Counting Petals [TomoKazu]

February 9 (Wednesday)

START OF FEBRUARY 9 (Wednesday)

That Wednesday morning, Tomo went out of the house bright and early to buy something. 

The other day, he told his friends to ask Kazuha's friends about his preferences and got the answers yesterday. After thinking for a long time, with the Intel that his friends got taken into consideration, he finally chose what to buy for Kazuha from a cafe he loves.

He's been planning to do this for quite a long time now. He's been excited yet anxious about this day. He didn't expect time to fly as fast as a falcon. Sure, he's been waiting for it but now he thinks that he lacks time and still needs to prepare.

Tomo arrives in front of the cafe and sees Itto, Thoma, and Ayato already waiting for him. 

"What are we even doing here early in the morning? I lack some hours of beauty sleep 'cause of this!" Itto shouted, shaking Tomo's shoulders. 

Thoma comes in between them to stop Itto. "We're here to buy something for Kazuha, remember?" 

"Kaedehara Kazuha? Did you already choose what you're going to buy for him?" Ayato goes into the cafe before them, "Come now, let's go. As you can see, the line is quite long and we're running rather late." 

"I thought about buying him a strawberry milkshake. First of all, I think he's just the type of person to drink one." 

"And we asked his friends for what now?" Itto pinching his smitten friend's cheeks. He is the one closest to any of Kazuha's friends so he went through the trouble to ask quite a lot of questions which made his time with them awkward. 

"Did you know that he's allergic to strawberries?" Ayato says, turning away to hide his smirk from Tomo. 

"Seriously!? Hey Itto, did you even ask them about Kazuha's allergies? I don't want hime- him to have an allergic reaction because of me. You know full well about allergies, Mr. Bean-Avoiding-Man-At-All-Costs." 

"I asked them a lot of questions and they said n- Ow! Hey, what was that for?" Itto was cut off by Ayato pinching him. 

It's now their turn to order and Tomo is contemplating whether he should buy a strawberry milkshake for Kazuha or not. I thought of a way to make that milkshake unique too...

Thoma pats Tomo's shoulder once he sees Tomo's frown. "Just go for the strawberry milkshake, Tomo. Ayato was just joking." And with that, Ayato covered his mouth with his handkerchief but Tomo can clearly see that mischievous grin. 

"Alright then, so I'd like a strawberry milkshake but my style. You know what I'm talking about Mr. Barista." 

The Barista nods and gets to work. Adding so much more whipped cream and a lot of pearls at the bottom. With some strawberry syrup to top it all off. 

Tomo pays and salutes to the barista, "Much obliged, good sir." They leave the cafe with Thoma, on their way out, trying his best to get in between his friends bickering.

Once he's in school, he goes straight to the library and gives his paper and Kazuha's drink to Yae Miko. "Bring the drink to the fridge in the faculty. Here's a card, show it to them to let you in. Tell them it's my drink for later."

∘◦❁◦∘

After school, Kazuha goes to the library once again. He is greeted with Yae Miko handing him the usual piece of paper and her card to access the faculty, telling him to get a strawberry milkshake for her. 

"Is it this one? I am not quite sure. My apologies, Yae Miko." Kazuha says, handing the milkshake to her. 

"Yes, it is the correct one, now go and have a drink." 

"Isn't it yours?" 

"Why don't you go and read the paper, hm?" 

"Very well then. Thank you, Yae Miko." Kazuha goes to his seat and reads the paper.

He smiles, then takes a sip from his drink. Strawberry-flavored. After relishing the taste of the shake, he writes his response.

END OF FEBRUARY 9 (Wednesday)