famous novelist who writes the best romance stories. Takamina thought that she’s a fan (like Takamina is!) of the novelist’s works, seeing the random stacks of books she will place on the table beside her laptop, flipping through some of them in the midst of those furious typing, but it isn’t until the time when Takamina was clearing the table in front of the girl’s that she caught a glimpse of the typing in the laptop.
Many weeks later, Takamina confesses to Nyannyan (in the exact same words of the novelist, “the irritatingly sweet nickname that the shorter girl came up with and is smugly proud of”) that she mistook her typing while looking at the books as plagiarism. Though when the latest novel dropped, the exact same words in the document that Takamina saw came out in the writing, did it hit the barista of whom she had been serving over the past few weeks.
“Another deadline to meet?” the younger girl asks, leaning on her elbow at the partition between Nyannyan’s table and the next. A smile creeps onto the novelist’s face, looking up to the grinning face of the barista’s. The few seconds of silence is enough to make Takamina blush as she mutters an “I’msorryfordisturbing,” before spinning around to leave.
“Minami-chan,” calling out from behind her, Takamina stops. “I haven’t got any deadline to meet,” Kojiharu answers. “And you’re not disturbing.”
-
It’s been two weeks since the last time Takamina saw Kojiharu.
The nights seem longer now, the quiet stillness of the town makes it almost unbearable for Takamina and the bright neon lights hurt her eyes whenever she stares out of the windows in search for a familiar figure. Takamina could no longer be bothered about observing the discreet whisperings of the patrons in the café, nor the random long orders of coffee from the office workers around the area.
It’s been a while since she heard the “hazelnut soymilk latte, half sweet” order, topped with a cheery smile that tugs up the sides of Takamina’s lips while she gets behind the machine to prepare her best cup of latte for the day.
-
“Hazelnut soymilk latte, half sweet,” a tired voice draws Takamina’s head up from the top of the counter, and her eyes go wide in surprise.
“Right away,” the barista promises, “I’ll bring it to your table, and it’s on the house.”
-
Back behind the counter, Takamina rubs the sleep out of her eyes as she stares from a distance at the novelist. The blood-shot eyes and the puffy eye-bags appear to tell Takamina a tale that she refuses to accept, and the forced smile that coupled the tired voice when making the order only seems to only confirm that something had happened to the girl over the past two weeks.
“I got dumped,” the older girl mumbles when Takamina is clearing the table next to hers.
Stopping in action, the shorter girl turns towards Kojiharu. “Oh.”
Kojiharu laughs, the first time she had done so since two weeks ago when Yuko, her girlfriend of four years dumped her. Through a text message. The novelist shut herself in her apartment since, living through alcohol and cigarettes, things that she used to have distaste in. Finishing the last stick in the leftover packages of cigarette that Yuko left in her place, it was already way past midnight and the only place that Kojiharu knew of to be open till late, was this café.
Takamina’s stiff expression loosens up a little, hearing the girl’s laughter. It sounds like wind chime, Takamina thought. “That’s all you could come up with?” the novelist asks, propping her elbow against the table and resting her head on her palm, “After all the mouth opening and closing?”
Takamina smiles sheepishly, a hand behind her head as she looks at the other girl. “I’m sorry?” she tries, much to Kojiharu’s amusement.
Only as she turns her back to the novelist with hands full of cups did Takamina hear a soft whisper of “Thank you.”
-
“This’s my street,” Kojiharu announces as the pair turns around the corner.
“Well, I guess, I’ve got to go catch first train back home,” Takamina smiles, rubbing her eyes again as sleep catches up.
“You’ve to stop doing that,” the novelist warns.
“Easy for someone who was sleeping for the past few hours to say,” Takamina teases.
The older girl laughs again.
Looking over her shoulder, she bit her bottom lip before pulling onto Takamina’s hand and leading her down the street. “Give me five minutes,” she says, stopping outside an apartment to Takamina, before fumbling in her bag for the keys and going into the house, leaving the barista puzzled.
-
“The shower room is to your right, and I’ve placed some clothes on the bed for you.”
Takamina doesn't know what exactly is happening; one moment she is walking Kojiharu to her apartment – for the first time ever, she stayed till 5am when Takamina’s shift ended, albeit most of the time since she stepped in was spent sleeping with her pretty face on the table – and the next moment, she’s in her apartment, wearing her clothes – “Don’t you have smaller and less flowery pieces for me!?” – and climbing into the bed in the guest room.
-
Soft sniffles lure Takamina’s attention to the room adjacent of hers after a late-afternoon trip to the toilet. A peek into the room sees the owner bundle up in her blanket, shoulders quivering and eyes shut tight. Takamina knows better than to intrude on such private moments, but her legs have a mind of their own and before she knows it, she’s kneeling beside the novelist and staring at that delicate face, smeared with tears.
“You’ll be fine,” she whispers, her thumb and forefinger gently rubbing the creases in between the older girl’s eyebrows. When Takamina was much younger, she recalled her mother doing the same thing to her, and it helped to chase away the unpleasant and the nightmares. And now, Takamina hopes that whatever is bothering Kojiharu, will leave.
She loves her smile, and she wants to protect it.
-
Tuck away in the cupboard under the sink, below the bed that Kojiharu is sleeping on, in the laundry basket, and in the various places, Takamina discovers the emptied cans of beer, the bottle of whisky that has just a mouthful left lying beside the other similarly emptied bottle, the finished packages of cigarette, and a few torn up photos.
The barista sighs, she’s not one to judge, but somehow, just worried. “I see that you’ve found my secret,” a hoarse voice break Takamina’s train of thought.
Giving her a guilty smile, Takamina shrugs. “These are bad for you,” she chides, dropping the last pack into the trash bag and tying it close. “Whatever reasons that there might be, it’s bad for your health,” she reiterates.
“Hey,” a hand grasps itself around Takamina’s wrist as the shorter girl brushes past Kojiharu for the door, “Thank you.”
-
It’s been another four days since she last saw Kojiharu, and Takamina has been holding back the urge to head to the girl’s apartment to check if she’s fine. The café is slightly busier today; a group of friends chattering and laughing loudly at shared jokes, a couple occupying the lover’s seat, a couple of lone patrons sipping their hot brew away from the cold autumn winds outside.
Takamina’s ears still perk up on reflex hearing the door opens.
“I was sorting out my life,” the novelist explains to no one in particular, though she knows that Takamina’s listening, as she types into the laptop. Taking the seat opposite the older girl, Takamina props her head on top of her hand and stares at the other girl. Kojiharu laughs.
And Takamina thinks that it sounds a lot like…love.
-
“Are you going to walk me to my door?”
“If I am, are you going to invite me in again?”
“If I invite you in, will you spend the day with me?” Kojiharu smiles, holding the door open as she takes the step in. Following in after the taller girl, Takamina nudges the door close.
“I’d spend the rest of my life with you.”
-----------END-----------
AN: I know there's not a lot of Nyanmina fans/readers out there, but I might just start to write more of them. :/ I might do a part 2 to this which is a standalone piece on its own, but I might not. I'm recently into the coffeeshop AU but I've a distaste for writing AU so idk. ;A;)/ I wrote this while being sick and wonky, but I hope you enjoyed.
Have you ever listened to no3b's weekly radio show? They're all subbed on YouTube by user htmoshi. I listened to one of the videos and became a fan of no3b ever since. They're so funny together! xD
Hahaha~ yes I do listen to it on and off. It's the source of all my Nyanminas. Even thou Nyan is always tsun to Minami. ;A;)/ It's like the gathering of Nyan's admirers with her on a radio show on some days. 'A')/ NO3B is indeed an amazing trio and I really wan them to continue even if one or two of them graduate in the near future. :/
Nyanmina hug in Takamina's birthday show on 30/04/14! ♡｡ﾟ.(*♡´‿` 人´‿` ♡*)ﾟ♡ °・
They are just so cute I've to gif it...and I hardly gif anything! ( ´͈ ॢꇴ `͈ॢ)･*♡
(*´A`): にゃんにゃん〜
(бвб): や〜〜
(*´A`): にゃんにゃん〜
(бвб): やだー〜〜〜
Team A Takahashi Minami Birthday Show MCs, involving Takamina:
Theme: Comments, suggestions, complains about Takamina
Mariko: There's baka #1 here, Ricchan, but Takamina is in the baka senbatsu even though she's the soukantoku.
Ricchan: Just behind me yo!
Minami: Why did you have to say this out!
Mariko: That's right, being #2 as baka...
Minami: Listen to me. Studying power is not important.
Mariko: But today I wan to know if you can do the multiplication table!
Ricchan: You always say I'm baka!
Mariko: Yeah, cus you always says Ricchan is baka.
Minami: I'm #2 in elementary school, and is always top 10 in school before I joined AKB.
Sakiko: But that's so long ago.
Ricchan: Don't indulge in the glorious past.
Minami: Indulge in the glorious past!? Which multiplication do you want me to do?
Mariko: Ricchan what do you think?
Ricchan: For me, 7 or 8.
Nyan: That's difficult...
Ricchan: But she has a face that says she know 8, so 7.
Minami: /does 7th table with no problems/
Nyan: That's great!
Minami: Now it's Kawaei's turn!
Kawaei: ...7x6 49, 7x7 44.
Minami: She can't. I won! YAY~
Ricchan: I'm not good with 7.
Minami: This is the difference between me and her.
Mariko: I'm sorry for doubting you!
Ami: I've something to ask. About the doya face. During rehearsal, when Takamina-san performs Tsundere, there's an action where she's waving everyone to join her, and that expression then is so amazing.
Minami: Can I see the face, during Tsundere?
Ami: It's so amazing!
Minami: It's not! I don't do this!
Ami: It's so great to look at!
Minami: The thankful thing about Tsundere is that we are wearing sunglasses, so we won't see what expressions we are making. And I guess that's why I've such exaggerated expressions.
Ami: That's a free expression.
Minami: Yes it is.
Minami: What's up Tatsumaki? The youngest...
Makiho: Nothing but...
Minami: That makes me sad...
Ricchan: Say something...anything
Makiho: Minegishi-san...I really like Minegishi-san...How do you get close with Minegishi-san?
Sakiko(?): Tatsumaki wants to know how to get close with Minegishi-san and not Takamina!?
Minami: Why do you want to be close to Minegishi?
Makiho: How do I get close to Minegishi-san?
Minami: How do you get close...that's a work of many years.
Nyan: Right~
Minami: She always tell me during lessons..."Takamina-san, I'm close to Minegishi-san!" And I'll say "I'm on better terms with her!" Then she will say "I know, and I'm close to Kojima-san too!" And I'm like "No, she's on better terms with me!" And then she will go "I knew that too, and I'm on good terms with Sashihara-san!" And I'll reply "What's all these for!?" She's doing a weird way of appeal!
Nyan: How's your relationship with Takamina?
Makiho: A good relationship.
Minami: Yeah it is. We talk quite a lot.
Makiho: I'm very good with Kojima-san too.
Nyan: That's true!
Ricchan(?): So the conclusion is that she's better with Kojima-san
Minami: Don't joke! (walks to Nyan)
Nyan: Stop stop! Don't touch my waist!
Nyannyan was adjusting her top and pants as they walked off the stage. JUST WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER TAKAMINA! :DD
