Catch Me

The Second-Best Day

"I brought you a coffee!"

The door slammed shut as Kaminari called out to him. His roommate had a brutal, two-hour linear algebra lecture at 8 AM on Thursdays that he never failed to complain about. That's what you get for leaving course selection to the last possible minute, Shinsou guesses. Unlike Kaminari, the 8 AM lecture is Shinsou's favourite of Kaminari's classes. It means he gets to wake up to a quiet apartment and a cup of coffee from the cafe in the basement of the small art gallery next to campus. The boys had wound up in the gallery only a week and a half after the start of their first year while desperately searching for an anniversary gift for Kaminari's parents. They discovered the little shop while there. The coffee was inexpensive and the lines were never long. It quickly became their regular spot.

For some reason Shinsou couldn't understand, Kaminari had made it his personal mission to find all the menu items Shinsou actually liked. If it was up to him, he would stick with his regular black coffee, maybe with a splash of cream on occasion, but Kaminari wouldn't hear of it. He was determined to make Shinsou try all sorts of sugary lattes and drinks that could barely be counted as coffee. Shinsou didn't know exactly what his goal was, honestly.

It had started off alright because the menu wasn't too extensive and they would be able to get through the full menu in a matter of 2 and a half months. That was, until the regular barista, Jirou, caught on. She regularly came up with new drink ideas for Shinsou to try, joining in on Kaminari's expand-Shinsou's-coffee-taste mission.

As much as he complained and rolled his eyes, he loved Kaminari's laugh when his face crinkled up in disgust at Jirou's latest coffee creation or his pleased smile when Shinsou admitted that the drink of the week wasn't terrible.

Kaminari set the drink down next to Shinsou on their kitchen table.

"Here you go! Are you working on that research paper still? How's it going?"

"Thanks. Yeah, I'm still working on it, almost done though. What revolting drink have you brought me today?"

Kaminari laughed, bright and exuberant as always.

God, I love his laugh.

"I actually think you'll like this one!"

"You always say that, and I rarely do."

"Come on, just try it!" Kaminari urged.

Shinsou gave an exaggerated sigh and took a sip. He blinked in surprise at the taste. It was cold, an iced coffee, Shinsou guessed, and it wasn't too sweet. It definitely had some kind of cream or milk and there was another flavour there, something floral he couldn't identify.

"Hm, it's actually not terrible."

"Well, that's high praise coming from you!"

Shinsou glared at Kaminari and continued, "It's similar to that vanilla sweet cream cold brew you like, but not so sweet and a little lighter. I don't think it's cream, maybe regular milk. And there's a floral undertone."

Denki nodded encouragingly. This was a little game they always ended up playing, Shinsou would try to get as close as possible to identifying the drink.

"I'm going to guess a cold brew with some kind of floral flavoured milk? I'm not super sure about this one."

Kaminari was practically bouncing with excitement.

"Close, super close! So you're right that it's a cold brew with milk, but it's almond milk, not regular milk! I'm impressed you picked up on the floral notes! Jirou made a special lavender simple syrup and added a little. I thought it was a weird combination, but it kinda works, right? So what's the consensus? How do you feel about this one?"