一つの大きな家族 (Hitotsu no ōkina kazoku) -- One Big Family

Chapter 4: Too much sweets is bad.

Murasakibara Atsushi, 23 years old, was now the head of his family's bakery. Without any hesitation, it's either he is slacking off or eating off the treats that his workers made. But none of those things ever happened when a new guy came in. He came from America and can only speak a little bit of Japanese.

Atsushi, at first, didn't know how to communicate with this guy and for once, he worked hard to communicate with him. Because if this guy failed at doing his job, it's his fault. He tried asking Mitobe Rinnosuke to teach the guy, but this guy also had some issues.

"... Hey," Atsushi turned around and spotted none other than his classmate back in Teiko. "How are you, Atsushi?"

"Aka-chin," He muttered then smile widely upon recognizing the person in front of him, "I see, you haven't change at all."

"Are you referring to my height?" Akashi Seijuro, one of Atsushi's former classmate and teammates in Teiko, said with a hint of sadness, but then he chuckles. "You took over your father's business, huh? That's good."

"It's not," Atsushi quickly respond with his usual monotone, he took a chunk of cookies from the container and gave a few to Seijuro, who was at first, confused but then gladly accepted it. "Papa isn't the papa I used to know. He changed the bakery and turned it to a strict bakery."

"Hardly a strict one," Seijuro said, looking around, "So, you are the head chef?"

"I am." Atsushi accidently took a glimpse to the new guy, seeing that he is having a hard time communicating with the customer. The lady in the counter was pondering which dessert should she order but without suggesting something, the line would be long in no time, holding up the other customer.

"I have to help the new guy," He said to Seijuro, who was also looking at the troubled new guy. "He's new from abroad and cannot communicate in Japanese."

"Well, I can speak English." Seijuro suddenly said, instead of Atsushi walking over to the counter, Seijuro did. "Hey, I'm Seijuro. You are?"

The new guy looked somewhat shocked and responded quickly by saying his name, "Himuro Tatsuya."

"Well, Tatsuya, if you don't know Japanese, I could give you some lesson to it." Atsushi was amazed, not just amazed, but surprised that Seijuro knew that language. Tatsuya responded happily by.

"Oh, thank god! Please do. I'm having problem with communicating and also I think my boss is mad already."

Atsushi didn't understand a single word to what Tatsuya had said.

Seijuro chuckled and let the lady ordered first while talking to Tatsuya, "I'm sure Atsushi is not mad. He's huge but he's not the type to judge people too easily. Here you go, madam, please enjoy." Once Seijuro hand the cupcake with cherry on the top to the lady, the next customer moves up, smiling widely at Seijuro.

"Now, it's your turn," Seijuro said, looking at Tatsuya with encouragement. Before Tatsuya can say something, Seijuro said in English, "Don't hesitate. Even if your pronunciation is weird, they'll understand you."

Tatsuya took a deep breath before speaking in Japanese, earning a smile from the customer and he respond by saying that he wanted a cup of cappuccino with whipped cream at the top. Adding a baked pastries at whatever they suggest to him.

Tatsuya looked enthusiasm at his achievement and nodded his head, suggesting the cream berry pie made by the head chef, which is Atsushi.

Atsushi was stunned, cannot process the situation. "Should I tell this to the others?" He said, moving closer when Seijuro and Tatsuya were just chatting while waiting.