Miku stared longingly across the street at Revival, wishing she could have been the one to get hired there. All she had wanted was to spend some time alone with her beloved Futaro, but then Nino had to get in the way. The thought of her sister alone with Futaro made her uncomfortable, yet filled her with determination.
"I will not lose to her…" Miku thought to herself as she spun around and stepped inside the bakery where she was now employed.
Entering into the dining area, Miku took notice of her new surroundings. The bakery, or Komugi-ya as it was known, was a small, quaint little establishment. The small building wasn't much to look at. The walls were mostly bare, only a few pictures hanging on the walls. A handful of plain tables were scattered about the room, a few chairs set out at each one. Of course, people didn't come here for the decor. Komugi-ya had gained a great reputation recently as a result of their fresh-baked loaves of bread and pastries, even stealing customers from their rival business across the street.
"Ah yes, you're here." The voice startled Miku back to reality as the store's manager peeked around a corner from the kitchen. "I'm sorry to put you on the spot so quickly, but I could use a bit of a hand right now. There's a uniform on the counter for you. Please put it on and meet me back here in a few minutes."
Obliging, Miku quickly found her uniform and made her way into the kitchen. "Great, it fits," the manager said hastily as she ran to remove a loaf of bread from the oven. "We're almost ready to go for the day, but we're a couple of loaves of bread short. I have to go run a few errands, so could you make them for me? I left a recipe over by the mixing bowl for you. Thanks!"
"But I'm…" Miku barely got those words out as the manager ran out of the restaurant and down the street without waiting for her reply. "...horrible at baking." Shaking, Miku looked at the recipe in front of her. "This seems simple enough, I suppose," observed Miku as she set about gathering the ingredients necessary to begin her task.
After what seemed like an eternity, Miku heard the bakery door open. "I'm back, Miku," she heard the manager say. "Sorry it took so long, but there was a huge line at the… at the…"
Stepping into the kitchen, the manager dropped her grocery bags, staring in terror at what she saw before her. Globs of dough were scattered across the walls as if a goop-filled bomb had exploded. Smoke was spewing from the oven, the burnt remnants of a loaf resting inside. A ghost was kneeling on the floor in front of her.
"A gh-gh-ghost?!" The manager gasped. The apparition rose and slowly walked towards her. The manager backed up and shrank against the nearest wall in terror. The horror of the figure's steady approach was amplified by a quiet sobbing noise. Looking on in a fear never felt in her life, the manager noticed something peculiar. The ghost was wearing shoes. Quizzically, the manager stood up and stared down the impending terror. "Miku? Is that you? What happened here?" she inquired.
Quickly bowing, Miku looked up at the manager, tears starting to form in her eyes. "I'm sorry for the mess. I'll be sure to wash my uniform and have it returned to you by tomorrow. Thank you for giving me a chance, at least."
The manager shook her head and said, "Nonsense. It was my fault for leaving you unattended on your first day. We'll get you trained up on this in time. Let's get this mess cleaned up then you can go change. I have a spare uniform you can use for the time being. We'll find something else for you to do."
Working together, the mess took around half an hour to clean up. "Now that that's all taken care of," the manager said, "I'll go ahead and get started making the rest of that bread. We open in a few minutes, so I'm going to train you on the register." The pair walked out to the main dining room in clean uniforms. Sitting on the counter by the pastry display was the cash register. It was a fairly simple device, compared to some of the newer models, but it served the bakery's needs just fine.
"As the cashier, you're responsible for all the money we take in during the day," the manager instructed. "The first thing you'll do when opening the register is to pull out our starting money. Make sure to count it and make sure the amount is correct. After doing this, you'll be ready to start taking orders."
The manager continued, "Each of these," pointing to an array of buttons on the machine, "represents one item on our menu. As the customer orders, all you have to do is hit the corresponding button and the register will add it to the tally. When the customer is done, hit the total button, and that will display the grand total they owe us. Next, type in how much money the customer gives you and press total again. This resulting number will tell you how much change you owe them. After all of that, you can then retrieve their items from the case and send them on their way. Running the register is as simple as that. It's a piece of cake," the manager laughed quietly to herself. "Any questions?"
Miku stared at the machine before her and shook her head enthusiastically. She had already messed up once, but she was determined not to let that stop her. After all, she needed this job in order to pay her share of the rent in their apartment. The alternative—moving back home with her stepfather—was completely out of the question. She'd never get to see Futaro if that happened.
"Great," the manager said. "It's usually a bit slower in the mornings, so you should have time to get used to things before the rush hits. I'm going to go ahead and get working on these bread loaves. I'll be able to help a bit more once they're in the oven, but until then, if you need any help, feel free to ask!" With that, the manager waved and made her way back to the kitchen.
The first few customers proved not to be a problem. An elderly lady came in for her morning tea and muffin. An office worker stopped by for some karepan to share with his colleagues. Miku was able to handle those orders without much hassle, aside from being a little slow. It wasn't until a young college student stopped in that things got a bit dicey.
"Good morning! How may I serve you today?" Miku inquired.
The customer eyed Miku with intrigue. "Do you have hot buns?" he asked, a smirk spread wide on his face.
As Miku looked through the display case, the young man's eyes followed her every move. Returning to the counter, Miku replied, "No, we don't. May I help you with anything else?"
The man's countenance returned to its original smirk. "I could use some sugar," he slyly declared, placing extra emphasis on the latter part.
Miku looked at him quizzically and answered, "I'm sorry, but I can't just give you sugar without a purchase. This is a bakery, not a grocery store."
"Listen," the man retorted, growing increasingly aggravated with the situation at this point. "I was trying to be subtle, but clearly that's not working. So let's try it this way. Would you like to have dinner with me this weekend?"
Shocked, Miku retreated slightly and quietly muttered a single word under her breath: "No."
The man aggressively took another step towards the counter. No one had ever turned him down before. "What was that?" he snarled. "I don't think I heard you correctly. I'll ask you again. You. Me. Dinner on Saturday. You in?"
Miku kept retreating until her back was against the wall. As she slid down to a crouch, tears started rolling down her face. "No," she squeaked again, but it fell silent under the sound of her sobs.
The man, fully in control now, dealt the final blow to the now helpless Miku. "Was that a yes? Good. Meet me here at 6 on Saturday evening. Wear something pretty, a bit on the revealing side. I'll show you a good…"
BAM!
Before he could finish, he was flying through the air towards the door. "What the…," he thought. Grabbing the side of his face in agony, he looked back at the counter. The manager slowly approached him, dusting off her hands in the process. The look on her face would scare even the devil.
Now towering over the once powerful man, hands on her hips, she threatened, "I'll only say this once. Never. Harass. My. Employees. Now, if you know what's good for you, you'll apologize to her, leave my shop, then never come back again."
Shaking with fear, the young man quickly bowed in Miku's direction. Pleading, as if for his life, he started, "I'm terribly sorry. Please forgive me. I'll never harass another girl again."
Before Miku could respond, the now defeated customer scurried to his feet and scampered out the door. "Sorry you had to deal with that, Miku." The manager looked apologetically at her. "Why don't you go home for the day, so you can recover from that heinous act? We have enough here to cover for the rest of the day anyway. I look forward to working with you again tomorrow!"
Miku politely bowed towards the manager and started to head out of the restaurant. Halfway through the doorway to the outside world, the manager called out, "By the way, you did a wonderful job handling the counter. I'm impressed you picked up on it so quickly!" Miku turned and flashed a quick smile before heading on her way.
Once home, Miku was surprised to find that she was all alone. The others hadn't returned from their own jobs yet. All the better though. Miku had decided on her way home that she wanted to take a bath to relax and clean up after the hard day's work she had put in. A lot had happened, almost all of which wound up in disaster. "Am I really going to be okay working there?" Miku wondered as she drew the warm water into the tub.
Stepping into the bath, the warmth of the water made Miku melt into the tub. It was if all of her worries had washed away. But the water held nothing compared to the warmth she felt in her heart. "That's right," Miku remembered. "I'm not doing this just for me. I'm doing this for all of us." The steam from the bath wavered into the shape, vaguely reminiscent of Futaro's face. "And for you, too," Miku smiled, filled with a renewed sense of determination.
Author's Note: This is the first in a series of short stories featuring each of the quintuplets, mostly as an exercise in writing each of them prior to trying to tackle a larger story. Any feedback you have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!