Chapter 5

Accidents

Three weeks. Three weeks have gone by and Kukai hadn't seen the red bow pop up in his window. He hadn't heard her cheery voice or her request in three God damn weeks! Kukai sighed hard through his nose then slammed the dough down harder than usual. He shouldn't be so concerned about this, but all of his nerves were on edge and it became apparent when he thought about Momoko. The team noticed it too, however, Sora was the only one to comment on it since his sister did know her directly. Sora didn't give much detail since he barely knew what was happening himself, but it seemed to calm Kukai down a bit.

"It's a slow Tuesday, boss." Sora said looking through the opening as Kukai leaned up to acknowledge him. "Shipment will be coming soon and who knows…"

"Yes, who knows." Kukai mumbled trying to relax his muscles, so the dough wouldn't take the punishment. He needed to show it some respect and love or customers would be sure to taste his feelings in it. And unfortunately, that feeling wasn't going away as he looked at his hands. He groaned and made his way to the back door hoping the fresh air would calm him down. In times like this, Kukai would remember a mediation routine Eiji's girlfriend taught him. Breathe in through the nose, hold for 4 seconds, breathe out through the mouth for 7 seconds.

"Do this as many times as you need until you are calm, ok?" her voice said through his mind as Kukai slowly felt himself return to normal.

"Ok, Kukai get it together. She will come when she comes. Stop being so worried."

"Hey! Hey! What are you doing?"

"Yeah, got other things to worry about." Kukai groaned making his way back into the building to see what got Sora so worked up.

"Seriously! I'm going to report this to your boss!" Sora yelled while Kukai could see the orders of flour and other boxes of ingredients in the front area. He took two deep breaths as he pinched his nose.

"Explanation?"

"New worker; didn't know how to get behind the buildings to find our backdoor, so he dropped them off here." Sora sighed already writing down a note to call the company about it.

"Right, at least nobody is in here." Kukai said while taking a hold of two boxes and going to the back. Soon the men were moving the shipment into the correct area getting into a steady rhythm. Kukai picked up a flour bag then groaned hearing a tear from the it. "If I move carefully, I can get it into the back without spilling it." Kukai thought while scooting little by little to the door.

"Hello?"

"J-Just a moment." Kukai said turning towards the front seeing some of the flour spill out. Kukai paused briefly seeing a red ribbon from around the flour bag. He had only heard one word and was focused on his work; but could it be her?

"Should I just wait at the table?"

"No! I mean…" Kukai could feel his heartbeat pounding in his chest realizing it was Momoko. The only problem was he didn't know if he should reveal himself or just go back to normal. They had never seen each other, and they didn't know that much about each other either. Would it ruin what they built up?

"Sorry, I guess I caught you at a busy time. I will just come back a bit later."

"Screw it!" he thought while trying to put the bag down, so he could make his way to her. However, the spilled flour made the floor slippery and Kukai came crashing down. "Watch out!"

"Aaaah!" In that moment, Kukai had found his arms on the floor with a bag of flour hitting a part of his back. He had also found that the young woman, he wanted to talk to was underneath him after feeling her hand on his chest. "Ouch."

"Sorry! Are you ok?" Kukai asked getting a look at his favorite customer at last. He immediately froze seeing pretty pink eyes staring up at him. His imagination didn't do this woman justice.

"I'm fine." Momoko said letting a smile play across her face as she swept some of the flour off his hair. Kukai could feel a fire burning wherever she touched. This couldn't be normal, right?

"You sure? Don't think I would like it if I hurt a loyal customer of mine." Kukai smiled back watching her eyes light up and a tint of pink come across her cheeks.

"Ah, so I finally get to meet you mysterious red cap."

"Heh, please call me Ku-"

"Kukai! I see you are already making moves." Sora said just as the two seemed to sit up and realize the position they were in. Kukai from his position was able to glare at Sora feeling his face heat up, but quickly helped Momoko up. "Phwwht what a mess."

"Would really appreciate you cleaning it up for me, so I may help Ms. Momoko out here." Kukai said quite satisfied to see his worker's deflated look but got to work on the task.

"Momoko is just fine, Kukai." Momoko interjected.

"Momoko…Momoko it is." Kukai smiled giving her a hand a small peck as she bit her lip. He couldn't help how bold he was being and slowly took his hand from her. He needed to control himself and to do that he needed some distance. "So, what can I do for you Momoko? I haven't seen your bow in a long time." Kukai said while making his way around the counter hoping that would help his infatuation with her.

"I know, it was quite odd not seeing your cap everyday or tasting your treats." Momoko pouted making Kukai feel his heart soften even more as he regretted calling her out. "Truly your sweets always put me in a better mood, and it felt like apart of me was missing."

"You have no idea that we felt the same way." Sora chuckled missing the look that Kukai threw at him as Momoko giggled along with him.

"Well, I don't think I will be missing anytime soon." Momoko said while turning to look at the baker. "I was wondering if you do request for special events. I had to convince a lot of my family members, but I couldn't imagine your desserts not there."

"Yes, I do. I have done birthdays, coming of age festivals, tea ceremonies—"

"Weddings?"

"Yes, I have done a few." Kukai said while seeing her whole demeanor change. That once cheery smile and light blush had disappeared replaced with a nervous and gloomy aura around her. Kukai swallowed, but smiled anyways as he asked, "Who's wedding may I ask?"

"…Mine."

"Ah." Kukai could only voice up feeling his heart sink down from its high.