Six O'Clock Shadow

Chapter One

Denki Kaminari wasn't shy. Not at all. He wasn't timid. He wasn't quiet, either.

In fact, Denki Kaminari was energetic, loud, and on occasion a little bit too blunt, and too bold.

Which was okay. None of that bothered his friends. And honestly? They were the same. They were just as loud and excitable as he was.

But Kaminari never put thought into this. Not when he was getting ready for the day; brushing out his unruly golden hair and picking out an outfit. Not when he was walking around the block to the Bronze Door, the little café he and his friends owned. Not even when his coworker (who doubled as a best friend) came in for her shift.

Instead, he was thinking about yesterday. He never thought about yesterday - only the present - but today he was.

"Denki!" Ashido exclaimed impatiently, snapping his fingers in front of his face to catch his attention. Mina Ashido had vibrant pink hair, and skin of a slightly paler pink to match.

"Yeah?" he answered, slightly dazed. His lack of sleep the previous night was getting to him, apparently he had zoned out from setting pastries into the display case.

"Are you okay? Did something happen? You're usually more... attentive." Ashido stopped talking abruptly, as the bell on the door rang, signifying that someone had entered the store. She turned to see who it was. The first round of customers usually came around seven, but the clock on the back wall barely read 6:44.

Kaminari liked looking at the customers, and he often tried to guess what they would order. This person - now they looked interesting. They had messy braided lavender hair, light skin that was covered in a heavy dusting of freckles, and slightly pointed ears. Their shirt had some sort of space or astrology pun on it. But more interesting than their shirt, they had an eye patch covering their left eye.

He guessed they would buy a black espresso, no cream, no sugar. They looked like that type of person, a little cold, a little distant. They gazed at the menu, which was on a chalkboard behind Kaminari and Ashido, for about a minute. Kaminari gently pushed Ashido over to stand next to the counter, as he didn't want to continue the previous conversation. He had no answer for her, he simply wasn't feeling it.

It took the person another minute of gazing at the chalkboard behind them before they made a decision.

"I'll have Earl Grey tea, with a sugarcube. No cream, please." They had a light, feminine voice, but Kaminari couldn't be sure what to call them.... Better to be on the safe side.

As Ashido started the kettle, Kaminari sighed. He had guessed the order wrong. He smiled a little though, he might have better luck next time, however unlikely.

"Here you are! That will be ¥650, please!" Ashido was always so happy. It added a nice environment to the cafe.

The person fished around in their pocket, and brought out the owed money, then took their tea. They went to the table in the back corner.

"They took the good window..." Ashido groaned. When there weren't any customers in the store, that was where Ashido usually sat. They were sitting next to the only window that overlooked the alleyway instead of the main road, which was usually busy. Other than that, the seat was the same as any other, at least to Kaminari. The customer didn't know that Mina liked it though, and stared at their tea, seemingly lost in thought.

"It's fine. They'll be gone in a bit." Kaminari responded. He was glad that Ashido had forgotten about their earlier conversation.

His mind was still on what happened the previous day. He never dwelled in the past, and he certainly never lost sleep because of it. Sleep is something that always came easily to him.