Wild Cards [AkiraxAkechi P5]

Chapter Thirty-Two

The Hyacinth Café was fairly new, it had only been open for about three weeks. The whole place was decorated with the flower it was named after, in vases on tables, in pots hanging on the ceiling, the waiters even wore crowns made of them. The deserts the café specialized in were good too—not just good great.

  That meant the place got crowded fast, making it all the more hard to spot the man they were looking for.

   Makoto kept her eyes on the main door for as long as she could, stopping occasionally when she worried she looked suspicious. Takuto was definitely taking his time to arrive.

  "Ooohh, that one looks so good!" Ann was face deep in the menu. "That cake must be pumping with buttercream, I bet it tastes delicious!"

   "The way they design those frosting flowers, such artistry!" Yusuke was right beside her. "Goodness, look how big the cinnamon rolls are, just one could fill me for a week!"

   Makoto groaned and furrowed her brow, quietly regretting choosing those two of all people for a café. She snapped her fingers toward them, quickly getting their attention.

   "Hey, let's not forget why we're here. No time to gush over pastries." she said.

   "But we've been waiting for him for almost two hours! And these cakes look delicious!" Ann poked her lips out.

   "Did either of you eat lunch today?"

   "I didn't have enough money, I used the last of it on a pose figurine..." Yusuke said.

  "Aaaand, I forgot mine at home this morning..."

   Makoto pinched the bridge of her nose and hummed to herself. She loved her friends dearly but god did she feel like a babysitter that wasn't getting paid.

  "If I buy you both a snack will you focus on our task?"

  "Yes! Thank you sooo much, my Queen!" Ann ensnared Makoto in a hug and pressed a big kiss to her cheek. Yusuke put his hands together, quietly thanking her.

  "Ok, ok!" Makoto took out her handkerchief to rub Ann's bright red lipstick from her cheek. "Tell me what you guys want, I'll go up to the counter. And keep it under ¥2000 please!"

   "Oh, um... I can't decide, surprise me!" Ann said.

  "I have whatever you get for her," Yusuke added.

  "Ok. Keep your eyes on the door,"

   Makoto got up from their table and went toward the main counter, maneuvering past tables and other customers. Ann put her gaze toward the door and leaned on her hand, letting out a sigh.

   "I hope this guy gets here soon. I wanna hurry to Leblanc so we can figure out what the hell we're gonna do,"

"I must admit, although I'm curious what's in Akira's Palace, I worry we really will affect him in some way or put ourselves in danger..."

"I guess we'll wait and see. Anyway, did Futaba send the extra info yet?"

Yusuke took out his phone, quietly swearing at the multiple messages from Futaba, half of them written in all caps or ridiculous text slang he couldn't even read.

"I have no idea what she's trying to say, but she's been sending a lot of screenshots of photos she found on Maruki's old social media page," he held out the phone so Ann could see, "by the looks of it he hasn't posted since the day Ren died,"

Ann took the phone to scroll through the photos. For the most part, they were just cute pictures of Ren as a child—she only knew it was Ren because of the captions below each photo. Occasionally there were other children, but overall, it was easy to see Ren was the favorite. Some were of him playing outside, looking at stuff like animals or the ocean, others were of little Ren giving the biggest smile to the camera. Takuto was only present in a handful of the pictures, and Ren was right beside him in each one.