A bell rang above his head as Suwa stepped into the basement book café. Looking around from his vantage point at the top of the stairs, it was easy to find the shock of pink hair he recognised as Takeuchi’s.

He walked through the café, the scent of coffee and old books covered by his mask, yet he knew just by looking that it permeated the air.

Takeuchi for his part didn’t seem to notice him at all, too engrossed in the book he was hunched over, an avalanche of volumes surrounding him at the tiny wooden table.

Suwa slid into the seat in front of him, just as Takeuchi flipped to the next page. For a while, he sat there, watching him read, still unaware of the rest of the world moving around him.

 

“Takeuchi.”

 

Finally, Takeuchi’s eyes left the words on the page, his head lifting. “Suwa-san! When did you get here?”

“A while ago.” Suwa’s eyes scanned the thick books stacked high. “What’re you reading?”

“I finally found the books I’ve been looking for.” The smile on his face was bright as he flipped open one of the volumes. “See this diagram?” He turned the book so Suwa could see it. “My research was only a little off from it.”

It all looked like a foreign language to Suwa, but Takeuchi’s enthusiasm was cute. There was only one issue right now, however. “Do you know what day it is?” he asked.

“Tuesday?”

Suwa raised an eyebrow. “It’s Saturday.”

Takeuchi glanced at the large calendar clock hanging on one of the walls. “Oh. I didn’t notice.”

It wasn’t the first time Takeuchi had completely forgotten about the passage of time.

He had the ability to get completely absorbed in whatever he was researching at the time, everything else ceasing to exist when his attention was grabbed by a book or an invention. At least this time Suwa had known where to look for him. A book store that was open 24 hours that didn’t have windows to worry about was to Takeuchi like a moth to a flame.

“Don’t they sell their books here?”

“Oh, they do. I just didn’t want to wait to start reading.”

Suwa snorted, the corner of his lips pulled upward. “You couldn’t wait ten minutes?”

“No.”

Leaning his chin on the back of his hand, Suwa couldn’t help the grin spreading behind his mask. “You’re ridiculous.” He reached forward, picking up one of the books. “You ready to bring these home now, or do you want me to pick you up in another four days?”

Takeuchi shut the book he had shown Suwa earlier with a laugh. “No, I’ll come with you.”

 

As they left the café, that same bell rang once more.

Maybe next time he’d come with Takeuchi to see if there was anything of interest to him as well. An evening where he got to watch him fawn over rare books didn’t sound too bad.

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