Chapter 5.5: When I Close My Eyes [Gran Rey, Dulce Rojos Remix]
Jushiro had waited till Shunsui was asleep to make his move. He wanted to cheer the man up, but he didn't know a thing about Shunsui's likes or dislikes.
He noticed that Shunsui had fallen asleep quickly but he didn't realize he was staring at the man. Shunsui had long, wavy brown hair that went all the way to the middle of his back, just like Jushiro's hair did.
Jushiro wondered how it would feel if it slipped through his fingers.
What the heck am I thinking about…I stopped looking a long time ago…
Shrugging, Jushiro tiptoed out of the office, making sure that the creaking door didn't slam like it normally did and went on his way to find someone who might know the area very well.
"Nanao!" Just the person he needed to find. The woman knew all there was to know about Shunsui and he surely thought that she would know the area of Rukongai pretty well.
"Oh! Hey, Jushiro. How are you feeling, you looked upset earlier. I hope Shunsui didn't upset you."
So she knew… "I'm fine Nanao, seriously, if I'd have known that he was like that when he gets hangovers, I would have left him alone. Plus, I'm a strong man so he didn't get me that upset."
"Just making sure, the last person at the end of his wrath quit. So how can I help you?"
"Umm…You know the area of Rukongai pretty well, don't you?" Nanao nodded her head in affirmative. "I was wondering if you tell me all the names of the bakeries here, I want to go pick something up."
Maybe I should tell him that Shunsui doesn't really like sweets… "O.K. Follow me to my office and I'll write you down a list and get you some directions."
"Thank you, Nanao."
"No problem, Jushiro, no problem at all. Anything for a friend." Those two…Hehehe! .Nanao contemplated.
After getting all the names of the bakeries he wanted to, he thanked Nanao once again and swiftly headed out of the build. Getting in his car, he drove from bakery to bakery looking for that specific kind of cake, his boys would spend their allowance money to buy for him, but there was no avail. Many of the shops had heard the specific cake but none of them made it. He thought he had searched everywhere on the list that Nanao provided him until he pass a street with a dead end and what looked to be….a shop?
Quickly making a u-turn at the next light, Jushiro headed down the deserted street until he stopped at the deserted appearance of a little coffee shop named Espada Bakery and Coffee Shop. What kind of name is that? Definitely not Japanese, Jushiro contemplated as he stepped out of his car and walked towards the sidewalk. It was a nice looking building, not like the usual coffee shop he had visited in the past where there were big window you could see out of and lively gatherings happening all around. No, this shop was on the outskirts of the city, a dead end street at that, and didn't look like it was open.
He was reluctant to go in but there was a chance that they might have made the cake in here. Taking in a breath, Jushiro walked up the steps and opened the door. He was instantly greeted with the door's bell chime and the sound of shuffling feet. Striding into what seemed like the main room, he was greeted by a teenage boy, with bright baby blue hair and deep cobalt eyes.
"Um, excuse me, do you work here?"
"I got my fuckin' name tag on and my fuckin' apron on. What the fuck-" The young man with the baby blue hair was literally kicked out of the way and a stoic shorter teenage, with black hair and stunningly sharp green eyes came up and stared at Jushiro.
" I'm sorry sir, he's my cousin and he's new here. I apologize. How may I help you?"
"Ulquiorra! How fuckin' dare you! You little tight ass bastard! I'll knock your brains- OWW!"
"Shut the hell up! You're new so get your ass over there and start cleaning tables." A pink haired man came into the room from what looked to be the kitchen and screamed, and the blue haired boy visibly flinched. "Yea, I'm new alright. I'm about to newly kick your ass."
"Prick…Now, sir, how may-"
"Fuck you, that's why you look like a vampire bat! And blood ain't the only thing you suck-"
"Why the hell must you all be so damn loud-Oh! Hey it's you from Saturday! Mom, Dad, c'mere will ya!"
Jushiro was confused when the young girl, with the mouth of a sailor, came in to the room and shut all three men up. She then glanced at Jushiro and a look of recognition flashed on her face and she jumped in excitement and called her parents into the room.
A tall blonde woman and a tall man with wavy brown hair appeared from the kitchen and took in Jushiro's appearance.
"You must be the guy Shunsui and Isshin was talking about, Jushiro, right?"
Jushiro was mildly surprised that a man that he didn't know knew his name, but life is always full of surprises, right? "Yea…Have we met before? How do you know my name?"
The blonde haired lady just smiled, "We saw you at the Okonomiyaki restaurant on Saturday, and you were chasing those kids.
"My brother-in-laws talked about you when we went over Shunsui's house. You're their co-worker?"
"Y-yes. Jushiro Ukitake, nice to meet you." Jushiro's speech faltered at the beginning dumbfounded that Shunsui and Isshin had been telling their family about him. He didn't know whether or not that was a good thing or a bad.
"I'm Coyote Starrk, nice to meet you also," Starrk turned to his wife and daughter, pointing towards her, "Tia Harribel, my lovely wife, and Lilynette, my wonderful daughter."
"Speaking of introductions, I'm Szayelapporo Granz, Szayel for short, and this," he pointed to the 2 figures next to him, "is Grimmjow Jaegerjaques and Ulquiorra Cifer. We work here."
"So….what brings you here Jushiro? We don't usually get a lot of customers this time of day."
Remembering all about his mission to find the unknown cake in the Rukongai, Jushiro spoke up, " Well I'm looking for a specific type of cake, it's made with red bean and rice cake crust-"
"Oh…That's the Gran Rey Cheesecake, we have that. We make all kinds of things, especially deserts, that's my profession. We also do request."
"Pastry Chef?"
"Damn right, Tia's also one and Szayel just graduated culinary school and Ulquiorra is also heading that way. Lily helps out when she's not in school or at practice. Grimmjow is just here to be our footstool.
"Hey! Fu-"
"Not in front of Lily…."
Grimmjow just grumbled and took a seat on the nearest stool, sulking about not being able to curse whenever he wanted to.
"If you want to wait, Tia and I can whip it up. Won't take that long."
"Thanks."
As Jushiro was waiting for Harribel and Starrk to make the Gran Rey Cheesecake, he conversed with the other three employees of the shop. He learned that Grimmjow and Isshin's son Ichigo went to the same school and that strawberries were becoming his favorite thing ever, which Jushiro translated to: I'm in love with Ichigo. Ulquiorra was working at Espada part-time and going to culinary school at the same time. Szayel, who had already graduated, was Grimmjow and Ulquiorra's youngest uncle, was only 24, who also took care of them because of family problems.
"So are you-" Everyone paused.
Their getting-to know-each other conversation was stopped by the smell of Gran Rey Cheesecake cake, it's phenomenal smells making the four men stop and let their nostrils be aroused by the rich aroma coming from the nearby kitchen. A few seconds later, Harribel came into the main room/eating/relaxing area (A/N: I don't know how to name it) and announced that the cake was done and to follow her. The four men got up and followed her to the kitchen and Jushiro was granted with a sight he'd though he'd never seen again. It was the Grand King, in all it's glory. The rice crust and red bean filling looked amazing on the plate and Jushiro could fill his mouth watering at the sight of it.
"Whoa there, cake boy, you'll get a piece! If looks could kill, the cake would have its way with you all the time." Everyone in the kitchen, including Jushiro who wiped away the drool that was sliding down his chin, laughed at Grimmjow's comment.
Starrk, with knife and plates in hand, walked over to the cake, cut Jushiro a big slice and handed the plate to him.
"Eat and enjoy."
Jushiro didn't need to be told that twice, as he grabbed the fork and dug into the cake, Starrk cutting and handing everyone else a piece. If heaven was soon to come knocking, Jushiro would be there opening the door for it in a yoctosecond and begging for more. The cake tasted even better than ones he'd always had.
"Damn, this is some good ass cake!" Grimmjow exclaimed, with his fork in his mouth, as everyone laughed at him.
By time Jushiro came back from Espada' Coffeeshop and Bakery, almost 2 hours had passed from when he first entered the shop and he was exhausted, meeting so many new and interesting people was exciting though, but he wanted to give the cake to Shunsui, as a token of his appreciation.
Walking back into Shunsui's office, he noticed the said man was still sleep, so Jushiro walked over to him and shook him lightly. No dice on waking this man up, so he shook Shunsui a little harder and all he got was a groan. He placed the container of cake on the desk and leaned closer to Shunsui.
"Shunsui! Come on! Get up!" This time Jushiro yelled, not annoyed but amused at how hard it was to wake him up. He saw the man rub his eyes and look up, eyes coming face to face with the cake Jushiro brought him.
"Look at what I got you!" Jushiro decided that unnecessary excitement would full wake Shunsui up.
"What's this?" He heard Shunsui ask, confusion laced in his voice.
"Well, I was thinking of something that might cheer you up and I thought about it for a long time and decide to give you something that cheers me up when I'm down. So… voila! A slice of Red Bean Cheesecake with Rice Cake crust! Man was it hard to find, there was only one bakery that made them."
Jushiro, decide for some reason not to tell Shusnui about going to his brther's bakery. He bent down to Shunsui's level and stared right into his face. He didn't know wheter or not Shunsui was a big fan of sweets but either way he hoped the man like the cake.
He watched as Shunsui took his first bite, eyes not blinking, in order to watch the man's reaction. Shunsui's eyes slowly opened and he stared at him and Jushiro was all but confused at the gesture as he and Shunsui locked eyes with each other.
Hazelnut met Chocolate….
Oh my. Jushiro could hear his heart thumping through his ears and felt the need to back away from fear of Shunsui also hearing it. Jushiro stood up straight and tore his gaze away from Shusnui and looked out of the nearby window.
"You O.K, Jushiro." Shunsui question and was only confused when Jushiro just nodded his head.
"Um…Yea. How's the cake?" Jushiro had to get out of there, his heart was still throbbing.
"Best thing I've ever tasted. You've got to tell me where you got it from."
"O.K. I tell you tomorrow, I have to get home to take care of the boys. See ya."
Jushiro's couldn't look at Shunsui on his way out the door. The look in Shunsui's eyes had set him off and he wasn't sure what he would do if he had stayed any closer to the man. He frantically wanted to know what that man was thinking when they stared at each other like that.
Jushiro got home later that day, after picking the twins up and taking them out to eat at a restaurant, which was always chaotic but amusing. The boys had settled down and went to their room and do what all people going to school hate the most, homework. Jushiro retired to his room, hoping to go to bed early and catch some well needed rest.
After taking a long, steamy shower, Jushiro was finally settled down and was lying in bed. He couldn't help but to thing back on the days event and his mind eventually came to what happened when he and Shunsui were staring at each other. The way Shunsui's eyes almost fluttered when he looked at him made him want to do something that he would probably regret.
Kiss Shunsui? Maybe so?
He wanted to go to bed right then and there but he found his eyes not closing, but instead looking blankly at the wall. He wondered how long ago he had felt this way about someone, especially a man like Shunsui, who was intelligent, handsome, charming, funny, striking, attractive and sex-
He soon came to a realization…he never felt this way ever about a man.
Damn…I must be in…
Well of course I'm adding the Espada! You'd think I'd leave them out? Heavens no! Let me stop…..Grimmjow is my freakin' favorite character ever…besides Jushiro. The way many people portray him in the fanfictions I read is amazing. He's like my ideal best friend.
And yes….I do know some Spanish, took it for 3 years, so, anyone know a good Spanish Fanfic, tell me, I need practice. Gran Rey, Dulce Rojo means Grand King, Sweet Red, which reference the fake cake name.
Hmm… This is like an insight/side chapter, basically Jushiro's POV, since the main story is in Shunsui's POV. There will probably be a few of these, but it all depends on whether or not I feel like writing them.I wanted everyone to get the ideas of what Jushiro was thinking from the last chapter, and no, I'm not rewriting the whole thing form his perspective. Just the part after, where Shunsui goes to sleep and Jushiro goes out and buys the cake in and after.
Anyways that's what this chapter can be described like. It's like a side story. Like the negative chapters Kubo puts in Bleach. I hope you enjoy!
Hope you enjoyed! - Kihana