A blizzard of white, pink, and pale yellow petals blew through the picturesque mountain town of Hakone, bringing with it the summer heat and the blooming of the Hydrangea bushes along the side of the train tracks.

Kaito was deeply enjoying the view outside the classroom window when the ringing school bell pulled him back to reality.

“Now, tomorrow’s exam…”

Exam!?

“...shouldn’t be that difficult… if you paid attention to today’s lesson!” continued Professor Yoshida as the crowd of kids made their way out of his classroom.

Oh, shiii...taki mushrooms!

I need to study!

I should tell Touma I’m not gonna be able to go to Music Club practice today…

Luckily, Touma was about as easy to spot as a bright-red flame in the darkest of nights.

“Touma!” Kaito called.

“What’s up, buddy?”

“I can’t make it… to practice, I mean.”

“Uh… No, can do, buddy! Today we have the professional choreographer coming in to help us out.”

“I know! I just—”

“You didn’t study, did you?” Touma asked laughingly.

“Nope…”

“Haha! I feel for you, Kaito, but today is a must-attend day. No exceptions!”

Sigh…

The two boys joined Himari for lunch, and as per usual, she was almost jumping with excitement. “Are you guys excited?” she bubbled.

“For what?” asked Kaito.

“Well, I am, but our friend over here is in a bit of trouble,” Touma said.

Kaito looked over at Touma and just shook his head.

“Huh? What kind of trouble, Kaito?” Himari asked.

“I didn’t study,” Kaito mumbled.

She looked at him curiously. “You didn’t study? But... that shouldn’t be a problem! Professor Yoshida told our class that if we paid attention to today’s lesson, we should be able to ace the exam tomorrow!”

Touma and Kaito looked at each other and started laughing.

“What?” Himari asked, confused.

“Himari, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but our friend over here has a bit of a daydreaming problem. You should see him during class! I’d be shocked if he’d taken in enough from the classes to actually pass the exam,” Touma said with a chuckle.

Kaito glared at Touma and added, “And Mr. Music Club Captain over there said I’m not allowed to skip Music Club today.”

“Well, you better pass the exam tomorrow! We have summer plans, remember?!” Himari almost looked upset. “You can’t really go have fun if you have to attend summer school, dummy!”

“We have summer plans?” Touma teased.

Himari frowned at him.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure something out,” Kaito said.

“You better!” she said as she got up and reminded them not to be late for class again.

Kaito was enjoying his rice ball lunch, packed by Kanna, when he remembered that he offered his help at the shop this summer.

“Touma.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you feel like helping me out this summer at my aunt’s coffee shop? Just like one or two days.”

“Uh… nope,” Touma said wiping crumbs from his mouth and shaking his head from left to right.

“Well… too bad,” Kaito said with a smile. “I already told her you were coming.”

“Aww, man! It’s summer vacation!”

“You will get paid.”

“Why didn’t you start with that! Only two days? When do we start?” Touma asked with a smile.

“First day of summer vacation!”

The rest of the school day went by rather quick; in fact, to Kaito, it felt way too fast as he tried to cram in as many study minutes as he could without the other teachers noticing he wasn’t paying any attention to their lessons.

But before long, the last bell of the day chimed, and Kaito met up with Touma in the school hall.

Some of the kids were already busy practicing their choreography or busy warming up their voices when Touma climbed a chair, clapped his hands and with a deep, loud voice he called for everyone’s attention.

“Okay, guys, I’ll like you to welcome Mr. Mori.” Touma pointed at the man standing on stage.

Mr. Mori was dressed in complete shocking-purple and had curly, dark hair, tanned skin, and a muscular body. He stood on his toes and waved at everyone with both hands. “Hello, hellooo, helloooo, my beautiful children!”

Not sure how to respond to the greeting, some kids clapped, others cheered a mixture of “Hellooo!” and “Welcome!” while some bowed to him.

“So, Mr. Mori is only here today to help us perfect our choreography for the play, so I expect everyone to be on their best behavior and listen to what he has to say! Okay, let’s get this party started!” Touma clapped, trying to motivate the crowd. “Remember to absorb everything you can from him!”

Touma jumped off the chair and made his way to the stage.

“Kaito, c’mere!” he beckoned.

I really can’t remember agreeing to this…

Kaito followed Touma to the stage. “Why do you need me here?” he asked.

“Well, you see… You’re my back-up… My uh… understudy.” Touma scratched his head and smiled.

“I barely agreed on singing for you, and now you want me to dance as well? Besides, where’s Sara’s understudy, hmm?”

“Kaito… This entire club and everything we do and own is sponsored by Sara’s parents…”

“And?”

“Basically, if she’s not in the play… There is no play,” Touma said—he then turned to face Sara. “She’s irreplaceable.”

Kaito laughed at his friend.

“What!?”

“You barely know her. Get to know her first before you fall in love with her,” Kaito advised.

“You mean like you and the mystery girl you haven’t even seen yet?” Touma taunted.

“Dude…”

Luckily, Touma realized quickly that he had gone too far: “I’m sorry, buddy; I didn’t mean that. I just… I don’t know.”

“It’s alright, I get it.”

That afternoon, Kaito did more choreography than he had in years, and his energy levels were completely drained. Worse still, he still had more studying to do.

After a train ride and a skipped dinner later, Kaito was back in his room where he tried his best to focus on his study material. Concentrating was a herculean task for him, no thanks to the crack in the wall, which put the person he wanted to spend his time with a mere whisper away.

The next day, however, Kaito was glad he’d devoted those hours to studying when he confidently finished his exam and received a passing grade from Professor Yoshida.

“We did it!” Touma cheered as the two of them joined Himari, who awaited them outside the school grounds.

“Let’s go celebrate! Ice cream on me at Gora Park!” Himari grinned.

Bright and early the next morning, Kaito was unlocking the door to Kanna’s Coffee shop when he heard his friend mumble:

“It’s… so… freakin’… early!” Touma yawned.

Kaito smiled. “Relax, I’m gonna make you a cup of coffee, and you’ll be on the ball in no time!”

“Ah. So, how does this work by the way? I only know how to make instant coffee,” Touma asked as they made their way into the shop.

“It’s pretty straight-forward,” Kaito responded, handing Touma a clean, black apron. “Put this on and follow me.” Kaito walked behind the counter and motioned Touma to join him.

“Right, so I’ll be making the drinks—coffee or whatever they order—and you…” Kaito turned on the computer that stood on the counter, “…you will have to place their orders and take payment.”

“Uh…”

“Don’t fret; it’s really simple. Things they can order are displayed on this screen. See,” Kaito pointed toward the screen, and his finger jumped around as he explained, “All you need to do is press the buttons of what they are ordering and then press this big red order button, which shows you the total they need to pay,” Kaito explained.

“Hmm, I see. Okay…”

“Cool! Then after you placed the order, you just ask how they want to pay. They can pay with cash, card, or by phone—if they scan this QR-code,” Kaito said, pointing at a QR-code sticker on the counter.

“Alright, alright. Doesn’t seem that difficult,” Touma remarked.

Kaito gave Touma a reassuring pat on the back. “Don’t worry; you’ll quickly get the hang of it!” Kaito said. “Oh! There’s one more thing! If someone orders the ‘Fancy Green-Tea,’ you would have to put on a Yukata and perform a tea ceremony at their table...”

“Hmm, yeah… Alright. Wait, WHAT?!”

“Ahaha, Kidding! Just checking if you’re awake.”

Touma looked sleepy and unimpressed. “Say, Kaito… If I’m doing this for you… does that mean you owe me a favor?”

“Um, no? You are doing this because you owe me a favor!” Kaito replied, turning on the bean roaster and the shop radio.

“Wait… since when do I owe you a favor?”

“Hmm, let’s see… who was the guy that begged me to join the Music Club and then basically forced me to be his understudy?” Kaito asked sarcastically.

“Aw, come on! You’re not still upset about that, are you?”

“That doesn’t matter! What matters is that you owe me a favor! Now, quit yapping and open the doors; I think we’re ready.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” Touma mocked.

Touma opened the shop’s doors, and a cool morning breeze followed him back to the counter where Kaito handed him a hot, fresh cup of coffee.

“Wow! This is some good coffee, Kaito.”

“You haven’t even tasted it yet!”

“I know! But it smells amazing! And it’s just what I need right now,” Touma said with a goofy smile on his face.

The intoxicating fragrance of the roasted coffee beans soon traveled throughout the shop and out the front door, luring any and all who had a coffee craving.

Glad I remembered how everything works…

The morning started out slow, which was perfect as Touma got the hang of how the register worked before the shop got busy.

Around lunchtime, Kaito realized there was an abnormal amount of young girls buying coffee.

Are they here because of him?

The stares and giggles coming from a group of girls soon confirmed his suspicions. His friend, however, seemed oblivious to them.

He either has no interest… or he has no clue.

I’m going with the latter.

“Hey, Touma,” Kaito called a while later. “Shop seems empty right now; here, have a sandwich.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah! Go chill. I’ll be fine!”

Touma took a seat on the other side of the counter and took a big bite out of his sandwich.

Kaito tilted his head to the side. “I meant you can go have lunch, like, go relax at a table or even leave the shop if you want!”

“Yeah, I know. But I’m not gonna leave you alone here. I know how shops work: one moment it’s dead quiet, the next you have the entire town stampeding through here to buy a cappuccino!”

What a nice guy.

“Yeah, you’re right. Thanks for staying.”

“No problem!” Touma said with a mouthful of the bacon-and-egg sandwich.

“By the way, what do you like about Sara?”

Touma coughed and struggled to swallow his food. “That came out of nowhere! Why do you ask?”

Ignoring Touma’s question, Kaito repeated his: “What do you like about her?”

“Well… She’s beautiful! A-and she has an amazing voice! And she… well…”

“All you know about her is that she’s pretty. You should really talk to her, Touma.”

“But how!? She’s the most popular girl in school! And she’s always surrounded by at least ten other girls at all times!”

Poor guy…

“Well, then I have good news for you! But don’t tell Himari that I told you this, okay?”

“I’m listening!”

“Okay, it sounded like Himari was planning on inviting Sara to come with the three of us to the fireworks festival…”

Touma’s eyes grew big and his face, pale. “Wha—! Really!?” he pulled at his hair, “What am I gonna do, Kaito!?”

“Haha! Calm down. It’ll be fine! Now, you will finally have a chance to talk to her and get to know her!”

“I guess… But, Kaito, if she shows up in a Kimono… I’m running away!”

“Don’t worry too much about it right now though! Just finish up your sandwich and come help me, please. It looks like you were right after all,” Kaito said as a big group of businessmen entered the shop.

Geez… Looks like all the businessmen in Hakone are here!

Kanna will be happy about this; I just hope we survive the afternoon!

Exhausted, Kaito locked up the shop doors as the sun was setting. “Thanks for helping out today—”

“Don’t even mention it, buddy!” Touma interjected while extending his fist for a fist bump.

Kaito’s fist joined Touma’s, and the red-headed boy grinned from ear to ear.

“Do you feel like helping out tomorrow as well? It should only be four hours or so if we’re not busy.”

“Are you kidding me? Of course, I will! I had fun today and got paid for it!” Touma said with a grin.

Kaito slipped the shop keys in his pocket and placed his hand on Touma’s shoulder as they walked down the street. “I’m glad you liked it,” Kaito said menacingly.

“Um… W-why?” asked Touma.

“Because, well… now it doesn’t really count as a favor, does it?”

Touma was just about to argue that point, but he broke into laughter instead. “Yeah, you got me there. I still—”

WHOOSH. SMACK.

“Kaito! Touma!”

Himari had come running down the street and almost crashed into them. She jumped and hugged Kaito, who stood frozen and speechless.

What… is happening?!

And why is Touma frowning at me?

“Uh… Himari? Hey…”

She finally let go of Kaito. “What are you guys doing here? And where’s my invite, hmm?”

“We just got off work,” Kaito answered.

“Yeah! We are hard working men these days, you know!” Touma teased.

“Oh please! You guys probably went to see a movie together, because you’re too scared to ask any of the girls at school to join you!”

“Aye! That’s not nice…” Touma said with his sad puppy face.

“For real though, I told my aunt we would help out at the Coffee Shop this weekend.”

“Aww! That’s so sweet of you, Kaito!”

Kaito glanced over at Touma and caught him frowning at them again.

Does he… like her?

Disappointed, Himari asked the why she hadn’t been invited.

Kaito let out a sound that was a mixture of a cough, snort, and a laugh. “Err… I mean, you can always help out tomorrow if you want?”

“Wait, what?!” Touma objected. “Does that mean we have to split the wages between three?”

“I’d love to come help...” Himari said as she glanced over to Touma with folded arms and shook her head, “...and I wasn’t asking to get paid, you meanie!”

“Oh...”

Is this…

Is this a lover’s quarrel?!

“Aaaanyways! I was going to mail these to you guys...” she said—she took out two envelopes out of her handbag—“…but seeing as I ran into you here, I might as well just give it to you in person.”

Touma just stared at the envelope that Himari had handed him, but Kaito was already tearing his open to reveal a card. A pretty, night-time fireworks scene took up the front space of the card, and when Kaito flipped it, he exposed a hand-written invitation:

Dear Kaito

With this, you have been formally invited to join Himari & Friends at this year’s fireworks festival taking place next week Friday at Lake Ashi.

Travel to and from has been arranged, all you need to do is be ready and dressed on time!

P.s Snacks and games at own expense!

See you Friday evening!

“It’s an invitation!” Himari said with a big smile on her face, “...for the Fireworks Festival. Well, I say invitation, but you guys don’t really have a choice!”

“It’s a lovely thought, Himari, thank you,” Kaito said.

“I don’t get it though… couldn’t you just send a reminder over Shine?” Touma asked.

“Dude...”

“You’re being such a meanie, Touma! I thought it would be nice to send everyone personal invitations rather than just a stupid message on the phone!”

“Uh… Okay,” Touma responded, visibly confused by what was going on.

“I’d love to come, Himari. Thank you for the invite,” Kaito said, trying to ease off the tension.

“And you?” she stared at Touma.

“What? I thought you just said we don’t have a choice?!”

“Ugh!” Furious, Himari stormed off and disappeared into the distance.

“I’m so confused…”

Kaito laughed at his friend. “You can be such a dimwit sometimes, you know...”

When Kaito finally arrived home, he was greeted by a jubilant aunt: “What did you guys do?” she asked with a giant smile spread across her face, “you guys doubled my most profitable day this month!”

“Well, as soon as we took off our shirts, the shop just started filling up with girls...”

“Oh, really?! Maybe I should try that as well!” Kanna joked.

Kaito pulled his face and tried to shake the image out of his head. “No! I mean— I was just kidding! It was just very busy today because some company decided to have a business meeting at the Coffee Shop.”

“Now see, that makes more sense!” smiled Kanna.

“I have no idea how you run that place on your own...”

“I won’t have to for too much longer. I had the time to look through a bunch of CVs today. Thanks to you and your friend.”

Oh yeah!

“About that… I kinda told my friend, Himari, that she can help out tomorrow as well. I hope you don’t mind?” Kaito asked. “She did say she would do it for free, but I thought it would be nice if everyone equally got paid—”

“Did you say a girl?!”

“A friend!”

“Does Kaito have a girlfriend?!” Yui yelled while running downstairs.

“You guys are ridiculous!”

“Hahaha! Why are you blushing Kai-kai-poo!” Kanna pouted her lips and squeezed Kaito’s cheeks. Yui was on the floor crying with laughter.

“What are you—” Kaito said, pulling away, “you guys are so weird!” He then made his way upstairs.

“Oh! Tell your friends they are welcome to help out at the shop whenever they want to! Paid, of course...”

Kaito couldn’t help but smile and shake his head.

What a bunch of weirdos!

At least they seem happy…

After he undressed, Kaito flopped onto his bed and let out a sigh of relief.

Man, what a day!

I wonder if Miyu is home…

Kaito jumped off his bed and rested his ear against the crack.

I can hear her music!

Tap tap tap.

“Anyone home?” he asked.

A few moments later, Miyu’s voice traveled through the crack: “Heeeey, Mr. Kaito! You’re finally home?”

“I am, yeah!”

“Out partying now that it’s summer holiday?”

“Ha! Nope! I was working at my aunt’s Coffee Shop today!”

“Oh! That sounds interesting! Does she have hot chocolate on the menu?” Miyu asked with excitement in her voice.

“Three different kinds actually—”

“Wow! Hot chocolate is my favorite! What about pastries? Or does she only sell drinks?”

“Freshly baked goodies get delivered first thing every morning, so that’s on the menu as well!”

“Aww, I’m craving hot chocolate and freshly baked cinnamon rolls so bad right now!”

“We sell those as well! Would you like me to bring you some tomorrow?”

“And then what? Are you going to try and squeeze it through this tiny crack?”

“Hmm… Bad idea. What else do you like?”

“I like music, hot chocolate, and freshly baked cinnamon rolls!” she giggled.

“Something I don’t already know, dummy!”

“But it’s hard to think of something when you put me on the spot like that!”

“Well, I could give you my number, and you could text me when you know,” teased Kaito.

A few moments of silence went by before Miyu sighed. “I’m sorry, Kaito. My dad never got me a cell phone.”

“Oh… Why not?”

“I— honestly, I don’t know. I never know what goes on in his head, but I do know it’s best not to question him. I’m sorry, Kaito.”

Damn, that sucks. “Don’t be sorry! It’s all good… anyways…” Kaito sensed her disappointment and quickly changed the subject. “What about fireworks? Do you like them?”

“Of course, I do, silly! Who doesn’t like seeing fireworks?”

“Then… would you like to go with me and my friends to the fireworks festival next weekend?”

It was quiet for a few moments. “You know I can’t...” she finally answered, with a palpable shift in her mood.

“But… Can’t you ask your dad? Just for one night!”

“Kaito, no!”

“Fine, then I’ll just have to ask him myself!”

“Kaito!” she cried. “Just, no! Just stop! You don’t know what you are saying!”

“Miyu… I—”

“No! Just leave it, okay?”

A few seconds later Kaito heard a door slam shut, and he knew she wasn’t there anymore.

Damn… It sounded like she was about to cry…

Did I make her cry?

Kaito had a tough time falling asleep that evening; the thought of being the reason for Miyu’s tears made him sick to his stomach.

The sun was rearing its bright red head out from behind the mountains when Kaito, Touma, and Himari met up in front of Kanna’s Coffee Shop.

They greeted each other with an echo of yawns and trudged their way into the shop.

It wasn’t until Himari unzipped her jacket when the first words were spoken: “What the hell are you wearing?!” Touma blurted.

Himari was wearing extremely short, form-fitting, denim cut-off shorts and a white crop top that exposed her shoulders and stomach.

She twirled around, smiled, and then asked, “Hmm, do you like it?”

The two boys stood frozen, they gulped in unison while their faces turned spring-rose-pink.

“You’re b-b-barely wearing anything!” Touma exclaimed with a heavy breath.

“Well, hello there, Grandpa! Didn’t you check the weather for today? It’s going to be searing hot this afternoon!” Himari said, sounding slightly offended.

“Okay, you two! We haven’t even had coffee yet, let’s calm down, yeah?”

Kaito quickly pulled out a chair from the closest table, climbed it, and did his finest Touma impression. “Okay, guys, gather round!” he clapped his hands together.

“Is that supposed to be me?” Touma asked unimpressed while Himari started laughing.

“You sound just like that!” she giggled.

“Okay, okay, listen up guys!” Kaito teased, “I’m expecting an influx of customers today, so I expect both of you to be sharp. Touma, you will man the counter, Himari will be in charge of the tables, and I’ll be making the drinks again. Sounds good?”

“Yes, boss!” Touma said.

“Sir, yes, sir!” Himari giggled.

After making three cups of coffee, Kaito opened the shop’s door.

It didn’t take too long for the shop to fill up with customers. And Kaito soon realized that the selection of customers was different from that of the previous day. Yesterday, most of the customers were young girls, fawning over Touma, but it was mostly young guys today, swooning over Himari.

Either way, I’m sure Kanna will be happy.

Touma sulked behind the counter the entire morning. “Just look at them!” he fumed, “they’re all over her like wild dogs over a bone!”

“Why do you care?” Kaito asked. “You guys are friends, right? You should be happy she’s getting attention from guys.”

“That’s different! This is just— it’s just— ugh! It just annoys me, ya know? Just look at them! They can’t take their eyes off her butt!”

“Chill, buddy. Why don’t you grab a sandwich and go take a break?”

Touma looked at Kaito. “You’re right,” he succinctly said then took off his apron and stormed out of the shop.

“What’s his problem?” Himari asked on seeing Touma head out.

“I have noooo idea...”

Well, I do… I just don’t want to get involved…

“Hmm, maybe I should go talk to him!”

“I think it’s best you don’t. Just let him cool down for a bit. In the meantime, can you take over at the counter? I’ll show you how everything works.”

Himari seemed worried about Touma but agreed with Kaito. “I hope he’s okay. And that’s not necessary. My parents run a Ramen Restaurant, and I’ve worked at the register more times than I can remember!”

“Ah sweet! And that’s pretty cool! I love ramen!” Kaito exclaimed.

“We should all go there sometime. My dad’s ramen is the best in Hakone!”

“Count me in! By the way, do you know when we’re going to Odawara?”

Himari looked at him confused. “Hmm, what do you mean?”

“Touma said we’re going…”

Did he not invite her?

Kaito paused for a moment. “...to Odawara this summer.”

“Oh? I guess he forgot to invite me,” she said, clearly upset.

Damn, Kaito! Think before you speak!

“Oh, I’m sure he will! Besides, he only mentioned it a few days ago. I’m sure he’s just busy planning out the trip!”

“Yeah, right, Kaito.”

Kaito forced a dumb looking smile on his face. He had no idea how to make the situation less awkward, but luckily for him, more customers entered the shop, and Himari’s attention shifted to them.

Phew, close call…

These two really are lovebirds!

A few minutes later, the shop’s door swung open, and Touma dragged himself inside, “Wa… ter!” he heaved.

His sweaty-shirt clung to his body, and little beads of sweat were rolling down his crimson-red face.

Touma gulped the glass of water Kaito had given to him. “What the— It’s so freakin’ hot outside!”

“Told you so!” Himari sang as she rushed passed the two boys on her way to serve the next customer.

“Smartass,” Touma mumbled under his breath.

“Here, I’ll switch the aircon on,” Kaito said, “by the way… I kinda mentioned the Odawara trip in front of Himari. I thought you would’ve invited her—”

“Huh? Oh, yeah… I was going to, I just— I don’t know. Should we invite her if she would be dressed like that?”

“Aren’t we going to the beach? I’m pretty sure girls will be wearing bikinis on the beach.”

With the look on Touma’s face, Kaito could deduce that he hasn’t given it that much thought yet.

Should I…

I think I have to…

“Touma… do you think you might be, I don’t know… maybe a little bit jealous?” Kaito asked.

“Of Himari? Pft! No way! Anyways, It doesn’t really— Oh!” a customer had popped up in front of him. “Hello! Welcome to Kanna’s Coffee! Can I take your order?”

Kaito shook his head, sighed, and continued preparing drinks.

After closing the doors later that afternoon, the three of them sat down, relaxed, and counted the fruits of their labor, after which Kaito handed each of them a small pile of Yen.

“Thank you guys for helping out. My aunt also said you guys are more than welcome to come help out again, whenever you want to.”

“Oh, perfect! We can come work here again, to make some money for our trip to Od—” Touma stumbled over the last few words as he caught Himari’s frown burning holes into his face.

“Don’t stop on my account, Touma! You can finish your sentence. I know about your little trip, and never mind about me! I don’t want to go anyways!” Himari grimaced as she shot up from her chair and rushed toward the door to leave. But just before she exited the shop, she stopped and turned around to face Kaito. “Oh, and please, thank your aunt for me, Kaito. She really didn’t have to pay me.” She politely said, with a different tone and a big smile on her face.

“And off she goes...” said Kaito.

“Girls...” sighed Touma.

“I know, right!” Kaito agreed.