Canon: Remove if not applicable.Spirit Coffee was a peculiar little coffee shop with a supernatural theme. It was niche and it tended to have an upswing in patrons around Halloween but Haruka wasn’t the only one that liked to drop by whenever she felt like it. She was surprised though, when she stepped into the coffee shop and saw a familiar face at the cake display. She had not seen him a lot, only briefly, and had never actually properly met him, but she had seen his picture and he stood out even among the clientele that came to Spirit Coffee, with his naturally pale hair and icy blue eyes, visible even when his eyes were hidden behind horn-rimmed glasses.
He noticed her staring, of course he did, and he smiled at her before turning back to the cashier. It was a cheerful smile, but there was something off about it. He always gave off an air of something being off, though maybe that was only to her, since she knew who he was.
When he left the register with his tray, he looked over to her again, and subtly motioned toward the back of the shop, darker than the rest of the crystal-filled shop.
“Jun-san likes supernatural stuff?” she asked him once she found him at a two-seat table with his back toward the rough brick wall, sipping his coffee and picking at a Strawberry Ghost - a small and cute sponge cake filled with strawberry cream that looked like a ghost - a cake which she had bought too. He had three other treats on two plates, as well. He looked startled, staring at her in stunned silence while she sat down opposite of him.
“No, I, no, I’m a complete non-believer in anything supernatural or religious or other things that don’t exist,” he said, finally, and put down his cup. She could see part of art on the surface, it looked like a very cute witch cat. “I just like their cakes.” He cleared his throat. “Jun-san, is it?” She blinked at him in confusion.
“Otoya-san told me that’s your name,” she said. J hummed. “He did, did he…” She tilted her head, confused at his subdued attitude. Sure she had never actually spoken to him properly before, but he did seem a bit different from what she had learned he was like. “Did I say something wrong?” she asked. He shook his head.
“....Nobody has called me by name for years,” he explained, after several moments of silence. “I’m not used to it is all.” When he picked up his cup and hid the expression of his lips, Haruka thought that it looked as if he was blushing a little. He looked just like her husband, when he was trying to hide his awkward embarrassment. She remembered Otoya saying something about J faking suicide at 14, did him not being called by name have to do with that? “Do you not want me to call you that then?” She didn't want to be mean, not even to someone who had had her kidnapped in the past. Plus, he was Otoya’s brother, and she knew that despite every reason that he had to resent the terrorist, he was concerned for him.
J silently cut his Battart in pieces with his spoon, eyes locked on the tart as he thought about it. “Do whatever,” he finally said. There was that surprising but startling similarity to Otoya again, in an unsure but very slight upturn of his shoulders. It was the body language of conflicting feelings.
“Okay… I can never get nii-chan or Otoya-san to come with me to this shop, do you come often?” She decided to let him think about it some more. She knew him far too little to be of any help in making a decision. It had been four years since she heard about anyone she knew talking to him, and she knew that Otoya and her brother had kept an eye out for anything that might have anything to do with him and his little team. They both wanted him to stay away from dangerous business because they would become even more dangerous, and, though her brother didn't say it, they were both a little worried about him. Should she send either of them a message?
“Not at all,” J said, the hesitation gone. “I'm not in Japan very often anyway,” he continued. “By the way, even if you tell Falcon or nii-san that I'm here, I'll be gone before they or Third-i can get here. You don't think I'm being at least a little cautious, dear sister-in-law?”
Haruka dropped her phone back into her skirt pocket. “Can I at least tell them I met you?”
“I'm surprised that you're even asking,” he took a piece of Battart and a piece of Frightened Banana on his spoon. “This is a pretty good combination. You would tell them either way, wouldn't you? Then you might as well tell them to not meddle because we're on vacation at the moment. I'd rather not have Falcon on my heels when I'm sightseeing.”
“Nii-chan isn't that bad,” Haruka protested. When J simply looked at her with a raised eyebrow, she added, “right?” J shook his head. “He loves meddling.”
“Oh…. Um but…” She prodded her Weredonut. “Won't you talk to Otoya-san? He's been worried.”
“I don't see why he would be.” The way he needlessly chopped his spoon into the pieces of the Battart was maybe a little menacing. “Why?” Haruka asked him. J shook his head. “We don't know each other. And I've only done him bad.”
“You're his brother,” Haruka pointed out. J glared at her. “Perhaps that matters to you, but the brothers I grew up with happens to be garbage as brothers, so that bond doesn’t matter.” Then he fell silent, focusing on eating. Haruka watched him as she too ate. He was different from what she had imagined, but maybe it was because she had not really thought too much about what his relationship with the rest of his family was like. It was hard to see things from the perspective of a criminal.
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