Bittersweet ||Chifuyu x Reader||

Seven || Chamomile Tea

-Art by banane_san on Twitter-

[Reference to chapter 120]

The caramel ocean within the glass teacup swirled in a clockwise direction at the twirl of the metal utensil. Staring into the cup of tea glumly, I couldn't help but be swallowed by meaningless thoughts.

"Are you alright, (Y/N)?" I looked to my right to see Emma's face close to mine.

Moving back a little I waved a hand in reassurance, "I'm fine, just a little tired." I admitted before turning back to the chamomile tea on the white tablecloth.

Hinata, who sat on the other side of me, hummed in delight as she picked up a portion of her blueberry cake with a fork. "Surely this'll wake you up, open wide!" She smiled while holding the fork in font of my mouth.

Hesitantly, I took a bite of the desert and then almost swooned on the spot. "Wow, that's actually really good."

"Right! This café sells the best cakes, I've been telling you guys to come here for months," She bragged in triumph as if it was herself who made the cake.

Emma laughed at our friend's attitude and sipped on her own coffee. "Yeah, it's nice we finally got to come here for once since you two are always bailing out everytime we plan something." She sneered. "Hina's free time is always taken up by Takemichi and (Y/N)'s constantly involved in gang stuff! Geez, really, we need to spare more time so that we can all hang more often."

Laughing guiltily, I took a swill from my teacup without commenting. The girl with the rosy brown hair on the other side of me blushed madly as she made her defense, "Hey, Takemichi's a great guy alright!" She waved her fists up and down with a pout. It was pretty cute, actually. She turned back to Emma with a confiding smirk. "Besides, you'd probably spend all day with Draken if you were given the chance, right? You and I are not so different, my dear Emma-chan!"

Now it was Emma's turn to go red at that statement as she made her own comeback. As for me, stuck in the middle of my two friends who were busy teasing and attacking each other over their boy problems, I just casually continued to enjoy my afternoon tea.

A few moments later the bickering died down and I had a hunch that two pairs of wistfully brown and amber eyes were seeping into me. I glanced to either side to notice Hinata and Emma squinting at me as if they were trying to use some sort of peripheral vision to look inside of me. "...What?" I mumbled unsurely while placing the empty teacup down.

Hinata latched onto my arm, bringing my hand towards her pleading eyes. "Sooo... is there any guys you're interested in, (Y/N)?" It was almost as if her eyes were shimmering.

Suddenly, my other arm got pulled down with the weight of Emma who also clung to me. "Surely there's somebody you like. Any guy in Toman caught your eye?"

I looked between the two girls before bursting out with laughter. They moved away from me, rather disappointed with my reaction. I smiled softly after composing myself. "Nah. They all just treat me like I'm another one of their gang members. I'm too busy punchin' and beaten' up the bad guys to fall in love!" I said before playfully throwing a fist at the air in front of me.

Emma sighed as she rested her chin on her palm, "You'd think there'd be at least a little tension! You're the only girl in a gang full of guys, there has to have been some drama in the past if not now,"

But I only shook my head as I watched my best friend's shoulders slump in defeat. Hinata looked down at her empty plate on the table and giggled. "Now that I think about it, all those guys really care about is fighting. And (Y/N) fits right in." Taking that as a good thing, I grinned cheekily at the girl who returned it with her own. "How'd you even end up joining anyways?" Hinata finally asked.