Shumika Bakery and Candy Store Shenanigans (ongoing)

Shu's expedition (Part 1)

    Shu awoke to a terribly alarming blare of noise wailing from next to him. His eyes shot open and he reached for the phone that was imminenting that dreadful noise and rested on the nightstand next to his bed. After feeling around for his phone and finally turning off the dreadful shrill of inharmonious noises, He stayed lying on his side with his head nestled into his rose patterned blanket, eyes dusty with sleep. He let out an irritated grunt and finally arose from his sanctuary of sleep. He wasn't the type to waste time and give in to wants.

    His room had a specific way of organization, but it wasn't one that looked pleasing to the eye or would be considered organized to outsiders. The only thing that mattered to him was that he could navigate through it himself though. He got up from his bed and headed for the bathroom to tidy himself up. He had a bakery job to be at.

    He made his way to the mirror.

    He wore his silk button down pajamas to bed last night, and his eyes lacked their usual black eyeliner and mascara. The only makeup he applied was black mascara and eyeliner because he thought his eyelashes looked odd, and the makeup also gave his eyes a nice intensity to them. He didn't want to add any makeup anywhere else because it would ruin his skin in the long run... His hair was an absolute mess though. He tried his best to keep it neatly groomed, but his attempts were futile. His hair just couldn't stay set. His hair was always tastled in some places, but his messy hair was especially bad after sleep. His hair had chunks going either way with no sense of direction whatsoever, and small strands would curl around and stick out as they pleased. He hated it.

    He finally put himself together and carefully raced out of his home with Mademoiselle perched on his arm. He made his way to the side of his family's large house.

    He had left for college in France for a while, but now he was rewarded with a very long break to catch up with family and friends over in Japan. He decided to get a part time job at the bakery he sometimes visited while staying over.

    He gently placed Mademoiselle in the basket in front of his bike. He was always so scared to go biking with her for fear that she would get hurt, but the bakery started to get more and more visitors each day which made him uncomfortable, especially without Mademoiselle. He made sure to put several cushions in the basket Mademoiselle sat in and even wrapped her in several blankets. He started to have second thoughts about bringing Mademoiselle to the bakery, but ultimately decided to bring her and just be extra careful while biking.-- He also thought that Mika hadn't seen her in a while.

    His bike was a simple cruiser. He rarely biked to places, so there weren't many additions to the bike other than a basket mainly meant for Mademoiselle to rest in.

    He finally made it to the bakery, and Mademoiselle was unscathed. He locked up his bike and entered the bakery with Mademoiselle hoisted in his arm once again.

"Ah! Oshisan-Senpai hii!!" A very distinct voice called out as he set foot into the bakery's front door. It was Mitsuru Tenma.

"Good morning, Tenma..." He sighed, tired from the long biking trip he had just embarked on.

"I see you've got Mademoiselle with you hm? Where do you think you'll set her while we work?" Mitsuru asked, trying to start a conversation.

"I'm not sure... I was thinking of putting her somewhere where the public can't touch nor conceive of her... I wish not for her to be the target of any thievery or other machinations."

"Hmhmmm... Understandable! Could you put her in the broom closet in that case?"

"Non! She deserves more than to be locked in a dark and lonely room... No less one that bears the horrendous odor of mildew!"

"Haha! I thought you'd say that! Well in that case, I can't think of anywhere to put her for your shift..."

Mitsuru looked down at the floor at that thought, with his figure pointed under his chin and one of his eyebrows lifted like a cartoon character. He was obviously quite puzzled.

    This was bad, believe it or not, and Shu was puzzled as well. He thought of setting her on a counter in the far back of the bakery while he worked, but he was afraid that ingredients and food would tarnish Mademoiselle's perfect porcelain; especially her porcelain face.

    He finally thought of a solution.

    He set Mademoiselle on the cleanest counter he could find which was the front counter and commanded Mitsuru to guard her during the two seconds he would be gone. He ran to his bike just outside the bakery. The basket on his bike still held Mademoiselle's blankets and pillows. Shu realized how foolish it had been for him to leave all of his best quality cushioning unprotected, and was somewhat surprised none of it had been stolen. Because of this, he was quite proud of the fact he had thought of this idea. He prevented two catastrophes from happening!

    He returned to the interior of the bakery to find Mademoiselle unscathed and with Mitsuru peeking over the counter staring at her with his head resting on the counter and unbroken eye contact.

"Thank you for looking after her, Tenma." He said, nodding his head as a bow of appreciation.

"Mhmmmm..." Mitsuru replied silently, still not taking his eyes off of her. He seemed to be captivated by her beauty.

    Shu laid out his barrage of blankets and pillows on one side of the counter, and neatly spread one of the blankets out onto the counter. He opened his phone to an article detailing how to fold a blanket into a bag, and set it on the counter. He started to fold it in ways that confused even himself, for he kept glancing at his phone with a perplexed expression.

    After an excruciating ten minutes of trial and error with the folds of the blanket, he finally made a sturdy bag with a pillow at the bottom for Mademoiselle to sit in comfortably.

    The bakery opens in two minutes.

    Shu raced to the back of the kitchen and traded the blanket bag for his apron that was hung up on hooks attached to the wall. He then ran back to the front desk and delicately picked up Mademoiselle, setting her in his arms. Mitsuru snapped out of his daze of appreciation because of this and rushed around the store to get it ready for customers. In contrast, Shu didn't rush to the back of the bakery, but instead he walked slowly and carefully so as to not drop Mademoiselle or scratch her on any of the shelves or ovens. He carefully placed Mademoiselle into the blanket bag and made sure she was secure and comfortable.

    And so, the work started.

    Shu was in charge of the big tasks, such as kneading the dough, mixing ingredients and shaping the glorious works of art made of bread. He originally had another coworker that was supposed to help him with these tasks, but they never got along and argued loud enough the whole store could hear their kerfuffles about whether to make a croissant or an eclair. The coworker later quit, and Shu got a scolding from the manager. His charm helped him keep the job however, as well as his skill and the desperate need for more workers.

    In contrast to this, Mitsuru was in charge of the smaller tasks, like ringing up the customers, packing the baked goods into bags, and keeping track of the goods that needed to be restocked. He worked mostly in customer service because of his upbeat personality and cute demeanor. He was also quick with his tasks because they were small and he always seemed to have undiminishing energy.

    Mitsuru and Shu were assigned to work together because Shu has a soft spot for Mitsuru, and Mitsuru can get along with anyone; including Shu. They work very smoothly with each other because of their contrasting personalities and demeanors, so even though work is sometimes very stressful for them because of the influx of customers, they are able to share the load and support each other as coworkers.

    As Shu and Mitsuru worked, in the back of their minds they wondered what this wave of customers was the effect of. Most of the customers bought small items, and stayed for a long time while seeming to be looking for something. They could only think about this for so long, for they had to focus on their job, but feeling as though they were left in the dark was silently bothering them.