Chapter 3: Kanna

Kanna was confused, for a moment it looked like the waiter was going to deliver their coffee but did a complete one-eighty and ran away to the back corner table. Kanna felt like she might have had something to do with that, but brushed it off, trying not to be self critical of herself. She was here to relax after all, and she had planned to do as such. Sunlight was streaming in the cafe with warm light as the door to the cafe rung with every customer going in and out. The air was still cool inside, but not at the same nipping cold that she felt outside. And the company that she currently sat with made her the happiest woman in Tokyo, despite missing one of her friends, she was content, even if it was for just a moment.

“So, Kanna, you said you had a confession to make?” Asked Ayako across from her. Ayako was, for lack of a better term, the former leader of the Hanabi Buso, Hanabi Phoenix. She once wielded the Sun Wand, and was Kanna's first real friend when she and her family moved to Tokyo. Ayako’s shoulder length hair was tied into a ponytail, and she wore the most casual of clothes. A pink zip up hoodie open to show off an old Tokyo University T-shirt. The colors didn’t match, and that easy going nature just made Kanna just much happier to see her senpai again. “We’re only to get more curious the longer you make us wait,” Ayako said, playing with a napkin while she and her other two friends waited.

“Don’t laugh,” she said, quietly. “I…” She paused again, twiddling her fingers together before saying it. Because to Kanna, saying this was far harder than fighting a monster or saving people. And if she had a choice, she’d rather be fighting a Kaiju or something. But silence was killing her, and so she gave in. “I want a boyfriend.”

Then all at once, Ayako and the other two covered their mouths with each other’s hands and squealed as softly as possible. Kanna’s face felt hot as she knew confiding even in them, her best friends, was going to be a tad embarrassing. “But don’t you dare tell Trimy about this,” Kanna glared at the three, who all zipped their lips in unison.

“Oh, Kanna, I’m so proud of you!” Said Hana, the peppy cheerful one, hugging Kanna a little too tightly, sitting next to each other.

Proud of what? Kanna thought, patting Hana on the arm as they swayed back and forth. Hana was the former owner of the Rocket Wings, as Hanabi Rocket. And even now is still one of the most cheerful people Kanna knew. She wore the same university t-shirt that Ayako wore, and was also one of her senpai. But she made it work, being a bit more boxem than Ayako and in bright orange yoga pants, she looked like she was dressed for summer, with blonde dyed and pig tailed long hair, despite it being the middle of February.

And just across from Hana was Sakura, formerly Hanabi Candle, and master of the Candle Cannon. The tallest of them, and probably the only one besides Kanna herself, dressed for the weather. Sporting a red jersey and track pants, Sakura leaned over the table and pried Hana off of Kanna.

“Alright, break it up, let the girl breathe,” Sakura said, her long dark brown hair was in a ponytail, and rested over her shoulder as she sat back down. “Thanks for using my cannon, by the way,” Sakura said, her hand covering her mouth from Ayako.

“Yeah!” Hana exclaimed. “I love, love, love, seeing my rocket wings making you move faster!”

“Well isn’t that fun,” Ayako pouted, folding her arms and turning away from Kanna. “I sure wish you would use my armament some time.”

But Kanna just smiled along with the joke.

“If your armament wasn’t so powerful I would, Ayako-Senpai,” Kanna said, putting her hands together and mocking an apology. “Next time I’ll ask Squid Lord for consent before I use it.” Ayako smiled a bit and turned back to the table.

“Alright, I’ll forgive you, but in all actuality, please don’t use the Sun Wand. I know you’ve used it before, but still, only as a last resort kind of thing,” Ayako explained, and gestured to wave the thought out of Kanna’s mind. “But boyfriends, huh?” Ayako continued.

“Well, she is at that age,” Hana said, teasing Kanna.

“We’ve all been at that age,” Sakura corrected. “For at least ten years.”

“Now Sakura, these things take time, and we can’t expect Kanna to find a significant other without careful consideration.” Ayako added.

“You're acting like she’s trying to get married,” Sakura rebutled.

“But that’s what dating is!” Hana interrupted. “Its all about experiencing new things, discovering who you really are!”

“But I already know who I am,” Kanna interjected. “I’m a twenty-eight year old woman, ready for my next step in life. I just wanted some solid advice from you.” Kanna’s friends smiled at that, and felt her sincerity.

“Aww, Kanna, I’m really happy that you’re taking the idea of retiring so seriously, but…” Ayako went silent, as did Hana and Sakura as they avoided Kanna’s eye contact. It was such a surprise to Kanna that she felt like she had said something wrong.

What is with people today? Kanna thought. First the waiter, and now them? Am I scary or something? Her self criticalness was back again, and worried that she had forgotten how to smile. She pulled out her phone to check. But Ayako lifted her hand to calm her.

“Kanna, you’re fine,” Ayako said, reading her thoughts. “It's not you, it's us. You see, we…”

“We don’t have boyfriends either…” Sakura finished Ayako’s sentence. But the acknowledgement alone made Kanna regret asking, and their table got deathly quiet. Then, coincidentally, the waiter finally returned to them, causing Kanna’s friends to shrink, red faced and unmoving.

“Your order, I’m also here to take your coffee,” the waiter said, then there was a pause. The silence had been broken, and instead of having the embarrassment stay with the table, the waiter accidentally spared them of it, and the four turned to him, staring, and holding back grins of pity. The waiter had said it so slowly that Kanna understood what he meant and couldn’t help but smile at the mix up. “I- I meant to say that-”

“That you’d like to take my order? And you have my friend’s coffee?” Kanna corrected him, to which he laughed along with the girls, nervously.

“Right! Right… I uhh,” The waiter looked at his tray and saw that something was amiss. The others were now calm enough to accept their drinks only just before he stepped back, withholding them. “I’m going to get you fresh coffee,” he said abruptly and ran away again. Kanna watched him walk back to the counter where the barista was waiting for him with hot coffee to take.

“Well, well, well…” Sakura said, watching Kanna’s attention follow the waiter and gave her a smug little smile along with the rest of her friends, who simply said nothing in regard to the waiter.

“What?” Kanna asked.

“He seems cute,” Hana commented. And all of a sudden, Kanna got a severe case of Dejavu.

“Oh no, not you too,” Kanna said, remembering Trimy pointing out possible suitors for her in the exact same way and hid her face before the waiter returned.

“Ask him out,” Sakura whispered in her ear before Kanna shooed her away. Kanna looked behind her at the waiter, walking back to them with haste and slid the coffee onto the table without spilling a single drop. He then flipped out a notepad from his apron and was ready to take Kanna’s order. She felt like she was caught off guard and picked up the menu before stopping herself, feeling her friend's eyes on her as the waiter continued to stand there.

Clearing her throat, she set down the menu and turned to the waiter, taking note of his name tag. Tsukishima Goro. “What would you recommend, Tsukishima-San?” She asked. The waiter was taken aback, he blinked twice before looking at the ceiling for an answer. Finally when he made eye contact with her again, he too cleared his throat and put his notepad away.

“Are you lactose intolerant?” He asked cautiously.

“Nope,” she answered with a smile.

“Then, would you like a hot chocolate? It is one of our specialties, and it’s a perfect drink for a cold day.”

“That sounds wonderful,” she said, handing him the menu.

“I’ll be right back with that!” He said, turning right around and stepping behind the counter to make it himself. Kanna turned back to her friends and warned them, with no emotion on her face, that she didn’t want to be teased. But they smiled back nonetheless, all at the same time saying everything that she didn’t want to hear in their heart of hearts. Kanna tried desperately to suppress the urge to blush and ended up glaring at the waiter as he returned.

“Your hot chocolate,” Tsukishima presented it to her. Still flushed from Sakura’s suggestion to ask him out, she sipped her drink without thought and burned her own tongue.

“Careful,” Tsukishima warned all too late. “It’s very hot.”

“It’s okay,” Kanna lied. “I’m fine, just a little…” Kanna took her last few words into account and said them as more of an experiment than with any sincerity and whispered. “I was just distracted, that's all.” Her ears felt as though they were burning and blew loudly on her hot cocoa before taking another sip and another glance at her friends.

Kanna choked on chocolate flavored water as she watched Ayako, Sakura and Hana each give Tsukishima a death stare, gulping down their coffee without care for their throats.

“I want a Goma Goma Goma!” Ayako said after a short burp.

“Purin à la Mode for me!” Sakura shouted.

“A Crispy Sweet Potato, American Pie and a Sunday, Please!” Hana listed off. The orders were said so fast that they must have been memorized. And before Kanna had noticed, Tsukishima had already jotted down the items from the menu and nodded with confidence and sweat.

“Right away!” He said, dashing back to the counter with his list for the kitchen.

“What is your problem?” Kanna asked her table. “First you pressure me to ask him out, and now you’re trying to scare him off?” Kanna felt more mad then confused, and the longer she glared at them, the more telling their behavior became.

“There’s nothing wrong with being overprotective,” Sakura stated, folding her arms and watching the waiter closely.

“But why? He seems… Decent?” Kanna found herself saying, but Hana and Sakura just shook their heads.

“Upon further inspection, we, your best friends, find the waiter not good enough!” Hana announced, a little too loudly. Kanna looked to the front counter and didn’t see the waiter just yet. She then scanned the rest of the cafe reluctantly and spotted some delinquent looking men in the back corner scowling in their direction. The big blonde one in the leather jacket stood up for a moment before the other three with him pulled him back down to the seat. Kanna then watched her friends notice the group and scoffed and purposefully ignored them. This time the tacky dressed one stood up before the others anchored him just like the other.

“Knock it off!” She told them. “You’re going to cause a scene.”

“We’re not the ones looking for a fight,” Ayako said.

“Yeah, yeah!” Sakura and Hana agreed.

“Anyone who’s friends with a few punks like them can’t be good news,” Hana elaborated. “Plus, one of them has terrible fashion sense.”

“Excuse me,” said a man, his hand slamming on their table. All four of them jumped and leaned further against the window as the one in the suit was now standing in front of them. Neither of them had noticed his approach, and Ayako, Hana, and Sakura were already bearing their teeth at him. “I don’t care what you say about me or my pals over there,” he gestured back at the others, who seemed to be getting up from the ground, one of them holding the scaffing that this one was wearing before.

“But I’ll have you know my man Goro is a swell guy!” He said, directing this information straight to Kanna. “First, he may be a bit of a weirdo, but he’s the best guy I know, and I don’t say that lightly. And Second, he-” The four girls heard a resounding snap as the waiter gripped his hand on the well dressed fellow’s shoulder. The man suppressed a scream expertly and turned to Tsukishima with clenched teeth.

“Denki, do you mind?” Tsukishima asked. “You’re bothering the customers.”

The man named Denki stepped back and bowed to Kanna. “Sorry,” he said, walking to the back corner table, where the barista from earlier was ready with a pack of ice for his shoulder.

“Here you are,” Tsukishima said, presenting the table with each of their orders. “One crispy sweet potato, a slice of american pie, and a sunday for you,” Tsukishima slid the dishes over the Hana, setting down a set of silverware along with it. “One purin à la mode for you,” he said, setting in front of Sakura. “And one Goma Goma Goma, for you,” he finished handing the last drink to Ayako. All of them were surprised that he had got them all everything in such a short time, and then he set in front of Kanna a freshly baked muffin powdered with sugar.

“Sorry for my friend’s disturbance,” Tsukishima omitted, bowing to her and everyone at her table. “I’ll make sure to talk to him later.”

“Wait, no, that's-” Kanna started, but the waiter was already walking back to the counter. Ayako, Sakura and Hana all felt a bit guilty for acting up, especially since they seemed to be enjoying their orders. But Kanna felt unsatisfied. Standing up and taking her muffin with her, Kanna matched over the counter after him.

“Hey!” She called out. Tsukishima jumped and turned around.

“Yes?” He said, standing up straight.

“Thank you for earlier,” she said, setting the muffin down at the counter. “Friends can be a bit overprotective, huh?” She said, trying to make conversation, and thankfully, that clicked with Tsukishima.

“Yeah,” he began. “Those four can look a bit rowdy, but they're a bunch of good eggs deep down.”

“Good eggs?” Kanna giggled at that a bit, and that seemed to calm his nerves.

“You’re friends seem pretty nice as well,” Tsukishima commented.

“Oh yeah,” Kanna agreed. “But our little group has always been a bunch of workaholics, so socializing has never really been our strong suit.” Kanna felt like that was a bit of a sad subject, but at least to her it felt like telling the truth. Without flat out saying that they had been saving the world from monsters and evil organizations.

“I know what you mean,” Tsukishima said, making Kanna a little curious. “We used to be a pretty busy bunch ourselves, but now I feel like it's just me who’s working double time.”

“I get that!” Kanna exclaimed. “I’ve been trying my best at this second job of mine for years, and it just never feels like it gets me anywhere.”

“Really?” Tsukishima said. “What’s the job?”

Kanna went silent for a bit, buying some time by taking a big bite of her muffin.

Stopping tsunamis, smashing meteors, slaying monsters… All these things she thought might have been funny to just say, but still went with a safer option.

“I do environmental work, like trash pick up and pest control.”

“For real?” Tsukishima asked, looking Kanna up and down and doubting her.

“Today’s my day off!” she explained. “I have a uniform I wear just for that I specifically wear for that job.” She made it seem like he insulted her, rousing a panic from him before she smiled and laughed at her own joke. Tsukishima looked a lot more happy than he did when she first came in, a lot less nervous and more comfortable. For a while they just enjoyed the silence and listened to conversations in the cafe.

However, Kanna felt her heart sink when she heard a couple whispering sweet nothings to each other at the table behind her. She didn’t have to look to know how they were blatantly acting in public, which always made her peeved to some extent. She looked up and saw how uncomfortable Tsukishima must be feeling, having to face that direction without a choice.

“Not a fan of Valintines either?” She asked, to which he nodded with closed eyes. The silence between them got awkward all of a sudden, so Kanna changed the subject. “How long have you worked at the cafe?” She asked.

“Five years,” he said.

Wow… Kanna thought. “I’m surprised we’ve never met before.”

“Not really,” Tsukishima explained. “Like you, I’ve got my own job that keeps me busy.”

“Like?”

“Umm… Mostly demolition work, like tearing down old buildings.”

“Really?” Kanna asked. “So you do construction work?”

“Not exactly,” he said. “But it is something I take pretty seriously.”

They both shared another moment of agreement before the silence came back again. Kanna finished the last of her muffin and stood up from the counter.

“Could I have another hot-cocoa for the road?” Kanna asked. And Tsukishima obliged, mixing the powder right in front of her and putting in a nice portable sipping cup. As he handed it to her, Kanna felt like there should be more to say, but couldn’t think of anything. Taking the cup, Kanna looked back to her friends and started walking over to join them, but felt a slight tap on her shoulder. It was Tsukishima, leaning over the counter to get her attention.

“There’s a festival this weekend, over by the Sumida river. Uhh… Would you like to go with me?” He asked. If Kanna was being honest, she wasn’t expecting him to really ask her anything. And for once, she felt as though it was a golden opportunity. And maybe a change of pace would be good for her.

“I’d love to,” she said. “Can I meet you there?”

“Yes, I’ll meet you by the bridge next to the train station. I’m Tsukishima Goro, by the way.”

“Momo Kanna,” she said. “Do you mind if I call you Goro-San? Tsukishima’s a bit of a mouthful.”

“Sure,” he said. “I’ll see you there, Momo-San.”

“Please, just Kanna is fine. I let all my friends call me Kanna.” There was sudden realization in Goro’s eyes as she told him that and he crocked before shaking out of his stupor of thought.

“Friends… Right.” Goro said reluctantly, but waved her goodbye without showing the slightest bit of disappointment. Waiting for Kanna to turn around before slumping over, Goro walked back into the kitchen, his head down.

I just made my first male friend! Kanna thought, sitting back down with the others, taking a small sip from her drink.

“So, you got yourself a date?” Sakura asked after a moment. And Kanna almost burned her tongue again.

“Date?” She asked.

“Yeah, right?” Sakura said, glancing at the others.

“He did just ask you out on a date, didn’t he?” Ayako asked for clarification. And thinking back on it, and the way he asked, Kanna now realized his invitation to the festival was meant as a date. Shrinking into her seat, Kanna hid her face again as she muttered.

“I called him a friend…”