Hello and welcome to my new-old story? I was deciding on what I wanted to do with Twisting Dreams. I started writing it almost three years ago, and a lot has changed since then. I thought about just deleting it and not working on it ever again. I thought about leaving it up and letting anyone who wanted to read what was written do so, but not adding more to it. I also thought about attempting to simply add more chapters. What it came down to was the fact that I know I'm not the same writer that I was three years ago. Therefore, there were pretty much two options. The first was deleting it and moving on. The second was deleting and starting over. I decided to start over with this story. I do love this fandom, and I think it gets less love than it should at times. I have to admit, I don't know how I feel about this chapter. I'm not sure if it's just because I'm getting back into the groove of these characters or what. If nothing else, then after I graduate from college, hopefully I'll be able to go back and watch the anime or read the manga and that will give me a little boost with this story.
That being said, I do have to mention that I'm a senior in college. Therefore, I'm not really reading over these chapters before I post them. There will be grammar and spelling mistakes, but I hope to generally keep those to a minimum. Sorry if that bothers you, it's all I can do at the moment. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter and the story as a whole. Reviews are always appreciated!
All rights go to the creators and owners of Yumeiro Patissiere.
"Will you stop that?" Makoto Kashino grumbled under his breath, shifting from foot to foot. "You're making a scene."
Before him stood Ichigo Amano with her nose high in the air. She sniffed twice in one direction and then twice in another. From the moment they'd left their apartment that morning, she said she was on the trail of something. She wouldn't tell him what, but she could tell they were getting close.
"Do you want to find this or not?" she asked, beginning to trail off in one direction. She was certain that she was picking up a particular, familiar scent in the air. It was the first time she'd noticed it since they'd arrived in London, but it gave her a certain warm feeling that reminded her of home all the way back in Japan.
A groan echoed from Makoto's throat as he covered his face with his hand, "I said we could look it up online. We don't need to walk around the streets of London searching for some scent. Besides, people are staring."
"I didn't know you were so sensitive," Ichigo shoot him a mischievous look. She spent more time than she probably should have teasing him. But she never understood the point of living without a little fun in the day –fun and sweets.
"It's not that I'm-" he started, but was cut off when Ichigo raised her hand.
She sniffed once more before grabbing his hand and pulling him down the street. She could feel his hesitation as she dragged him behind her. Though, she couldn't tell if he was worried about being forced down a foreign street or because she was holding his hand. They'd officially begun dating before leaving Japan a week ago –if telling Satsuki, Sennosuke, Caramel, and Café meant they were official. Makoto said he wasn't embarrassed by the fact, but he'd insisted that they didn't need to tell people outside of their close friends.
They ran three blocks down the street until Ichigo suddenly halted midway down the third. Turning towards the gigantic glass window, she leaned her face down to see the sweets on display.
"This is it!" she announced, rather pleased with her nose.
"So what was it you were smelling?" Makoto asked, glancing at the various pastries inside.
It was clear that professionals ran the bakery. There were rows of identical sweets lined up, begging for people passing by to stop and buy them. Makoto had, had no doubt where they would end up after their misadventure. Ichigo's nose always landed them at bakeries or restaurants. While he did not want to promote her decisions to pull them down random streets to find food, his stomach was beginning to rumble.
"Let's go in!" Ichigo said, unable to contain her excitement.
"Amano," Makoto started, but realized it was no use. She was already slipping in through the front door before he could attempt to stop her from rushing in. The thought of her attempting to buy the entire bakery passed through his mind, and without another thought he slipped in behind her.
As expected, he found her at the front counter staring at an even large array of baked goods that were shown off in the window. Reaching for his wallet, he wondered how much longer he could afford to eat out before his parents would cut him off. Henri Lucas had set it all up; telling them that they would have a certain amount of money each month for food, and their apartment was completely covered by the school. Their families supplied extra spending money, and, while his parents were still not pleased about his career decisions, they gave in and got him a debt card. Unfortunately, they'd eaten out at least once every day since they arrived in London.
"Amano, remember, we have to stop eating out so much. You're going to run out of money," he knew that she heard him, but she showed no sign of acknowledgement. "Amano."
Springing back up, she wagged her pointer finger in his face. "You said that we could call each other by our first names now. It's Ichigo!"
When they decided to start dating, he'd promised her that they would be on a first name basis, but he was having a difficult time breaking old habits. Saying her first name still brought butterflies to his stomach and blood to his cheeks. Which was why, he was glad she instantly went back to drool over the pastries.
"Makoto, look at these," she pointed down to a row of treats. From the sounds in her voice, he could tell she was positive that these were the cause of her scent tracking. Since starting at St. Marie Academy, she'd learned one of her better talents was her sense of smell. Since then, she'd worked on honing in on her abilities. She wasn't quite sure if there was any difference from before, but she liked to believe so.
She made room, as Makoto leaned down to look at what she was pointing at. From the outside, they didn't look like anything special, just typical croissants. It was the sign sitting next to them that intrigued him.
"Red bean croissants," he read aloud. "Red bean?"
It was not a complete surprise to see pastry chefs using Asian based ingredients in their baked goods, but he hadn't expected to find them in a bakery down the backstreets of London.
"Oh, hello," a woman said, a bit surprised to see two young adults standing in her bakery.
Ichigo and Makoto stood up once more, returning the greeting to the woman behind the counter.
"Welcome to my bakery, Le Gâteau. How may I help you?" a smile brightened her face as she waited to hear their requests.
There was something about her hair, nicely formed and blonde, that made the two of them glance at each other. It was as though they recognized her from somewhere, even though they'd only just met.
"Two red bean croissants and teas, please," Makoto ordered before Ichigo could get a say in the matter. If he let her order, they'd end up with one of each of the baked goods, and no money left in their pockets.
"Please, take a seat. They will be brought out to you," the woman said, before disappearing behind the door and into the kitchen.
"She looks familiar, doesn't she?" Ichigo asked, picking out a seat close to the front window of the shop.
As they sat down, she was finally able to take in the open front of the store. It reminded her of their shop back in Marie's Garden. The floors were a rich, dark oak with cream-colored walls. There were about ten wooden tables with chairs situated around them. It was a quaint, warm place –exactly as Ichigo had hoped for.
"Can we come out now?" the voice came from the hat sat atop her head. Vanilla lifted the front of it, peeking out to see Makoto in front of her.
"Yes, you can come out now. Thank you for staying in there so long," Ichigo said, as she watched the spirit fly down to the table. Chocolat joined her moments later from under Makoto's hat. "It's a good thing it's winter, or we wouldn't have had hats to wear."
While the spirits couldn't be seen by anyone without a spirit themselves, they'd all agreed that it would be safest for Vanilla and Chocolat to remain hidden until they had sat down somewhere and weren't roaming the streets.
"I thought you said we were going to stop eating out so much yesterday," Chocolat said in a matter-of-fact tone.
It was true. Ichigo had promised that she'd stop forcing them into different shops and restaurants. The only problem was, she couldn't possibly say no when her nose caught a scent. Besides, they were in a foreign country; it was only natural to be interested in the food of a different culture.
"It's fine," Makoto said, letting his spirit know that he wasn't bothered. He could tell that their ventures out were making Ichigo truly happy, and, if that was the case, he could suffer through some more pocket money. He, however, added one little rule to the matter, "But you're cooking breakfast tomorrow."
Before Ichigo could even think to protest, the swing of a door and footsteps drew their attention towards a girl about their age. Her blonde hair matched that of the woman who took their order, hair that still seemed to spark recognition in the two Japanese students.
"Two orders of red bean croissants and tea," the girl announced as she brought the food to the table. She was about to place the plates down, when she noticed the two spirits seated towards the center. "You two have sweets spirits?"
Ichigo's eyes widened, surprised to see someone that could see Vanilla and Chocolat. Since arriving in London, they'd gone to at least six bakeries, and yet no one had been able to see the spirits.
"Yes," she finally got out, "this is my partner Vanilla, and his partner Chocolat. I'm Ichigo, by the way."
"Ichigo?" the girl sounded confused, as though she couldn't figure out the way to pronounce the name, but quickly revealed why. "You wouldn't by chance be Ichigo Amano and Makoto Kashino, would you?"
Makoto felt his eyebrow rise as he internally questioned how the girl could possibly know whom they were. After all, they'd only been in the country for a short amount of time, and they had yet to even work on their new shop. How could someone know them?
Yet, Ichigo wasn't going to question much or even feel uncertain in how she might know their names. She only answered, "Yes, we are."
"I thought you might be. I saw the final round of the Grand Prix three years ago. You look a little different, but I thought I recognized you."
"That's not all," a voice called from behind her. A spirit flew to her shoulder; a boy with brown-red hair brought their attention to him. He leaned into the girl's ear and whispered something.
"I know that," she dismissed the spirit. "Don't mind him, he usually thinks he knows everything. I'm Lettice Finch, and this is my partner Azuki."
"Maybe it's a men thing?" Ichigo joked, avoiding Makoto's glare in her direction.
"Lettice?" Vanilla said, thinking hard on why that sounded uncommon yet so familiar.
A thought rushed to Chocolat, as she floated towards her own partner's shoulder. She whispered her into his ear, before sitting down on his shoulder.
"You're Lettice Finch that attends the London branch of St. Marie Academy, aren't you?" Makoto asked, taking note of what Chocolat had just reminded him.
"One in the same."
She placed the plates and saucers down on the table. Her smile emanated through the room, clearly someone used to working in customer service.
"I can't wait to work you in Marie's Garden," Lettice said, backing away from the table before bowing low. She'd heard from her uncle that it was the proper way to greet people in Japan, though she still felt strange doing it.
Almost falling out of her chair, Ichigo snapped her fingers and forced herself back up. "You're Lettice Finch! The one who is going to be working with us in Marie's Garden!"
Without fail, Makoto rested his hand on his face; embarrassed by the amount of time it took for Ichigo to make the connection. He only dropped his hand down, when he heard the giggling coming from the girl serving them. She seemed to find a great amusement out of the two of them.
"You're both too funny," she could barely get a breath in between her spurts of laughter.
It was now Azuki's turn to cover his face with embarrassment. But it didn't last long, as he floated down in front of his partner. "Please enjoy the sweets," he said, giving a small bow himself. He then turned around and pointed towards the kitchen, "Let's go."
Left alone, their conversation returned to its regular tone. While it was common to see the two bickering, they'd learned how to handle and even compromise with each other, at least sometimes. Even Vanilla and Chocolat were learning how to get over their disagreements, though they did occasionally still end in a glaring match or bake-off.
"Well at least Azuki seems to have manners," Chocolat said, taking a sip out of one of the teacups.
"Azuki," Makoto said, as though he was working through a complex math equation in his head. "I guess that is the reason for the red bean croissants."
"I'm going to try it," Ichigo didn't waste her time, picking up the French pastry and taking a large bite from one end. Her eyes remained close, something that Makoto had grown more used to since their first year at St. Marie Academy. He still generally ate with his eyes open, but he understood her reasoning for not.
When she did come back to the present, her eyes widened and a smile stretched across her face. "It's amazing! Try it, Makoto," she pushed.
Much in the same manner that saying her name felt strange to him, hearing her call him by his first name always made him double take. Then again, after going to New York and now in London, it was the natural thing to do.
Regardless, he did as she commanded, taking a bite of the pastry and finding the sweet bean taste oddly satisfying. It reminded him of Sennosuke and his family's business –a pleasant memory, especially in the middle of a foreign land.
The two dished out a small amount for their sweet spirits as they drank their tea. It felt surreal, and yet so natural. As though, they hadn't left their small shop in the Japanese Marie's Garden in the hands of Lemon and Mint and rushed off to London. That this exchange could be happening at Salon de Marie despite knowing that it wasn't true. Makoto had a feeling it would only grow more daunting as they began the actual work of the new Marie's Garden, but he was up for it.
As they finished their afternoon tea, Lettice stuck her head back out from the kitchen. "All done?" she asked, as she stepped out to the main dining area to take their dishes back. "Was everything to your liking?"
"It was delicious!" Ichigo announced, raising her arms up to show that she was finished and perhaps ready for a nap.
"We should be going home," Makoto said, rising from his seat. He turned to Lettice, extending his hand. "We will meet again tomorrow, but at Marie's Garden."
The blonde, English girl nodded her head, barely able to contain her excitement. For a moment, it looked as though she was going to attempt to give her future teammates a hug, but she thought the better of it in the last second.
Instead, she bowed once more, "See you tomorrow!"
The bell sounded as the two left the bakery, with waves and even a bundle of day old pastries in their hands. With their spirits back under their hats, it looked almost natural as they walked down the street, blending in with the crowd surrounding them. A feeling of quaintness and relaxation came over the two of them, knowing that they were headed exactly where they needed to be going.
