blackbox | kirishima eijirou

08 | blooming lycoris

Sakura walked through the doors of Blackbox with her hands in her pocket jeans, welcomed by the familiar aroma of coffee lingering in the air followed by freshly baked brownies. She casually made her way to the counter, immediately noticing the annoyed look on the manager's face.

"Sakuraaa," she whined. "I specifically had you off on Sundays for rest and schoolwork and yet, you still come here every Sunday! Don't you have important things to do?"

Although Haru was being considerate of her wellbeing as a teenager, she didn't mind one bit.

Sakura shook her head as she took out a bill. "I didn't want to rot at home all day." Home was suffocating.

"So now you just want to rot in Blackbox?" She retorted, and Sakura rolled her eyes at that.

"Never mind about me. How are you holding up? Does Reo still even work here?" She asked before ordering her drink.

The candy girl let out a sigh as she annoyingly waved off her money, telling her that the drink was on her. "I don't know if I should just fire him but.. he's a good asset when it comes to rush hours."

"Well, it's up to you either way," Sakura stepped away from the counter and walked to the collection point. "Maybe you should talk to him. He's practically a stranger to me and Akari at this point."

Reo was another one of her colleagues working in the cafe. He's still in college, wore glasses and around Haru's age. He started missing out a lot of work a week after Blackbox opened. He didn't mention why, but all she could ever think about was probably college work and stuff. But when it comes to art and drinks, he was seriously quick and talented, even better than Sakura. His calligraphy especially was astounding, and it just pleases the customers' eyes as they sat around the café while noticing the piece of artwork on the charcoal walls. His pace as he worked through the rush hours were splendid too. He could multi-task, and it's actually something Sakura envied sometimes.

Even at some point, Haru.. saw something else in him.

Yeah, Sakura's not gonna even talk about complicated ships and all. She's leaving that to destiny itself.

Haru handed her drink before walking to the corner of the café near the chalk walls, and sat down as a sigh left her lips.

She looked out the window, the afternoon light filtering through, illuminating the dark wooden tables near the windows. Although the café was cool due to the air conditioning, she could feel the warmth exuding from outside, slowly melting the fluffy white cream that floats on top of the Chocolate Mocha Frappe she was savouring.

Sakura hears a soft giggle coming from one of the tables, glancing at whoever it was—only a small kid playing around with her parents when she noticed a chocolate smudge on her cheek. The smile on her face was so luminous, just as bright as the midday sun in the sky as she giggled again when she poked her father's cheeks in revenge. The father pretends to be shocked at her actions, and grumbled a few words that made her jump off the sofa and ran away to escape the imaginary beast in every child's eyes.

Her gaze suddenly cast down onto the empty space in front of her while feeling her throat tightened at the sight of something so beautiful yet so painful that she didn't know whether she should be grateful that she used to go through those colourful days or be sad that that life was over.

Her heart sank into the void a little, blinking away the sudden tears pricking the corner of her eyes.

Lycoris—she ponders.

A lily blooming with the faint light kissing the long scarlet petals as they sway to the wind, standing among the grassy field. They were elegant, so elegant that fingertips urged to touch them—the softness of the delicate petals, the lightness of its nature. Even small little predators find them intriguing in a way they were entranced, wanting to be spoiled with the alluring scent.