Aki was the first customer today, and he looked worse than ever. His eyebags seemed to have gone a deeper shade, and he was moving like everything was too heavy for him. His clothes, his shoes, and his shoulder bag that was full to the brim! He never brought a bag to Buns & Beans before though. Did that mean something? Francis kept going from one guess to another on what could possibly be in it, and Aki seemed to have followed his gaze.

“My art supplies.” He answered the question in the air.

“I see.” Francis smiled. Was he going to do his commissions here? “So, what’ll it be for today? Are we going for the usual Spanish Latte?”

“No. I’ll have Black Coffee, for here.”

Francis’ finger hovered above the cashier, looking at Aki with a smile that hoped he didn’t hear what he heard. “Come again?”

“Black Coffee, please.”

He thought back to Lala (who was in the backroom right now), and how he promised he’d share a piece of his mind to Aki if it came to it. Now was the time it seemed. You might have said something by now, but he requested to be placed in the afternoon shift for today, so this left Francis on his own. Oh how the mercenary prepped himself in case his conversation might turn into a mental wrestling with the mushroom.

“Are you sure? You don’t exactly look… alive.” Francis started, gesturing to all of him with a whistle.

“Don’t worry about me.”

“How can I not? The coffee might make it worse, and I can’t have you dead on the floor.”

“I won’t die— something dead can’t die again.” Aki chuckled, but it wasn’t cheery, and instead showed how parched his throat was. Was he even drinking water, besides coffee?

“I highly think you’re going to prove that saying wrong if you get Black Coffee.”

“Thank you for your concern, but I got this.”

“Sure?” Francis stared at him.

They stayed quiet for a moment, until Aki nodded his head. His decision was final, so Francis backed up and punched in his order. Well, he tried at least. Lala definitely wasn’t going to be happy about this. That much was obvious. Sure enough, the first thing she did after coming out of the back room was glaring at the Black Coffee Francis made after finding out it was for Aki.

The very man himself, who found a table, took out a sketchpad and pencil case, immediately getting to work after having a sip or two of his drink. Watching him made Francis try and remember the word he was thinking for his movements. Was it sluggish? It must be with the way Aki was moving. Slow, listless, and lifeless. Not that Aki was dying— it was just that he lacked the energy.

“Did you talk to him?” Lala asked, making sure her voice wasn’t too loud.

“I did,” Francis pursed his lips, “but to no avail.”

“Oh, I hope he doesn’t order more coffee.”

“We can’t really control that.”

She wanted to say more, but then a few customers came in and this prompted them to go back to work. The seconds turned into minutes, and the minutes turned into hours, and after roughly four hours later, Aki was on his third Black Coffee. Francis wasn’t sure how he was still functioning with only coffee in his stomach and nothing else. Not a single sandwich was seen on his table either.

When Aki lifted his mug up for a drink, that was when he started packing up his art supplies. Was he done with his commissions? Maybe this was his last drink for today, and he was ready to head home. Or so Francis hoped at least. Though this all went down the drain when Aki returned to the cashier with his empty mug. He was asking for the fourth refill, and still didn’t order a sandwich.

Lala pulled Francis back before he could take his order. “We’re not serving him more coffee, because the next thing you know, we’re mopping his dead body off the floor!”

“I already tried a while ago, you know this.” He whispered back. “Besides, I can’t just forbid him from ordering again!”

“Well, maybe you should!”

“How does that even work—”

“Here’s the money.” Aki didn’t seem to notice all the whispering because of how busy he was with his wallet.

“Man, your veins are just full of coffee at this point.” Francis finally punched in his order, and Lala was left to make the order— though she didn’t want to. “Anyway, we’ll bring it to your table once it’s ready.”

“Maybe we should make it iced so there would be more ice than coffee.” Lala muttered, itching to do it.

“He didn’t order iced.” Francis watched Aki by his table, who had his face in his hands. The woman looked over at him as well, and frowned at the sight of him. With the Black Coffee ready, she went over to his table and tapped his shoulder.

Aki looked up at her and smiled. “Ah, my coffee?”

“Yes.” She handed it to him, and then everything happened so fast.

Francis wasn’t too sure how it went, but one of them almost dropped the mug. Maybe it was Aki with how he kept muttering apologies over and over again. Lala seemed to have finally had enough, because she wasn’t accepting his sorry’s. With spilled coffee on the floor, Francis got the mop and went over. Only then did he properly hear their conversation.

“Aki.” Lala’s voice was stern now. “How long did you sleep last night?”

“What?” He blinked up at her.

“Did you get any sleep last night? And if you did, how long?”

Aki fiddled with the mug in his hand. It barely had any coffee in it now. “I didn’t sleep. I had work to do— well, I still do, but you know.”

“Did you even eat breakfast?”

“No? I didn’t have time for it.”

“Because with the way I see it, it looks like you’re about to pass out. Is passing out part of your plans for today?”

Francis couldn’t even mop the floor with how neither of them were moving away. Lala stood there, towering over Aki who was still on his seat. The bear had her teeth bared, and the mushroom was left to deal with her ferocity. His brows were crossed, and his mouth was slightly open. Like he couldn’t really understand why any of this was happening right now. Francis couldn’t either, yet here they were!

“Passing out—? Why are you asking me that?”

“Because you’ve had three orders of Black Coffee already. So, is passing out the plan?”

“No, I don’t have plans to pass out.” Aki stood up then, harshly placing the mug on the table as he did so. He was angry now, and it didn’t look like things were going to die down just yet.

Oh boy. Were things going to escalate? “I think we should all calm down—” Francis tried to interrupt, but it was useless. Both of them pushed Francis away, all the while focusing on each other with how the tension was rising in the air.

“Do you? Really?” Lala gestured at the mug, then at the spilled coffee. Her voice was shaking as if she was about to cry, but she stood tall nonetheless.

“Look, if you’re mad about the spilled coffee then I’ll pay for it.” Aki was about to fish out his wallet, but stopped short from what she said next.

“That’s not the point!”

He stared at her then, trying to decipher why she was like this towards him. And when he couldn’t come up with a single reason, he threw the question back at her. “Then what is the point?!”

“The point is that you haven’t slept or eaten anything proper! And now you’re ordering Black Coffee again and again like a madman, when you should be filling your stomach with food!”

“Excuse me? Who are you to tell me how to live my life?!”

“I’m saying that maybe you should rethink your choices right now!”

“My choices are fine as it is!” Aki pressed, his voice going louder.

“No they’re not! Either you fix yourself up right now, or—”

“Or what?!”

“Guys, guys—” Francis went in and tried again, but then Lala raised her hands with a jerk. This made him walk right into it as she elbowed his nose, and he was left to grunt and fall on the floor.

“Or you’re not allowed here anymore!” Lala yelled so loud that she couldn’t contain herself any longer.

Just then, You came in only to find Lala crying her heart out, Aki looking as shocked and angry as ever, and Francis groaning on the floor— clutching his bleeding nose. Oh, and the spilled coffee was still there! All in all, this must have been quite a sight for the man because all You could say was “What the hell.”