#lucomi

Lucy Maud Montgomery was a distrustful person. When people approached her with a smile on their faces she always thought about the possible hidden intentions that person could have, and she was proven right about ninety percent of the time. Ever since she was in the orphanage or in the Guild, people had prove to her to be very shitty.

Her perception of people had changed a little bit since the Guild was destroyed, since she was accepted in the coffee shop and the manager and his wife genuinely cared for her, but it was still hard for her to see people smiling at her and not being defensive.

It had been a couple weeks since the Agency was victorious in their fight against the Decay of Angels, and their name was clean again. The members went frequently to the coffee shop, as usual, but there was one member that started going more than usual.

Lucy recognized her, obviously. She was not only one of the most attractive girls she had ever seen but she had also been someone she had captured and used as hostage for the Guild. She hoped she would never had to talk to her ever again, same thing with her brother or the blond kid with the hat. But she started going to the coffee shop everyday, and ordering tea with strawberry cheesecake. The gorgeous girl would smile at her and thank her, and it made Lucy want to die. She was so pretty, and gracious… it made her blush with just a look. But at the same time, it pained her since she still felt guilty about what she did.

That evening, she was cleaning some cups behind the counter when the door of the shop opened, and the smiling face of Tanizaki Naomi appeared behind it. Lucy felt already the heat on her face as she shrugged and wanted to hide behind the counter. Naomi was alone, no sight of the orange-haired boy—thank God.

Lucy tried to ignore her, but Naomi was the only person besides her in the coffee shop in those moments. The black-haired girl wasted no time, and sat in the counter, right in front of Lucy with a smile on her face.

“Good evening!” Naomi said cheerfully, with her elbows on the counter, looking at Lucy with a friendly face.

Lucy couldn’t help but feel warry, to be on the defensive.

“Good… Good evening” she said, looking at her back, trying to be cold, to put a wall between them. Naomi didn’t seem to care, and simply stared at her until it was embarrassing for Lucy “So… the same as yesterday?” she asked, trying to end the uncomfortable silence.

Naomi nodded “Yes, please. But can you… like, take a piece of cheesecake for yourself and eat with me?”

“What?” Lucy asked, confused.

“What? It’s not like there is some else to attend, right?”  Naomi asked too, but confused on why Lucy was confused.

“That’s not… I mean… why would you want to eat with me? What do you want? I have nothing to offer” Lucy started to babble, way too defensive. The other girl simply stared at her, no smile on her face but a hint of curiosity.

“Why wouldn't I? It’s thanks to you that the president is alive, and that the Agency is safe… that makes us friends, right?” she explained, tiddling her head to the side.

Lucy opened her mouth to reply, but was taken back when she realized what Naomi’s words meant. She was actually loss of words, so she closed her mouth and stayed quiet for a while, trying to find a meaning in her words. Naomi was still looking at her curiously, at the pink blush on her cheeks and how she started to make the tea and prepare the cheesecake.

She could feel Naomi’s eyes following her, but her brain was working way too fast to do something about it. How could she consider them friends? Lucy had never had any friends, the closest thing before was Alcott, who even thought she was kind to her, only wanted her because of her ability and barely spoke to her. And now it was Atsushi, but it was complicated.

“I don’t… I mean… I hurt you before” Lucy said, in a lower voice than usual. She never thought she was rectifying her past actions when she helped the Agency with the Cannibalism thing, or when she put herself in danger to prove the Agency’s innocence. She always thought she was returning a favor.

Naomi smiled again, putting one hand over Lucy’s and squeezed it gently.

“But that’s in the past! You also had no choice, and it all ended okay in the end” the black-haired girl insisted “It’s totally forgotten, and I don’t really want anything from you. I just really want to be your friend, is that such a bad a thing?”

“No, no, it’s just…” Lucy was confused. She pretty much liked what Naomi was saying, but it was still hard to believe. Lucy put the tea and the piece of strawberry cheesecake in front of the other girl “I’ve never had a friend before” she admitted, looking at her hands playing with the folds of her dress. It was embarrassing to admit it.

Naomi gasped, in disbelief “You don’t have to be alone anymore then. I’ll be right here” she said cheerfully again.

Still with some mixed feelings, Lucy ended up nodding slightly, making Naomi smile.

The rest of the evening, Lucy spended it with Naomi. It was pretty much Naomi talking about the members of the Agency and her brother, but Lucy liked to hear her talk, it was lively and her voice was pretty nice, so she didn’t mind listening to her talking for hours. They even shared the piece of cheesecake.

Until it was late, more customer arrived and they both had other stuff to do. But Lucy felt wholesome.

“See you tomorrow” Naomi said, before giving her a tight hug.

Lucy waved her hand shyly, and when Naomi disappeared, she allowed herself to let out a sight.