v01_c08_This_Ain't_Coffee

GJ-Bu

Volume 01

Chapter 08

This Ain't Coffee

“This coffee is a little strange.”

Shion suddenly said.

“Eh? What’s wrong?”

The girl was very knowledgeable on coffee and always drank from her personal thermos flask. However, exclusively today, she was drinking canned coffee.

“It tastes weird.”

The girl tilted her head taking the can in her hands.

One more time, she brought the can to her lips.

“Wait a minute!”

Kyouya said, halting her. He rushed to her side.

If it was some sort of prank it could be dangerous. There were frequent reports on the news of incidents where agrochemicals were put on people’s drinks.

“Let me have a look.”

“Huh?”

“It’s alright.”

Using an incisive tone of voice, he took the can from Shion’s hands.

He took a sip and tried holding it in his mouth, paying attention to spit it out immediately in case he tasted something unusual.

“There’s nothing wrong with it.”

All he tasted was the completely normal sweetened taste of canned coffee.

“No, it’s strange.”

“It is?”

“Isn’t it too sweet?”

“That’s how it’s supposed to be.”

“But it’s strange.”

Shion refused to agree with him.

“Try drinking it one more time.”

He gave the can back to Shion and gestured for her to drink.

“Okay.”

She brought the can to her mouth.

Just as she was about to touch it with her lips, her movement suddenly stopped.

“Ah...”

The girl stared at the mouth of the can.

She raised her eyes to face Kyouya.

Blinking several times in agitation. Her noble and intellectual face was now tinged in the color of panic.

Kyouya was faced with eyes that looked like they had seen something terrorizing.

“What happened?”

“No. I...”

Kyouya gazed intently at her as he waited for an answer. She broke eye contact with him and looked to the right, then to the left. He couldn’t make any sense of her reaction.

“I mean, isn’t that inappropriate?”

“What is? Anyway, there was nothing weird about the taste.”

“No, that’s not the point of the problem. Never mind, it was my mistake. There was no need for you to taste if for me. W-... What do I do now? There’s still some left.”

“Go ahead and drink it. There’s nothing weird with it.”

“D-do I really have to?”

For some reason, the girl insisted on her resistance.

But Kyouya had generally understood what was going on. What the girl usually drank was the specially made Master’s Coffee. One of her older brothers was known a “coffee master” it seemed. He’d make her a thermos filled with delicious coffee, so this girl who'd been drinking nothing but his authentic, tasty coffee couldn’t even think the canned one was coffee, right?

It was true that they could probably be considered different types of drink.

Even Kyouya, who didn’t like coffee, could easily drink the canned one.

“It’s a waste to throw it away.”

“But still...”

“Alright, I’ll drink it then. Give it here.”

The girl reluctantly handed it to him.

She watched closely as Kyouya drank down the coffee. Her face accused that she wanted to say something.

What could that be?

Feeling something unusual, Kyouya finished the can.

However, he couldn’t understand the meaning behind Shion’s look.

One thing he understood.

He’d thought that Shion was a cool and collected mature woman, but she had a lot of flaws too.

Still, Kyouya thought that side of her might be cute too.