running boy

Seeing the young man sitting alone in a corner of the restaurant and wandering away, Tsukishima Kaoru stopped.

(How many times is this?—Since coming back.)

She stood there for a while, watching him sitting there like a statue holding a spoon from a distance, without moving for a long time.

Sighing, she changed her original direction, walked straight to the young man, put the dinner plate on the opposite side of him, and sat down.

The young man seemed to have been awakened by her, he got rid of Ruoyuowu's low aura that entangled him, froze for a moment, and then smiled politely at the person whose name he didn't even know, "Hi."

Bright as ever.

"Hello." The woman answered his English greeting in Japanese. She had already sat down and asked insincerely, "Can I sit here?" A small ball of pasta was delivered to his mouth.

While lowering his head, he looked up at him sincerely.It seemed that he was really asking for his permission seriously.

The young man froze for a moment, twitched the corners of his eyes, smiled helplessly, and replied in Japanese, "Please feel free."

Tsukishima Kaoru looked up at him.

(What a person who loves to laugh.)

But she liked his old smile better.

"Do you have any special tasks or arrangements for the afternoon?" Tsukishima Kaoru asked.

The young man's face froze for a moment, he lowered his head and stuffed the food in the spoon into his mouth indiscriminately, and said vaguely, "Nothing special (arrangement)."

As soon as he put it in his mouth, he regretted it, and his brows twitched - wow...it was completely cold, it was really unpalatable.

"That's just right, I have a story you want to hear?—it's a bit long."

The frowning young man raised his head and looked opposite.

The strange mature woman on the opposite side ate her pasta comfortably, as if she didn't expect an answer at all.

(What a weird woman.)

But because of the weirdness, he was a little curious.

Besides—he thought a little self-deprecatingly, it's really nothing wrong with me now.

His intuition told him that the strange man opposite was not malicious.

And he had a premonition—this strange woman wanted him to listen to this story with a very specific purpose—so no matter how she answered, this person would probably start to tell, just as she sat down "cut first and play later".

So the young man shrugged indifferently, "Okay, please tell me."

No longer pretending to eat, he pushed aside the plate of food that had been cold for a long time, put his hands on the table, and pretended to be listening attentively.

The woman also put down the fork in her hand.

"Let me introduce myself first, my name is Tsukishima Kaoru."

She paused for a moment, and slowly wiped her lips with a napkin, as if thinking about where to start.

"I have one story, actually it should be counted as two... Everything starts with my ex-boyfriend."

Personally experienced... love story?

(no interest)

The young man thought dully.

"I met him at the coffee shop we often go to... When we were reading a novel and eating brunch, someone asked if we could sit here? When I looked up, I saw him."

Tsukishima Kaoru's ex-boyfriend appeared in front of his eyes.

When she raised her head, she saw a tall young man looking down at her, with neat short black hair, slightly dark complexion, and the most impressive thing was his pair of sharp eyebrows and eyes.The roots of the eyebrows are thick, the tails of the eyebrows are sharp, the corners of the eyes are slightly raised, and the eyes look straight, full of oppression, giving people a feeling of being scrutinized.

"He is tall and dignified, giving the impression that he is a calm and reliable young man—according to the first impression."

Such a strong sense of oppression, this person—in fact, Kaoru Tsukishima’s first impression was like this.

"Please sit down. ’ she remembered saying.

The man thanked him and put down the plate - a plate of beef risotto with the same red color as Kaoru Tsukishima, put down the cup, and milk the same as Kaoru Tsukishima.The two couldn't help but looked at each other.

Even though there are not many choices in the coffee shop, it is a bit of a coincidence that they are exactly the same-not to mention that this coffee shop is actually famous for its curry and coffee.

Originally, Kaoru Tsukishima felt a little embarrassed for drinking milk by herself, but when she saw the tall and steady young man opposite also ordering milk, she seemed to have an accomplice subtly.

When the tall young man also sat down, he picked up the spoon, and then looked at Kaoru Tsukishima, who was also holding the spoon in his left hand and looked at him in a daze. The placement of the plates and cups is completely symmetrical, and even the postures of the two are exactly the same—the same left hand holds a spoon and rests on the edge of the table.

Both of them were stunned.Then--

"That's how the two of us got to know each other." Skipping the scene that was too coincidental to make people feel as if they were destined for a moment, Tsukishima Kaoru concluded dryly.

But once she opened her mouth to tell the story, the past still surged in her mind uncontrollably. Many details that she once thought she had forgotten seemed to be clearly in front of her eyes. The aroma of her favorite Colombian single-origin coffee, the vague and distant conversations of guests Flickering in and out of jazz—closing your eyes is like going back to that coffee shop called LeBlanc.

Ushijima Wakari, who was sitting opposite, said the first sentence to her with a serious face, "Eating while watching things will be distracting and affect digestion. It is better to concentrate on eating." 』

It seemed a bit out of bounds for someone who met for the first time, but he looked solemn, as if whether Tsukishima Kaoru, a stranger, had eaten seriously was the most important thing.And probably because his voice was extraordinarily calm and convincing, Tsukishima Kaoru smiled, and obediently closed the book.

Later, after getting to know his character, Tsukishima Kaoru understood that the overly serious and straightforward Ushishima Wakari was simply stating the facts he recognized.

This is how the two met.

Afterwards, the two of them met like this several times in this small shop that was not spacious. In retrospect, probably too much of a coincidence is indeed easy to unconsciously breed romantic thoughts in people's minds.

This gradually became familiar, sometimes even if the store is empty, as long as Tsukishima Kaoru is there, Ushishima Wakari will sit across from him.He doesn't talk much, and is silent most of the time, but Kaoru Tsukishima feels very comfortable, and he doesn't need to find a topic and doesn't feel embarrassed.

When Kaoru Tsukishima saw Ushishima Wakaru sitting over, he would obediently put away the book and concentrate on eating/drinking coffee.It has to be said that Ushishima Ruori can make people feel very strict at first glance, and people will subconsciously feel that it is best not to disobey him-but the reason why Tsukishima Kaoru put away the book is because she I think Ushido Ruori on the opposite side is more interesting.

Ushishima Ruori's eating style can be described as neat and tidy. After dinner, the plate is clean and the table is tidy.

Ushijima Wakari has a stable personality, but she is almost cute and straightforward.

Ushijima Wakari can’t be said to be introverted, but he does give people the feeling of being taciturn—because he doesn’t say meaningless nonsense, no frivolous jokes, no meaningless greetings, and he doesn’t even go roundabout, and every sentence goes straight to the point.

Ushido Jori...

Probably there really is such a person in the world, you don’t need to communicate too much, just by looking at him, you can understand his thoughts and character.When he shows up in front of you, you know, oh, he's this kind of person—like an old friend you've known for a long time.

And after getting along more and knowing more, it is just a confirmation of what you "know" one by one.

The two people who can't talk, seem to have established a tacit understanding.

It wasn't until a long time later that Kaoru Tsukishima realized that it wasn't a tacit understanding at all.

"After meeting like this a few times, I, um—" Kaoru Tsukishima thought about it, and said, "I received a 'date' invitation." Then she seemed to think of something funny, showing a look of embarrassment He suppressed his smile again.