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I felt a sudden stinging sensation on my cheek, followed by the sound of a sharp slap echoing through the room. My eyes widened in surprise as I stumbled backward, my hand reflexively reaching up to touch the spot where I had been struck.

"What the hell was that for?" I exclaimed, turning to face the source of the unexpected blow.

Standing in front of me was naturally Akibara-san, who had circled around the counter just to hit me in the face. Her face was flushed with anger, her eyes flashing with intensity.

"I can't believe you!" she spat, her voice trembling with emotion. "You seriously have some nerve to ask me that question after abandoning me for over a year!"

I felt a pang of guilt and regret wash over me. It was true that I had been distant and uncommunicative with her in the past, I must have hurt her greatly.

"I mean, you didn't even know what my name was even though I followed you for four years. On top of that, you acted like I was some sort of nuisance most of the time during that!" Akibara-san continued to rant while pacing back and forth in front of me with each word coming out of her mouth, adding some sort of weight on my shoulders, causing them to slump.

"Even this past day, you weren't even trying to form some sort of relationship with me. Heck, I don't even think you would have looked at me if I didn't make the first move!"

"I'm sorry," I said, my voice softening as I tried to defuse the tension. "I know I messed up, and I should have at least tried to get to know you more. But can we talk about this like adults?"

Before I could say anything else, she stepped forward and slapped me again, this time with even more force. I stumbled backward once again, feeling a surge of anger and frustration welling up inside me.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I shouted, my voice rising in anger. "You can't just go around hitting people!"

"What the hell is wrong with me?" She yelled back at me while pointing at herself, "What the hell is wrong with you!? I'm not some sort of tool or pet that you can just pick up because it's convenient for you."

"I know what I did was wrong, but you can't just randomly resort to physical violence"

"And you can't just ignore me!"

Even though I argued back, I knew that my own actions had contributed to the breakdown in our relationship. As a detective, I was prepared to take risks and bend the rules a little to get results, but I had let that mentality spill over into my personal life.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself down and focus on the present moment. My friend was still standing in front of me, her eyes blazing with a mixture of anger and hurt.

"I'm sorry," I said again, my voice low and sincere. "I know I messed up, and I want to make it right. Can we start over from the beginning and fix our relationship?"

I could feel my breath get caught between my throat as I waited for her answer. She still had her arms crossed in front of her chest, and her body was shaking from her outburst.

Her dark red eyes stared deep into my sould as her thin eyebrows were knitted together like she was trying to figure out what my intentions were.

"How can I trust your words..." She mumbled in a much calmer tone while loosening up her guard and averting her gaze.

I took a deep breath, trying to find the words to express what I was feeling.

"I want to try and make things right," I said, my voice shaking slightly. "I want to start over and really get to know you. I know it won't be easy, and I know I have a lot of work to do to earn your trust. But I'm willing to try, if you are."

She looked at me for a long moment, her eyes searching mine. Then, slowly, she nodded.

"Okay," she whispered while leaning forward slightly and offered me a rather bashful smile. "I hope you're willing to be honest with me, even when it's hard"

I naturally nodded and saluted out of instinct, "O-Of course!" I shouted enthusiastically as I was about to be one step closer to finishing this case.

"B-But first things first," Akibara-san mumbled bashfully while tugging on the sleeves of my coat."Can we spend the entire afternoon getting to know each other first?"

Ah, that was perfectly normal. If we were to act like a couple, then we had to know each other to a deeper level.

"You're gonna be my first boyfriend and all, but I don't really know that much about you, so I want to know as much as I need before I can give you my answer."

Eh?

Wait, this is a complete misunderstanding, but she really LIKES me? Like, like like me to actually give dating me a thought?

What do I even do in this situation? Do I correct her? Would that be the smart choice here? How could this have even happened?

"R-Raku-kun? Are you okay?" Akibara-san asked in a worried tone and waved a hand in front of my face.

Crap.

That was a very low blow. Calling me immediately by my first name is definitely a cheat code that girls like her have

I don't really need to correct her, do I? This is part of the process in solving the case, and dating for real will make things much easier for my investigation and my real life.

Yes, this is for my work.

"Nothing, Akibara-san " I shook my head and toned down the fuzzy feeling I felt when her name escaped my lips.

"Well, first things first." She nodded to herself after confirming that I was alright and sat in front of me.

"How was your childhood like?"

It seemed like she was taking starting from beginning a bit too seriously, but I didn't mind it at all.

"My childhood was simply me reading tons of books inside my bedroom while ignoring my obnoxious littler sister."

"Oh? I didn't know you had a little sister." Akibara-san sputtered out while taking a sip out of her already cold cup of espresso.

"Yeah, her name is Najisai Sena, and he is more or less six years younger than me." I nodded while taking the vacant seat beside her and tried to finish my own cup of coffee.

"Ugh... It just doesn't taste right if it isn't hot." I grimaced at the tasteless black liquid that was just bitterness in liquid form at this point and begrudgingly drank it.

"You don't like cold coffee, Raku-kun?"

"Yeah, it kind of kills the flavor for me. You can't really beat a freshly brewed cup of coffee, you know."

"Hmm? I never knew that the temperature made a difference with the taste"

I slammed my hand on the kitchen counter, which made her flinch, but I wasn't apologetic at all and even glared at her like she had personally offended me, which she did.

"A freshly brewed cup of black coffee is a thing of beauty. The aroma alone can awaken the senses and prepare you for the bold, rich flavor that's about to hit your palate."

"O-Oh, I see."

"When you take a sip, the coffee is smooth and velvety, with a complex flavor profile. On the other hand, a cold cup of black coffee is a different story. The temperature is obviously lower, which means that some of the coffee's aroma and flavor have dissipated. The coffee can taste slightly bitter, and the acidity can be more pronounced, which is unpleasant." I panted heavily after finishing my long-winded explanation about the elegant art of freshly brewed cup of coffee and bowed my head a little.

"and now you know."

"You take food seriously, don't you?"

"Of course, if food is essential for us to survive, then I want to make sure I'll at least be able to cook good food."

"Woah, you can cook Raku-kun??" Akibara-san exclaimed with glistening eyes and pushed her face closer to mine.

"Hey, can you cook for me? You haven't lunch yet, right? So let's eat your food together!"

"Well, I don't see why not."

"Great! Let me just change, my fridge is kind of empty right now so we have to buy some food in the grocery store." She sighed to herself and skipped out of the living room and into her bedroom, living me with a strange sense of confusion as my eyes were naturally drawn to her cup of coffee that had a lipstick stain at the rim.

"This is... For the mission." I whispered as I gingerly picked up her cup and tasted the espresso.

Somehow, this cold cup of coffee wasn't that bad at all.