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Yokohama truly was a city of many mysteries.
Even someone as uninvolved in the town’s daily goings-on as Naoko managed to catch a glimpse of them every now and then, to her great delight. True, as a barista at a somewhat popular coffeshop chain she saw her fair share of weirdos every day - took their orders too, in fact. Funnily enough, the stranger denizens of Yokohama she glimpsed usually had the most vanilla coffee orders. The really weird stuff always came from the most unassuming patrons.
That was, usually.
Naoko stared up at the tall, broad man in a black suit like he'd suddenly grown a second head. A pair of dark sunglasses stared (presumably) back at her.
“I'm so sorry, dear guest,” Naoko stammered, trying desperately to regain a semblance of composure. “But could you possibly repeat that?”
The man’s shoulders slumped a tiny bit. Everything about him radiated both danger and desperation.
“One coffee with lots of milk, decaf, double sugar, cooled down but no ice.”
It wasn’t exactly the weirdest order she'd ever gotten, hell, probably didn't even scratch the top ten. But the fact that this mountain of a man who looked for all intents and purposes like he kicked puppies for fun was the one giving it, well. That certainly made her weirdness meter tick up by several notches.
Of course, as a customer service professional, she prepared the man's drink exactly to his specifications, and presented it to him with a smile. He looked at the to-go cup like it had personally insulted his mother, and picked it up akin to how one would handle an irate porcupine. She watched him mutely carry the cursed concoction out of the shop and down the street. Not once did he take a sip.
Oh well, Naoko thought, stranger things had happened.
Little did she know that the weirdness had only just begun.
Because, inexplicably, the order kept coming back.
Not the man, mind. It was always a different person who picked up milk coffee, decaf double sugar, cooled but no ice. In fact she didn't think she ever saw the same man twice. They all were eerily similar in their black suits, dark shades and undeniable aura of menace, but she soon found out that their attitudes differed greatly. Some would rattle off the order stone-faced, some would seem almost apologetic, while others still could barely bring themselves to spit out the words, like they were asking her for a kick to the jewels rather than a cup of coffee. They all however would dutifully retrieve the order and carry it away to whomever it was they all served. Naoko couldn't help but wonder what kind of person the recipient may be.
Once, instead of a suited man, a sickly looking teen in a too-large black coat came to pick up the mysterious order, reading it off a piece of paper with the airs of someone trying to decode a foreign language. Naoko couldn't help but pity the kid.
“I gotta ask,” she spoke up as she handed over the cup, “Is this some sort of weird bet? Workplace hazing or something?”
The look the teen gave her in response was so scathing that she was still rattled by it when she went on break an hour later.
Unsurprisingly, no answer had been given.
And so, milk, decaf, double sugar, cool, no ice became a part of Naokos's life, turning quickly from noteworthy occurrence to mundane everyday routine, the black suited men starting to almost blend into the background just as much as her other regular customers did.
Until, eventually, it stopped.
It wasn’t unusual for days, sometimes even weeks to pass without an order. But after three months had passed Naoko felt like maybe this really was it. The men in black never returned to her coffeeshop.
Curiously, she felt a small sense of loss.
Time passed. Naoko quit her job, finally tired of her ever-nagging manager and busboy Takahashi's lewd comments towards her. She started at another company across town, in a much nicer neighborhood. Her pay was better, her colleagues were nicer, her life was looking up. Yoshiro-kun asked her to move in together. They were talking about marriage soon.
Things were good. She had all but forgotten the black suited coffee carriers, only ever bringing them up as a fun anecdote during drinking parties.
Four years had passed since then.
It was a leisurely day, customers trickling in slowly, most likely due to the horrible weather. Naoko was restocking the pastries when she heard the bell over the door indicate guests. A quick glance revealed two young men had entered, engaged in friendly chatter. The taller, older looking one - really handsome, Naoko thought - split up from his companion and made for the sitting area in the back, while the second guy approached her counter. She gave him her brightest smile.
“Hi! What can I get you today?”
The young man - barely more than a boy, she thought, gave her a nervous smile in return. Something about his fidgety demeanor reminded her of a deer in the headlights.
“Hi, hello, uh, can I please get a green tea and, uh…” He dropped his head a little, shoulders sagging, and gave her an apologetic look from underneath his oddly skewed bangs. She idly wondered what product he used to get his hair that shade of platinum.
“Uh, I'm really sorry, I know this is a super weird order but… could I also get uh, a decaf milk coffee? With lots of sugar? And uh, if you could maybe cool it down, that would be great? Oh, but no ice, please!”
Naoko must have stared at the kid in front of her for far longer than was proper, judging by how hard he was apparently trying to get the earth to swallow him up. She shook her head lightly, then brought back the smile that had wavered with renewed energy.
“Sure! I'll have that for you in just a second!”
The preparation of the drink came natural to her still, after all these years. She watched the light-haired youth carry the drinks over to his waiting companion, cradling the cup of tea close to his own chest as he handed over the mystery coffee to the mystery man in the tan trenchcoat.
Who accepted it with a smile.
And took a long sip.
And seemed incredibly pleased with his horrible concoction of a drink.
Well, Naoko thought, that was one less mystery the city of Yokohama had for her.
She went back to restocking pastries, grinning.