A/N: I decided why not write a Yakitate!! Japan fanfic? And about one of the characters that are often overlooked as unimportant. Personally, I think he's...well, unimportant too, but he fulfills his role.

Kawachi Kyousuke.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yakitate!! Japan and its characters. If I did, I'd have a little more spending money.

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The Role of the "What was that?!" Guy
By Clow Angel

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He was always there. Really. He was. He made sure of it. To be there, to watch, to encourage, and to occasionally (well more than just occasionally) clown around and make a joke of things. He long ago accepted that was his role.

He would never be the first class bakers that Suwabara or Kazuma are. He could only bake acceptable bread. Not that the rest of Japan would know anyway. But really, they were unimportant because first of all, he never baked for the rest of the population. He baked for his family. And for himself. Because he realized his ambitions weren't of such a large scale as the rest of his friends. He didn't have the endless and boundless imagination Kazuma had. He didn't have the scientific genius knowledge that Kanmuri had. And he didn't have the tenaciously ferocious approach to baking that fueled Suwabara. He was ordinary.

And so, he settled for his role. The "What was that?!" guy among his baker friends. He realized his presence and repeated lines was what kept normalcy going sometimes. To a lesser extent (but important nontheless), his presence was needed. He kept things alive. Lively. Fun. And really, he appreciated being appreciated. He was happy about that even if no one came out and said so. Because he knew. They knew. Everyone knew. And that was enough.

But sometimes, just a few times, he wondered what life would be like if he stopped making the jokes. Stopped saying "What was that?!". Stopped saying the stupid puns. Stopped his encouragements. Stopped his childish fights with Suwabara. Would it make any difference?

Of course it would. So Azuma had said when on a rare drunken occasion, he had actually voiced his deepest inner thoughts.

"It's just not the same without you, Kawachi!" Azuma had exclaimed with his ever present close-eyed wide smile.

And really, he decided, that was all that mattered. They cared even if they didn't show it. In the end, that really was what truly mattered. And with this, he came to a realization; he belonged. For once, he belonged.

And so once again, with an unnecessarily exaggerated expression and wide eyes, he screeched, "What was that?!" in reply to yet another outrageous idea of Azuma's drawing laughter and shaking heads from his co-workers.

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A/N: And that's that. Yeah, really I don't like Kawachi very much, but I do realize he's important to the series and the characters in it. It's my first Yakitate fanfic, so at the very least I hope it's acceptable. I also don't normally do one shots, but I figured, why not? There's a first for everything.