Prompt: Day 29, Festival
This is a modern AU - no shinigami powers. This is sort of a fusion with the Great British Baking Show/Great British Bake Off, and should not be taken too seriously. I don't write RPF, so the judges' names were picked at random and any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental. I don't own Bleach, nor do I own any baking shows.
"For your first bake, the judges would like you to start with something simple: a tea cake. You can choose any flavor combination you'd like, but it must be large enough to serve at least eight people. On your mark, get set, bake!"
Yuzu immediately springs into action by taking her cake tin and covering it in baking spray and lining it with a circle of parchment. She confidently measuring her butter and setting it into her stand mixer to cream. As the softened butter breaks down she measures her sugar and pours it in when the butter is ready. She then selects three eggs and cracks them into the stand mixer. As they combine with the butter and sugar, she measures flour and matcha tea powder.
Around her, eleven other bakers are measuring their own ingredients and silently beginning the process of making their cakes. They each wear identical aprons: a khaki-colored body with straps and pockets in a cheerful pink color. Their baking and cooking stations are identical: a long expanse of butcher block forms a work surface, broken up by a stainless steel sink and a two-burner cooktop. Built into the station is the nicest oven Yuzu has ever seen, and several shelves that have mixing bowls and an array of ingredients.
Beyond the workstation and aprons, however, Yuzu's fellow competitors could not be more different. They are from all around Japan and from every walk of life. There is a kind, young-looking woman with silver hair who is a doctor in her professional life, and a punk with blue hair whose stage name is Grimmjow. He seems grumpy but when Yuzu tripped on the walk into the tent, he was the one to catch her before she could fall. He reminds her of her older brother, Ichigo.
Directly in front of her is a stoic, older man with silken black hair that makes Yuzu envious. His expression is calm and even during the meet and greet before the show started filming, he said little. He is some kind of big-shot businessman, she thinks – the name Kuchiki is one of the most powerful in the country and Yuzu doesn't think it's a coincidence.
"Good morning Kurosaki-san," one of the judges, an older man with a wiry frame and close-cropped hair greets.
Yuzu pauses briefly in her measuring of baking powder and smiles up at him, at his fellow judge, and at the two hosts of the show, The Great Japanese Baking Show. "Good morning!" she replies and adds the baking powder into the small bowl holding her flour and matcha.
"Can you tell us what you're making?" That's the second judge, Ono Hekima, a petite woman old enough to be Yuzu's grandmother and then some. Yuzu has six of her cookbooks at home.
"Ah! I am making a tea cake with matcha as the base flavor. There will be a glaze on top and something that the British call a "drizzle", which is a syrup that soaks through the cake," Yuzu explains.
"Aha. And what flavor will the drizzle be?"
She gestures at the small jar of green pods at her station. "I'll be making a cardamom syrup for the drizzle."
"Do you think the cardamom will overpower the matcha?" the male judge asks. "Cardamom can be soapy if you use too much of it, as I'm sure you know."
Yuzu nods briefly. "Yes, I'll be very careful with it! I don't want the spice to overpower the matcha flavor. But I've made this three times at home to practice for the competition, and it's one of my older brother's favorites," she says cheerfully.
One of the hosts, a tall man with long, wavy brown hair, grins. "Ah, well if the older brother likes it. Thank you, Kurosaki-chan," he says, and the four move off to another baker.
Yuzu moves on, slowly adding her dry ingredients into the mix. Once her cake is safely in the oven, she pours water and more sugar into a pan and crushes up several of her cardamom pods to let them steep in the liquid.
The baking tent is relatively quiet, other than the murmurs of discussion between the judges, hosts, and the bakers. The judges are moving in a zig-zag pattern through the tent, a camera crew following them along the way.
When they arrive at Byakuya's station, Yuzu can't help but listen in – but he gives little away. "This will be a citrus-flavored tea cake," he says solemnly, barely looking at the judges as he continues to mix his cake batter. Yuzu can see that there is a bag of white chocolate at his station, and she eyes it speculatively.
"And what will you be doing with the white chocolate?" the second host, a tall, older man with pin-straight white hair, asks.
"Hn. The chocolate will provide decoration for the finished cake."
The judges move on.
Yuzu doesn't have time to pay attention to the other conversations – her cake timer has gone off and she hurries to pull her cake from the oven before it overbakes. She leaves it to cool on a rack and moves on to creating her glaze.
Later, when the hosts have called "time", Yuzu perches on the provided stool and sips from a bottle of water as she looks around the room. Most of the bakers' cakes look very successful although one cake, baked by a petite woman with doe-eyes and her dark brown hair pulled into a bun, looks rather lopsided. There are tears in the other woman's eyes. Yuzu looks at her own cake. It is simple: a single, pale-green round cake with the cardamom drizzle and a white glaze on top. Her nod to decoration consists of small, candied strips of orange peel – a reference to the hint of orange in her glaze.
With a camera following them the whole way, the judges move through the tent, tasting the cakes and giving feedback. The girl with brown hair is gently told that her cake is under baked and "a bit of a mess". The curvaceous woman with aqua-colored hair and bright lipstick is complimented for her flavor combinations.
They judge Kuchiki Byakuya's cake before Yuzu's, and she watches intently.
"This is a well-decorated cake," the male judge, Nakayama Eito, compliments. "The white chocolate butterflies are exquisite and they look well-tempered." When he cuts into the cake there is some oohing and ahhing over the crumb and the taste, which both judges proclaim is excellent.
Yuzu nervously presents her cake and watches as her idol drops the citrus peel onto her plate. "This is well-candied," she announces, and Yuzu stifles a sigh of relief. "And this drizzle effect is very interesting, it looks like you were able to get the syrup to absorb through nearly the whole cake. Well done, Kurosaki-san."
Yuzu beams and bows briefly as the judges leave. The blue-haired punk, Grimmjow, actually gives her a reluctant thumbs-up. She grins back at him. When the cameras turn off, bakers gather in small groups and taste each other's creations. Yuzu can't keep the grin off her face when Byakuya gives her an approving nod and several of the other bakers compliment her flavor choices. Eventually they are shooed out of the tent so that the production team can clean up and set up for the next challenge.
The next challenge is harder: the bakers are presented with a pared-down recipe for imagawayaki with red lettering that says "Do not confer with other bakers!". Byakuya just calmly reads over his laminated paper and begins to measure out flour, but Yuzu feels a thread of panic fill her and she has to take several deep breaths before she can begin.
Later, when her first filled pancake has ended in disaster, she is the target of the camera as she tears up.
And then Byakuya looks at one of the cameras, looks at her, and says calmly, "Kurosaki-san. Your first cake was excellent. Do not falter." He turns around as if he hasn't just given her the oddest pep-talk she's ever had, and Yuzu smiles, dabs her eyes with her apron, and continues.
She doesn't come in first, but she isn't last, either, landing comfortably in the middle of the pack for the blind-judged technical bake. Her imagawayaki are deemed acceptable but a little small, and the pattern is judged to be too faint. An elderly woman with a long, white braid named Unohana Retsu comes in first and accepts the applause of the contestants with a kindly smile. Byakuya places second and Grimmjow is fourth.
They stay in a hotel near the tent overnight, and Yuzu calls home using video chat.
"Did your cakes collapse?" Her twin sister, Karin asks teasingly.
"Karin!" Yuzu protests with whine. "No, they didn't collapse. They really liked my tea cake."
"Good," Ichigo's voice comes from off-screen. "It's a good cake. Even Ishida thinks so."
"Was the technical as bad as you thought it would be?"
"They had us make imagawayaki," Yuzu reports with a grimace. "I guess I need to practice making things like festival food this week, in case they give us something like that again. At least I was in the middle – fifth."
"Oh my daughter, my Yuzu is doing so well!" Kurosaki Isshin calls from off-screen. "And are there any handsome male bakers in this tournament?"
Yuzu watches, laughing helplessly behind one hand, as Ichigo hits their father over the head and Karin rolls her eyes. "I'm the youngest one in the tent by several years, Tousan. But nearly everyone seems very nice!"
When Yuzu falls asleep, she dreams of baking, and in the morning when they walk into the tent, she measures her ingredients for three different kinds of layered uirō. Around her steam rises from the water baths each of the bakers are using to steam their desserts, and the clatter of spoons hitting pans fills the air.
Two of her uirō are called delicious by the judges, but the third is called imperfect: the chopped cherries that were meant to fill the middle layer have instead sunk to the bottom. "It is still a very tasty uirō," Ono reassures with a smile, and Yuzu brings her plate back to her station with a relieved smile of her own.
Byakuya's, of course, are deemed impeccable, and Grimmjow does respectably enough. There are two disasters, and Yuzu hugs the aqua-haired girl, who just goes by Nel, as she dabs tears away and looks forlornly at the collapsed uirō on her plate.
"Bakers, thank you all for your very hard work today, this first week of the Great Japanese Baking Show," the older host, Ukitake Jūshiro, says from the front of the tent.
"I have the fun job this week, to announce the star baker of this week's contest. This baker's work is impeccable, with chocolate work above and beyond what we asked for and delicious uiro. Kuchiki Byakuya, you are our star baker for the week," Kyōraku Shunsui announces.
The other bakers applaud as Byakuya stands and offers a slight bow. His expression is still fairly staid, but Yuzu thinks she can see the hint of a smile around his lips. "Well done," she whispers from her seat next to him, and he nods to her in acknowledgement.
"Unfortunately, I have the more unpleasant task this week. As you know, each week we must eliminate a baker from the competition. This week, the baker leaving us is…"
There is a long pause before Ukitake says, "Hinamori Momo. We are sorry, Hinamori-san, but your uirō collapsed and your tea cake was under baked. We are so grateful that you have shared your baking with us."
The other women in the tent surround Momo to hug and comfort her as she wipes tears from her eyes and smiles. "I'll keep baking!" she promises, as the judges thank her again and tell her that she is still one of the best bakers in the country.
Yuzu takes the train home, satisfied, and sleeps well.
During the week, Yuzu turns the Kurosaki kitchen into her test space. Ichigo and Karin act as Yuzu's taste testers and kitchen staff. They clean baking pans and utensils, and taste the batches of cookies, street foods, cakes, pastries, and sweets that come out of the Kurosaki kitchen on a nightly basis. Isshin brings platter after platter into his clinic and his patients devour them.
Ichigo brings the extras to his grad school classes. Even in graduate school students are hungry, and they fall on the platters of pastry, mochi, and other sweets.
"Ne, Kurosaki-san, your sister is the best baker, she should be on the Great Japanese Baking Show!" one calls as he helps himself to pile of rainbow-colored mochi.
Ichigo just smirks and says, "Maybe someday," since he's bound by a signed agreement not to tell anyone that in fact, Yuzu is competing right now.
"Sister? I thought Kurosaki-san finally got a girlfriend," says another, and Ichigo rolls his eyes.
"Can Yuzu-chan be my girlfriend?" The dark-haired man who asks that question gets Ichigo's notebook thrown at him.
When the professor steps in, she swipes a pair of mochi, grins at Ichigo, and calls the class to order.
The next weeks continue in much the same way. While Yuzu's baking is by no means perfect, the judges like her bakes and seem charmed by the eighteen year old whose flavors are almost always on point. Eventually, Byakuya thaws towards the other contestants enough that he starts talking a little more. Grimmjow shares that he's in a band and has a day job as a social worker working with displaced kids. Apparently, the blue hair and tattoos hide a heart of gold.
In her third week in the tent, Yuzu's expertise with puff pastry is put to the test. Her first bake of the day, a savory fish pie made with layers of puff pastry, cod, and roasted vegetables, earns her a handshake from Nakayama.
"I'm going to ask you for that recipe later," Ono whispers conspiratorially, and Yuzu feels like she might float away.
Unfortunately, puff pastry proves more difficult for some, and Yuzu watches as one of the oldest contestants, a man in his 70's with a long beard whose specialty is actually bread, arranges a cracked, sad-looking pie on his plate.
"Yamamoto-san, unfortunately your pastry has lost all its layers, and we can see where it is under baked," Nakayama reports as he pokes the pie with a fork. Yamamoto just bows in response, but Yuzu's heart goes out to him.
The technical isn't much better for the older man; Yuzu places a very respectable second, but Yamamoto's pastry is somehow both dry and under baked. Grimmjow comes in first and punches the air as everyone else applauds.
Yuzu's showstopper bake is a tray of pastries filled with cardamom cream and a second tray of flower-shaped pastries topped with yuzu cream. As the ten bakers get to work, the sound of rolling pins hitting cold butter fills the tent, followed by the softer sounds of repeated rolling and folding of the puff pastry dough that will make up their baked goods.
"What will your pastries be filled with, Kurosaki-san?" Byakuya asks calmly while he carries his wrapped dough to the refrigerator they share.
"Ah! I am making a cardamom cream for the filled pastry horns, and a yuzu curd for the pastry flowers," Yuzu explains. She has a whisk in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other as she hurries back from the communal supply shelves. "What are you making, Kuchiki-san? Your flavors are always so elegant."
"I will be making a lavender and lemon curd," Byakuya says. "It is a favorite of my sister's."
"Ah! You have a sister?" Yuzu asks.
He nods again, shortly. "My younger sister is a graduate student at the same school your brother attends."
Yuzu just smiles and starts cutting and juicing the yuzu fruit for her curd. One of the hosts informs them that their baking time is half over, and she hurries to start her cardamom cream as well, setting heavy cream to whisking in her stand mixer while she assembles her curd.
By the end of the bake, she is sure that she has sweat through her sundress and her apron is stained with practically every ingredient she used. Byakuya looks perfect, as always. Grimmjow rolls his eyes in amusement at the other man as he shakes flour out of his blue hair.
"Jaegerjaquez-san, please come up and present your bake," one of the hosts asks, and he jumps up from his stool to pick up the platter of pastries. He sets it down on the judges' table and offers a shallow bow.
"My filled pastries have a chocolate cream inside, and my open pastries are made with chocolate puff pastry and have a vanilla cream on top," he explains in a drawl.
"Making a chocolate dough is risky. It's not always easy to see when it's done," the judge comments. The knife he wields sends shards of pastry flying as he cuts a filled pastry in half. "Good layers," he acknowledges as he inspects his half. "And the cream looks very nice."
"The pastry cream is just the right texture, and you haven't used too much corn starch to thicken it," the other judge compliments. "These look very well-made."
The male judge cuts into the second pastry and shakes his head. "These needed another five minutes in the oven. You can see that they're a little underdone inside. The vanilla cream is very good, and not too heavy. It was a good idea to use vanilla beans and not just extract."
"Thank you, Nakayama-sama and Ono-sama," Grimmjow says, and carries his platter back to his station. He shrugs at Yuzu, who mouths at him reassuringly, Your first pastries looked really good!
"Kurosaki-san," the host calls, and Yuzu brings her platter to the table.
"Oh, these look very good, very neat, Kurosaki-san."
"Yes, you can see that the pastry is fully-cooked and has very good layers. Your cardamom cream is very delicate – although you've used cardamom a few times now, Kurosaki-san."
Yuzu's cheeks flush slightly. "It's a favorite of mine," she admits.
"And the yuzu curd is very good as well – just as it should be."
Yuzu carries her tray to her station with a grin on her face, and Grimmjow gives her another thumbs-up.
When the bakers gather together for the star baker announcement, Yuzu is wedged between Byakuya and Grimmjow when the host announces, "Kurosaki-san, you are this week's star baker!" Byakuya's firm nod and Grimmjow's arm around her shoulders make her feel warm and fuzzy.
"Unfortunately, this week we must say goodbye to another baker. Yamamoto-san, I am sorry, but you will be leaving us this week."
Nel hugs her in congratulations and Yuzu nearly suffocates in her chest. Yamamoto bows silently in thanks as the remaining nine contestants commiserate and the judges thank him. "I am sorry that I was not able to share my bread with you," he apologizes.
The next weeks pass similarly, and Yuzu almost can't believe it as week after week, her baking continues to pass muster. There is a disaster during the technical during their seventh week: Yuzu's dango refuse to turn out correctly no matter what she does, and she comes in last with dango that look sloppy and are falling apart on the plate. She is saved by her other two bakes, however, and makes it through to the quarterfinals.
As instructed by the producers, Yuzu calls her family while on camera and announces that she has made it through another week as a quarterfinalist. The camera captures the sound of Isshin and Karin cheering in the background, and Ichigo's calmer but heartfelt, "That's great, Yuzu. You've done really well."
And then, somehow, the final week is upon them. During Yuzu's walk into the tent during the finale she is bracketed by Byakuya and Nel, whose win over Grimmjow the previous week was genuinely shocking due to a critical mistake made by Nel in the technical.
"Bakers, you've finally made it! Welcome to the final week of the Great Japanese Baking Show. This week, for your final signature bake, we're asking you to make sixty gyūhi. They can have any flavorings and color that you would like, but you must make three different types and they must be three different colors.
"As you know, bakers, we have some very special guests today, and your gyūhi will be part of the festival for your family members that will take place in just a short time."
Outside of the tent, crowds have gathered for the festival that is a tradition of the Great Japanese Baking Show finale. Small rides for children are set up, along with booths where guests can get something to drink or a snack. The already-eliminated contestants and their families are there, reuniting, eating, and drinking colorful juices under the summer sun. Isshin, Karin, and Ichigo have claimed one of the tables; Karin is under strict orders not to let Isshin get out of hand.
Ichigo yawns and puts his head down on the table. "I hope Yuzu's doing okay," he grumbles. "But at least it's almost over. I'm tired of cleaning baking pans."
"Don't be ungrateful, Ichi-nii! Yuzu kept making your favorites."
Ichigo just scowls at his younger sister and looks away from her, only to see a woman sitting by herself at another picnic table. Her dark hair is cropped short, just beneath her chin, and she is petite and delicate, with skin nearly as pale as the moon. After a moment Karin follows his gaze, and she grins. "You should ask her to join us, Ichi-nii," she suggests, and waggles her eyebrows.
Ichigo scoffs, but later when he sees her go up to one of the booths he stands from the picnic table again. Karin and his father are grinning at him, but he shrugs them off and asks, "What do you want to drink?"
His collared, dark green short-sleeved shirt, open to reveal the white undershirt beneath, blows in the breeze as he walks underneath the warm sun. Ichigo picks up cold juices for his father and sister, as well as a strawberry-kiwi juice for himself. When he gets to the booth where the mystery-woman is, she is trying to figure out how to open a large juice box. The skirt of her periwinkle sundress is drifting around her in a light breeze, and her shoulders are bare. She looks a little otherworldly, delicate and pale, amidst the bright colors that everyone else is wearing.
"Problem?" he asks, after watching her examine it from all angles. The woman's cheeks flush slightly – in fact, she's starting to look a little burned from the sun, he thinks – and she holds out the juice box.
"I can't figure out how to get this open," she says. Ichigo tucks his own juice boxes under one arm and takes it from her.
"Oh. You just poke the straw in like this," Ichigo says, and takes the straw from her other hand to demonstrate. He hands the box back, and their fingertips just barely brush. "Haven't you ever had a juice box?"
She sniffs. "Thank you. And no, I usually drink juice out of a glass. Byakuya nii-sama thinks these are undignified."
Ichigo grins. "Oh, you're Kuchiki Byakuya's sister? My sister, Yuzu, is in the tent with him. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo."
She looks at his outstretched hand for a moment, and then back up toward him. Ichigo freezes for a second: her eyes are the prettiest he's ever seen, somehow blue and then purple in the sunlight, and framed by long eyelashes. Finally, she takes his hand. "Kuchiki Rukia."
"Yuzu said something about you going to Seireitei University. I'm in the English Literature department as a graduate student, focusing on Shakespeare," Ichigo offers when her hand pulls away from his. He's sure he imagines the slight reluctance.
"Ah, yes, I'm in the Japanese Studies department, I'm studying the Edo period," Rukia replies. "I'm surprised that I haven't seen you around campus. With hair that color you don't exactly blend in."
Ichigo just shrugs. "So I've been told. Kaasan's genes were strong," he mumbles.
"What, that's natural?"
"As natural as your height, midget," Ichigo finds himself saying. The kick to his shin isn't entirely unexpected, but when Rukia sways a little in the heat afterwards, he rolls his eyes. "Che. Come sit with us and drink your juice before you get sunstroke. You're already getting sunburned."
Rukia narrows her eyes at him. "Nii-sama said that Kurosaki-san was very polite." The clear implication is that Ichigo isn't.
But he just smirks. "She is. Come on, we have snacks and the table is shaded." He holds his hand out again, this time as a gesture that he can lead the way. When Rukia actually takes it, sliding her hand into his as if it belongs there, it takes everything in Ichigo's power not to grin like a fool. Instead he leads her through the rest of the booths and back to the shaded picnic table where his father and Karin are sitting.
"Karin, Tousan, this is Kuchiki Rukia, Kuchiki Byakuya's sister," Ichigo introduces when they arrive. His amber eyes focus on his father and he mouths, Be nice.
Isshin and Karin glance from Ichigo's face down to his hand, which is still joined with Rukia's. But Karin stands, dragging her father up with her, and they bow shallowly to Rukia, who lets go of Ichigo's hand to curtsey and smile up at them.
"I'm pleased to meet you, Kurosaki-san, Kurosaki-sama," Rukia says, voice pitching higher than the tone she'd used with Ichigo. "Byakuya nii-sama has many positive things to say about Yuzu-chan's baking skills."
Ichigo does grin, then, as he helps Rukia onto the bench and sits down next to her. "Yuzu's great, and she worked really hard." It's on the tip of his tongue to say that he thinks she'll win the competition, but the heat of Rukia's body is close to his and so instead he says, "Yuzu says that your brother's baking is very elegant."
"Oh, yes!" Rukia replies enthusiastically, and Ichigo knows he's made the right decision to mention it. "He's been baking for many years, even though he is very busy. I know it was his dream to participate in this competition."
"Yes, Kuchiki-san is well-respected," Isshin agrees, "Your brother's company makes many of the medical supplies that I use in my clinic."
"Ah! You are a doctor, Kurosaki-san?" Rukia asks.
"Yes, I have a clinic in Karakura. Yuzu still helps at the clinic; Karin has chosen to pursue another path," Isshin explains.
Karin rolls her eyes. "You make it sound so dramatic, goat-chin," she grumbles, but then smiles at Rukia. "I'm going to school to become a detective, and my classes conflict with the clinic hours. Yuzu's in nursing school and her hours at the clinic count toward her degree."
Rukia nods solemnly. "Those are both very honorable professions, Kurosaki-san. You have raised such hardworking children, Kurosaki-sama," she compliments Isshin.
Isshin grins at her and he looks at Ichigo. "You're very kind, Kuchiki-san. Even my son, who is studying Shakespeare, wants to be a professor and educate the next generation," he brags.
"Oh? That is also a noble profession, Ichigo," Rukia says sweetly, and watches as Ichigo flushes and rubs the back of his neck.
"Thanks," he says, and if the side of his pinky is touching the side of hers as their hands rest on the bench, well. He isn't going to complain.
Ichigo leaves again to bring back some of the gyūhi, and runs into Grimmjow. The blue-haired man is dressed in full punk regalia, all ripped black jeans and chains, and snarls when Ichigo bumps into him, but then looks him up and down.
"Oh, you're Yuzu-chan's brother," he drawls, and grins.
"Yeah," Ichigo affirms, "I'm Kurosaki Ichigo."
"Jaegerjaquez Grimmjow," the taller man says. He glances down at the platter in Ichigo's hand. "Hungry?"
"Che. My other sister Karin and my dad are here too," Ichigo says, and glances toward the table.
Grimmjow follows his eyes and smirks. "Who's the smaller one at your table?"
"Kuchiki Rukia, Kuchiki Byakuya's younger sister."
"She's cute," Grimmjow drawls, and grins when Ichigo glares at him. "Yeah, okay tangerine-head, I get it. Just because I like Yuzu, though." He steals one of Yuzu's gyūhi from the plate in Ichigo's hand and salutes him with it before strolling off with a lazy wave.
Ichigo huffs and strides back toward his family. He can just barely see the tent from the festival ground, and it's impossible, even through the transparent tent walls, to see what the final three bakers are doing. The festivalgoers are starting to look a little bored though, and when he checks his watch, he can see that it's been at least seven hours since Yuzu arrived at the tent.
"Oh, those look great," Rukia enthuses when he sets the plate down on the table.
"One of the other bakers seemed to like them," Ichigo says. "He swiped one while I was walking back. The ones on the left are your brother's." He cuts them all in smaller pieces so that everyone can try a piece of each one.
Rukia takes one of Byakuya's creations first, but Ichigo has to hide a grin behind his juice when he catches her taking a second taste of Yuzu's elderflower gyūhi.
Eventually, finally, as afternoon turns to early evening, Yuzu, Byakuya, and Nel emerge from the tent and onto the festival grounds. Ichigo helps Rukia stand on the bench so that she can see as the crowd starts to cheer – and has to avert his eyes when her skirt blows up a little too high.
Ichigo waves enthusiastically to Yuzu and she comes to them at a run, her bright yellow sundress looking only a little worse for wear despite her many hours in the tent. Byakuya follows behind at a more sedate pace, and Rukia nearly lands on Ichigo as she hurries to get off the bench and present a more dignified appearance to her brother.
"YUZUUUUU!" Isshin's voice echoes over the susurrations of the crowd, and before Yuzu can dodge her father grabs her up and swings her around so that her sundress billows in the wind. "My precious daughter, daddy is so proud of you!"
Ichigo glances at Rukia, a little embarrassed, but she is just smiling fondly. She leaves his side, though, to meet her brother, and curtsies to him shallowly.
"Rukia," Byakuya greets, and to her apparent shock – by the way her eyes widen and her body stiffens before relaxing – he draws her into a brief hug.
Yuzu just grins. "Kuchiki-san," she greets when Byakuya has let his sister go. "It's so nice to meet you!" She throws her arms around Rukia, who gives Ichigo a helpless look but then hugs the taller woman back.
"It's very nice to meet you too, Kurosaki-san!" Rukia says. "Your older brother was kind enough to introduce me to your family and make sure that we all got to taste some of your delicious baking. Your gyūhi were delicious!"
Yuzu beams, and then she looks between her brother and Rukia. "Thank you, Kuchiki-san! I'm so glad that you and Ichi-nii have met."
Byakuya looks a touch less enthusiastic, but his gaze on Ichigo is speculative rather than judging. "Yes, Yuzu and I have become friends during our time in the tent. I am glad that you seem to be getting along." When both Ichigo and Rukia's faces heat with twin blushes, he quirks up one eyebrow.
Another cry goes up from the crowd, and a production assistant hurries over to Yuzu and Byakuya. "Kurosaki-san, Kuchiki-san, you are needed for the winner's announcement. Everyone else, please begin making your way back toward the tent. Staff will direct you as to where to stand."
Yuzu and Byakuya follow the production assistant in one direction while Ichigo, Rukia, Isshin, and Karin follow the larger crowd. Ichigo and Rukia's hands find one another again so that they don't get separated in the crowd. Another production assistant gathers them and brings them to the front of the crowd, where they stand next to a group of young people whom Ichigo assumes must be the other finalist's friends.
Finally, the cameras and crowds are in place, and the two judges and hosts come out from the tent. The older judge, Ono-san, has a large glass dish in her hands and the others have enormous flower bouquets.
"Thank you, everyone, for such a tremendous competition. Could we have our finalists step forward, please?" Ukitake asks.
Yuzu, Byakuya, and Nel all step in from the side of the crowd and stand before the judges. Yuzu and Nel are holding hands, and Byakuya has a hand lightly on Yuzu's shoulder.
"What did your sister do to my brother?" Rukia asks in a whisper from her vantage point where she stands next to Ichigo.
Ichigo grins and whispers back, "Yuzu's kind of like sunshine personified. She won over that blue-haired punk too, I think."
Kyōraku is speaking again. "The winner of this year's Great Japanese Baking Show is…"
There is a long pause, and Ichigo can feel Rukia's hand tighten around his. He squeezes back.
"The winner is Kurosaki Yuzu!"
The crowd starts cheering and Isshin and Karin are already running toward Yuzu, who is grinning and crying at the same time as the glass dish and the bouquet are pressed into her hands. Nel is hugging her and jumping up and down before Isshin and Karin join in.
Ichigo prepares for Rukia to let go of his hand, but she just pokes him in the side and grins at him. "Let's go congratulate your sister, idiot!" And she drags him forward before he can respond to the insult.
In a minute he's the one swinging Yuzu around, while Rukia hugs her brother, and the crowd cheers. Grimmjow steals Yuzu from him and swings her as well, then ruffles her hair.
"I'm really proud of you," Ichigo tells his little sister, as she beams.
Several months later, the Great Japanese Baking Show premieres. Seated in an enormous living room, Byakuya, Isshin, Yuzu, Karin, Grimmjow, Nel, Ichigo, and Rukia are all gathered around his big screen television. Ichigo and Rukia have commandeered a love seat and Rukia is practically in his lap as they watch, hands entwined.