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Chapter Two
▏CAFFEINE▕

꧁꧂

☾ STAGE FOUR ☾

"I am so sorry."

Hakuji's teary, light blue eyes was looking down at the sickly form of his lover as he desperately apologized to her.

Her body itself was too weak to even move closer to him, and the touch of her forehead was burning hot against the back of his hand. She was sweating profusely, yet she felt freezing cold.

The way he apologized to her sounded so broken and rasped out as a whisper, for there was nothing he could do to diminish her worsening fever. Hakuji had never felt so helpless in his life.

(L/N) (Y/N), the girl he was in love with, and the girl he planned to marry, was going to die here.

As his own warm tears fell atop her burning skin, she attempted to lift a staggering, shaking hand up towards his cheek, where the pad of her thumb weakly swiped at his flowing tears.

She smiled—or at least she attempted to smile—lovingly up at him, still providing him with warmth despite her ill-stricken state.

Hakuji knew that her little gesture was a silent way to tell him that she already forgave whatever he was apologizing to her before.

In fact, she had no clue what he was saying sorry for. In her eyes, he had done nothing wrong. He was the perfect, loving fiancé, and she was sure with herself that she could not ask for anyone better.

But in his eyes, he did everything wrong, and he was at fault. Had it not been for his powerless attempts to help her, she would not be dying. He was useless, and he could not save the only one he had left to adore.

"I love you," she mumbled quietly to him.

He could not see her though the water constantly flowing from his eyes. But through his wrecked sobs and harsh inhales of breaths, he heard her, and he only cried harder because of it.

"Please do not waste your willpower," he told her as gently as he could, which was almost impossible through his current lack of control and stability within himself. He held her, encouraging her to close her eyes. "Get some rest, my love."

She looked like she was about to protest as she opened her mouth to speak, but she ultimately could not, as she was just too weak to do so.

Placing a light kiss on her forehead, Hakuji stayed by her side the entire night, his tears for her never halting.

꧁꧂

"Order Number Fifty-Two!"

(Y/N)'s voice rang through the calm atmosphere of mostly-empty coffee shop.

There were only a few other people inside of the little shop, who were all students. Some were charging their devices, one was typing away at his laptop, and two were at a table near the window discussing a school project over coffee and tea.

Order Number Fifty-Two, also known as the young Kamado Tanjirou, a regular customer, was the only person standing as he waited for his green iced tea with boba. He was the final person queued at the moment, and so he made his way to the counter.

"Here you go, Kamado-kun," (Y/N) motioned, patting the plastic seal right atop the large cup on the marble countertop.

Picking up his drink along with the boba straw right next to it, Tanjirou expressed, "Thank you, (L/N)-san!" He then made his way towards the exit before calling, "And tell Kochou-san I said hello!"

"Will do!" (Y/N) assured with a smile.

That young Kamado was a weird on in (Y/N)'s eyes. He seemed incredibly familiar in some weird way, almost like he was connected to that dream she had a few years ago.

Unbeknownst to her, he was definitely connected to what she saw.

The only three Demon Slayers (Y/N) had saw in her dream were Rengoku Kyoujurou (because he fought Akaza on the train), Tomioka Giyuu, and Kamado Tanjirou (because they both fought Akaza in the Infinity Fortress).

But despite this, (Y/N) could barely recognize Tanjirou, for she wasn't too focused on him back during the fight. And in retrospect, Tanjirou had no idea who she was, either, as she only appeared in the end to Akaza before he died.

"No more customers for now?" Kochou Shinobu, her only coworker up front at this hour, questioned her.

"Nope," (Y/N) confirmed. "Kamado-kun was the last one—he says hello, by the way."

Shinobu let out a small laugh at the delivered message, replying, "That boy is always excited."

(Y/N) just nodded, but in her opinion, her coworker had said that statement as if she knew Tanjirou for a long time. She thought this was impossible, however, because according to her knowledge, the two only met and knew each other via this coffee shop.

"I think I'll take my break now, since Kanroji-san should be arriving soon," (Y/N) declared, eyes darting towards the ticking, antique-looking clock hanging high on one of the shop's walls. The exact time she was waiting for was nearing. "I'm meeting someone today," she informed.

It's almost time for my mysterious number neighbor to arrive, she inwardly recognized.

"Oh, like a date?" Shinobu lightly teased. "Well, then have fun! Lord knows you are in desperate need of a date," she joked.

"It's not a date," (Y/N) corrected with a playful roll of her eyes.

Then, the ring of the little bell atop the front door—which signalized whenever someone opened it—pulled her focus away from the clock.

"I guess I'll take my break after this one customer," (Y/N) sheepishly added, to which Shinobu giggled at. The latter already made her way deeper into the counter to begin preparing for this lone customer's drink.

"Welcome!" (Y/N) greeted with a smile.

The young man that walked in was a fairly tall one. He wore pretty comfortable clothing—jeans, a fitted white t-shirt, and a large teal jacket with a white stripe. This man didn't look like the usual customer at this coffee shop, though, but it's not like anyone judged.

But the moment he stepped up to the counter to order, he completely froze in pure shock.

When (Y/N) looked up at him, (E/C) met those familiar, light blue.

"(Y/N)," breathed out in disbelief.

The girl would've done a double take at the mentioning of her name from this stranger, had her mouth not moved on its own instinct.

"Hakuji."

His name slipped out of her lips before she could even register it.

But his eyes lit up the moment she mumbled his name, meaning it indubitably belonged to him. (Y/N) had to search the contents of her brain to even comprehend how something like that was real.

The young man's name, face, and voice matched every little sensory detail she so vividly remembered in her dream that one night years ago on her birthday. There was no doubt that this was the same man.

But how was that even possible?

Hakuji's facial features suddenly broke out into the biggest, most heartwarming smile he had ever put out in both of his lives. His past love had recognized him in the modern era, and he could not help but feel incredibly elated.

On his end, he was more than joyous to finally locate the face of his former lover after years of constant searching.

It had been awhile since he got back his own memories, and (Y/N) was the only one he had yet to meet up with until now. And, she was the one he was more desperate to see.

"So, you're my number neighbor?" Hakuji gasped out in breathless disbelief, his hands moving down to plant themselves on the countertop to support himself as he excitedly leaned forward.

Surely, it was indubitable in the girl's eyes. The voice of the man before him truly matched the voice she heard on the phone. There was absolutely no mistaking the congruency.

"I guess so," she breathed out, her evident reluctance and confusion not matching Hakuji's excited tone.

Truly, how was she expected to just accept all of this information, after she denied it as a mere dream for a few years now? It was more than difficult to just come into terms with the idea of dying from an incurable sickness, and being held in the arms of this same man in her past life.

But now, with him standing right in front of her, it was practically impossible for her to even try to deny.

Quickly shaking her head to rid of her swarming thoughts, (Y/N) changed the topic and played the role she adopted in her job, asking him, "What can I get for you?"

With starry eyes, Hakuji quickly shifted to follow along with her change of topic, and ordered his coffee.

(Y/N) knew that right after she took his order, she was going on her break to spend time with him here, just like the planned to do over the phone the previous day. Only then, would she finally get the long-awaited answers she denied for years now.

Yet, she could not help but feel familiar love for the young man in front of her, even if they had just met through this one, fated coffee order.

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WARM
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