Autumn Leaves Fall and Wither

Chapter III : Overkill

Gorou's ears perked up as his eyes darted toward a tall guy who just entered Sangonomiya Cafe. He had memorized every part of this guy's existence now that he could even recognize him just by the smell—of sweat and perfume mixed together, making an assumption that this guy hadn't touched any water since waking up. The blonde greeted him with a small smile, which forced Gorou to smile in return. Then, he sat by an empty seat at the corner of the cafe just like yesterday.

The brunette growled, knowing that he had to take his order because this was his job whatsoever.

“What would you like to order, Sasaki?” he asked, rather politely.

Sasaki looked up from his phone. “Hey, I didn't know you knew my name.”

“Oh, haha.” Gorou scratched his head with the back of a pen he carried. “Kazuha told me.”

“You two are best friends, no?” The look on Sasaki's eyes were gentle. Gorou didn't know why he still didn't like him, though.

“The bestest of all.” He shrugged. “So, what would you like to order, Mr. Sasaki?”
Sasaki chuckled. “Just call me Tomoya or Tomo.” “Alright, Tomo.” Gorou was indifferent.

“And as for what to order, I'd like to wait for Kazuha to arrive—”

“What? You and Kazuha are on a date or something?” Gorou couldn't help but interrupt. Kazuha didn't tell him about his date with Tomo—and he remembered, he had told Kazuha to not text
Tomo. A pang of jealousy struck Gorou's heart out of nowhere, and he felt like he could smack Tomo's face with his bare hand and he wouldn't regret any of it.
“No, we're just going to discuss about the project.”

Gorou's blue eyes were narrowed. “And what time are you and Kazuha supposed to meet?” “At 11.”

The bartender slash waiter glanced at the wall clock by the counter. “It's still 10. You're just gonna wait for an hour without ordering anything?”
“Yeah.”

“Okay.” Something inside Gorou told him to leave now or he would truly punch Tomo's whole existence into the outer space. “Enjoy your time, then.” Tomo gave him a nod and a thumb up.

Gorou returned to his post behind the counter. Kokomi was already waiting for him as she mixed a drink for another customer.
“So?” she asked, hands busy stirring something in a glass.

“He didn't want to order yet,” Gorou replied tiredly. “Said he would wait for Kazuha before ordering.”

“Kazuha? Are they on a date?”
Gorou placed a hand on his forehead. “No. He said no, and I hope it really is a no.”
“Have you confessed to him yet? To Kazuha, I mean.”

For a few seconds, Gorou was silent. He only looked at the glass in Kokomi's delicate hands. The brown and purple liquid were mixed perfectly with ice cubes inside.
“Still no, then?” Kokomi answered her own question with another question. She sighed loudly. “How long will you wait, Gorou? If you don't make a move, you're going to lose him sooner or
later.”

“I know, I know.” Gorou let out a long breath. “I just....”

“Don't want to ruin your friendship with the confession,” Kokomi continued Gorou's trailed sentence. She handed the glass to the customer, flashing a pretty smile, then returned to Gorou.

“Judging by how Kazuha is, I have faith that you two will be fine.”

“I hope so.” The male sat down, elbows on the table and hands on cheeks. “I'm so messed up.”

“You mess yourself up.”

Kokomi's response stabbed him in the heart.
He decided to busy himself with taking orders and making drinks. The cafe was getting crowded near lunchtime, and he wouldn't have any time to think about how miserable and cowardice he was. Thinking that he and Kazuha had been friends for more than ten years, thinking about telling him that he loved him from a long time ago, and imagining the two of them walking hand on hand were delightful yet they somewhat scared him. If only confessing could be as easy as in romantic movies....

The bell on the door rang, and Kazuha's short figure appeared. He was wearing his usual black jacket and jeans. White hair in a loose ponytail to his right side. He was scanning the cafe, before spotting Tomo at the corner and was about to walk to him when Gorou left the counter, grabbed his hand, and took him out of the cafe. Kokomi was shouting in the background.

It was scorching hot outside, and crowded too. Gorou took Kazuha to a small alley next to the cafe, pinning him with both hands and their faces almost touched each other. The alley was quiet and a little bit damp with trashcans along it. Tall building on its right and left made great shades from the sun.
“What's wrong, Gorou?” Kazuha forced a smile. His back was flat on the wall, and his figure seemed to grow smaller under Gorou's glare. “Are we ... playing something?”
“What did I tell you about contacting him?” Gorou didn't mean to make his voice sound malicious, but it just did.
“Who?”
“Sasaki.” Gorou groaned.

“O-oh, Tomo. I didn't contact him ... first,” Kazuha admitted. “Turned out, he had saved my number and he texted me. So, I ... had to reply?” “He's dangerous!” The other male blurted.

“Why do you keep assuming that he's dangerous? Does he look like it to you?” Kazuha shifted his gaze away from Gorou as if looking at his best friend would suck the breath out of him. “No—yeah! I mean, he's been waiting for you for an hour now!”
“For an hour?!”

“See? He's a weirdo!”

“That doesn't really explain why he's dangerous, though.”

Gorou hissed. “Think about it. What if he's actually a member of a dark organization and he is planning to kidnap you or murder you? Some criminals tend to lure their preys by making them fall in love before doing whatever they want to do!”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Kazuha shoved a hand on Gorou's face, pushing him away. “What are you talking about, Gorou? You're scaring me for real, now!”

“I'm just worried about you, okay!” Gorou snatched his friend's hand and gripped it tightly.

The look on Kazuha's face softened. With a small smile, he answered, “Thanks, Gorou. You are indeed my best friend. I'll keep that on mind. If things go south, I'll make sure to let you know. For now, please keep watching over me.”

With that, Kazuha retracted his hand, gave Gorou a tap on the shoulder, and left.
Gorou thought he wouldn't be able to move an inch anymore after that, since his energy seemed to disappear in a sudden. Then, when the afternoon heat got too hot for him to handle and the realization that he had just done something too stupid to even be a part of him, he let out an angry burst.

“WHAT THE HELL, GOROU!!!” A poor trashcan became his anger outlet, kicked hard, rolling on the ground, ringing loudly his ears hurt. Stray cats that Gorou didn't know were there, ran away from the sudden attack. But Gorou's head was still boiling with anger on himself. “AM I THE ANTAGONIST NOW?! NOW KAZUHA WILL THINK I'M THE WEIRDO HERE! ARGH!!!”

“Hey! If you have time to kick a trashcan and scare poor cats, you have time to get back to work!”

Kokomi's annoyed voice came behind him.
Gorou breathed out, and left the alley with Kokomi—who looked like she was about to drown Gorou for his misbehavior. She might be pretty and delicate, but she was still his boss who could just fire him and left him penniless.

Back to his post, Gorou intensely watched Kazuha and Tomo at their seats. They were chatting happily like old friends. One time, Tomo touched Kazuha's hand and the smaller male was laughing nervously before Tomo apologizes. Gorou's hands were bound to land a punch on Tomo's stupid face now, and if he had to walk to their seats and take his order....

“I'll take their orders,” Kokomi offered, as if she could read Gorou's mind. “You stay here.”

Thanks the Archons, Kokomi was as reliable as ever so nobody would get hurt.