And Then...

.

Izumi Kyoka was walking down the streets of Morioh, enjoying the weather and killing some time before a meeting, when she passed by the café. As chance would have it, she saw Rohan Kishibe sitting at his usual spot: a table as far from the others as could be.

She waved to him, but Rohan just ducked his head into his sketchbook.

"Of all the people..." he thought. He didn't hate Kyoka, not by any means, but he did find her a bit pushy.

Persistent.

Peppy.

Whatever the word, he wasn't quite in the mood to carry on a conversation.

Kyoka walked over to his table, not taking a head duck for an answer, and took the seat across from him.

"Looks like you found me..." Rohan said flatly, lowering his sketchbook.

"I'm not going to be staying too long, I've got a meeting in an hour."

"So what are you doing here?" He pushed his sketchbook and other supplies off to the side. With another person around, they wouldn't find a chance to be properly used anytime soon.

"Nothing special. I just saw you and thought I'd say hi!" she smiled, "Have you ordered anything yet?"

Just in time, a waiter made their rounds over to their table.

"I guess I am now," Rohan replied, "A café au lait and a water." The waiter nodded, and left.

Kyoka put her chin on her hand and smiled. "You knew that was my favorite, didn't you?"

"I remember lots of things about lots of people..."

He wasn't sure where this conversation was going, or why, against his better judgement, he had even let it continue this far in the first place.

Perhaps he wanted the company? It wasn't something he'd usually admit, not even to himself, but the feeling arose regardless. Perhaps something interesting could come out of today.

"So why don't you ever come and sit with me when I go out?" Kyoka teased, "I feel like I tell you all the time how much I enjoy your company, as limited as it may be." 

"Because," he started between focused pen strokes, "whenever I go out, I'm usually trying to finish up my work, and I'm rarely in the mood for talking then."

Ruining the chance for her to get a further reply, their waiter returned with their drinks.

----

"So what were you drawing?" Kyoka asked. She pulled closer the sketchbook and saw a full page of doodles. Abstract and messy they were, though she felt she could almost make out designs forming in the center of the storm. 'Deliberate Chaos' was all she could think to describe it as before the page was shut.

"It's nothing, really."

"Don't be modest. This is really good! It's... interesting. Is this what you draw when you're not working?"

Rohan shrugged. "It never hurts to experiment." He leaned his chin on his palm. "With the new part of my manga starting, I think it'd be good to branch out, try other styles. I mean, you've seen all the artbooks in that library of mine. I haven't worked with half of what I could do."

With a sigh, Kyoka slowly nodded as she started aimlessly stirring her coffee, keeping her eyes down. He could feel the table shaking from her foot tapping.

"You alright?"

"Speaking of your library, that reminds me- I've actually got something I think we should talk about."

Rohan reached for his glass. The nearly overfilled ice rattled against the sides the same way his thoughts were racing over themselves to only guess what was so important. He knew as well as anyone else did that 'we should talk' never brought anyone any good.

"Since Taro's moved out, I was wondering if, well, just because our current place is so big... It wouldn't be permanent or anything! But-"

-go on, hurry up-

"-could I possibly move in with you?"

Rohan nearly choked on his water. "‽‽‽"

Of all things considered, that certainly hadn't made the list.

Kyoka continued, "I just don't see any reason for staying in such a large apartment if it's just gonna be myself. Think about it for a bit... I don't like being alone, and you--" "Would rather  be alone, thank you."

She sighed. "I can be quiet--"

"Ha! You're one of the most talkative people I know."

"Coming from you! You probably say that about everyone."

"Most everyone. But speaking of talkative people, have you said anything to Jugo about this? No doubt he'd be more eager to help you."

"I would've, but you know we don't actually talk much, and last I've heard, he's got a girlfriend."

"Really?"

"Well, it did come from a primary source, mind you."

"Of course it did." Rohan stole a glance at his watch. "Hey, what time did you say your meeting was? 4:00?"

"4:30."

"Mhm."

Rohan stood up and stretched. "Well, I feel like I should start heading back home." He subtly dug in his pocket, then whipped out a set of keys and dramatically tossed them to Kyoka. The catch took both hands, but as soon as she did, she smiled, leapt to her feet, and hugged him tight. "Oh, thank you!"

"Oi!"

Rohan froze at her touch, but Kyoka quickly let go and backed off.

"Sorry, sorry!" she held out her arms a bit, "hug?"

Looks like I'm going to have to get used to this. Rohan sighed, "Come here," he said with the slightest smile. 

Kyoka moved the same as last time, but slower, more thoughtfully. She wrapped her arms around him, letting herself fall into the hug, and pushing her face into his chest.

With this time not being as much of a surprise, the warmth of it could be felt by both. When was the last time this had happened? Rohan leaned into the embrace and put his arms around her, holding her back. It still took him a bit, but this time it was... comforting. Of course, with Rohan being himself, he wasn't going to admit it to anyone. Not easily.

But neither of them had the time for this-

He leaned in and whispered, "You've got ten minutes."

"Oh? Oh, the meeting!" Kyoka scrambled off him, grabbed her drink, and took off. "I'll pay you back later, see you tonight!" She waved goodbye as she walked out of sight.

"What did I just get myself into...?" Rohan mumbled as he fell back into his chair. He grabbed his sketchbook and rapidly tapped his pen against the table. A thought grew in his head until the tapping stopped as suddenly as it started. "How long is this going to be for? No, no, don't reconsider now. I can work around this. I've had to live in much worse conditions."

Gathering his things, he stood up, pushed his chair back in, and, after a few seconds, there was a pause.

"Dammit. My car keys were still on there... What did I just get myself into?"