A/N: Seeing as the last one is depressing. Let's have a happier chapter to follow.

Human Bakery A.U: An ordinary, bread baking day for Ludwig.

2:30 am.

Wake up. Wash up. Get dressed. Get on his bike and go to the bakery. Ludwig breathed in the fresh early/late morning cool air and smiled as he pedaled to work. These morning starts always filled him with a sense of refreshing ready-to-work energy.

2:50 am.

He arrived at the bakery and noted that all the lights were off as he unlocked the door. The other shift must have finished up early. He would be all alone this morning then, a peaceful solitude. He entered the kitchen and stretched out a few of his joints that were still stiff from sleep. He put on his apron. It was time to get started.

4:30 am

All the machines were running and the German was calmly whirring around to keep track of it all. Checking on those mixers, adding ingredients as appropriate, putting this bin over there for a little bit, kneading this dough, sprinkling flour over here, fruit dealt over with there. Time flew by quickly as he worked the kitchen like a well run factory.

The bakery wasn't all that large, owned solely by him and his brother with four alternating bakers, so it didn't have a selection that was all that staggering. Still they had to stock up a lot being one of the few bakeries within their local area. Supply must be made to meet demands. Ding! There went a timer.

5:50 am

There was a soft close of the back door. The other employees had begun to arrive, mainly those who handled the counter and the small café part of the place. Mei Wang hung up her coat in the staff's break room and walked through the kitchen—Ludwig gave her a small nod while he worked—to ready the front for opening. A good ten minutes later, as was routine, her cousin Im Yong-Soo entered in whistling some new pop tune.

6:15 am

The wonderful smell fresh baked goods filled every crevice of the workspace. Ludwig breathed in deeply. The smell and sense of accomplishment lightened up his heart. He pulled out and placed, the pans of bread out on the cooling rack. Some buns were quickly sprinkled over with seeds or sugar depending on their style. Several minutes later, they would either be displayed in the cases at the front or put in the truck for early deliveries. At this point another baker had arrived to deal with the rest while the German started cleaning up the tables for the next batch.

6:40 am

He went over to a more secluded table to make his special cakes. He treated these with special care unlike the routine quickness he did with the daily breads. Only a few of these needed to be made, so the process had a few more steps and were a little more complicated than a bun. Ingredients were naturally smaller portioned and, as a result, needed to be more precise. The mix was often tasted.

What was going to be today's special cake? Ludwig thought as he mixed the basic cake foundation. He closed his eyes for a little moment and thought of a color for an idea. Red, like Snow White's lips.

Apple Kuchen.

Okay. That was it then. He went over to where the fruit were kept and started to prepare it.

7:30 am

The shop opened. Early riser customers started to trickle in every five minutes or so. Chatter was quiet and coffee was brewed.

8:15 am

Breakfast was served with the cake and dark coffee inside the break room. He opened up the newspaper to glance through the news. He flipped through, nothing too big happening. Stocks seemed fine today. He took another sip and nearly choked on his drink when he reached the local news page.

Baking Wars Ahead?

A New Patisserie set to open up on Sunday named "Le Charme des Premiers Jours*" by its owner Francis Bonnefoy. It has been kept as a secret for quite some time. Many locals have been kept speculating on what he had planned after he had bought out the old deli. Priding himself with wonderful cooking skills taught by his grandmother, this young man will be starting up the business all by himself. When asked about this daring venture he responded, "I thought of it as my duty to bring this place a higher class of food than that bakery across the street."Francis has worked as a lower chef for several well-known places in France such as…

The German crumpled up the paper and tossed it into the bin. He gulped down the rest of his coffee to ignore the clear stab the Frenchman tossed at him in the paper. He had seen the place being set up across the street for two weeks now. Its owner was as snooty as he was cocky and flirtatious.

8:40 am

Ludwig was in his van delivering fresh bread to the local restaurants. The drop-offs were usually quick as the restaurants were now starting to prepare for their lunch and even their dinner meals. But it was never like that with one particular Italian one.

"Hey Ludwig!" greeted the cheery, lighter haired Italian, Feliciano. He was always so animated and waved his arms about as Ludwig stopped the van. The man chattered happily as they both carried in all the buns into the kitchen. Then the Italian, just as the German had feared, brought up the local Newspaper article.

"So…what do you think of that new place opening up across from you?" asked the man cheerily, oblivious to Ludwig's flinch at the question.

"I don't know yet, it hasn't opened up."

"Come on! Don't avoid the question like that! I'm asking what you think about your upcoming rivalry."

Ludwig remained firm, "It's not going to be a rivalry. We are two different styles of baked goods with little overlap."

"Hey!," Lovino, the Italian's older similar brother entered the room, "Feli, if you have time to talk then you have time to work. We still have that big birthday party to carter for!"

"Relax, we'll get that all done soon enough." the Italian replied. This stirred an even testier reply from the other. The German took his silent leave as the two got more winded up in their little friendly banter.

He closed the door and started up the car again. As he drove back to the bakery, he frowned.

"It's not going to be a rivalry," Ludwig reassured himself

By the time he got back, the other baker had already started their shift. There was no need to waste time worrying about that new shop. He was here, baking as he had always loved to do. The work was exhausting but satisfying. And he wouldn't have it any other way. Ludwig would return home later for a good five hour rest.

His day would begin around the same time tomorrow. A new, but exactly the same, day would greet him when he awoke. Fresh, yet familiar.

A/N: Originally the conception was a full fledged out A.U with France as some flamboyant patissiere(pastry chef) rival stealing Ludwig's customers. It will have to stay as a one-shot.

Sources Used:

*Baking schedule slightly based on this blog post: http [semi-colon] [slash][slash] .com[slash]blog-old[slash]2009[slash]4[slash]7[slash]the-night-kitchen-the-secret-lives-of-early-morning-bakers.h/t/m/l

*Baking process in this video:[youtube] watch?v=iUuKstAWof4

Other References:

* "Le Charme des premiers jours" is a French song by Féfé" that I thought sounds like a decent fancy name. It means the charm of the first or beginning days (my french is weak).