I had left school over fifteen minutes ago. Walking down the cold city street isn't ideal during December, obviously. I just couldn't ride my bike home because winter brings ice; and I did try to ride my bike to school on the morning after a blizzard, I regretted it. I slipped and fell, how embarrassing

Though, when I walk around the city of Minneapolis during the winter, I sure do enjoy the aesthetic. Icicles hanging from the umbrellas of outdoor cafes (which shouldn't have their umbrellas, tables, and chairs out at this time of year) and snow just everywhere. It's quite nice.

As I continue my stroll back to my apartment complex. I can hear the homeless men dressed as santa jingling their jingle bells. Though, I can spare a few, no not a few, a lot of money for their cause, so whatever I guess. They'll need it more than me. I put a hundred in the bucket the homeless man is holding and say 'your welcome' before he can say 'thank you'.

As I keep walking, yeah the aesthetic is nice, but it's cold. I need something to warm me up. I look forward down the street hoping to find something. I spotted a coffee shop farther down the road across an intersection. Perfect! I thought.

I make my way down the street to where the traffic lights are and I press the button. I wait for a few seconds and the walk light is lit and I walk, extra slow. I have thirty seconds, why not?

I cross the street and finally made my way down to the coffee shop. 'Angel Coffee'. What a strange name. I pull the door, but for some reason, it wouldn't open. The door handle is made to pull, and it even says pull on the door. I continue to pull even harder until the ice under my feet decides it wanted to ruin my day (not like it wasn't already). I slipped and fell.

Then the door opened, but inward. A punk looking lady with short white hair opened the door, I could hear the bell chime.

"Sorry 'bout that, my dad hasn't switched out the door handle and sticker since we opened this place, Come on in." She said.

"How long has he owned this establishment exactly?" I asked while rubbing the wound on my head.

She thought for a second. "I'd say thirty years or so? Anyway, you gonna come in? It's cold outside."

"Well, I don't need you to tell me that, I'm coming." I said.

"Make yourself at home, we have a hospitality policy here, and it's enforced by my dad. Sit down." She pointed at the stool in front of the counter. "What'll you have?"

"What do you recommend?"

"Well, I'd have to ask my dad that, he sure lives talking about his 'recommendations'. Dad! Come out here." She looked at me and grinned.

An older man, I'd say in his fifties came out of the kitchen. "Oh, what's going on Claire?"

"This guy wants your recommendations." She said.

"Oh you do now? Well, I'd say the house blend. Truth be told, I'm quite proud of my house blend. To attain my flavor and fragrance, I use five different types of coffee beans. I had learned this technique by traveling the world. I am very specific with my coffee beans and I travel to different places just to get the correct orders, you see. I'm not around a lot, but sure are you a lucky one! I had first fallen in love with the art of coffee after a trip to Brazil. While in the cafes at Rio De Janeiro, I simply fell in love with the pure coffee that was being served to me. Would you like to try it on the house?"

"Um, can I have your most expensive mocha?" I said.

I could feel the pain he felt in his heart. "O-oh, um yes! Of course! Claire, prepare the 'Moka Suprême'!"

" 'Kay dad." She walked into the kitchen.

"Oh my, where is Gabriel? She shouldn't be slacking now of all times." He said worriedly.

"I'm right here, master." A turned to look a short blonde girl sitting at the table with a laptop playing some weird game. "My break still lasts for another five minutes."

"You said that an hour ago! Please, Gabriel, please work!" He said.

She closed her laptop. "I've been working for three straight hours."

"Y-you know what, there's no need to overwork yourself, you already work two days a week, erm- enjoy yourself." He immediately looked at me. "Don't mind our Gabriel, she's a student from Japan after all and she's new and experiencing a language barrier, I apologize." He said in an apologetic tone.

"What kind of girl has the name Gabriel?" I asked. "And her English was pretty spot on, how is she experiencing a language barrier?"

"Masuta, whennu issu my nexta shifto." She asked in terribly broken English.

"See? She's in the middle of transition." He said.

"Yeah... right..." I said in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh and about the Japanese part well, sometimes we call her by her last name, Tenma." He said.

"Makes sense how she's from Japan now. But she's a blonde, eh whatever I don't care anymore." I said.

"That's fine, I'll continue to work in the kitchen for now, if you have any questions just ask Claire to come and get me." He said and walked back into the kitchen.

Claire was still in the kitchen and I could hear blenders, grinders, and chopping. So I figured it'd be a little bit before I get my coffee.

I wasn't looking but I could hear the door open behind me, and the bell chimed too. I turned my head a little just to see who had entered, but I didn't expect her.

"Y-you are stalking me!" Nia said in surprise. She immediately put her back against the door.

"What? I was here first already, how could I be stalking y-"

"I know karate." She put up a weak karate stance, I would know, I took karate too.

At this point I turned fully around on the spinning stool. "I'm not planning on doing anything to you, everything is coincidental, I swear it."

"Hmph, better be." In a bad attempt at a confident voice, you could hear the shakiness under her breath.

I could hear Gabriel giggle a bit in her corner. "Kore wa anata no koibito, Nia?"

"Īe! Kamiyo!" Nia yelled back.

"Hehe, E e, tashikani" Gabriel replied back with a sneer.

"Huh? Why're you speaking Japanese?" I asked in confusion.

"It's fun. I thought you wouldn't understand, now the fun is ruined. I'll just play my game now." Gabriel said

I look at Nia, whose face is red. "W-whatever you didn't hear what she said did you?"

"I did. Very strange question."

"Ah! Forget what you heard!" She pointed at me. Even though I was sitting down she still had to look up to me.

"Yeah, sure-"

"Whoo, what a relief." She sat down next to me and put her bag at the bottom of the stool.

"-won't." I finished.

"Gah!" She karate chopped my arm, which hurt quite a decent amount really. But, not enough pain to flinch at.

Claire came out of the kitchen with a drink in her hand. "Your 'Moka Suprême' is ready."

"Huh? Claire you knew I was here already?" Nia asked in a confused tone.

"Oh, Nia! No, I didn't know you were here actually, this guy ordered one." Claire said.

She turned to look at me. "Really now?" I couldn't tell if she was hostile or docile. "Then, can I get one too?"

Claire sounded annoyed. "Ugh, Gabriel!"

"I will lay Divine retribution upon thee." Gabriel said mono-toned.

"Yeah coming right up, don't wanna mess with Gabriel once she starts speaking about that Divine retribution!" She looked perky but her good suddenly died and she went back into the kitchen.

"I am one-hundred percent sure you're stalking me now." Nia said. "The same shop, the same order? How long have you been stalking me?

"How!? Can't the just be coincidences in the world!?" I asked.

"Well of course, but in your case, there's just too many!" She said.

"Agh you're so difficult." I turned away and wrapped my arms.

I sat like that for a good few minutes.

Claire busted out of the kitchen. "Nia, you're 'Moka Suprême' is ready."

"Thank you very much Claire." She smiled and drank from the crazy straw.

"Are you even in the eleventh grade?" I asked very confused.

"Of course I am! Just because I'm small doesn't mean I'm not in the same grade as you! I'm sixteen for your information." She said.

Well I'm seventeen. Or, actually her birthday is only in a few months.

"Anyway, Nia that'll be $12." Claire said at the cash register. "Same goes for your boyfriend over there."

"He's not my boyfriend! Don't say that ever again! He's such a creep!" She yelled.

"Oh, okay; $12 you two." She persisted.

I pulled out a $20. I looked over to Nia who was panicking and checking all of her pockets. She eventually checked her bag on the ground too.

"There's no way-"

"What's up?" I asked.

"I must've dropped my wallet somewhere..." Nia said.

"Here I'll help." I pulled a five and two ones out of my wallet. Pay with these, you can use my change from the twenty.

"Oh, thank you." She took the money and paid. "Wait why am I accepting money from you?! For all I know you could be money laundering and-"

"Cut it out will you? I'm not that kind of person. I just helped you, be grateful." I put my wallet back in my pocket.

"Wait a second! That's my wallet! You are filthy scum! Give it back!" She cried out and reached for my pocket.

"What are you talking about?!" I grabbed my wallet before she could and showed her my ID was inside. "How is this your wallet?!"

She looked disturbed. "No, too many coincidences to be coincidences! We have the same wallet?! Then I really did drop my wallet somewhere!"

She sat down looking sad.

"Maybe you dropped it at school?" I said.

"Stalker. But that's the plausible, I was running down the stairs after we all left the clubroom. How'd you know I lost it at school of all places?"

"What is with you? It's just a guess. Jeez calm down a bit." I said.

"I suppose I could check the lost and found tomorrow." She said.

"See? How bad could it be." I said.

Silence for a few minutes, though I didn't care, I was watching the weather on the TV hung up on the wall.

Then I asked, "Why'd you join that dump of a club?"

"Well, because they accepted me. The other clubs rejected me thinking I was a ninth grader." She said.

"That sucks. But you sure do look it." I said.

"Not something you should say to a black belt." She said.

"Karate is for self defense." I said. "Even a white belt would know that. I am a black belt too by the way. So I will use karate as self defense if you attack me."

She rolled her eyes. "Agh whatever."

I looked over at Claire. She had an amused expression with her hand covering her mouth.

"Oh, I see Nia, you have that kind of relationship." Claire said.

"Why can't both of you stop talking to me?!" She put her face on the counter. She put earbuds in.

I pulled one out. "What're you listening to?"

"Music." She said but came out muffled.

I put the bud in my ear. I heard very strange lyrics.

Ittai zentai oujisama

Kono hari nanji sashitara kuru no

Chikutaku chikutaku mattemasu

Hakuba ni notte arawarete koishi kimi

"Japanese?" I said out loud.

"Wha!" She sat up and snatched the earbud from my hand. "You were listening?!"

"What is that song?" I asked.

"A good song." She said.

"Yeah but what is it's name?" I asked

"Ha! Wouldn't be surprised! It's an older song from about fifteen years ago I'd say." She said.

"Why a fifteen year old song? I bet you couldn't even understand it at the time." I asked.

"Because it's special to me, and I can understand it of course. I heard it when I was three I'd say, and I've been listening to the song every now and then since then." She said.

"Ah, I see." I took another sip of my mocha.

"Ah! Why am I telling you this?!" She put her face in the counter again.

"Beats me." I shrugged.

"Yeah, I will beat you." She karate chopped my arm again.

I got immediately got up and walked to the pull door. "I'm not having any of that. I take back what I said about self defense, I don't hit girls sorry. Guess I'll see you later in game."

I pushed the door, which was a mistake.

"You didn't see that." I said.

Nia giggled.

"Yeah, you didn't see that."

I pulled the door and left.