ninety-nine balloons (part 4 x fem!reader)

13- the hand

"well, he's probably a dead man by now." margo joked, oblivious to your growing panic. "either that, or he managed to escape and we just dont know it."

"well i have to go back for him, i said that i would!" you yelled in a panic, dropping everything to race toward the door-- only to get forcibly yanked back by the collar. 

customers, approaching the doorway all smiling and laughing. great, another thing to stop you from going back to save your friend.

you recognized these few people, too, as the young man who had given you his phone number the other day, and his friend with the steak-styled hair. what were their names again...?

acting as natural as possible, which didn't even look convincing in the slightest, you and margo returned to your stations behind the counter and grinned. "welcome!" your friend sung as the bell to the door jingled. "how can we help you today?"

"oh- hey! its that girl!" one of the pair, adorned with noticeable scars across his face, shouted obnoxiously. "we didn't get to see you earlier! where were you?"

"had you been looking for me?" normally, this would be a flattering occurrence-- but since this man had flirted, given his number, and done all sorts of things worthy to be labeled as 'courting', you began to fear he was a stalker.

"i mean, not really, we just noticed you weren't here today like you normally were." he hummed, looking at the menu posted to the wall. 

it was one of those quick moments, where someone would glance and then look away as if they hadn't been staring at all. the man had done just that, only repeatedly, until he spoke again. "hey, did you get a haircut? it looks different than before."

a hand subconsciously came up to run through your tresses, as if you had become so suddenly self-conscious of your appearance. "ah- yes! thank you for noticing."

well, perhaps this guy wasn't too bad after all-- seeing as how you're at the cafe almost everyday, its only natural to wonder where you could have went if missing. plus, its not like someone would be obsessed only after just meeting a person, they'd have to get to know them.

this kid seemed pretty friendly, too. perhaps the two of you could be friends.

"i guess i'll just get a chocolate muffin and a medium lemonade."

chocolate muffin, with a lemonade. noted.

"and for you, sir?" margo smiled, looking at the one that had yet to order.

"i'll have a small iced coffee, that's it."

one chocolate muffin, one medium lemonade, and a little iced coffee.

with the order in mind, you sprung to work in hopes of getting everything done fast enough to be able to return to koichi, and hopefully find him alive. the muffin, quickly shoved into a paper bag, and a lemonade speedily made to accommodate it before being handed to its recipient-- the iced coffee following soon after.

thoughts of worry plagued your mind as you wondered what yukako could be doing to koichi, good or bad. was he hurt? did he escape the house and get away, or get caught? 

answering all your questions, a short statured, stumbling man with white hair tumbled into the cafe, gasping and panting as if he'd been running for hours on end. koichi, you recognized, was he. "(y-y/n)! you're alright!"

looking past the two at the register was somewhat difficult, but when they turned to face koichi as well, you found that it was much easier to see him. it appeared his hair had been cut, as well. "my goodness, im anything but that! but how are you, my friend?"

"friend?" the man with scars repeated like a broken record. "do you know koichi, (y/n)?"

how awful you felt for not remembering this guys name, though he recalled yours. it was like a painful slap to the face. "yeah, we met through a... another acquaintance, you could say."

"this is that koichi kid you were talking about? he's a little different than I've imagined... not as tall." margo clicked her tongue, turning to the underside of the counter to fetch a crisp apple sucker.

you snapped at her briefly, as if to remind the girl that she'd spoken aloud and could have offended the man. though, he didn't seemed bothered, let alone upset. his assumed friends rushed to his side quickly, speaking one question after another of worry after finding his state to be less than pleasant.

once all was said and done, the group said their thanks to you and margo, grabbed their stuff, and went along their way-- though, the man with scars had slipped a sliver of paper onto the counter before they left the cafe barren.

'okuyasu nijimura' was what was written, followed by his number... again.

okuyasu, was it? right, his name! that was his name!

he seemed nice enough, and super friendly, too, so there shouldn't be any harm in maybe shooting him a text, right?

after all, there's no harm in trying to make some friends in such a small town like this!