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💜AUTHOR PRE-NOTES💜
***MATURE CONTENT/TWs***
“Cover drawn by @ruedrops on Twitter! ^^~”
“THIS IS A MATURE/NSFW SERIES RECOMMENDED FOR READERS 18+. This book will contain mature topics and language.”
**I do not own Haikyuu!! Or its characters**
**Contains manga spoilers, as this takes place in the time-skip
CHARACTERS:
ISHIDA SAYA:
. AGE: 20
. HEIGHT: 5' 2"
. GENDER: Female
. APPEARANCE: Above shoulder deep red hair, blue eyes
. PROFESSION: Barista/Baker at Sato's Sweets
KITA SHINSUKE:
. AGE: 24
. HEIGHT: 5' 9"
. GENDER: Male
. APPEARANCE: Short light grey hair with black tips, brown eyes, average/toned build
. PROFESSION: Runs and manages his rice farm
SATO KEI:
. AGE: 70
. HEIGHT: 5' 7"
. GENDER: Male
. APPEARANCE: bald, brown eyes, overweight
. PROFESSION: Owns and manages Sato's Sweets
SHIMADA MEGUMI:
. AGE: 22
. HEIGHT: 5' 6"
. GENDER:Female
. APPEARANCE: long black hair usually in a ponytail or bun, grey eyes, has an athletic build from helping on the farm, tongue piercing
. PROFESSION: Helps Kita run the farm, takes care of the animals (they have a few), and helps schedule deliveries and with the finances
SHIMADA KENJI:
. AGE: 22
. HEIGHT: 6' 2"
. GENDER: Male
. APPEARANCE: shoulder length wavy black hair, grey eyes, athletic build from working out/farm work, lip piercing, multiple ear piercings
. PROFESSION: Works on the farm harvesting and making deliveries, cannot be trusted with the animals or finances.
***This story begins in the year 2017***
[1]
[November 14 2018, 6:45 a.m.]
Ishida Saya sat anxiously on the stool behind the counter, watching the clock above the cafe's door as it ticked closer to 7:00am. Today is the first day of "Sato's Sweets" re-opening, which has been closed for the past two months. She glanced over at her boss, Sato Kei, who was calmly fiddling with the radio, trying to find the perfect song to play. He hummed along to a song he found and picked his cup of coffee back up as he stood at the shops window, watching the light snowfall.
"How is he not nervous?" Saya muttered to herself as she looked back at the clock. Only ten more minutes until they open. She stood up from the stool and started to double check that everything was ready. The coffee and teas were brewed, the assortment of creamers and toppings lined up and ready to go. Stepping out from behind the counter, she took a look at the baked goods displays and smiled proudly at the variety of pastries and desserts she had made.
When Sato hired her to work in this cafe three months ago, she was terrified. Saya could barely make instant coffee let alone create speciality ones. Boxed cake and cookie mixes always ended in failure. But, she desperately needed this job; and Sato desperately needed the help.
It had been almost a year since his wife of fifty years, Sato Mitsu, passed away. They built "Sato's Sweets" thirty years ago and ran and managed it together. The cafe was like their child, as they did not have any of their own. While he handled the finances and shop upkeep, Mitsu was the baker. When she passed, it was like Sato-san and the shop did as well; the life had dissipated out of both of them without her.
The once well-known, bustling cafe which served a wide variety of fresh treats to locals and visiting fishermen, had come to a stand still. With his wife gone, baked goods were no longer produced in the cafe. The once packed shelves were barren as Sato sat behind them, the only items being served were coffee and green tea. He couldn't bear to close the shop, as he felt doing so would take away what he had left of his wife.
When Saya came into the shop three months ago, she heard an elderly man yelling to himself in the kitchen and smelt a horrid burning smell. When he heard the shop door bell ding, he came out to greet her, his face and apron dusted with flour and other various ingredients. He apologized for his disheveled appearance as she sat at the counter and her poured her a cup of coffee.
He explained that he was trying to bake a recipe of his wife's, a simple sugar cookie, and somehow they caught fire in the oven. Saya felt bad for the poor man as she tried to hold back a giggle as he attempted to reason what he could have possibly done wrong. She asked him where his wife was, and it was then he sat in front of her and explained to Saya her passing, and how running the shop without her was tough. He tried occasionally to recreate some of her recipes, and they always ended in disaster.
Saya was saddened as she listened to his story, he was clearly struggling to keep the shop open, and she admired his dedication to his wife in wanting to keep running it. But it was clear the cafe was not going to be able to stay open much longer. It was 9am on a Saturday when she had entered t, and after him telling her his story, and trying to clean up the kitchen, it was 10:30am. Not a single person had come in since Saya had been there. She asked Sato if the cafe was always this quiet and he looked down at his hands as he silently nodded.
Saya listened to him and felt horrible for the situation he was in. Coming from Tokyo, She had only been in this town for a week prior to coming into Sato's Sweets. The town's dynamic was drastically different from that in Tokyo. It was a quiet and quaint town, surrounded by farms, mountains, and the ocean. Besides the locals who ran the farms and small shops and other necessities, the only other visitors were fishermen coming off of the docks. Only serving coffee and tea was destroying Sato's business, as the passerby's chose to go somewhere else instead.
Saya looked at Sato who was still staring at his hands as he ran his finger across his wedding band. She felt a strong urge to help him, though her expertise in this industry was severely lacking. But, she had been here for a week and had yet to find a job that didn't involve being on a boat, which she truthfully had no interest in. It was then Saya offered to help Sato. She explained that though she honestly didn't know what to do in terms of baking, she was more than willing to learn. He was hesitant, but as they made eye contact he saw the sincerity in her eyes.
Sato asked her to follow him into the kitchen and she did, looking around at the messy counters and the burnt tray of cookies. He handed her his wife's sugar cookie recipe, and said that if she was able to successfully create them, she would have the job. Saya nodded and looked over the recipe, it seemed easy enough. Sato cleaned up the mess he had previously made as she started to follow the recipe.
It took her two tries, but eventually she took a tray of what looked to be edible cookies out of the oven. She placed them onto a cooling rack and called Sato back into the kitchen. As he stepped over to the counter and took a look at the cookies, a soft smile appeared on his face. He lifted one to his lips and took a bite as his eyes closed, his smile becoming wider.
Needless to say, Saya got the job. Sato decided the best way to go forward with the business was to close the cafe for two months. He wanted to do some updates to the shops interior and exterior, and she needed to practice Mitsu's recipes.
"Saya-chan, two minutes until we open!" Sato excitedly announced as he turned around, seeing saya standing in front of the display looking at the desserts. He stepped beside her, eyeing the assortment of treats as well with pride. She turned to look at him, seeing a glimmer of sadness in his eyes.
"You know, even though I never met Mitsu, I know she would be so proud of you and what you have done with the cafe," she said, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.
Sato turned and looked at her with a soft smile, "She would be proud of you too. Look at all ya learned in two months! I worked decide her for thirty years and can't even make cookies," he laughed, reaching a hand up and placing it over hers. "I don't know how I could have done this without ya."
Saya smiled and went to say something back as the clock made a chime sound, signaling it was seven a.m.. Sato and her both jumped and rushed over to the door. Saya nervously looked at it as she hesitantly reached for the lock. Even though she was excited for Sato and the well deserved business, her anxiety was still present as well. What if her desserts weren't good enough? What if no one showed up? What if she did something wrong and upset Sato?
Sato noticed her hesitation and gently took her hand, giving it a light squeeze. She shook out of her daze and looked at him, his reassuring smile helping to ease my doubt. She reached her hand forward and unlocked the door and switched the "Closed" sign to "Open."
"Let's do this!" She exclaimed as Sato laughed, equally as excited.
______________________
[7:40am]
Forty minutes and not a single customer. Saya sat on the stool behind the counter, sipping her green tea and anxiously bouncing her left leg as Sato sat at one of the tables, doing the daily Sudoku puzzle as he hummed to the music. She looked ahead of him at the shop's windows, watching the snow gracefully fall. It was mid November, a lot of the farms around here did not have winter crops so the farmers relocated somewhere else for the winter. The fishing boats that were in service were usually out at sea at this time of day, so she didn't necessarily expect them. Letting out a sigh, she leaned back in her seat, feeling defeated. In a way, she knew to expect this. She have lived in this town for almost three months, and everything was always quiet and stoic.
She rose from the stool, stepping out from behind the counter and taking a seat across from Sato. He looked up from his puzzle, taking note of her discouraged face. "Don't ya worry dear, we'll be busy in no time," he said to me with a smile as she looked at him.
"How can you be so sure Sato-san? With the weather today and the streets being so empty, I'm not too sure..." She asked as she looked down into her cup of tea.
His smile turned to a grin as he folded his arms across his chest, letting out a light chuckle. "Well, I know for a fact we can count on three customers at the very least."
Saya raised an eyebrow and looked at him, "That is very specific. How can you be so sure of that?"
"Well, I gave my old friend a call a week ago and told her the cafe was openin' back up again. She was a dear friend of Mitsu's and was excited to hear we would be servin' desserts again. Said she would be sendin' her grandson and his two friends over to pick up some treats. So we should be seeing 'em soon," he assured her as he went back to completing his puzzle.
Saya took a sip of my tea and turned and looked back out the window. "Grandson?" She thought to herself, wondering if these people could be around her age. She wasn't sure if that made her excited or nervous. Both? She had been here almost three months and her only friend was Sato-san and his cat. She hadn't even met anyone below the age of forty yet. She kept thinking to herself as She looked out the window, noticing a blue pick up truck pulling up to a screeching halt in front of the shop, the bass blaring from the car, playing a tune she thought she recognized, but shook her head. Saya quickly got up and ushered back to the counter as Sato clasped his hands together excitedly.
She anxiously watched as the trio approached the cafe; she couldn't see their appearance due to the frosted glass on the door as well as the snowfall. What would people her age from around here be like? Surely not like anyone she knew in Tokyo. Saya grew more nervous as she started to worry she may not get along with them, or that they may not like her. She wasn't actively looking to make friends here, she was satisfied just having Sato-san's company. Saya watched as the shops door opened, and nothing could have prepared her for the people she was about to meet.
This story continues on the author‘s wattpad which you can read HERE
*Animeforwomen does not own this story*