Unposted Draft - Angel Town
I’m stuck today and I just really like Furihata’s interaction with Nijimura :D though this will never make it to my Angel Town story as I decided to tell the story from Akashis’s point of view instead of from Furihata’s. So I guess no harm in just posting it!
Furihata let his mind wander as the last customer grabbed the drink and bid him goodbye, saying “Thanks, Suga,” and disappeared towards the rest of his day that he had to face. It stung a little, but Furihata believed it comes from a good heart, so he accepted their greetings like he accepted the fact that he has to go through 24 hours a day.
His hand mindlessly grabbed the thick car brochure that somebody left on the table a few days ago, reading its content.
“Why the heck is she still calling you Suga?”
A voice was starting Furihata, taking his attention away from the beautifully-crafted copywriting on the car brochure he is currently reading behind the counter. The man who spoke was sitting in one of the few chairs in the shop, making himself at home. His black hair and his sleeveless cyan shirt damp from sweat. Clearly, he just had his morning run.
“Shuuzo!” Furihata exclaimed. “How long have you been in here?”
“Since that last customer you served,” the man said, the corner of his lips tugged a little, looking amused. It’s Nijimura Shuuzo, Furihata’s old roommate and now good friend. A guy who apparently went all the way to this secluded coffee shop in the furthest corner of Sunset Drive, four blocks away from where he lived and two blocks away from his usual morning run route.
“You’ve been creeping in on me since then? Wow.”
“Kinda want to see how long until you notice that I’m here. It’s been ten minutes, if you’re curious. You’re really fixated in that brochure. Are you considering buying a car? Or is it just you haven’t kicked the habit of reading any paper with English words written on ‘em?” he asked, eyes locked on the car brochure that Furihata read just a while ago.
“What? Oh! No, God, no! Don’t be ridiculous. Could sell my soul and still wouldn’t be able to afford any of this. It’s just… I’m… Somebody left it and... yeah, okay, you’re right. Still haven’t kicked the habit.”
Nijimura scowled, which is usually a normal occurrence because he’s scowling 80% of the time. But today, he is scowling extra hard, like Furihata just blurted out rocket science out of nowhere. “I don’t know why you’re still doing that. You’ve been here for years. You can read English Classics without opening a dictionary too much. Your english is almost perfect. Better than Teppei, at least. And he even attends language class.”
The brown-haired boy only smiled upon hearing Nijimura’s compliment. “Would you like to order anything, sir?” he asked. “We have shaved iced latte with cat-shaped foam for today’s special. Please don’t order it. The foam is such a pain in the ass to make.”
Nijimura laughed a little. “Fine, I won’t bother the busy barista today,” he said. “Ice chocolate, please. With a little bit of milk, less ice, and oh, don’t forget to come to my party tomorrow,” he continued, as if the last part is not a different thing entirely.
“What’s the occasion?” he asked, not even glancing towards the older man as he made his order.
“Part business, part reunion,” he answered. “An old kouhai from Junior High is in the country, was gonna hang out with him casually until my old geezer learned who the man is. He insisted on making a proper get-together that will impress him without making it look too obvious. So yeah, I thought a reunion would have a nice ring to it.”
Furihata hesitated for a moment. Shuuzo always liked dragging him into his circle, including him in even the tiniest bit of his social life. Furihata always thought that it would stop after Nijimura is dating Kiyoshi, but apparently, he was wrong. Nijimura always inquired him to join them, even on their dates.
“Don’t make that face, Kouki. it’s not a full-on party. Just close friends. So far it’s just Taiga and Tetsu, Tatsuya, and Teppei. You’re in right? It’s gonna be super fun, I swear.”
“I don’t exactly have a free day tomorrow, though,” he offered as he pushed the tumbler to Nijimura’s side of the table. “Translation work.”
Furihata shrugged. “Wednesday next week. But on Monday I’m working a double shift and on Tuesday I took a night shift at the gas station.”
Nijimura thought about it a little. “Bring your homework, then.” he said. “I promise that if you want to be left alone, you’ll get that. But you definitely need to join. Because you know what? At this party, no English allowed.”
Nijimura smirked on the last part, definitely seeing how Furihata perked up. He knew so damn well that Furihata could not resist a party where he could speak Japanese. Because though Furihata’s English is getting better to the point that it’s almost flawless, he could never pass up an opportunity to speak in his Mother Language. Especially after two years of living in America.
“Did you tell Taiga that?” Furihata laughed. “He would not be happy.”
“Taiga could bail for all I care,” Nijimura laughed as he grabbed his tumbler, muttering a thank you. “ I’ll pick you up tomorrow. Your shift ended at the usual time, right?”
Furihata only nodded, and just like that, Nijimura bid his goodbye.
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