My Workplace is a Figurative Magnet (A Brave Frontier Fanfiction)

Prologue

A slender and short boy continued to watch the dough rise in the oven in front of him. All the lights in the bakery were dark, save for the warm red lights of the oven, and a single lamp by the counter the boy sat against and on the cold ceramic floor.

As a Summoner and trained fighter, Fray was capable of taking on 'exciting' missions. It was not as if he was low on zel, or that he wanted adrenaline-generating danger, but baking had been one of many odd jobs he took to not waste time. Furthermore, work as a part-time baker seemed so short yet simple compared to the more dangerous jobs he had undertaken.

The buns in the oven had started to take on a brown, crispy-looking surface. Fray's boss did not mind him using the bakery's ingredients and bakeware, being a good worker and all. He just needed to make sure it did not affect the store's supplies greatly. Still, they were not capable of shortening time, and so Fray waited while he heard rain pitter-patter on the streets outside.

The smell of coffee was nice for once. He disliked the bitter taste of coffee in general, but these coffee-covered buns were crispy on the outside, soft and buttery on the inside, and warm all over. Now if only he could get them all safely back to his home, in the rain...

Magic to freeze the raindrops over him in a short, spherical radius? No, that could form little ice needles and even prick him all over, assuming they were not too brittle. He detested needles anyway.

A barrier of heat to quickly evaporate incoming raindrops? Sounds better, but that could create a fog around him that would impair visibility...

No, what was he thinking? One of Fray's principles was to resist the temptation of using magic for convenience (not that it stopped him from using them for quick travel or dishing out punishments to naughty children). This was hardly a situation worthy of the need for magic.

As the scout continued to think of ways to cover himself from the rain, a shadow moved in the corner of his eye.

With instincts honed from fighting in many a battle, two wars, dealing with beings ordinary, magical, alien or otherwise, including his sometimes-troublesome Units, Fray darted for his black sabre that had been sheathed and resting underneath the counter with the rest of his belongings, Kuro-nō-tatsu, otherwise known as Kunota.

A millisecond later, he felt something soft yet strong slam into his chest, pinning him against the ovens. He struggled for a little before looking down on whatever obstructed him.

Nothing. Was this supposed to be the work of a F*rce-user? Or maybe a mage capable of using invisible forces, or even a psychic?

The lamp on the counter was turned off, the same time Fray heard the switch being flipped. The large warm oven that had been baking the buns behind Fray stopped emitting red light, indicating that it was finished and quickly plunging the bakery into darkness.

The scout inwardly reached out for his Units. As a Summoner, he can call forth fallen warriors of the past within his vicinity to help him.

Unfortunately, the force pinning Fray immediately squeezed tightly, making him feel his ribs strain, likely on the verge of snapping. Whatever vision he had in the darkness swam.

Then if the darkness could not get anymore black, it did right now.

~*~

Author's Note: This is another fanfiction I decided to work on alongside the many stories now posted on Archive Of Our Own and Fanfiction.net. It's troubling to work on so many stories, but this was just an idea I had after seeing a game and another fanfiction about it, although both of them were set in bars.

I decided that "Why not? I may as well add another story."

I do hope you will enjoy this. There are not many Brave Frontier fanfictions these days.

Disclaimer: I do not own Brave Frontier save for the original characters and the plot here in this story. Brave Frontier belong to Gumi and A-Lim.