So, I've been sitting on this request for a long time and finally picked one of the multiple ideas I had bouncing around in my head.

I don't think this exactly counts as a "bashing" fic, but I went with what I knew I could execute to the best of my abilities... I hope it turns out well.

Mystical, ol' buddy ol' pal, this one's for you, even if it's not exactly what you were looking for!

I am a detective with the Tokyo Police Department. My name is not only irrelevant to the report of the investigation that I am about to relay, but would more than likely put me in danger if it were to be leaked to the public, so please excuse me in advance for my secrecy.

Due to a long held suspicion of mine of bakeries and bread in general, the source of which is also irrelevant to this report, I, for an indeterminable period of time have done off-the-record "mini-investigations" of the bakery chains Pantasia and St. Pierre, specifically their main stores. These involved looking over employee records, tournament synopses, and spending and stock reports, information available mostly through their websites and a few contacts that I have made during previous investigations and on my own time, and making various lists and records of my findings. I understand this may seem a bit neurotic to some, but once again I say that I have my reasons, and that these reasons are completely irrelevant.

During one of my more thorough look overs, I discovered a pattern of periodic, shall we say, "disappearances" of security officers from the Pantasia main store. Their records of employment would vanish, and so would any evidence that they had been paid or had planned to be paid or had ever existed at all, the only reason I knew of them was because of my neurotic investigatory lists. Many have vanished since then. Those that have "disappeared" are mostly men, but a woman had vanished at one point as well.

At one point I had asked my superiors if this matter could be investigated further, but since no one had filed a missing person's report for any of the "disappeared" employees (None of them had had any family members or good friends who would care enough to do so), Pantasia itself didn't seem at all bothered or even notice that their security officers were being picked off (Since the paper trail had gone with the persons themselves), and last but not least, that I had been investigating these things without instruction or any good reason (Irrelevant), I had been told to drop the matter.

So I waited until I had about a week of vacation days saved up, and took actions into my own hands.

I would find out what happened to these people, no matter what.

It was a quiet, sunny morning. Approximately 9:30 AM, one half-hour after Pantasia main had opened for business, and the breakfast rush had nearly ended, with just a few stragglers left behind. That was when I had decided to be the best time to make my move, it would be hard to stand out.

It had been about a year and a half since I had asked to investigate the "disappearances", and they had since then stopped. The last one occurred many months ago, after there had been a small break after Pantasia and St. Pierre merged, during the TV program in which both companies were involved.

Since this was an unofficial investigation, I had left behind most of my usual equipment. I brought with me a stun gun, which I of course kept hidden, a flash light, and a small bottle of luminol, prepared for the worst. But without my badge, there was no way I could barge my way in. But I really had no other ideas, coming right out and stating my business had always been the best course of action during an official investigation, an unofficial one should be no different.

I walked right up to the counter and asked to see the management.

The employees working there asked me why.

Not wanting to give away what I was doing there, I said for no reason. It seemed the logical thing to do.

They laughed in my face.

Being a civilian is quite frustrating. (A point not relevant to the case, but something I believe to be important nonetheless.)

"Excuse me, is there a problem?" I heard a female voice say from behind me.

The employees working the counter blanched. "Ah, S-Suwabara-san, how are you this morning?"

I turned to see a heavily pregnant Caucasian woman with red hair tied up in two pigtails. She had one hand on her stomach and the other on her hip. She was scowling, and looked a bit pale and unsteady on her feet.

"I've been better."

I guessed that she was an employee. If she was an employee, that meant she was late today, as the store opened half an hour ago, but employees were required to come in much earlier to prep for work. Bakers work very strange hours since bread takes so long to make and goes stale so quickly. She was pregnant, and her pallor and behavior were conducive to nausea. Morning sickness was most likely the reason she was late.

She turned to me with a strong look in her eye and confident posture, not letting her obvious poor condition take anything out of her. I decided I liked her. She seemed trustworthy. "Do you need something?" She asked me.

The employee working at the counter called her a Japanese name. She didn't appear to have any kinds of features half-Japanese people tended to have, so she must be married to a Japanese man. That would be the father of the baby she was carrying. I wondered if he knew what a rough morning she had had. She seemed the type to want to handle everything on her own, as confident as she acted in her condition, so probably not. She was also more than likely used to morning sickness by this late point in her pregnancy.

I told her I needed to see the management.

"Ah, I was heading that way, myself. I'll take you there." She gave me a kind smile. A motherly smile, I thought. What a lovely young woman.

The other employees protested. "B-But, he..."

"Oh, shut up! And stop being so suspicious!" She snapped. "He looks like an alright guy, and he just wants to talk to Tsukino. What's the problem!?" She glared at her fellow employees. I wondered if these particular employees had caused trouble before, or if she was just in a bad mood because of the morning she had had, or if the hormone influx caused by her pregnancy made her angry often. I suspected either the first or third option to be the most likely, as the other employees seemed intimidated by her.

She turned to me again, and tilted her head in the direction of a door behind the counter, indicating that I was to follow her and that was the way we were going.

Through the door led to a hallway full of more doors. There were carts full of ingredients and finished product everywhere, I shied away from these. Most everything I saw was gray, including the walls and ceiling. This part of the building was meant to be practical for easily working and moving around in, not pretty to draw in customers from the street. I saw a few security personnel pass by, and I wondered which one of them would be next to "disappear". I saw no bakers, they were all hard at work in their kitchens by this time.

"So..." My escort turned to me then. "What do you need to see Tsukino for? I wasn't wrong about you and you're not just some creep, right?"

I told her no, I was not 'just some creep'.

Tsukino. Tsukino Azusagawa. CEO of the Pantasia group. Seventeen years old, going on eighteen. Still works mostly with her grandfather, Sadanao Azusagawa, owner and founder of the Pantasia group. Father, estranged. Mother, deceased. Sister, Mizuno Azusagawa, manager of Pantasia's New Tokyo branch. Sister, Yukino Azusagawa, CEO of St. Pierre, out of the public eye since her match on Yakitate! 25.

I found my escort a trustworthy woman. I waited until there were as few as possible people around and explained to her my purpose there that day.

She did not appear at all shocked by my report. Noted. "Those poor bastards. That frigid bitch's doing, it's gotta be." She shook her head solemnly, and clicked her tongue.

... 'Frigid bitch'?

She saw the question in my eyes, apparently, and continued. "Yukino Azusagawa. A meaner whore from hell there never was." Her eyes narrowed. "I was supposed to be given a general manager position at St. Pierre a while back, before the merger. When she became CEO she made it so that it didn't happen. I don't know exactly how, because there had already been a contract drawn up and everything, but it was something shady, I'm sure."

Her eyes widened then, a look of surprise. "Oh, geez. I haven't introduced myself. I'm Monica Suwabara." She gave me another kindly smile.

Monica Suwabara, maiden name Adenauer, married recently to Kai Suwabara. Winner of the 59th and 61st World Pastry Competitions. Only member of the American team in the second Monaco Cup, who came in second place, to win her final bout. General manager of the Pantasia pastry division, which is located in the building next door, I wondered what she was doing here. I had not known about her promised St. Pierre position.

I gave her my name in turn, and asked her why she was here instead of the patisserie building.

Her smile widened. "Maternity leave." She patted her stomach. "I'm due any day now, and I've got nothing better to do, so I come here and bother my husband and our friends."

So she wasn't stuck in a kitchen all day. A wanderer. Heard and saw lots of things other employees wouldn't. She would be important to my investigation, I was glad we were on good terms. I told her as much.

She made a determined face. "I'll do anything to help you put that stupid slut away."

She was convinced Yukino Azusagawa was behind the "disappearances" of the security personnel. Monica Suwabara was a smart woman, it wasn't something that was difficult to see. I took her suspicions to heart.

She stopped walking suddenly, and frowned. "Sorry, I forgot something important." She stretched her arms above her head, then placed them at the small of her back- a way I'd often see pregnant women stand to help support all that extra weight- and gave a hard sigh.

I told her it was alright, and that I understood, she had had a bad morning, and asked exactly what she forgot.

"Tsukino is in meetings until noon. Is there anyone else you'd like to talk to?"

I hadn't thought that far. I thought I'd be speaking to Tsukino Azusagawa all day, I'd planned on asking her who else would be appropriate to speak to. I told her what I imagined would be happening, and asked who she thought might know something.

"Well, I'm pretty suspicious, and I don't know everybody, so for now I could just introduce you to people I know."

I told her that would be fine.

She tilted one corner of her mouth down, and looked up and to the left. Thinking. "Well, no one's gonna want to be interrupted while they're working... Azuma is always late, so he wouldn't be done yet, Kanmuri and Baldy get here on time, but they're both pretty slow..." Then she smiled, a slow, pretty smile with a meaning I couldn't quite place. "... But Kai always gets here early, he'd probably be done with the morning quota by now. And he'd want me to check in with him, too." She giggled. "He's always worrying about me." She put a hand on her stomach again.

Ah. That was a loving smile. Noted.

"He's never personally met the bitch either, thank God, but he's been here a lot longer than any of us, so he might know something."

Anything at all would be useful, I told her.

She gave me another determined look. "Alright then. Ready to go meet my husband?"

I told her to lead the way.

This is gonna be a long one, folks. I know I'm not exactly the fastest writer out there, but I really like this one (And I really hate Yukino), so I'll be sure and update regularly.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and will enjoy later ones.