Opposition Over the Orchid [OUMASAI]

Chapter Five: An Unexpected Encounter

Shuichi took a deep breath as he walked into the bookstore, or really, his first shift. As he glanced around the store, he saw many customers of all shapes and sizes wander and shop about, minding their own business. The occasional child would screech and cry, but that wouldn't bother Shuichi too much (the only thing that would get on his nerves would be peppy Christmas music that would blare throughout the store, over and over again). Overall, the bookstore was quiet, and the speakers sputtered out gentle piano music. Currently, Nocturne op.9 No.2 was playing; it sent Saihara through a calm state, and it reminded him of the night Kokichi played piano for him.

After a minute of standing in a daze, Shuichi punched-in and officially began his shift. He was given a whole crate of books, and he must admit it was heavy. But, Shuichi was grateful that, as Kokichi had said, his visits to the gym payed off. Saihara lifted the crate and carried it off to the true crime section (his favorite; he squealed internally) and set it on the ground. The male began to place books atop the shelf in alphabetical order, and actually found it rather enjoyable; organizing things always had appealed to Shuichi, sorting things out, puzzles and such. Speaking of puzzles, the male would daydream and imagine him and Kokichi working on puzzles together—it was a pure thought, something Shuichi wished would come true.

Not too long ago (maybe a couple weeks at best) Shuichi and Ouma had gotten together with Kaede to—once again—discuss where it would be best to hold the maid and butler café. They had wrote down a Plan A, backup plans and ended up deciding on holding it at the coffee shop on campus. Their night ended out by eating semi burnt popcorn and watching bad movies. Both Kaede and Shuichi had ended up leaning their heads on both of Ouma's shoulders. Shuichi felt his heart ache at the sight of Kaede holding Kokichi's hand, and he held her's back. He attempted to shake the memory from his head, and even though he wasn't a fan of it, Shuichi would be more than happy to drink so much alcohol that the memory would wash away from his head.

A while had passed (an hour per-say), and Saihara had finished up re-stocking books for a couple shelves, helping a customer find a section or book every-so-often (he would come to the store a lot, so he practically knew the layout like the back of his hand). He stretched, lifting his long arms over his head, arching his back. And, as he did, he heard a big thump in the next row of books. In the adult-oriented section, a short boy with orchid hair crouched down and picked up a couple books, stacking them on the shelf.

"Kokichi. . .?" Shuichi wondered aloud as he glanced over into the adult section. He then confirmed it was his crush, and, out of excitement, he practically ran to him, "Kokichi, you work here, too?" The boy quizzed with a smile.

Said boy jumped, shoving a book onto the shelf quite frantically (Shuichi couldn't quite catch what it was, but judging by how quickly he lodged the novel into the shelf indicated it wasn't something clean). His face was flushed, and a drop of sweat seemed to be trailing down his forehead. "S-Saihara-Chan?! What the," he lowered his voice and glanced around, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Shuichi chuckled, "well, I work here. . .and I'm on my shift," he explained with a smile.

The short boy nodded, continuing to do his job. The tall boy remained silent and occasionally glanced towards the books his crush was handling. Lots of them were definitely targeted towards adults.

"So, when do you get off your shift?" Shuichi quizzed, looking to the side, occasionally bouncing on his heels (he had gotten that habit from Kaede). He felt the color red creep up his cheeks as the short boy snuck a glance at him.

"In a couple hours," he started," or maybe in one? Or threeee~? Who knows!" He closed the crate, and picked it up.

The taller male chuckled with a sweet smile, "I'm getting off work in two hours, also, so. . .wanna go get some coffee back on campus?" He asked. Saihara began to feel his heart beat from nervousness—it wasn't a date or anything, he just wanted to hang out and get coffee with his crush. Though, if it was a date, Shuichi would be even more than happy to attend.