Mr. Bartender // SakuAtsu

Chapter 8

After Atsumu's Monday practice and nap, at 2:00 pm, he had to go to work.

It didn't take long for the blond to get from his house to the cafe he works at. Walking to the front doors, the sign read Cafe Elixir. It wasn't a huge or fancy place. The cafe was relaxing, it had a nice calm feeling to it.

The walls were a soft cream and an emerald green colour, the floors were smooth wood. Each table and booth had their own colours. Some matched the cafe's colours, some were white, and a few were just simple, natural colours. There were plants of all kinds, relaxing lights, and big windows at the front. It all gave the cafe a unique feeling that was different from other places.

Atsumu walked in and through the cafe, straight to the back. Smiling at customers that were already seated, and waving to a few that were regulars.

Going into their small lockers, he placed his things inside and grabbed his work clothes.

"Oh! Atsumu, you're here!" A female voice spoke from behind the blond.

Recongnizing the voice, he turns to the familiar face, smiling. "Hey Kaori."

"Just starting your shift?" She asks, "Yup! 'm gonna change quick though," He replies. She gives a small chuckle in return and puts her thumbs up.

Kaori is Atsumu's co-worker. They actually met over a year and a half ago, when he first got a job at Cafe Elixir. Some people mistake them as siblings, but they aren't related at all.

She's shorter than Atsumu, but she's as tough. She has a similar brown colour for her hair, and she has pretty similar face features, the difference is the eye colours. While Atsumu has a honey brown eye colour, she has an ocean blue.

As Atsumu closes the bathroom door behind himself, he lets out a sigh. 'This is gonna be a long day.' He declares in his head. Stripping his shirt off, he takes a look at the time on the wall clock.

"2:27. Guess I start in a few." He mumbles, unfolding his work shirt and slipping it on. He didn't have to worry about pants since their boss, Akari, doesn't mind what they wear but she made them each a shirt with the cafe's name on the back and their own name on the front, in a small font. They actually appreciate being able to wear what they like and having a nice work shirt like that.

All Atsumu had left was his small waist apron that holds their note pads, pens, and any other items they might need. Before finishing up, he used the washroom and rinsed his face off.

Folding his own shirt, he unlocked the door and walked back out, over to his locker.

"Heya Kaori~" He says in a sing-song voice, walking into the cash register area.

"Oh! Hey 'Tsumu. Ready for today?" She asks, smirking. The blond smirks back, adding his usual grin to it. "Hell yah." He takes this as a challenge. "I'll get more orders than you!" She chimes back, getting a chuckle from the taller male.

"Yer on."

~

It was now 2 hours into Atsumu's shift, the cafe was a bit busy at this time and both himself and Kaori were exhausted.

"I feel like shit now." She states as Atsumu returns from yet another order. "Ah yeah. But now 'm 5 orders ahead of you!" Atsumu cheers.

"Pfft yeah okay. Our shifts aren't even done yet, so I could totally get past you." Kaori retorts.

Then they hear the door ring, signaling another customer walked in.

"I call this one!" Atsumu shouts, wanting to take another order from his friend. She pouts, crossing her arms and takes a step to the side for Atsumu to go take the customers order.

Once the customer took a seat at a small booth in the corner, Atsumu steps into action, walking over with his pen and paper in hand.

Smiling, he speaks. "Hello, what may yer order be today?" 

Looking up to the customer, Atsumu meets dark emerald eyes. Ones he recognizes. "O-oh... Kiyoomi." The blond never thought he'd see this familiar face in the cafe, where he works. "Atsumu-" Kiyoomi starts, only to be interrupted. "What would ya like ta order?" Atsumu spoke with a harsher tone, trying to get away as soon as possible.

"Oh. Right... Uh, just a caramel latte." He says, still staring at the blond's face. "It'll be ready soon." And with that, Atsumu turned on his heel and walked back to the counter to make the drink.

Kaori noticed how tense he was, but decided she'd ask about it later.

After Atsumu made the drink he turned to Kaori. Except she was gone, dealing with another customer.

Grumbling under his breathe, he grabs the hot drink and carefully walks it over to the ravenette.

"Here's yer drink." He states, catching the males attention. "Atsumu-" Kiyoomi then heard a small huff come from the shorter male. Taking a breath he continues to speak. "Can I please talk to you..?" As Atsumu fighta with himself in his thoughts, his face looks terribly irritated.

Groaning, he replies. "Argh! Fine! Just this once." He didn't realize how loud his voice was, but he could feel everyone go quieter.

Feeling awkward and embarrassed, the blond bows quickly, "My shift's done in an hour and a half." Then he walked back to the counter, keeping his head low.

'So he's done at 6..' Kiyoomi thinks as he watches the blond hide behind the counter, face in his hands. "He's cute..." He mumbles quietly.

Throughout waiting the whole hour and a half in the cafe, Kiyoomi had ordered a pastry and another drink. He desperately wanted to talk to Atsumu.

A few minutes after 6:00, Atsumu walked over to where Kiyoomi's been seated the entire time.

"Hey..." He says, standing next to the male. "Atsumu," The ravenette looks at the blond then slides out of the booth, standing up.

"Can we talk about..." His voice trailed off into a whisper. Atsumu knew exactly what he was hinting at since he started tensing unintentionally. "What is it?" He wasn't trying to sound cold, yet that was how it sounded.

They started walking out of the cafe and down the street before the ravenette spoke again.

Kiyoomi tensed up himself, "Oh, um..  Can we keep it to ourselves? But do you think..." Atsumu didn't know how to react. Was this all he wanted to talk to him about? Keeping it to themselves? "Really?" Atsumu let that thought slip out of his mouth by accident.

Kiyoomi gripped his jacket pocket, not even wanting to say another word.

"Oh- Um sorry." Atsumu quickly says, "I-... Was that all ya wanted to talk 'bout?" He asks, trying to ease the tension.

"No..." Kiyoomi stops once there are no more people around them. "Do you.. Do you regret it?"

Atsumu was taken back but the sudden question. 'Does he regret it? He looks like hes upset or.. needing something.' Those few moments the blond took, thinking, Kiyoomi grew more panicked and anxious. "Um never mind. It's fine. Sorry" He quickly said, looking to the ground.

"I- uh, 'm not sure..." That was all Atsumu could say. He didn't know what to say. "Sorry for.. wasting your time. I have work to get to." Kiyoomi said, his tone full of guilt, sadness, loss of hope. And then, he walked off, leaving Atsumu where they had stopped walking.

"What...?" The blond wasn't sure what was going on, why Kiyoomi seemed so upset. Then he slowly sunk into his thoughts, standing in the sidewalk.

'Do I regret that night?' Was the last thought he had before he finally turned around to go to his car.

~

~

Hope this was an interesting chapter!

I'm not sure how many chapters this story will have, but I'm going with the flow. 

Is there anything specific you'd like to see happen? 

We'll be getting Kiyoomi's POV  in the next chapter, and some bartending for sure!

~Spirit_Kawa