Coffee

_{Makoto Tachibana x Fem!Reader
(Free!)
Note: Long-fic. Listen to music for full effect!}

It was a slow day today.

It was no surprise, considering it was pouring cats and dogs outside. You eyed the numerous unsold cookies and treats forlornly. They would be stale by tomorrow, so there was no way you'd be able to sell them. Not to mention, it was already so late, so you figured it would be alright to close up a little earlier since it was unlikely anyone would drop by.

You sighed, pushing your charm bracelet up your wrist so it wouldn't drop into the icing that frosted the cookies. You reached carefully out to gather the remaining treats, grabbing some boxes and filling them with the various pastries from the display window. You grimaced as a bit of the vanilla frosting caught on your bracelet, and you hissed your displeasure as you realized it'd gotten into the fine details of a charm.

However, before you could worry for too long, the bell above the entrance of your store chimed, alerting you to a new presence.

You turned to give your signature greeting to every customer, but you stopped short.

You blinked.

The young man was completely soaked to the bone. Water slid from his olive-brown hair and dripped onto his sharp, angular face, locks of hair plastered to his cheeks to frame sheepish green eyes. That combined with his shivering and lack of umbrella told you all you needed to know.

"Got caught in the rain, huh?" you joked, hands already half way done with your shop's signature coffee brew. Your charm bracelet clinked quietly as your arms moved, the small silver charms catching the soft light of the shop.

"A-Ah, yeah. I'm sorry, I only came in here to wait out the storm. I don't have any money on me—"

You finished capping off the hot drink, and you held the warm brew out towards the shivering young man.

"It's on me."

Green eyes widened.

"No, I couldn't do that! Business seems to be slow already—"

You laughed, cutting off his rambling once again, amusement tugging at your lips at the guy's stammers. "I don't think a single cup of coffee is going to put me into debt. Seriously, drink up or you might catch a cold."

He hesitated for a moment, opening his mouth once again to protest, but you raised an expectant eyebrow at him and he quickly snapped his mouth shut and took the drink from your hands. You giggled at his mumbled thanks, waving them off lightly. You watched as he tentatively took a sip, grinning when his eyes widened at the taste, leaning back in satisfaction as he began to down the rest of the drink hungrily.

You shook your head in amusement and went back to packaging the pastries from the display window.

After a few minutes of silence, broken only by the rustling of paper and cardboard boxes, the young man spoke up.

"Thank you so much. I'll pay you back one day, I promise."

You smiled at him. "Perhaps you can pay me back now by telling me your name?" you offered, winking playfully.

A blush overtook his pale features. "Makoto. Makoto Tachibana."

You wiped your hands on your apron and beamed at him as you stretched your arm out. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Makoto. My name is [Name]. [Name] [Surname]."

Makoto didn't miss the playful mimicking. He chuckled lightly as he shook your hand. Despite his cold, soaked appearance, his hands were warm. "It's a pleasure to meet you, [Name]."

At that precise moment, a loud rumbling split the air.

Immediately, Makoto yanked his hand back, instead coming to a rest on his soaked, t-shirt covered stomach, blush multiplying by ten. It was quiet for a moment. Then, you felt giggles rise in your throat, only increasing in volume as Makoto's face grew darker and darker. You raised a hand to your mouth to try and muffle your laughter, but you found your shoulders shaking with the effort as well.

"Hungry?" you grinned at the embarrassed boy, already moving away to grab some samples from your display.

Makoto shook his head rapidly, waving his arms out in front of him. "I already owe you, I can't take anything else!"

You shrugged, picking up a full box of brownies and gently placing them into the boy's arms. "You can pay me back by advertising around how good my brownies are then."

Makoto's mouth fell open a few times, opening and closing, gaping like a fish. You smothered a giggle at how ridiculously cute he looked. He seemed to be at a loss for words, so you sighed playfully, opening the box and grabbing a brownie for yourself. As you munched on the treat, you gave him a pointed look. He quickly took the hint, making a scramble to get a piece for himself.

You watched as he stared at the dessert for a moment, hesitantly taking a small bite. You felt pleasure engulf you as his eyes suddenly widened, and he proceeded to take another larger, more greedy bite.

"It's..."

You stared at him eagerly.

"It's so good!"

You beamed at him.

"Forget advertising!" Makoto exclaimed, "I'm bringing all of my friends over to buy a couple batches of these!"

This time, it was your eyes that widened. "Would you really do that?"

Makoto nodded vigorously. "You bet I will."

Happiness filling your heart, you and Makoto chatted for a little while longer before he glanced at the cute little clock hanging over the wall and yelped, suddenly realizing the time. He quickly made his leave, stammering something about needing sleep for swim practice the next day or something of that sort. You offered to lend him your umbrella, but he politely declined, pointing out that most of the rain had already passed and it was only sprinkling now. You felt uncertain, but he quickly made his escape before you could insist.

You watched from your coffee shop's window as he hurried down the street, a smile tugging at your lips as he snuck another brownie from the box in his arms.

---

After the rain had passed and the beautiful sun had made its reappearance, you found yourself with your usual steady stream of customers.

At the current moment, there were only a couple of people in the shop — one person on his laptop at a table in the far corner, another couple giggling together over a shared coffee. With nothing to do, you busied yourself by cleaning out the mugs in the sink, carefully scrubbing them to get rid of the residues.

As you set a few mugs to the side to dry, the bell above the door chimed, and the once quiet shop was quickly filled with chatter.

"—utterfly is obviously the hardest."

"Yeah, I'll bet it is considering your scrawny arms. Where's your muscle?!"

"Hello there, [Name]!"

You waved at the familiar olive-haired boy. "Welcome back, Makoto."

He smiled at you. "I told you I'd bring my friends."

Before you could respond, a pink haired boy shoved his way past his friend, leveling you with a shark-like grin. It was equal parts friendly and intimidating. "Oi, so this is the chick?"

You blinked, taken aback. However — yet again — before you could respond, another male pushed him to the side, giving you an apologetic look. "Excuse him, Rin doesn't know how to interact with people who aren't slaving away at swim practice. I'm Sosuke, and you must be [Name]."

You reached out and shook his outstretched hand, a slightly bashful smile slipping across your face. Ignoring the pouting red-head, you nodded, "Yep that's me. Since you're here, would you guys like to order anything?"

There was a chorus murmurs, and your hands busied themselves with making coffee. Most of the boys went and made themselves comfortable in at a small table towards the side of the shop, chattering once more amongst themselves. You picked out a few swimming-related terms — "Your freestyle sucks, man." "My time was 3 seconds faster than yours!" — but and you supposed this was the swim team Makoto had mentioned yesterday.

You were startled out of your reverie at the sound of metal clinking against glass. You stared at the extra coins in your tip jar, and looked up to see Makoto still at the counter, smiling slightly at you. You opened your mouth to protest (from your quick glance you could tell the tip was much higher than normal), but you found yourself cut off yet again.

"I told you I'd pay you back." Makoto said simply, shrugging as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

You figured it was useless to protest further, so you just mock-sighed, giving him a half-hearted glare. However, you found your eyes softening. "You've brought me quite a few customers, so you've more than paid me back."

"You offered kindness to a complete stranger," Makoto said with a firmness that surprised you, "not many would do that, so you deserve as much success as you can get."

You stared, an unfamiliar warmth blooming in your chest at his words. Here was a guy who you'd known for less than 24 hours, but in that time had come to respect to you to that degree? It was a bit embarrassing, but you couldn't help but feel flattered. For a moment your mind blanked, unsure what to say to such a kind compliment. Finally, you managed to un-widen your eyes and offer him a happy, eye-crinkled smile.

"Thank you."

Makoto looked pleased that you'd understood, a satisfied look flashing across his features.

You were almost finished with the drinks, so you quickly stalled by changing the question. "So these are your teammates you mentioned yesterday? They seem like a cool group."

Makoto nodded, his eyes trailing over to his still squabbling teammates, a soft look shining in his green eyes. "Yeah, they're some of the most amazing people I've ever met. We've been practicing hard for a huge meet a few months from now in the winter."

You shook the can of whipped cream, your charm bracelet clinking happily as you swirled a little over every mug. "Meet? Good luck! I'm sure you guys will be fine."

Makoto watched your hands as they methodically sprinkled bits of chocolate shavings over the white fluff. "I hope so. There's a famous coach coming to this one, actually. Rumor's going around that he's trying to find some new people to train."

You looked up in surprise, hand pausing in its reach for the caramel syrup. "Famous coach? Meaning you guys could get recruited?"

Makoto nodded, a flash of surprise crossing his face at your quick understanding. "Yep. And he's coached quite a few olympic champions."

"Wow," you remarked, carefully loading up the mugs onto a tray. You paused for a moment because deciding to add a complimentary cookie next to each mug. "So the pressure's high, huh?"

Makoto nodded, moving to the side to make room for you to slip from behind the counter. "Very much so. It's why we've been practicing so much."

"You'll be fine, I'm sure. Remember the little ones when you're famous!" you joked, flashing him a reassuring grin as the two of you made your way towards the group of boys.

Before Makoto could respond, you announced to the whole group, "Coffee's ready! Since it's your first time here, you each get a complimentary cookie as well."

There was a round of murmurs, the boys mumbling thank you as they accepted their coffee. You swore you heard someone mumble something about a mackerel, but you figured you'd just misheard them, instead pulling out the receipt and pen. You paused for a moment, not sure who to give it to, but Makoto quickly caught on and reached out. You smiled gratefully at him, and you waited patiently for him to sign. You wondered when he managed to learn to read you so well.

About an hour later, the boys made their leave, tossing their swim gear over their shoulders and waving a goodbye at you. You watched as the group made their way down the street, chattering among themselves much like earlier, with no signs of stopping. However, right before they turned the corner, Makoto turned back to glance at your shop. Your eyes met briefly, and he smiled his typical gentle smile at you before waving and disappearing around the corner.

You turned back to your next customers, hands mechanically taking their order and preparing their drinks, absentmindedly wondering why your heart seemed to flutter in your chest.

The next time you saw Makoto, it wasn't even at your coffee shop.

It had been about a week after Makoto had dropped by with his friends, and he hadn't dropped by since. You didn't worry too much, knowing that your new-found friend was busy with his own life, just as you were busy with your own. You'd run low on whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles — both vital to your shop's signature brew — and you were currently at the grocery store, carefully picking out the correct brands. As you walked down the dairy aisle, you swore you'd caught a glimpse of olive-brown hair.

Indeed, at the end of the aisle next to the chocolate milk was none other than Makoto himself, squinting at two different brands of the drink.

"I personally prefer Nestle, if that makes a difference."

Makoto jumped at your voice, quickly shoving both cartons back onto the shelf with a guilty look. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, a sheepish look on his face. "Ah! Hi there, [Name]. I haven't seen you in a while."

You stared at him curiously, carefully readjusting your own basket of sweet treats as you shifted from one foot to another. "You look awfully guilty. Are you not supposed to be here or something?"

The sheepish look only deepened on Makoto's face, but you caught a brief glimpse of annoyance flash across his face. Quickly, you backtracked, raising your free hand to wave in front of you defensively as if to ward off something. "You don't have to tell me! I didn't mean to pry."

Makoto sighed, looking away as he mumbled quietly, "It's not your fault. Practice was rough today."

"Oh." You shifted uncomfortably, an uncertain look briefly crossing your face. "If you'd like, you can come back to the shop to talk about it...?"

Makoto's eyes widened, "Isn't it closed by now?"

"I'm the owner," you reminded him with a giggle. You reached past him to grab a few cans of whipped cream, carefully placing it in your basket next to the several assorted chocolate sprinkles. "I can do whatever I want, remember?"

Makoto looked like he was about to protest for a moment, but he took a look at your narrowing eyes and sighed, giving in. "Well," he began, "I guess I have no choice then, huh?" He looked back towards the cartons of chocolate milk he'd been deciding between, and you looked past him to eye them curiously.

"You like chocolate milk?" you asked.

He nodded. "I really like chocolate. Rin says the amount of sugar in it is terrible for you, though."

"But you drink it to cheer yourself up," you concluded. Makoto nodded again.

"In that case," you said brightly, grabbing a carton of Nestle Chocolate Milk and placing it in your basket, "I guess I'll have to make you [Name]'s special mocha coffee with extra chocolate shavings and sprinkles!"

You gave him a cheesy thumbs-up sign, exaggerating the motions of a wink. You were sure you looked like a complete idiot, but it worked like a charm. The corner of Makoto's lips twitched upwards, and suddenly he was hunched over with his laughter. You felt a wave of satisfaction wash over you. Sadness was not a fitting emotion on him, so you were glad you could chase it away, even if it was for just a little while.

Makoto sighed, rubbing his aching stomach lightly. He smiled at you, a grateful look spreading over his face. "Thank you. I needed that."

"Not a problem at all. Come on, I'll pay for this and we can head over."

Not long afterwards, you found yourself in your cozy coffee shop once more, with only the sounds of cups clinking and coffee brewing to fill the comfortable silence. The shop glowed with soft light from the lamps scattered throughout the room, outside already having fallen dark at the late hour.

Placing the finished drink in front of the quiet boy, you wiped your hands on your apron and sat down opposite him, taking a small sip of your own cappuccino. Makoto murmured a quiet thank you, taking a sip of his own and sighing as the warm liquid slid down his throat. Silence filled the air once more. Makoto finally broke the quiet by setting his mug down with a light clink, sighing quietly — this time for a different reason.

"It's really nothing big, so I'm probably making a big deal out of nothing."

You said nothing, just quietly sipping away at your drink.

"It's just — it's so stupid. Even I'm not sure why I got so upset, but tensions got so high and suddenly everybody was yelling at everybody."

Makoto buried his face in his hands, breath coming out in frustrated puffs.

"It started with Rin's sister getting sick a couple days ago. Rin... Rin's our team captain. He was our captain in high school too, so we all trust him to lead us right. But he gets a bit wonky in the head when his sister's involved, so he canceled several practices in a row even though Gou herself — you know, Rin's sister — insisted that she was fine after taking some cough medicine."

The story seemed to spill out of Makoto's mouth, almost as if he himself could not stop the outpouring scramble of words.

"But Rin's so stubborn, and we've got some really stubborn people on our team as well. My friend— Haru— Haruka is— he's really intense about swimming. But he and Rin are really close. And... And Haru's quiet and he doesn't talk much, so he's not very good at communicating. He told Rin he was being stupid, and Rin was hurt 'cause he thought Haru would be on his side, and now the two of them are fighting and we haven't practiced in a while even though the big meet is only 2 months away and we still have a whole schedule of conditioning to get through and— and—"

He cut himself off, breathing hard from his outburst. You swore his eyes looked suspiciously wet.

"You really care about your friends, huh?" you murmured quietly, setting down your half-empty mug on the table with a soft clink.

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"Well, they're lucky to have someone who cares about them so much." You told him. In a bold streak of courage, you reached across the table to rest a solacing hand on top of his. "Don't worry. You guys have been friends since high school, and from what I can tell both Rin and this 'Haru' guy care for each other a lot as well. It'll work out, I promise."

Makoto looked up at you hopefully, a childlike wonder in his green eyes. "You promise?"

"I promise."

Two months flew by, and the fall leaves slowly dropped from their branches, replaced by sheets of snow in the cold, cold air.

You and Makoto had become good friends over the past few months. True to your word, Rin and 'Haru' — you always laughed when Makoto told you stories about how he teased Haruka constantly with his personal nickname — made up soon after your talk with Makoto alone in the shop, and the swim team had reunited and begun working harder than ever.

Makoto had made it no secret that he was grateful for your comfort, and he'd begun dropping by every other day just to get a coffee and relax in your shop. He'd become fast friends with some of your other regulars, and on busy days he simply stayed in the corner by himself for an hour, content to just watch as you bustled around. Whenever you apologized for not making conversation, he simply laughed, waving off your apologies without a second thought.

'I need a place to relax and your coffee does wonders for my muscles,' he always claimed whenever you asked why he bothered showing up if you couldn't even spare the time to talk. You figured you weren't ever going to get another answer, so you dropped the subject and the two of you fell into an easy routine — him buying your special mocha coffee with extra chocolate shavings and sprinkles and you occasionally making conversation when you weren't loaded down with mugs and cookies.

You sat down, exhausted from the massive wave of lunch-time customers. The huge influx of people had waned, and only a couple people remained to relax in the late afternoon.

Makoto eyed you with amusement, quietly sipping at his mocha as he paused in his reading — 'Oedipus Rex,' he'd told you the first time you'd seen him reading it, 'one of my favorite pieces of literature from literature class' — and said nothing as he offered you a piece of his cookie.

You took it, stuffing it in your mouth and practically moaning as your stomach grumbled happily.

"I find it incredibly ironic you're feeding me in my own coffee shop."

Makoto didn't even miss a beat. "Who else is going to make sure you take care of yourself?"

This had become a normal occurrence between the two of you: quick banter with many unspoken understandings in between each phrase. Over time, you'd discovered that Makoto was awfully good at reading people.

(When Haruka visited, he deadpanned that Makoto could read the minds of people he cared for. As he said this, he shot a dirty look towards his friend, who simply shrugged innocently. When you asked later, Makoto only said mysteriously, 'Haru's just too easy to trick.')

Indeed, there were times where you swore Makoto knew what you needed before you even registered you'd needed it yourself. He was just that good.

"So meet's in a week, huh? Shouldn't you be practicing?"

Makoto shrugged. "Rin told us not to overdo it this last week or we could end up hurting ourselves without having the time to heal back up."

You nodded, seeing the logic. "That's smart. Well, you guys have been working hard, so I know you'll do well."

"I hope so."

"I know so."

He laughed, leaning back in his chair to stare at you in a strange combination of amusement and worry. "You have so much faith in us, I have no idea what I'll say to you if we end up doing terrible."

You snorted, eyeing him skeptically. "Is that even possible? You guys can practically swim in your sleep now, considering how much you guys have practiced."

However, to your surprise, your attempt at humor only deepened the crease between his eyebrows, the amusement fading from his eyes and replacing itself with anxiety. "We're going against some really competitive swimmers." Makoto pointed out. He paused for a moment, biting at his lip in worry. "I'm worried I'll let everyone down, especially in the relay race." 

You blinked, surprised at his reluctant confession. "Eh? But Haruka told me that you were the fastest out of everyone."

Makoto smiled wryly. "Hence why I'm so nervous."

Your lips formed a small 'o' in understanding. You went silent, wracking your brain for something comforting to say. Suddenly, your eyes widened as you were hit by a genius idea.

You hastily scrambled for the charm around your wrist. The clip seemed a little rusty, you absentmindedly mused, as you clumsily unfastened it.

"Here." You stretched out your hand. Makoto raised an eyebrow. You shook your fisted hand a couple times, glaring at him as he stared at you in confusion. Finally, he held out an outstretched hand, and you carefully dropped the bracelet into his hand.

"My mom gave it to me when I was little." Makoto's eyes widened as he realized how valuable the bracelet was to you, and he hastily shoved it back in your direction. However, you shook your head, taking back your hands and refusing to take the bracelet back.

"It's my good luck charm, but I imagine you need a lot more luck than I do, so you keep it until the day of the meet, okay?"

Makoto still looked uncertain, but he hesitantly nodded, carefully placing the bracelet in his pocket. "Alright."

You nodded resolutely, satisfied with his submission. "I'll come on the day of the meet, and you can give it back once you've done your relay and finished kicking everyone's ass!"

Makoto laughed — a deep, full belly laugh. It was a laugh you'd come to cherish over the past couple of months, and you found yourself filling with warmth as you saw almost all of the anxiety had faded from his beautiful, emerald green eyes. Suddenly, you flushed — horrified at your cheesy thoughts. When had you become such a sap?! More importantly... when had you become such a sap when you were with Makoto?!

"Thank you, [Name]."

You just beamed back.

Makoto didn't visit the shop the day before the meet, too busy preparing for the meet that was creeping forward with every second.

It was raining, and he hurried home — shoot, he'd forgotten his umbrella, much like the day he'd first met you — to avoid catching a cold. Somewhere nearby, he heard the sound of honking and a short scream. Not long after, the sound of an ambulance blazes past him.

He shook his head. Crazy drivers.

---

The next morning, Makoto rushes to the shop in barely contained excitement. The meet didn't start until the afternoon, so he had a bit of time to visit you before he was due to head over.

However, to his surprise, the shop was closed when he arrived.

He blinked, glancing at his watch to make sure he hadn't mixed up the time or anything. But to his confusion, it was well past your typical opening time. Had you already left for the pool? He thought he'd told you it didn't start until 2 PM.

"That shop is closed."

Makoto whipped around, heart racing a mile a minute at the unfamiliar voice. He turned to face an elderly lady, hunched over her bag of groceries.

"I see." He responded politely, mind racing to figure out why you would close the shop so early. "Excuse me, but do you know where I could find [Name]?"

His confusion only grew as the lady's eyes widened and she gave him a horrified look. "You're the young man Miss [Name] talks about all the time, aren't you? You don't know?"

Makoto froze. "Y-Yes, I suppose I am. What— I— What don't I know?!"

Pity clouded over the lady's face. "She's been hospitalized."

Makoto swore he felt the world drop from beneath his feet.

"That girl, she shouldn't have rushed out into the rain yesterday. I don't know what she was thinking, chasing after someone and yelling about forgetting change. That poor girl wasn't watching where she was going and ran right into the intersection up there."

His hands clenched and unclenched so tightly he could feel his palms stinging in pain. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe. His chest tightened to the point where he was sure he was going to be crushed, and he felt stinging from behind his eyelids. He rushed away towards the only nearby hospital in the city, ignoring the old lady's pitying look and the sickening sense of dread that grew in the pit of in his stomach.

---

Makoto flinched when the doctor led him into the room.

There you were, as still as death in the hospital cot, skin shining with an unnatural paleness. Long IV drips and clear, plastic tubes were attached to various places on your body, which was clad in a plain hospital gown, altogether making you seem like a bizarre creature out of an alien sci-fi movie — one of those monsters they had hooked up to all those tubes and wires.

She hasn't responded at all since the surgery, he remembered the doctor telling him. The words echoed in his head, but he felt a strange sort of numbness. Not quite sadness or grief, but not fury or anger either. In the middle, he supposed. Kind of like a limbo.

Just like the limbo you were trapped in.

He sat beside your hospital cot, staring at your way-too-still body in silent horror.

"You..." he was startled to hear himself speak. "You were supposed to come and watch me win today."

Suddenly, all of his restrained emotions burst outward and Makoto felt the telltale burn of tears sting the back of his eyelids. "How selfish are you?! Making me worry when it was supposed to be you worrying about me today!"

Makoto was distantly aware of the fact that he was probably delirious with fear and anger and grief at the moment, but he ignored it and refused to stop the outpour of words.

"How am I supposed to focus now?! How can I even worry about doing well when you're here... almost dead!"

He felt streaks of salt trail down his cheeks, and the hot liquid of his tears burned its way across his skin.

"You'll be okay, right?" he whispered, watching the shallow rise and fall of your chest and waiting for you to respond. Waiting for you to smile cheekily and flash a thumbs-up sign and wink cheekily like you usually did when you were reassuring him about something.

Suddenly, Makoto felt a flash of inspiration. He quickly shot to his feet, jamming his hand into the pocket of his pants and pulling out the good luck bracelet you'd had given him a week ago. The charms quietly clinked against each other, but the sound of metal on metal seemed way too loud in the deafening silence of your hospital room.

"I got you a new charm." Makoto said quietly, reaching out to fasten the bracelet around your wrist. Your skin felt so cold. Was it supposed to feel this cold? "It's a drop of water, since you know, I like swimming so much. I wanted you to remember me. I'll always remember you because you've always been so kind even though you really didn't have to, and I'm so selfish because I want you to never forget me either. I don't want you to forget me. Ever!"

Makoto collapsed back into the chair, helplessness filling his chest as your chest kept rising... falling.. rising... falling... no sign of change at all.

"You'll wake up, right?" he whispered. "You'll wake up and remember me... right?"

Silence.

For the next couple of hours, Makoto would sit next to your bedside, the steady rise and fall of your chest mesmerizing him. Only when his phone buzzed with numerous text messages from his friends wondering where the hell he was would he finally stand up and leave the hospital to get to his meet.

"I'll win for you, [Name]."

---

Makoto's fist clenched as he eyed the blue water in front of him. His body tensed, ready to spring forward and slice the water cleanly in half. The deafening sound of cheering echoed through the large room, the quiet splashing of water only amplifying the symphony of voices and screams. Determination filled his chest, and his eyes hardened with steely resolve.

I'll win... I swear.

And somewhere, far away in a lonely, quiet hospital bed, a pair of lips curled up and a hand lifted to rest on the steady rise and fall and rise and fall of a chest, hand right over where a heart was, the sound of metal clinking with metal briefly cutting through the air.

The sun was high up in the sky by the time Makoto was allowed to enter your hospital room.

He peeked his head in uncertainly, but you weren't awake. Much like the day before, you were lying quietly on the cot, chest rising and falling steadily with every breath you took. However, as Makoto plopped down next to you in the chair next to the bed, he could see that a lot of color had returned to your cheeks. Unlike the ghostly sheen you'd had yesterday, your skin now had a healthier shine that was closer to your normal [skin color] tone.

"You're getting better." Makoto said to your unmoving body. He smiled — a small, gentle smile that wasn't really a smile. More of an upwards twitch of his lips that belied his relief. He hadn't been able to sleep at all last night, too worried about your well-being to get a wink of rest.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny gold medal. By now, his smile had grown and he was beaming at your unconscious body.

"We did it, [Name]. We won."

Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but Makoto swore your lips were slightly curved upwards. In the next instant, your face was as blank as before. You gave no response, other than the continuous rising and falling of your chest.

"The famous coach rumor was apparently just that, by the way. A rumor. It's okay though, because everyone did really well and this is a big step for us. Rin was talking to some of the meet coordinators and one of them apparently was this guy who has connections in the Olympics!"

Makoto fell silent for a moment, staring at the medal in his hands. It sparkled in the sunlight that streamed from the hospital window. He hesitated for a moment, but resolve hardened in his chest. He stood up, lifting the medal and gently maneuvering your head so he could place it around your neck.

The color for the medal was a stark contrast to your white hospital gown, but Makoto thought it matched your [color] hair perfectly.

"It was thanks to you," he mused quietly, lifting an arm onto the side of the hospital bed and propping his head onto the palm of his hand. "You never know, but you gave me a lot of strength. From day 1, when you helped me out when I was starving and thirsty and soaking wet from the rain... to yesterday when you gave me the determination to win and succeed... for your sake."

The sun was warm against his skin.

"You've done so, so, so much for me. We barely know each other compared to typical friendships, but I can't imagine not having met you, you know that?"

Contentment. It filled his chest to the brim.

"Thank you, [Name]."

The steady rise and fall of your chest hypnotized him, and he felt his exhaustion begin to tug at his senses. 

"I..."

Belatedly, he felt his head slip from his hand and land gently next to your body on the bed.

"I think..."

The hospital room was filled with a strange, tranquil silence.

"I think I..."

A weak lightbulb went off in his head, but he was already too far gone to register it fully.

---

You awoke to the sound of soft breathing.

Your eyesight was blurry, and it took a minute for your vision to come into focus. You stared at the white walls in confusion. Where...?

And then you remembered the screech of tires and flash of headlights and the terrible, terrible, terrible pain right before you blacked out.

You hissed as you tried to sit up in your bed, a sharp pain jolting up the side of your stomach. You could feel warm liquid leaking from your bandages around your torso, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that you'd probably pulled some stitches. You tsked in pain and you settled yourself stiffly against the mattress. It was only then that you noticed the sleeping figure next to where your waist was.

Makoto was fast asleep, dark bags under his eyes clearly giving away his exhaustion. His head rested on his folded arms, nose wrinkling slightly as puffs of air from his mouth gently blew the olive-green strands framing his face across his cheekbones. You raised a hand to brush away the stray strands, and Makoto's expression cleared as the disturbance was dealt with.

The gentle clink of metal against metal broke the tranquility, and you raised your wrist in wonder. Your charm bracelet was back around your wrist, and you immediately spotted the new charm. It was a beautiful blue teardrop charm, the shiny surface catching the dying light of the sun and giving it a shimmery, watery glow. Your hand dropped and came to a rest on your stomach, where you felt the coolness of metal.

It was a gold medal.

You gasped sharply, and the sound jerked Makoto out of his sleep.

"Wha—?!"

"You won!"

Makoto's head twisted so quickly, you were honestly concerned he'd get whiplash. He saw you staring at him in awe, and he felt some strange feeling swell in his chest. Was it happiness to see you smiling? Or was it joy that you were awake? Maybe... but he'd never felt so full.

"You're okay!"

You yelped as he jumped to his feet and threw his arms around your neck. You hissed in pain as your already torn stitches pulled sharply at your skin, and Makoto immediately backed off, horror in his eyes. Quickly, you shook your head and reassured him that you were fine, just that your stitches were a little torn. Makoto's eyes did not drain of worry, and he swiftly exited the room.

Moments later, he reappeared with a nurse in tow.

Makoto said nothing as the nurse fixed the stitches in your side, but he did divert his eyes when the nurse gently pulled you into a sitting position to change your bandages.

After a little while, the nurse finished and quietly shut the door behind her with a click. Silence filled the air, and you fiddled with the medal around your neck, wonder still filling your face.

"You..."

You looked up when Makoto finally spoke. He wasn't looking at you, instead glaring at your stomach and refusing to meet your eyes.

"You're so stupid!"

You jerked backwards at his words, hurt filling your eyes. However, before you could respond, Makoto threw his arms around you with surprising gentleness, careful to not jostle your wounds. Your eyes widened at his sudden warmth, and you were sure you could fry an egg on your heated face.

"Do you have any idea how worried we all were?"

"I— I didn't—"

"Don't be so careless! What would we do if you died, huh?! What about your family, your friends?! What about... what about me?!"

"Makoto!" You firmly pried his tight arms from around your neck so you could breathe. "I'm okay! I really am, see?"

You gave him a cheesy thumbs-up sign, exaggerating the motions of a wink. However, his emerald green eyes didn't budge, still filled with stern concern for your well being. You sighed, dropping the pose. "I'm serious, Makoto. I'm a little sore, but I'm okay. I didn't mean to worry you so much."

He didn't say anything.

"Thank you for the beautiful charm, by the way." you tried, trying to get him to say something. He still didn't.

"And congratulations on the medal. I knew you could do it."

Still nothing.

You sighed.

"I'm sorry, okay? I won't be so careless in the future."

"You bet you won't." Makoto said sternly. "I won't let you."

You laughed, relief filling your chest as he finally responded. "Oh? You won't 'let' me? I'm an independent woman, thank you very much!"

Makoto shook his head resolutely. "You can't get rid of me that easily. Not now, not ever."

Your eyes widened at his tone. It was filled with some emotion you couldn't quite pinpoint.

"These past 24 hours... I couldn't think straight. I realized— I realized that you mean the world to me, you know that? I can't... I just can't imagine..."

His voice cracked, and you wanted to say something to comfort him but you couldn't breathe.

"You know, if you died I think a piece of me would have died with you. If you died, I would have been haunted by you for the rest of my life and I don't think I would have ever been able to eat chocolate or drink coffee or eat cookies and feel the same ever again, and, and, and..."

He wrings his hands together, unsure of what exactly it was he was trying to say but knowing without a shadow of doubt that he had to find the words to say it.

"...and I think I'm falling in love with you!"

You felt your eyelids sting, and you felt something bloom inside you that you weren't exactly sure what it was, and you felt like you were floating and suddenly the pain and soreness of your body didn't seem so bad—

—and you felt a warm pair of lips engulf yours and you responded eagerly, raising your hand to gently run through the soft hair at the nape of his neck. You felt your eyes slide closed and you could hear and feel and practically touch the soft exhale of satisfaction that escaped from Makoto's lips. Ignoring the small jabs of pain at your stomach, you allowed yourself to sink into the pleasantness of it all, absently wrapping your arms around his neck to pull him closer and closer and closer—

---

The first time Makoto came by your coffee shop was completely by accident.

The second time Makoto came by your coffee shop was definitely on purpose, but it was to repay a debt.

The third time Makoto came by your coffee shop was to seek comfort from someone he'd soon come to regard as a close friend.

The fourth and fifth and sixth and thirtieth and hundredth time Makoto came by your coffee shop was to fall slowly further and further in love with you, even if he did not realize it at the time.

On the one hundred twenty-eighth time Makoto came by your coffee shop, you had just been released from the hospital and he was carrying a bag full of chocolate sprinkles and whipped cream and Nestle Chocolate Milk for you to make him the special mocha coffee with extra chocolate shavings and sprinkles just for him.

In the future, there would be many more trips to your coffee shop. Maybe several hundred more or maybe several thousand. You didn't know, and you didn't care, but you knew that one day in the bright future ahead of you, it wouldn't just be your coffee shop anymore.

It would be ours.

-end-