Beep beep

Mayumi groaned as her alarm went off. She rolled over to face the alarm, today was another day. Although her bed was warm and welcoming she knew she had to turn down the offer, she had to head to class. Sitting up she grabbed her glasses off her night stand and got up to start her day.

I read somewhere that if you get up immediately after you wake up, it'll be easier for you to get up… I'm not feeling it though..

She made her way to the bathroom and rubbed her eyes. Washing her face was a must, something to wash the sleepiness from her face. Because of this routine, her skin was clear and she was glad it was. She curled her bangs and brushed her hair, looking presentable was a must have in her life. 

Her outfit was a pair of cargo pants and a long sleeved turtle neck, with that, she got up and left her small apartment.

On her train it was the same every day, crowded with the same faces just wanting to get to their locations. Kids in school uniforms, adults in work uniforms. Normal and unchanging.

As she got off her train she started walking towards her university, studying to become a perfect baker. She was happy that she ended up there. Her university was very prestigious. Many of the world's top bakers had studied at her university and Mayumi, having almost finished the program, was ready to leave her mark on the world.

Walking closer to her school she was greeted with the sight of a man. He was shouting nonsense, insulting everyone around him. Telling everyone who walked by that the kids of this generation had nothing going for them. She walked past him, he smelt bad and wore baggy and dirty clothes. She had seen him around before and it was always the same shouting. Since it was usually just shouting, nobody batted an eye. Today was different. 

As she walked by, she heard someone scream. Turning around to find the source of the scream, she saw the man holding a knife as he crazily pointed it at people. 

He looked at Mayumi.

Mayumi froze.

She watched as his glare reached her eyes.

She watched as he took fast steps towards her.

She watched as he charged her with a knife and there was nothing she could do.

Mayumi closed her eyes.

What was she supposed to do? Mayumi Sanchez, 5'2 ft, 100 pounds, age 22, about to get killed by a mad man with a knife. If there was one thing she regretted, it would've been… everything. She didn't want to die yet but what choice did she have? 

She was still waiting for the impact.. but nothing-

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" The man screamed. Mayumi opened her eyes and saw the pink haired hero of her city, Vex, holding down this insane man. She was safe, for now. She exhaled and fell to the ground, she didn't even know she was holding her breath. She pushed up her glasses and just sat there on the ground for a moment.

She felt the ground with her hands, she wasn't dead. She just needed her heart to stop pounding. Vex approached her, bystanders were holding down the crazy man, he was relatively weak, most likely due to malnutrition. Vex bent down and looked her in her eyes, although he wore a mask, she knew it was a very comforting looking. 

"Are you alright? You must've been scared." He asked, his voice was silky and soft. Mayumi nodded. At that moment, talking felt near impossible. Vex extended his hand and Mayumi grabbed it. It was warm, the warmth contrasted her constantly cold hands.

Vex helped her stand up and Mayumi gathered her bearings.

She looked him up and down, what a cool outfit. It had a pattern like splattered paint, neon colours over a blueish grey, some parts lit up and glowed.. then she realised it was skin tight. Her face flushed red.

She walked a few feet away from the hero so he could continue his business. Once the police arrived she made her statement. Luckily she still had time before class started, always being early to school saved her in a countless amount of situations.

Quickly she made her way to class, hating all the attention.

How embarrassing.

Walking into class, everything was the usual. Today was a studying day, no baking, no mess, just a day they learn and plan about what they're going to do. 

"Hey, Mayumi!" Her friend Tala called out, she was another filipina girl. She was shorter, had shorter hair but was very friendly and loud. Mayumi smiled, loving her friend. 

What would I do without Tala. She really makes me feel absolutely relaxed, you can practically feel the sun radiating off of her.

They sat beside each other. Mayumi took out her D-tablet. She preferred to write her notes by hand whereas Tala took out her laptop as she preferred to type. 

Mayumi started to play around on her tablet, opening "Draw" and sketching desserts, her final project was coming up so she decided to use this time to the fullest.

Mayumi was focused on work when Tala nudged her pointing at someone who had just walked in. 

"Hey hey!! Have you seen that guy before?" Tala whisper shouted, Mayumi looked up and squinted her eyes. Shaking her head indicatif of 'no', but now she was curious. This semester was almost over so new students were rare and few, so Mayumi shook her head at the thought of it being a new student. He had pink hair and blue eyes, tall and wore a diamond earring.

The two girls saw him walk up to the teacher, drop off some papers and turn to walk away. Mayu watched as he paused and met eyes with Mayumi, she scowled unknowingly, he giggled and winked at her. This left her confused, mostly because this obviously meant one thing…

"Player."

She muttered under her breath.  Truthfully though, having such a handsome guy give her attention, did in fact give her butterflies. It's not that she's shallow, but anybody would falter in her situation. Tala looked at her and held in laughter. Mayumi had a weird face and Tala watched that happen. She knew what she had to do… Her lonely virgin friend was going to get some action.

♦♦♦

Mayumi sat alone in a café by the school, their classes had wrapped up for the day so the two girls had planned to finish up some homework together. 3 pm. Mayu sat  waiting for Tala who said she was going to be late. She was going to go meet up with her boyfriend first who had to drive all the way from another school, before she met up with Mayu.

She had ordered herself a tiramisu as well as a chai latte. Mayumi was a fan of these savoury lasting tastes. She happily opened her D-tablet and started to read. One of Mayumi’s interests was reading fanfictions, stories upon stories that ‘fixed’ problems she saw within the source material although this one was special. After her meeting with the hero today she decided to deepen her understanding of him… of course by reading fanfics about him. 

“Hey.”

Mayumi looked up from her D-tablet and saw the boy from her class. She tilted her head in confusion. Furrowing her brows she took her spoon out of her mouth.

“Hi..?” She responded, sitting up and covering her d-tablet. The pink haired boy smiled and sat down in front of her, all the while Mayumi gave a perplexed look. 

“A little birdie told me you’d be here.” The boy smiled, Mayumi bit her lip and instantly knew who the little birdie was.

Tala. That idiot.

Mayumi nodded and awkwardly took a sip of her chai latte. Silence engulfed the busy cafe. It seemed like nothing could cut this awkward tension. 

“Sooo~ Do you like coffee?” He asked, Mayumi nodded, looking down at her tiramisu. She had an extra spoon for Tala, who would always ask if she could have a bite only to say she didn’t like coffee and complain about it. She politely picked up the spoon and asked,

“Would you like a bite?” He nodded graciously and took the spoon, taking a bite himself and making a fake look of pleasure.

“Yes.. I er.. I LOVE coffee.”

Mayumi let out a quick huff from her nose, that was silly. Not silly enough for her to straight out laugh, in fact, this situation was way too awkward for her to feel comfortable enough to laugh. 

“So.. what’s your name?” Mayumi asked awkwardly, knowing that Tala had set them up, Mayumi decided to try to break this awkwardness.

“My name is Simon. What about yours, Cutie?” Simon smiled, Mayumi nodded to herself. Yes. A killer smile, anyone would fall head over heels as soon as they saw it. But not her! No, definitely not, she would not cave to another one of Tala’s many blind date ideas for her. Even if this guy was cute, smelt good and and.. seemed-- JUST LIKE A PLAYER! 

“Mayumi. You can call me Mayu for short.” She nodded and took another sip of her chai latte. 

"That's a cute name, what are you studying? I remember seeing you in the class I had to run some errands in." Simon asked, leaning inwards and placing his hand on his cheek, lightly resting on it.

"I'm studying to become a baker, most kids are at our school because of the prestigious reputation of our school. I worked really hard to get into our school 2 years ago, and I'm just about done with my apprenticeship and I'll be moving onto finding a job soon. " She took a bite out of her Tiramisu and lightly smiled. Yes, the taste felt oh so nice and familiar while she sat with a stranger. 

Mayu actually prided herself a lot on the fact that she made it into the school. Lots of scholarships and hard work guaranteed her success.

"Oh, I see, I'm in the school studying to become an architect, you and I are very far from each other. " He giggled, he wasn't wrong, their school was huge, multiple buildings for certain subjects. If she was in the culinary side of the school then he was all the way in the other side of the school in the more technical and constructive side. 

"Architect.. My auntie used to say that it was a good job. How long have you been studying?" She asked, leaning back in her chair and brushing a piece of her black hair out of her face.

"I've been studying for a year, I just graduated highschool and I'm 19 now." He responded, Mayu sat up in her chair and looked at him. 

'19?! He's 19?! I'm 22, why is he so tall, and flirty..? Please..'

"You're 19!? You're still a baby!" Mayu exclaimed, looking at Simon with wide eyes. Simon giggled once more.

"I'm still an adult, Mayu, wanna see?" He winked.

Mayu's face went beet red but right before she could respond in rejection, Simon's phone began to ring. He looked at it and got up.

"I'll be right back, give me like 10 minutes max," he blew her a kiss and ran out of the café. Mayumi was left sitting there alone with a bright red face. She internally groaned and screamed and then got up, went to the cashier, ordered a strawberry parfait and placed it down in front of her. He was going to come back, so… she may as well have ordered something for him. 

Mayu opened her D-tablet and started scrolling through her fanfic again, finishing up her Tiramisu and chai latte which had already gone lukewarm. She continued to read, herself and her tablet became the only two in this crowded café. Maybe she shouldn't have been reading the explicit content that she was reading in public.

"Oh wow.. that's- that's a very interesting scene…"

Mayu jumped and quickly pulled her screen closer to her. Her beet red face turned to look at the owner of the voice. He did come back! All this time she thought he was going to leave her alone.. 

She looked him in the eyes with a bit of struggle and saw him with a flushed, intrigued expression. She quickly ducked her head and pointed towards the parfait.

"For you!" Was all she could mutter as she quickly put away her D-tablet. 

"I mean if that's what you're into," he grinned mischievously, teasing her while She fidgeted. It wasn't like she was stimulated by the book, it was just entertainment for it. That's it. Just entertainment. She watched as he took a bite of the parfait, Mayu saw his eyes light up, his clear baby blue eyes twinkled, reflecting like crystals. That's how she knew it was the right call.

"Your reaction to that parfait is so childish, it's cute." She teased back, leaning forward and resting her chin on her hand. Simon pouted.

"No no, I'm not cute! I'm handsome." He retorted, continuing to eat his parfait with a huff. His reaction made her think maybe his flirtatious exterior actually hid a cute side.. she wouldn't mind exploiting that.

They spoke for a while, mostly about nothing. Their classes, their careers, their aspirations. It was refreshing to Mayumi, even though she shut him down every time he flirted, she thought he was funny.

Mayu checked her phone for the time, 6 pm… it had already gotten that late? She stood up.

"I'm sorry, it's really late and I need to get home to my cat. I had a great time, I'll see you around." Mayumi grabbed her back but before she could leave, Simon sat up and pulled out his phone.

"Could I have your Mine ID?" He asked, Mayumi's face softened as she pulled out her ID QR code.

Mine was a mobile texting service that was very popular. Most loved its ability to customise, Mayumi didn't have many people on Mine and she liked Simon so she was okay with sharing her ID.

"See you around!" She shouted as she left. Simon stood there waving back.