stirback. the second place kai hated most. he hated interacting with people as much as he hated the color orange. it was extremely far away from his house too. it would take about thirty minutes to walk and (around) twenty by bus. 

he walked through the doors and eto had already locked onto him. he knew that she liked him, and for a while too. for some reason, he just found her annoying. maybe it was the fact that she was actually quite a bitch to people she didn't like. either way, he wanted to be as far away from her as possible.

"hey, kanamori~!"eto smiled happily, holding onto kai's arm tightly against her body. it made him feel very uncomfortable. "hey, eto. could you let go of me?" he asked, trying to put space in between himself and her. she just held on tighter and smiled wider. she was a lot more annoying than usual. "hey, eto! get back to work!!" the manager yelled. eto let go reluctantly and went to the back of the café. kai sighed. relieved. nakamura patted kai on the back and asked "are you okay?" kai nodded "yeah, thanks mr. nakamura" he thanked genuinely. 

after the little encounter he had with eto, he went straight to work, quickly rushing past her, and to the order placing area. (i'm sorry, i actually don't know what it's called. i might just be dumb.) 

one of the customers were a bit too short for him to talk to, but he was accompanied by another (?) man who appeared to not have taken a bath in a long time who ordered for him. "two lattes" the man requested, holding up two fingers like a peace sign. "sure, do you want anything else, sir?" he asked, looking back up at him. "a moment of your time" he requested quietly. the request made him feel a bit odd. maybe he misheard him. "i'm sorry?" he asked, confirming if he heard what he thought he did. "a moment. of. your. time" he enunciated. kai immediately tried to come up with an excuse, thinking that he had done something wrong outside of work. "i'm on my shift right now" he said calmly. "that's fine. when is your shift over?" he asked, insisting in having an audience with him. kai swallowed his saliva subtly and looked at the clock behind him. "in eight hours. are you sure you don't want to come back tomorrow?" he asked. still trying to avoid having to talk to him. "please ask another employee to take over for you, for now. it'll take only a moment" he said. losing all of the formal vocabulary. "okay. let me get someone. i'll be right back" he said. 

he was hoping that no one was able to take over but his manager misread the situation and took over immediately, giving him a thumbs-up and a smile. it didn't make him feel any better. 

the two men took the lattes and walked towards a corner where no one from outside the windows could see in. it made him feel very nervous and anxious for what was about to happen. "you've been accepted into yuuei" the taller man started. a few seconds of silence filled the three. "but i haven't even applied" he quickly stated. "we know that. you're being transferred" kai nearly fell over from it. "what?" he muttered. not sure how to react. "i'm sorry, but can i turn this down? it's a bit too sudden" he finally admitted. the shorter man who looked a lot like a mouse and a bear shook his head through a friendly smile. "i don't think so. we urge you to attend" he said lightly yet very forcefully. kai felt trapped in a corner. forced to comply. "okay. i'll go" he spoke reluctantly. "when do i transfer?" he asked. making sure to look them it the eye. "next monday" kai went silent for a moment but then nodded his head. "thanks. um, i need to get back to my shift" he said, trying to get away from the two elders. the taller nodded and left alongside the shorter. 

throughout the shift, he felt the piercing gaze of nineteen high-schoolers staring at him. he did his best not to look back at them and went on with his shift. relaxing after noticing them leaving the café. 

"goddamn, could i have a break?" he thought to himself, now feeling eto's eyes stabbing through his back.