Song Waves || A Ruinene Mermaid AU Story

Chapter 2: Coffee

It's currently the day after meeting that new mermaid; being 3:55 PM when I get to the theme park's main gates. I bow to the security guards and park ticket booth workers, smiling. They greet me, as usual, and let me in without a ticket. "It's wonderful that I work here, I don't need to spend extra clams..", I thought. I swim at a more fast pace than I usually do, being careful to avoid the families and other workers. After just a couple of seconds, I reach the back of  the Wonder Stage. I dig around in my bag, looking for the keys that Tsukasa returned to me today. I eventually find them, and swim towards the back stage door; so I can get to the part of the stage the audience is always in. I fumble with the lock, finally being able to get it open. Once I'm backstage, I put my keys away and set my bag down.
       As I move closer to the front of the stage, I hear a quiet song being sung. Rather surprised, I quietly sneak up to the stage opening and hide behind a curtain, listening. The song, being a traditional melody, is being sung by such a soft but strong voice. The melody, sounds absolutely wonderful; exactly like a siren's enchanting lure. And who does this beautiful voice belong to? I look down and see that it's the mermaid from yesterday, the one I was meeting up with. Her back is facing me, as she's sitting on the edge of the stage. Her head is slightly tilted up as she sings, her eyes closed, and her tail swishing along with the lyrics. "What a breath taking voice..Wondashow could use her..", I thought, smiling softly.
       I start to move towards her, but then stop myself. "I'll just wait until she's finished, don't wanna startle and embarrass her..". After only a couple more minutes, she finally finishes her song. I swim out from the curtain and greet her. "Hello, ... oh, I never got your name!", I say, awkwardly. She gives me a small, flustered smile, clearly embarrassed that we never gave each other our names. I clear my throat, and say, "I'm Rui Kamishiro, a high school second year". She nods, politely. "I'm..Nene Kusanagi..", she hesitates. I smile warmly at her. "What a beautiful name, Kusanagi-chan". She turns her head away from me. I giggle at her, then move the conversation along. "There's a coffee shop close to the theme park, want to stop there first? I'll pay, of course". She looks at me and pauses, clearly thinking. After a couple minutes of silence, she agrees. "Let me go grab my bag and then we can head out", I say, swimming towards the backstage again. Once I return, we head off towards the coffee shop.
       After about 10 minutes of swimming, pointing out key things to her as I go, we finally reach the coffee shop. "Weekend..Garage..?", Nene says, curiously. I nod. "This cafe and bar is run by a former famous singer, his daughter, and sometimes her friends. I'm actually friendly with them", I say. She looks at me, with a small shimmer of awe in her eyes. I open the door for her, and a couple of other ladies exiting the shop. They all thank me, and I smile at them. Once I enter, the small bit of chaos in the shop becomes clear to me.
       "Akito, get your lazy ass up and help us", An Shiraishi yells, gesturing to a small mermaid with glasses and blonde pigtails. A taller, ginger boy, who was sitting at a table eating pancakes in a work uniform stands up, rolling his eyes. "Fine", he says, not cleaning up his mess. I look over to a corner, where the blonde pigtails girl, known as Kohane Azusawa, is. She's at a table where a group of teenage boys are, taking their orders, fumbling a bit as she does. Close by her, a taller, more refined boy is taking the orders of a group of older ladies. That boy is a very familiar face to me, but I don't know him too well. That's Toya Aoyagi, a close friend of Tsukasa. And finally, in a corner across from Kohane and Toya, there's multiple groups yelling, asking for a waiter.
       I sigh and shake my head at them. I look over to Nene, who was ahead of me at one point. Confused, I don't spot her. "Where did she..", I mumble. As soon as I finish saying that, there's a small tug on the back of my sleeve. I turn my head a bit, and see her standing behind me. She gives a small wave, her eyes looking to the side. I smile softly at her. "Maybe I should have chose a different coffee shop, this one is chaotic 97% of the time and full to the brim with people..", I thought. I look at her and say, "Are you able to hear me?". She looks at my lips, most likely reading them. She shakes her head and then quietly says, "I can make out what you're trying to say". I point to the door and we both exit.
       Once we make it outside, and out of the way of the door, I turn to her. "How about you stay out here, and I'll order for the both of us?", I ask. She nods, and smiles lightly at me. I smile back, and continue to ask her questions. "Is there anything particular you want? I have some of the menu memorized". She thinks for a couple of moments, counting off on her fingers for who knows why. I swish my tail back and forth a bit to pass the time. Finally, she answers. "A coffee with a tablespoon of sugar, milk and honey". I tilt my head slightly to the side. "What an interesting but yet boring order!", I comment, playfully. She just gives me a look.
       I walk back into the shop, getting into the To-Go line. "Kohane~!", An calls. Kohane turns her head to look in the direction An was calling her from. "Can you come here and get the plates off this table?", An points to a small table, very near where I'm standing. Kohane freezes a bit, looking down at her already full hands. She closes her eyes, and sighs, slowly swimming towards the table.
       I move up in the line, realizing I'm now able to order. "Hello!", I greet the cashier. He gives me a warm smile, and greets me back as well. After that, I order the two drinks, pay, and stand off towards the side. I'm watching An and her friends continue to struggle as waiters and waitresses. "O-oh..!" I hear a small voice say. I look over and see Kohane start to lose her balance, and starting to drop the glass items she has. I swim over, catching the couple of items that have fallen. Kohane looks up at me, relief showering over her. I smile at her, and help her rearrange how she's carrying things. "Be careful Azusawa-san", I reply, "These items can be dangerous to drop, please don't be afraid to ask someone for help".
       She nods, stuttering out a response, "Thank you..Kamishiro-kun". I smile kindly at her, and let her go off with the dishes. Not even a second after she swims away, my order comes out. I thank the workers again, and start towards the door. As soon as I reach the door, A calls out, "Thanks for helping her, Kamishiro!" I wave at her, smiling as I do. I then exit.
       Once I'm outside, I find Nene sitting, her back up against the wall of the building. "I'm back Kusanagi-chan~!", I call out. She stands up when she sees me, smoothing out her tail fins as she does. I hand her the coffee she wanted. "Thank you", she says, softly. We both take a sip from our drinks, the silence a bit awkward. "How is your drink?", I ask her. She looks at me and replies, "Taste really good, actually". I giggle at her, "Well, that's good".
       A couple of seconds of silence pass by, when suddenly, Nene blurts out, "What are you drinking?". Put on the spot so quickly, I fumble with what I say. "I..It's, It's a coffee with sugar, vanilla, milk, almond milk and lavender flavoring". She looks at my drink curiously, almost like she's examining it. "Can I..can I try it?", she asks timidly. I smile at her. "Of course, I don't mind".
       I put the drink towards her, expecting her to take it from my hand to drink from it. Instead, she closes her eyes and drinks it while I'm holding it. I look down at her face, my cheeks flushing slightly. I turn away and think, "She's kinda cute..". I shake my head, trying to get the thought away from my head.
       "That's actually pretty good", she replies, giggling a bit. I nod, laughing along with her. "Wanna try mine?", she asks, shyly. I pause. "I kind of want to, but that would be rude of me, especially since I just met her..", I thought to myself. "Not at the moment, but thank you for the offer, Kusanagi-chan", I politely reply. She shrugs her shoulders and continues to drink her own.

Author's Note: Yippee I finally wrote again. For anyone that reads both this story, and my other one, I apologize for not writing for a while, I've been busy. I'm hoping to be able to write at least every Saturday, switching back and forth between this story, and my other one. Thank you all for the support :DD <33