The Bakery
Chapter 1
He was putting his fresh meat pies into the oven when he heard the bell ring at the front of the shop. Sighing in slight annoyance at the interruption, he wiped his hands on his apron and walked out of the oven room. It was a perfectly normal day, so—as usual—he went out there with the intention of greeting the customer and convincing them to buy his best cakes, buns, and general bakery goods. He'd only recently taken over the family business since his mother had passed away and his father was simply too incompetent to do anything useful. Luckily, though, everything had gone quite smoothly so far.
He was not expecting this… complication.
He had heard of the famous Kuchiki family, of course. Everyone had. They were a small family of models, living in the mansion at the top of the hill. All three of them were, by definition, absolutely gorgeous. The most famous of them was Kuchiki Byakuya; he had been voted hottest male alive two years ago. Ichigo didn't find him particularly hot per se, but nobody could deny those good looks. Unfortunately, Byakuya's wife had been murdered by an enthusiastic fan that same year, thereby reducing the family's number to two. Ironically, the funeral was held on the same day as the trial. Now it was common knowledge that, since the death of his wife, Byakuya had become extraordinarily protective of his younger sister, Rukia. Her modelling career had been cut short for fear that she would be the victim of a similar attack. As such, she was the very last person Ichigo had expected to see waiting at the counter.
In simple words, he had never seen a more beautiful woman in all his life.
All thoughts of cakes and bread flew out of his mind as he stood there gawking at her. Her skin was the colour of moonlight and equally as bright. Her hair was as dark as night, and her eyes were a stunning shade of violet. Her simple blue sundress flowed with her body, covering her modestly but not hiding a single curve.
He must have died and gone to heaven. There was no way an angel such as her could exist in this world.
Rukia stood self-consciously in the small shop, fully aware of the baker's eyes sweeping over her humble body, taking in every detail. When she began to feel uncomfortable with his intense scrutiny, she raised an eyebrow in fake confidence and spoke. "Are you planning on staring at me like that all day?"
Her voice rang like no sound Ichigo had ever heard before. He half-closed his eyes, letting himself enjoy it. Then, suddenly, her words hit him, and he snapped out of it. Embarrassment quickly filled in the gaps.
"S—sorry, ma'am," he stuttered, giving a quick bow and trying to remember who he was and what he was supposed to be doing. He fought against the blush creeping its way across his cheeks, and forced his face into his usual scowl. It wasn't the nicest face he had in his repertoire, but it was the only one he could manage in this situation.
"Well, then. I'm after some bread. White, please," Rukia asked politely, cutting to the chase. She'd noticed his scowl and had likely been offended. It was a typical reaction, and one which couldn't be helped, really.
"B—bread?" Ichigo wondered what that had to do with anything.
Rukia regarded him as one might regard a harmlessly insane person. She honestly seemed to have no idea of the effect she was having on him. "This is a bakery," she reminded him in slight confusion.
Right. Of course it was. Ichigo tried again to get his thoughts in order. White bread on the left, he reminded himself.
He moved robotically towards the shelf containing the white bread. Was running a bakery usually this difficult? He concentrated on picking it up. Then he moved back to the counter and passed the bread to Miss Kuchiki. He let out a sigh of relief, glad that he hadn't messed up that simple task.
Rukia opened her purse and looked at Ichigo expectantly.
He didn't react.
"Uh… How much?" she asked after a minute of awkward silence.
"How much… what?" Ichigo mumbled, caught in her spell again.
She suddenly leaned forwards and snapped her fingers in his face. "Wake up already!" she exclaimed.
Ichigo stepped back in surprise. "What the hell, midget?!" he said without thinking.
"Oh!" Rukia was shocked. "So that's how you treat your customers?!" she shouted angrily, losing her temper and slamming the bread down on the counter. She reached over it and grabbed Ichigo by the collar. "How. Much?" she enunciated slowly and firmly, her face inches from his.
Ichigo fought to keep his concentration, not letting her close proximity get to him. "Uh… one dollar," he guessed off the top of his head.
She put a dollar in the front pocket of his shirt, picked up her bread, and began to walk towards the door, clearly furious. Then she paused, and turned back to shout at him one more time. "Don't think I'll ever come back here!" she told him, her thorough irritation obvious in her expression.
That couldn't have gone any worse, Ichigo thought miserably, going to check on the meat pies.
As Rukia left the store, certain that she would never go near that man again—what was the name on his name tag? Kurosaki Ichigo?—she noticed a sign outside reading, "White bread—$4."
Four dollars?
The next day, the bell in the bakery rang again for Kuchiki Rukia.
A/N: I wrote the second half of this after my thumb on my right hand (I'm right-handed) got squished in a barbecue. The barbecue wasn't turned on, thankfully, or I would have a squished and burnt thumb. As it was, it still hurt a lot and made writing almost impossible. But I was bored so I wrote anyway.
So why am I writing an IchiRuki story? Even better, why is it about a bakery? All these questions and more will be answered. I hope.
Review please!! ^_^
BR/N (Beta Reader's Note): Hi. It's me, Firisu, one of Ciel In A Dress' many best friends in real life, as well as the beta reader for everything she writes. And can I just say how happy I am that she's actually writing IchiRuki for once? It's quite a nice change from the hardcore NaruSasu yaoi she usually gets me to beta read. So, yes, I'm very happy. And it'd make me even more happy if you'd leave a review and make her happy. ;]