Double Black

at the midnight bakery

Just on the suburban outskirts of Yokohama, situated near a university, was a little bakery. It was a quaint and cozy place, primarily catering to students and staff of the nearby university. The shop was known for its wonderful coffee creations and baked goodies, but also for the chaotic bunch of employees that worked there, and their very interesting dynamics with their regulars.

Quite a few students frequented that shop on an almost daily basis. After all, getting through a thousand assignments and thesis papers without shots of espresso at 11 pm? Who has ever heard of such a thing? It was a stroke of good fortune for all students and teachers alike that the bakery remained open till midnight, right on time for them to obtain their coffee fixes for the upcoming all-nighter.

Now, as for the staff. First and foremost, there was the owner called Fukuzawa-san. He was rather old and didn't actively work at the place, but he dropped by to check on things often enough. Then there was the backbone of the business: the bakers and baristas. Yosano Akiko was their most experienced baker, producing lemon tarts and apple pies and strawberry pastries at insane speed every day. She had help from this fairly new baker, a redhead named Tachihara Michizou. As for their barista, Akutagawa Gin was more than enough to keep filling up all orders, even during rush hour.

When the owner wasn't in, there were two particular people who were in charge simultaneously. Dazai Osamu and Nakahara Chuuya functioned as waiters and cashiers, and most importantly, eye candy out on the floor to lure in and keep customers. Those two had a whole other reputation of their own.

Firstly, both of them were gorgeous. But well, some customers would agree that Chuuya was way prettier. While that may be true, he was also really sweet to everyone (except Dazai). He was also super helpful, extremely polite and just really nice in general (except to Dazai). A lot of sleep deprived students took to referring to him as their saviour and angel who brought them coffee in their time of need; that's just how much he got along with everyone (again, except Dazai!!)

As for Dazai, he was attractive in the conventional sense, and could be extremely charming when he wanted to be (except to Chuuya). He tended to be extremely dramatic and ask random women to commit double suicide with him; a trait that would usually get an employee reported but for some reason, none of the female customers ever complained against him?! Dazai also tended to flirt with every other person he saw (including Chuuya).

Despite many suggestions, the owner refused to make a fixed schedule of when which of them was supposed to be in charge. And so, they were constantly at each other's necks, squabbling and bickering over the littlest things. It was widespread knowledge that Dazai and Chuuya could not stand each other, and that they were sworn enemies who most certainly hated each other. Well, that's exactly what made their workplace so chaotic at all times.

Apart from this, those two were also immensely popular among their customers. The other employees at the bakery weren't ugly by any means, but they just tended to stay in the back, baking and blending away. Dazai and Chuuya on the other hand, were always on the floor and received confessions on a daily basis. This is exactly what a regular day looked like at the bakery.

Today was no different. Yosano and Gin were the first ones to arrive, opening up and cleaning the shop, before setting out for preparations for the day. Tachihara was next, joining right in. The three of them actually got along really well, chatting and sipping their mandatory staff morning coffee as they worked.

And then, half an hour before opening time, Dazai and Chuuya stepped in together, basically tripping over each other's feet.

Chuuya scoffed, already annoyed, "Can you fucking move slower, shitty Dazai?"