v1c1 part1 (1/2)
Order #1-1
Order 1: Baristas shoot sugar cube projectiles
“However, your cocoa is something that will almost never improve,” said a childish looking girl with a frown on her face after she downed a cup of cocoa.
She was probably about thirteen years old. Her jet black hair was so long that it not only reached her waist but continued all the way down to her knees. Her almond shaped eyes were crimson and bewitching. She was probably two or three years younger than Tous.h.i.+rou; though she wore lip stick and was clad in a dark red dress that was worthy of someone in the high society.
The young girl’s name was Ageha.
It is hard to imagine that she was a young girl who looked like her actual age, and Tous.h.i.+rou did not know who she really was.
“Ageha-san, we are actually at a bar you know?” replied Tous.h.i.+rou with a sigh while silently cleaning the cups.
He had straight brown hair and black eyes with a tinge of blue. He wore a barista’s uniform; a cla.s.sy vest over his s.h.i.+rt and a necktie, and on his chest was a badge with a three p.r.o.nged road on it—the mark of Strada was sown on it. Although he trying to be resolute, he looked like someone with one too many anxieties.
This is the inside of the bar, “Strada”
A bra.s.s bell hangs from the amber colored door, and it would creak whenever someone would walk on the black oak floorboards. In this quiet shop where even music isn’t played, just leaning in and listening to that little sound is probably a form of entertainment in itself.
Antique looking shelves line the plaster wall, and in the shop were six table seats and four counter seats. Though it’d be nice to say that the shop is s.p.a.cious, everyone conscientiously keeps it clean and one could tell that being small, it was a shop that values its homely atmosphere.
The three siphons1 that are on the counter rarely get their alcohol lamps lit, however.
Upon hearing Tous.h.i.+rou’s exhortation, a malicious smile crept onto Ageha’s face.
“Oh ho. I wonder if it’s okay for you to talk to your one and only regular customer like that.”
Contrary to its dignified interior, the shop receives very few customers and inside the shop, aside from Tous.h.i.+rou who’s the barista, Ageha was the only person there.
Tous.h.i.+rou replied with a sigh.
“Yes yes. The reason our shop has managed to stay open is all thanks to you, Ageha-san.”
“It isn’t something to look sad about. Though the cocoa here isn’t that great, I like the taste of the cups you have here.”
Probably because of the shop’s small size, that the cups used there were of different varieties. In it, the one Ageha was using was the only one that’s left, and it became her own personalized cup.
Playing around with an empty cup, Ageha looked down at what looks like a book full of pictures of sceneries from someplace. Below the pictures seem to be lines of detailed explanation.
“Ageha-san, what have you been reading just now?
“Hehe. It’s a collection of pictures taken in the Tokyo Ikai1.”
“Ehhh. These are well taken.”
As Tous.h.i.+rou took a peek, there were many pictures of scenery that he immediately recognized.
“Is our shop in there?”
“Nope. Doesn’t seem like it.”
“Oh. I see.”
Tous.h.i.+rou’s interest immediately faded.
Smiling wryly at his reaction, Ageha closed the book and showed him the front cover. Its t.i.tle was merely “Photo collection of Tokyo Ikai”, and below it was the author’s name. Though it was written as Tanaka Yos.h.i.+rou, Tous.h.i.+rou did not have the confidence to still be able to remember it the next day. It was probably something he wouldn’t die for.
“Well, the pictures are pretty mediocre, though the reporter’s comments were quite pleasant.”
“In what way?”
“Vibrant lights dancing in the night of the Other World. Magic users brought back into the current era.” The sad thing is that it seems like he isn’t blessed with any sort of literary talent.
Well, he couldn’t really deny the fact that it was sensationalistic on a tabloid level.
—Though one would also wonder about the person who saw something like this and called it pleasant.