𝚂𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝙳𝚊𝚢 𝙵𝚘𝚘𝚕 - 𝙺. 𝚂𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚜𝚊 𝚡 𝙾𝙲

Chapter One - Hot Guy With The Hair

Chapter One

Every day Kiyoomi Sakusa had the same morning routine. He woke up at five, switched into a pair of track pants and a t-shirt, ran the same route, showered and changed before eating breakfast. He'd pack a lunch and then head out the door to Jump Start, a cafe with high standards between his apartment and the sports complex home to the MSBY Black Jackals.

On days when there were no team practices, Sakusa often stayed at Jump Start to drink his morning coffee before doing some individual training, deep cleaning, and running errands. Each day without fail, he'd noticed a woman sitting at the furthest table, one with a view of the entire seating area, and cringe under the medical grade mask he tended to wear in public settings.

The woman was impossible to miss. Her hair was as dark as a starless sky, and more often than not, she wore it haphazardly in a very messy bun. She was frequently seen hunched over the table drawing something, papers scattered about, including on the empty seat next to her, or chewing on the black end of a royal blue pencil, which Sakusa found most off-putting. Why did she go out in public like that? It was beyond his comprehension.

Following his Saturday morning routine, Sakusa ended up at Jump Start and ordered his usual red eye before taking a seat at one of the few empty tables. Unfortunately for him, he was seated facing the slob of a woman whose presence he'd become mildly perturbed by, but what could he do? He always sat near a window, and today would be no exception if he had any say in it.

The dark-haired woman, Sumire Sajima, stared down at her sketchy panels as she worked through the rough draft of the newest chapter of her current manga. Her brows furrowed as she racked her mind for inspiration, wondering what her main character should get up to next. When her amber eyes flicked up to look around the cafe for inspiration, they landed on the man sitting by the window reading a magazine. Sajima's head tilted to the side and she hummed quietly.

Yusuke could get caught reading a magazine...but what kind would he read? Maybe it should just be something random.

"Hey you," she called out to Sakusa, but he didn't acknowledge her, so she tried again. "Hey, hot guy with the hair sitting beside the window. I know you can hear me."

Sakusa glanced at the window before looking towards the sound of the voice, admittedly surprised by how feminine it was when he realized who'd spoken. "Me?"

"Duh. Who else would I be talking to?" Sajima smiled and motioned him over. "What are you reading?"

Sakusa stared at her blankly. "Why do you care?"

"Don't be like that," she waved away his question dismissively. "It's not like I'm asking your life story."

"Maybe not, but I don't particularly enjoy interacting with people who are so..." Sakusa's eyes danced across what he could see of her, noticing that she was honestly kind of pretty now that he'd taken the time to look. Not that it mattered when she appeared so unkempt. "Unhygienic."

"Pfft," Sajima sputtered a laugh. "Unhygienic? I showered this morning and brushed my teeth and hair like everyone else."

His eyes met hers. "Somehow, I doubt that."

"And why might that be?"

"Your hair looks like a bird's nest," he pointed out. "And your shirt is wrinkled. Not to mention the horrid state of affairs on your table, which I see as indicative of your other habits."

"I have to see the pages to make sure everything's cohesive, and I don't wanna smudge my work," Sumire explained before pointing at her unruly hair. "And my hair was fine when I got here. It was just getting in my face, so I pulled it up without a mirror. It's not like I'm here to impress anyone anyway. If I were, it'd be a different story."