I went to a café with Rei. Just the two of us!!!

This morning I was scrolling for café spots like usual, and a photo of a new place's limited pancake popped up — and I fell for it instantly. Strawberry and pistachio combo, that pink-green contrast was unreal. The kind of thing you'll regret forever if you don't go.

But I hesitated for a sec. Going alone is fine, but today I just felt like bringing someone.

And then Rei's face popped into my head.
I mean, Rei doesn't really seem like the sweets-shop type, right? But at our sweets party the other day, even with her coffee, there was this moment where she was sneaking little glances at everyone's cake. I caught that.

So I texted: "Rei, you free today? There's a limited pancake I bet you'd love."
A little experiment, kind of.

Reply: "......I'm in." Short!! But OK!!!

When I got to the meeting spot, Rei was already there in her usual black hoodie, headphones around her neck. "Did you wait long?" "Three minutes." Very Rei.

The shop was so cute my tension hit max in two seconds.
Rei just said "nice place" and started reading the menu.

This is where it got good.

She said "I'll just have coffee" at first — but on the page with "Limited: Strawberry × Pistachio Pancake," her eyes stopped. Just for a second.

I saw it.

"Rei, you're into that one, aren't you."
"......"
"Let's order it?"
"......yeah."

VICTORY!!!

The pancake came out and it was literal art — alternating layers of strawberry red and pistachio green — and my camera was up instantly. Rei looked at it for a moment, then took one shot of her own. I think that's the first time I've ever seen Rei photograph food.

First bite, her eyes widened just a little, and then she quietly kept eating. Halfway through she said, "This is really good." Exactly once.
That was enough. I kept shooting my pancake while doing a tiny fist-pump in my heart.

On the way home, Rei said quietly, "Doing this kind of thing once in a while isn't bad."
She probably thought I didn't catch it. I caught it.

Operation Drag Rei Out: Success🍓

Where should I take her next~?

— Aine