Lying is a Sin, A Sin Hanagaki Takemichi Commits Too Often

Empty Birthday Wishes, Unwanted Reunions And Pretty Bouquets Part 2

So sorry for the delay! My computer was taken off me over the weekend and it's really difficult for me to do it on my phone.

Hope you love the angst

3635 words of beautiful birthday angst

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June 25th, 2017

The rest of the work day went along as pretty much usual, he did his best to prevent his mind from wandering back to the letter and bouquet. He left Rindou to make some pastry by himself and the latter did an impressive job, he just had to work on his layering. Ran seemed to be becoming more civil and patient with customers which was another plus. Nahoya ambushed him at lunchtime and was basically dragging him to his white van which looked extremely suspicious but he ended up having a delicious spicy free meal and was entertained by the egg juggling tricks Souya had learnt. The day had actually gone a lot better than he thought so far, yes the guilt was ever-present, but he was glad that he had a lot of people to talk to. He wasn't alone.

He was safely returned to the bakery around 1:30 by Souya and he continued on working. Hina dropped by for a few minutes to give him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek before moving along saying she had somewhere to be. Later in the afternoon he ended up in his office once more since a Tuesday afternoon wasn't a particularly busy time and the brothers could handle it just fine. He recently bought a nice journal, it was thick- many pages, and a good quality leather cover. The first few pages had already been filled out, it was his recipes. He knew his memory was slowly depleting and he didn't want the recipes that had brought so many smiles and praises to die with him. So he had begun writing out as many as he could remember, with all the special touches and ingredients that made them so different. He even pulled out his rusty drawing skills and made labelled diagrams so whoever this book ended up with would have an easy time understanding his instructions (he hoped that perhaps Rindou would step up to the job since he had been doing so incredibly well in his training and he seemed to genuinely enjoy it, but of course, this job was supposed to only be a temporary thing for Ran and Rindou, he couldn't expect them to stay).

He teared his eyes away from the filled pages and shook his aching hand when he heard a knock on his office door.

"Come in."

Ran walked in, his arms behind his back untying his apron, "We just closed up and we cleaned up everything and Rindou is just about finished with the dishes now. We didn't want you doing anything like that on your birthday."

"You two are the sweetest, thank you. And I didn't even realise how late it was, I guess I was so focused on this. You can head off, see you next shift."

"Alright, and happy birthday again. Also, there's someone here, he said he's picking you up."

"Ah Kazu-kun, yes, I'll be out in just a minute. Goodbye Ran-kun."

"Bye." The older man waved and tipped an imaginary hat before leaving the room.

Takemichi collected his things, took off his own apron and met Kazutora in the entryway. Kazutora pulled him into a hug immediately, he was basically vibrating from how much and quickly he was moving.

"Happy birthday! Happy birthday! Happy birthday! Happy birthday! Take-kun! It's a great day!" He exclaimed.

"Ah yes, happy birthday to me. Why are you so excited?"

"Why can't I be happy to see my best friend?" Kazutora played off, he was so excited for the surprise. He was awaiting the shocked expression on Takemichi's face and how he would smile so much to see everyone there in person. Other than Emma and Hina's wedding a few weeks prior, it was very difficult to have everyone in one place at once. But Takemichi had done so much for everybody since their teen years and they knew he wasn't feeling the best lately and they wanted only the best for him. Naoto especially had pushed for it, saying it was something really special.