East of Eden

Prologue

East of Eden was a three windows restaurant located near the State University of Tsuji.

The restaurant was quite famous, thanks to the position it occupied: students from different faculties often found themselves sitting on those soft seat chairs while eating during their lunch break.

It was common to find groups of students with their laptop supported on polished wooden tables: the fast internet connection made studying much easier for those students whom did not have it.

East of Eden was a family run restaurant and it was meant for workers and students: wooden furniture, climbing plants along two stained glass windows and a well-placed pot of succulents over each table. It was aesthetically pleasing: good food and cheap prices.

Izuku loved this place. Despite the fact that he had never been a glutton, and the portions were plentiful, he still found a corner for him to work and study while eating his half-portion.

He knew by sight the brothers working there: the Todoroki's family owned the place for years but only in recent years the place became famous. Their dad retired and the brothers worked hard to raise themselves from the financial hole they were in. And it did work.

Two brothers worked almost every day, Izuku was quite sure of this assumption: the day he would not eat there, he would walk by the restaurant always seeing those two. Sometimes a girl worked there too, Izuku saw her once or twice during the past month: she could have been their sister or a girlfriend, he would not take it to the bank.

Speaking of which, one of the two brothers approached him: he was a slender figure, taller than he was. Gentle smile, a kind soul Izuku would say.

Izuku raised his head and smiled, a kind soul he was too.

"Good morning, may I take your order?"

Izuku had a particular skill: he loved watching and studying people as they were. He took his sweet time admiring his face: sweet and sharp, a strange mix of soft and hard.

The brother - now Izuku saw the nametag: Shoto, what an endearing name - wore a white shirt, tailor-made. The initials of his name and surname hand-sewn in a pastel blue Izuku come to love so much.

S.T., the black apron almost covered them. Cotton, Izuku swore. He loved the look of the fabric: it suited him well.

"I'm a man of indecision," Izuku said, smiling at him. He folded his hands and unconsciously played with a ring he was wearing. Silver ring, something written on it, something that Todoroki could not read.

"I can help you. If you want, that is."

"What would Shoto drink?" Izuku unfolded his hands and rested his chin upon the palm of his right hand, waiting for an answer. He gave a quick look at the pc screen.

Todoroki looked down and cleared his throat, unable to hold Izuku's gaze any longer.

"Well," Todoroki looked at him again, green eyes ever so bright, he felt something strange inside his mind: a thought. It might have been it: bugging him down to his core.

"I would suggest today's dish, it comes with a glass of Old Fashion. I do not know if you like Bourbon, I could make it with Whiskey..." Todoroki added as he tapped his chin with the tip of the pen he was holding.

Izuku thought for a while, he did not despise drinking but he did have a lesson later this afternoon.

"Well, that would do. Thank you, Shoto," Izuku added as he opened a new tab on his Pc, still having some work to do.

"Well, ehm... you are welcome. Be right back." Todoroki answered. He tapped the pen against the pad he would write on. It somehow slipped from his hands.

"Oh,"Izuku said, startled by the sudden movement of Todoroki. Nevertheless, still sitting, he bent down and rescued the fallen pen. "Here it is," he said too cheerfully, a laugh threatening to escape his lips.

Todoroki averted his gaze for the second time that morning, he bowed slightly, thanking him. He went back to the kitchen as fast as he could.

Notes

Hello guys, it's me Wonder_Monx. I know I have a lot of W.I.P. but I just could not resist, will you forgive me? 

This story means a lot to me: it is based off my real life, with some poetic license. There will be lots of love and decisions to take, as life is. The title, East Of Eden, is an amazing work of John Steinbeck and so is the quote that gave start to this book. Tsuji is a fictional place, I just needed to write a name of a city. It will be probably look like Milan. 

It meant a lot for these hard months, I hope you will find rest in those words too. 

Stay tuned for the first chapter!