Lighter | Noriaki Kakyoin

3| Thursday

As I passed by empty classrooms, closed and opened doors blurry on the edge of my vision, a glimpse of red caught my attention. I silently stepped back to inspect and found an elegant figure standing next to the window, delicate features bruised with worry. I stood still in the doorway, not really sure what to do next.

His amethyst gaze found me before I could decide, and he retreated the nails he was biting out of surprise. The wind blew between us, and the complexity I encountered in him killed all my hesitation. He held himself like a puzzle I could not avoid, and each piece seemed to tell its own story.

"Um, excuse me." I shyly entered the class and discovered he was all alone but for the noise coming from the other side of the window. "Why are you still here?"

He paused. The silence dragged as he scanned all the empty seats, not looking for anything in particular. "I suppose I have let my thoughts drag me out of reality again." He smiled cordially, the trained attention averter of a diplomat. "But I reckon it is well past time to be headed home. May I ask what you are still doing here?" 

"It's Thursday. I work at the school cafe on Thursdays." I shook the keys I was coming back from retrieving as proof.

"I didn't know the school had a cafe." He reached out for his bag and calmly walked towards me. "Would you be so kind as to show me where it is?"

"Of course." His exaggerated formality amused me a little, but I kept it to myself. When he came closer, I noticed he was trembling slightly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm all right, thank you for asking." He smiled enough to make his eyes squint, and I wondered if I wasn't just imagining things. "Well then, shall we?"

I went ahead and made the now so familiar route to the school cafe. We didn't exchange a word throughout the whole way, and again it wasn't awkward at all. When we arrived, I took out the keys and opened the door for us.

"It only officially opens in about ten minutes, but you can stay here if you want." I pointed as I made my way to the back of the balcony, making sure we had everything we needed.

"You are very kind, Natsume-san." He sat down on a seat next to a window and started unpacking whatever he had in his bag.

"I told you to call me Yubi!" I shouted as I crouched down to reach the ingredients stored further on the cabinet. "By the way-" I made my way back to the surface, hands full and hair messy. "Do you want me to make you something?"

He blinked a few times, at a complete loss. "Do you have any recommendations?" He stared at me expectantly, eyes and skin polished by the generous amount of sunlight dripping from the window. His hair was like fire in this light, the vision stunning me for a second.

"Well... Do you prefer sweet stuff?" After a moment of thinking, he nodded. "Then I have just the thing for you!" I smiled broadly, and the smile I received from him threw my customer service training entirely in the trash can. Some people just have natural charm, huh? Unfair.

He sat in silence as I made his drink, hurrying to finish before people started arriving. As I approached his table, I noticed he had his art materials neatly organized. He began sketching something on a big notebook.

"Here, my specialty!" He recoiled as he noticed me and unconsciously hid what he was drawing.

"Oh, thank you." He put the paper with its front down, arousing my curiosity even more. "What is it called?" He gently wrapped the cup away from my hands, already taking a sip.