Shimada Ren is sitting in a coffee shop sipping a latte. Her long black hair tied in a bun exposing her smooth pale skinned neck. Dressing in a pair of dress pants and a sleeveless black blouse. Her beauty was attracting the stares of many of the male patrons and workers. Her purple eyes sparkled as she looked through the menu at all the cakes and pastries the shop offered. This was a new trendy coffee shop that had just opened a month ago. She was excited to try the food which got rave reviews online. She could feel the gazes of everyone around her, but she was used to it. Since she had hit puberty, this was a daily occurrence, anywhere she went she would get stared at. She didn’t hate the attention but she didn’t like it either. She glanced down at her phone and smiled. It was a text from Sakurai “Sorry I’m running late, I just got off the bus, be there in a minute.” Shimada laughed at the text Sakurai wasn’t even late yet. She just knew that Shimada was always early. If anything, Shimada was a half an hour early, Sakurai just knew her well enough to know she was already there waiting.
The door to the café flew open and a girl in a white flowery summer dress burst through the door. Scurrying up to the table Sakurai whose cheeks were slightly red and breathing a little haggard said “Sorry I’m late.” She took her seat and started to glance at the menu, to the bemusement of Shimada. The waiter walked up to Sakurai and took her order. “I’ll have an iced chocolate mocha frape please.” She set down her menu and looked up at the smiling Shimada. “What’s up Ren?”
“You’re not even late so why are you in such a hurry.” She said with an elegant smile on her face. A few of the men in the background felt their chests tighten.
“You are always early so it makes me feel like I’m always late. Even if I’m five minutes early I still feel like I’m late.” Sakurai glanced around the room for a second noticing the atmosphere. “It looks like you have a number of onlookers again Ren."
Shimada giggled a little. “Yeah, it has become a common thing as of late. But, the number of onlookers seems to have increased since you sat down Mio.” Sakurai has no clue she’s beautiful, sometimes frustrating Shimada. Sakurai blushed and put her head down behind the menu. She didn’t realize that this cute act only made the stares worse. Sakurai is very shy and she was shaking a little. She felt awkward and sick to her stomach when she was the center of attention.
“I-I doubt that anyone is looking at me. It is embarrassing having everyone look over here though.” Shimada sent a dirty look at everyone staring in the café. Everyone turned their heads and looked away in embarrassment. Sakurai noticed everyone’s gazes turning away and let out a small sigh. “Thanks Ren.”
“No problem I’m used to this kind of thing. You called me out of the nowhere this morning saying you had something to talk about. Normally you would spend your day reading the books you got from the public library. At this point you must be their number one customer. So, what’s up?”
Sakurai’s eyes lit up at the mention of the library. “I just love to read, ok. I only go on Saturday though. I wish I could go more often but schools been giving us tons of homework lately. I barely finished the book I picked out last week. Also, I don’t think I’m the number one customer there anymore. Apparently, there is a customer who has read over one hundred and fifty different books over the last year. They say he picks up three or four books every weekend. I wish I could meet him.”
“Is that what you wanted to talk about. Dragging me all the way to a café just to talk about a mysterious man who reads to many books.” Shimada sighed.
“N-no I called you for a different reason but let’s order food first.” The pair ordered two different cakes and waited for them to be delivered. “So, I wanted to ask you something about Hashimoto and Murata.” Ren's face froze for a second. “Do you think they hate each other? When I mentioned Murata’s name around Hashimoto, he always gets a stern look. He thinks he’s hiding it well but I’ve noticed it a few times. I also noticed the same thing when I talked to Murata last week about what happened in class. I think there is something going on and I want to get to the bottom of it.”
Ren was shocked into silence for a few seconds. She was trying to hide it to the best of her abilities but wasn’t sure if it was working. Sakurai is oddly perceptive at times and it drives Shimada crazy at certain times. “I-I’ve heard they don’t get along very well. But I don’t know why exactly. Maybe you’re the cause of it, Mio. Maybe Hashimoto thinks your dating Murata and maybe it’s the opposite for Murata. I could see how it would make either one of the jealous.”
“Why would someone think I was dating either one of them? I’m just childhood friends with Towa and I just met Hashimoto a few weeks ago. I know hanging around a member of the opposite sex too much can lead to rumors, but I don’t talk to Hashimoto at school. I very rarely talk to Murata at school, the most we do is eat lunch together every great once in a while.” Sakurai was shaking her head thinking there was no way she could be the cause. “Besides I’ve never talked to Towa about the fact that I’ve been hanging out with Hashimoto. Wait Ren did you mention it to Towa by any chance?” Sakurai was staring directly at Shimada studying her every facial movement. “You did talk to him about us didn’t you Ren? I can tell by the look on your face.”
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Shimada sighed “You know sometimes your too damn perceptive. Yeah, I mentioned to Murata that you two had talked a few times. It’s not like you hid it well, walking into school talking to him like that. Besides you know Murata has a giant crush on you and would get angry if he saw you talking to another man.”
“W-what are you talking about Ren?” Sakurai blushed again drawing the gazes of all the men in the restaurant causing Shimada to shoot them a dirty look again. “T-there’s no way Murata likes me. Were just childhood friends, it would be weird to think of him that way, wouldn’t it?”
“Hahaha you’re so funny.” Shimada continued to laugh shaking her head at her clearly naïve friend. “You know it’s a common thing in anime and manga for childhood friends to fall in love. I bet it is even common in the real world. You may not realize this but Murata and you have grown up. A man and a woman growing attracted to one another as they grow older doesn’t seem to be too far out of the realm of possibility. You may have not realized this but Murata is a very handsome man. He’s tall athletic, smart, wealthy and has good family. Many women are aiming for him, but he turns them all down. Could you tell me why that is Mio?” Sakurai was in a daze.
“Are you saying it’s because of me?”
“I’m just saying the only girl he talks to is you. I haven’t seen him have more than a casual conversation with any girl since we started high school. I don’t think you’ve realized how cute you are Mio. Many men would like to date you. You’re a smart, shy, quiet, beautiful, and you have good manners any man would be happy to bring you home to his parents. Why don’t you just give it a shot? He is considered the most handsome man in school.”
Sakurai was lost in thought. She had never even considered dating Towa. They had known each other since they were babies. Their fathers were good friends growing up so they had been introduced at a very young age. Towa’s father is a wealthy businessman and her father is a high ranking official in the government. They had very close family ties. Sakurai and Benjiro had even gone on family trips with the Murata’s. When she thought of Towa it was closer to a brother than a man. But now her thoughts had been brought to the fact that apparently, he is handsome. She imagined him and her face immediately began to blush. But a second later another handsome face popped into her mind. A blond-haired boy she had just met a few weeks ago. A delinquent who was so intelligent that he had to monitor his speech when he talked to people so he didn’t seem out of place.
“Do you think Hashimoto has a thing for me too?”
Shimada frowned. “I would say he definitely has a thing for you. I don’t know if he has realized it yet. But the way he looks at you, makes me believe he does. But that man is a dangerous person. I don’t think you should be involving yourself with someone like that. He is handsome I’ll give you that, but he’s sly like a fox. A wolf in sheep’s clothing is the only way I could describe that man. He’s one of the few people I just can’t read. Frankly, he scares me.”
Sakurai frowned. “You know I’ve thought for a while that you don’t like him very much. He also told me the circumstances around what he did at his previous school. I agree with you on one thing that man is definitely a wolf. He’s highly intelligent, scary intelligent is the only way to put it. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so sad about beating up people who attacked him. I thought he was going to cry when he described the fight, he was in. Did you know the only reason why he didn’t win the fight this time is because he refuses to defend himself? That’s how sorry he was for his own actions. He might be the kindest wolf I’ve ever seen.” Her voice was stern and her stare was intense.
Shimada smiled a little. “Has my friend fallen in love with the big bad wolf? The way you sounded just now makes me think you’ve grown feelings for that man.”
Sakurai still had a stern look on her face. “I’m not sure if I have feeling for him. But we have become good friends. He has only ever been kind to me and it hurts a little to hear someone badmouth him. My question to you is why do you hate him so much? Has he ever hurt you or anyone you know? Have you ever seen him even say a bad word to someone?”
Shimada thought for a minute. The silence was deafening between the two. The restaurant had gone quiet sensing the atmosphere between the two of them. “Honestly, I don’t know why I dislike that man. You are correct I have never seen him be mean to anyone. There is just something about him that I can’t put my finger on. Something that just won’t allow us to get along.”
Sakurai hesitated for a second. “Did you ever give him a chance or were just like everyone else who judge him before they ever talked to him? You should give people a chance and not judge a book by its cover.”
Shimada sighed “I guess your right I’ll give him another chance. But if I fall in love with him too you can’t be mad at me if I get him before you.” Sakurai giggled.
Sakurai smiled. “I think you have a long way to go before the two of you fall in love with each other. You were talking about Towa earlier like he was a knight in shining armor, are you sure you’re not in love with him.” Sakurai giggled.
Shimada laughed “He wishes he could get a woman as beautiful as me.” Secretly Shimada had been in love with Murata since they met freshman year. She even thought about confessing her feelings to him a few times. But she knew it would be futile if she did. Murata only had eyes for the cute girl in front of her. But that girl wasn’t even aware of his feelings and she didn’t even see him as a romantic interest. The girl Murata loves only sees him as a brother or cousin. This is quite evident from the conversation she just had with Sakurai. Shimada leaned her head back and thought "Why did things have to turn out this way. Maybe, if she really does fall in love with Hashimoto I can swoop in and mend his broken heart."
“Let’s stop this conversation about Towa and Hashimoto. Things are going to be awkward between Towa and I if this continues. I have to meet his mother in the hospital in later today. I’m sure he will be there and I don’t want things to be weird.” Sakurai continued to heat her cake. The girls chatted with each other for a while until deciding to go their separate ways.