# CHAPTER 2: Pattern Recognition

Thursday arrived with rain and an unusual morning crowd. Sakura barely had time to breathe between orders, let alone watch for Tamotsu's arrival. It wasn't until Jenny elbowed her that she noticed him in his usual booth, newspaper open, black coffee steaming.

How long had he been there?

"Your project is here," Jenny whispered.

"He's not a project. He's a person who needs a friend."

"Those are the same thing to you."

Maybe. Sakura had always been drawn to people who seemed lonely. Growing up military meant constant moves, constant goodbyes, constant starting over. She'd learned early that sometimes you had to be aggressively friendly to make connections before the next PCS orders came through.

Of course, she wasn't military anymore, and this city was supposed to be permanent, but old habits died hard.

She made Tamotsu a cappuccino—still coffee, but with a little flair—and grabbed a cranberry scone. As she approached, she noticed he had a laptop out today instead of just the newspaper. The screen showed what looked like building schematics.

Weird.

"Good morning!" She set down the cappuccino and scone with significantly less sloshing than Tuesday. Progress. "I brought you something different today. The scones are Jenny's specialty, and I thought—"

"I thought I made myself clear." Tamotsu didn't look up from his laptop. "I'm not interested in friendship."

"Right, you mentioned that. But I also noticed you ate the muffin."

His fingers paused on the keyboard. "It would have been wasteful not to."

"And you came back."

"I come here for the coffee, not the conversation."

"The coffee's actually pretty mediocre," Sakura said cheerfully. "Corporate blend, nothing special. You're totally coming back for the conversation potential."

That made him look up. His gray eyes fixed on her with an intensity that might have been intimidating if she wasn't so determined. "The coffee is adequate. You are persistent to the point of annoyance. And I have work to do."

"What kind of work?" She leaned slightly, trying to see his screen.

His hand moved subtly, angling the laptop away. "Private work."

"Ooh, mysterious. Are you a spy?"

"No."

"Assassin?"

"No."

"International jewel thief?"

"Do I look like—" He stopped, seeming to realize she was messing with him. "No."

Sakura grinned. "So you're something interesting though, right? Normal people don't have building schematics on their laptops at coffee shops."

"Normal people don't interrogate strangers."

"We're not strangers. We're friends who don't know each other well yet."

"We're not friends."

"Not with that attitude." She pulled out the chair across from him and sat down before he could protest.

His expression darkened. "What are you doing?"

"My break started thirty seconds ago. Fifteen minutes of freedom." She propped her chin on her hands. "So, Tamotsu. Tell me about yourself."

"No."

"Come on, basics. Where are you from?"

"Away."

"What do you do for work?"

"Private security consulting."

Oh, that actually made sense. The scars, the build, the way he sat with his back to the wall and eyes on the door. Sakura felt a little thrill of excitement—she'd been learning self-defense and martial arts for years, ever since her dad started teaching her as a kid.

"That's so cool! What kind of security? Like bodyguard stuff?"

"Sometimes."

"Have you ever had to actually fight someone?"

His eyes narrowed slightly. "Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious. I do martial arts. Taekwondo and Muay Thai mainly. Well, I'm not an expert or anything, but I can hold my own. My dad's military, so he was really into making sure I could defend myself, and I kind of got obsessed with it, and—" She realized she was rambling again. "Sorry. I talk a lot when I'm nervous."

"Why are you nervous?"

Good question. Why was she nervous? "I guess because you're kind of intimidating? In like, a cool mysterious way, not a scary way. Although maybe a little scary. But mostly cool."

Was that the tiniest hint of amusement in his eyes? It was gone too fast to tell.

"Your break is over," he said.

Sakura checked her phone. "I have seven minutes left."

"I'm asking you to leave anyway."

"But we were just starting to bond!"

"We weren't."

"You told me about your job. That's bonding."

"That's barely information."

"It's more than Tuesday." She stood up, recognizing a small victory when she saw one. "Progress! Same time next week?"

"Please don't."

"See you Tuesday, Tamotsu!" She grabbed his empty coffee cup—he hadn't touched the cappuccino—and headed back to the counter, where Jenny was handling a complicated order.

As Sakura helped with the rush, she snuck glances at the corner booth. Tamotsu was back to his laptop, but she could swear she saw him take a sip of the cappuccino.

Two hours later, the morning crowd had thinned, and Sakura was restocking the pastry case when Jenny grabbed her arm.

"Don't look now, but your friend is leaving."

Sakura looked. Obviously.

Tamotsu was standing, laptop bag over his shoulder, and—her heart did a little flip—he was bringing his empty dishes to the counter instead of leaving them on the table like most customers.

"Thanks," he said, setting the cup and plate down.

"You ate the scone!" Sakura couldn't hide her delight.

"It was adequate."

"Jenny, he said your scone was adequate. That's basically a five-star review from him."

Jenny rolled her eyes but smiled. "Glad you enjoyed it, sir."

Tamotsu looked uncomfortable with the attention. He turned to leave, then paused. Without looking at Sakura, he said, "The cappuccino was better than the black coffee."

Then he was gone, slipping out into the rain before Sakura could respond.

She stood there, stunned, until Jenny started laughing.

"What?" Sakura demanded.

"You're blushing."

"I am not!"

"You totally are. Oh my god, do you have a crush on the grumpy security guy?"

"No! I just—he's my friend project, that's all."

"Uh-huh."

But as Sakura watched Tamotsu disappear down the street, she had to admit—if only to herself—that her interest in befriending him might be slightly more complicated than usual.

Just slightly.

---