Title: Jello-o
Summary: Help wanted; looking for a full time baker for Kurosaki bakery, requirements: as long as it edible you're hired. Not my greatest summary. GrimmIchi…
Authors Note: I bet you can't guess what I was eating when I wrote this. Anyway enjoy.
Review; I do appreciate all feedback the good or the bad.
Beta Read By: Black Sun Upon An Icy Sky; thanks
Disclaimer: I do not own bleach
Chapter 1
Ichigo POV:
"I'll have the money, just give me until the first of the month," I said into the telephone's microphone in a soft tone hoping that my younger sisters couldn't hear my conversation with the debt collectors from Las Noches Banking Firm.
"I understand that," I sighed into the phone trying not to sound agitated. "Last month's payment was only half and I intend on paying the rest this month along with the amount that's due for this month and with interest!" I accidentally shouted into the phone, praying that none of the customers could hear me – if there were any.
My family owns a bakery in downtown Karakura. My parents started this company back when I was six and business went pretty for a while even after my mother passed away.
My father said it was his duty to keep Masaki's dream alive, so he closed down the small clinic he was running and decided to devote all of his time and energy into our bakery. He had spent weeks teaching himself how to bake and once his baked goods became edible we reopened the Kurosaki bakery.
Even though father's baking wasn't as good as my mom's we still sold enough to earn us a living. Plus my little sister Yuzu helped out in the kitchen so my father wasn't alone, Karin and I helped out whenever we could, too.
Times were hard after my mother passed away but we managed to make due. The loans that my family took out with Las Noches and the monthly payments were met and we had enough in our savings so money wasn't that much of an concern.
Until my father's accident.
My father was walking to the local market to buy more sugar for this cake he was baking. When he was crossing the intersection a car had struck him. The driver wasn't paying attention to the road but rather to her cell phone and ran my father over, thank god he survived.
My father's health insurance had expired at that time and he was in the process of getting new health insurance before the accident but he had yet to be approved. So we ended up using all our savings to pay for his medical bills but when that wasn't enough we had to take out a new loan.
I took over the bakery while my father was being treated and ended up dropping out of school. Only until my father was well enough to run the bakery, but after he lost mobility he became depressed and didn't want to do anything. It was a shock to me and my younger sisters because he was always so goofy, but I guess if I'd lose the ability to walk, too, I wouldn't be sunshine and rainbows either.
So what started out as just a way to help out the family in our time of need became a full time job. I ended up dropping out of school entirely because college was just too expensive. So my dad placed the bakery in my somewhat capable hands.
As funding became low I took out another loan. With the leading finical firm in Karakura, which I regret.
If I had known that Las Noches was nothing more than a group of loan sharks I wouldn't have taken out a loan with them. The only reason why my business hasn't been taken away yet is because of Aizen.
If Aizen didn't want to screw me so badly our bakery would have been shut down.
"Just give us two more weeks that's all I'm asking," I said into the phone with desperation.
"I understand you already extended it for a week!" I yelled again. Damn I should learn to control my temper. "Just until November 1st, that's all I'm asking and we'll pay." I said as I hung up the phone, debating if I should take Aizen up on his offer or not.
"Ichigo..." I was pulled out of my thoughts as I heard my name.
"What was all that about?" Karin asked with a worried look.
"Don't worry, it was nothing." I lied, hoping she bought it. She gave me a questioning look. "If you need more help I can always quit my afternoon activities and help out more," she said as she leant against the door frame.
"No, I can handle it." I said as I walked back to the kitchen.
"Clearly you can't if you have to keep begging for extensions because you can't make the monthly payment." She said in an exasperated tone.
"I can manage." I said again. "There's no need to worry, everything is fine." I said with a fake smile of reassurance. She just stared at me and finally sighed. "Fine…" With that she walked away.
I refuse to have my little sisters constantly worrying about our family debts. I'll find a way to fix this.
Xxxxxxxx
Grimmjow POV
"I quit!" I yelled as I threw my apron to the ground.
"What the hell do you mean you quit!" My boss yelled back at me.
"Just what the fuck it meant: I quit, this is the last straw! You've been cutting my check for the last three fucking pay periods and this month you only paid me a quarter of what you owe me;" I yelled as I made my exit.
"I mean it, this time I'm fed up, god damn it." I yelled and all the customers slowly stopped eating to watch us argue.
"You can't quit tonight, we're serving a full house and you're the head fucking chef!" My boss yelled back.
"Screw you, I have a kid to feed and if you're not willing to fucking pay me at all then I quit!" I yelled back as I exited the restaurant through the front.
"Damn it," I said underneath my breath. That cheap bastard had been cutting my hourly wages.
I could understand if business was declining and he couldn't afford to pay me but the bastard has one of the most popular restaurants in Karakura, which was all because of me I may add. The only reason why I didn't quite until today was because of Nel. I can't have my kid starving for my own selfish reasons. I was willing to buy all this shit about how he would add the rest to next month's payment until today when that bastard had the nerve to pay me only a quarter of my salary.
'I refuse to be that man's bitch,' I thought to myself as I walked to pick up Nel from her daycare, before I start looking in the local newspaper for job postings.