Author's Note: I recently watched the anime of Antique Bakery and fell in love with the boys. I also screened the Korean live-action film and grew determined to write a post-anime story from Ono's POV, full of hurt/comfort and Ono/Tachibana…with a hint of Ono/Chikage because the big lug is just too sweet not to indulge. (I hated that the Korean film downplayed Ono/Chikage entirely and made Chikage such a dork.) Anyhow, below is the first chapter. Feedback is most welcome as I consider how long and how graphic to make this little yaoi adventure. Onegai shimasu!

Recipe for Ruin

Chapter 1

It was Chikage who found him.

I was sitting at the bar, watching ice melt and twist in my nearly empty glass, not unable but quite unwilling to turn on the charm. I pushed away others' disappointment, frustration, and concern with equal dispassion. Their questions and comments were flies buzzing against the louder roar of the club's music.

What's he doing at the Lollipop alone?

Does he have an exclusive lover at last?

Is he sick?

I slapped away at least three hands trying to feel my forehead to see if I was ill. And, of course, I was. In a way.

Tachibana had gone, having left only a short, overly cheerful note about visiting some patisserie on the far end of Tokyo that had modeled itself after Antique. Though it was not garnering the press or the success we were, he said he needed to know the competition, and left.

Was I suspicious? Of course. It was Tachibana being Tachibana: always worrying about others' feelings before his own. But he was a grown man, as was I. He was my boss, and my friend. We'd agreed on that, after all. No sex meant no break up. And we both wanted what we had. So, if Tachibana wanted privacy, whether to investigate business rivals or simply to drive off into the sunset for a few days, that was his right. And his loyal crew would simply carry on and keep Antique humming until he chose to return.

For the first two days, Eiji was overjoyed. Having just returned from a second trip to Paris, he was full of badly pronounced French, new recipe ideas, and giddiness at freedom from what he called the oppressively watchful eye of "Gramps." Chikage, by contrast, was characteristically nervous from the moment he found the note, though he managed to break only two china plates (one full of brioche) and a single teacup by the third day.

As closing time came and went the fourth night, however, Eiji had lost his playfulness and Chikage was downright morose as he swept the front walk listlessly. I began to wonder if we all had the same idea: to stay all night in hopes he'd return. "He'll be back when he's ready," I told them both firmly, laying a hand on Chikage's broad shoulder and trying to convince us all.

"I shouldn't have moved out," Chikage mumbled behind his glasses. I leaned up and wiped away his tears.

"Maybe you shouldn't have," Eiji grumbled, pushing past us to get onto his scooter and head off to who knew where.

I sighed. Tachibana had to work out his issues his own way. Since he'd saved that boy six months earlier and acknowledged that he wasn't going to look for his kidnapper any more, he'd changed. He spent more time alone, and the contrast between his cheerful, solicitous public self and his introverted private side grew increasingly distinct. As for me, I kept making pastry and unsweetened savories to tempt his flagging appetite, and hoped he'd come out of it when he was ready. As he'd said that day half a year ago, he wanted to keep Antique going as long as we could, even if nothing lasted forever.

Chikage sighed audibly beside me as I looked up into the moonless sky. "Don't worry now. 'Young master' is a big boy. He'll come home soon. And he knows where we are, waiting."

The big lug nodded, and I held him close for a moment in the glow of the store's little outdoor lamp. The nurturing papa was a strange role for the notorious gay Ono Yuusuke, but not an unwelcome one. In comforting Chikage, I comforted myself.

Once I'd sent the sweet sensitive giant off to his apartment and locked up, I headed straight for Lollipop. I needed the escape of the club's atmosphere and my unfaltering popularity to keep from getting as worked up as the others over Tachibana's prolonged absence. But it had failed to raise my spirits while the alcohol had just made me woozy.

I was rising amid protests that I stay for just one dance, one drink, one kiss when I saw Chikage come in the door. He was his usual self, rigid posture, formal suit, dark glasses, and somber expression. I ran to him, nearly tripping over my own feet, and grabbed his lapels to steady myself. "Chikage! Is it Tachibana? Is he all right?"

He gave a barely perceptible nod and urged me to follow him back to Antique. As I grabbed my jacket and he led me to his car, Chikage explained in hushed tones and with more words than I needed that he had closed up and gone home, put on his pajamas and made himself some tea, only to fear that he had perhaps forgotten to turn the lock properly. So he had redressed himself in a suit (complete with tie!) and returned, an hour later, to Antique. I drummed my fingers on the dashboard as Chikage explained in his overly detailed fashion. When he began to apologize for his ineptness at explanation, I sat on my hands and reassured him that he was doing just fine. Eventually, as we pulled up to Antique, entirely dark but for the car's headlights, he had at last gotten to the point: Tachibana was inside, locked in the bathroom beyond the kitchen, demanding that Chikage "get the hell out" and tell no one he was back.

The embarrassed flush of Chikage's face was bright enough to be seen even in the dark, and I touched his cheek and told him I would make everything all right. Somehow. He passed me the keys to the shop, and I admonished him to return home and get some sleep. I would call him in the morning, first thing, without fail, and there would be good news. He nodded, ever an obedient child of a man, and took my hand to kiss it. "Thank you, Ono-san," he said with more earnestness than any man should ever have. It was my turn to blush, and I fled the car before thoughts of Tachibana turned to devilish desires of seduction.