A/N: I'm so sorry this is so late. I'm just going to have to post it and run. My thesis will be done sooner or later for better or for worse, so don't worry. I won't be abandoning this story. Thank you everyone for the follows and kind reviews!

Devil's Food

Chapter 6: Apple and Cinnamon Croissant

Sunday mornings were quite possibly becoming Yuuri's favorite shift. The café opened a little late, so he didn't have to rush just to get there on time, and there wasn't a stream of morning commuters waiting outside the door or anything. Okay, so maybe they weren't quite that popular on weekdays, either. He didn't really work the before school shift, thankfully. But, there was something peaceful and warm about the quiet of the café on a Sunday morning.

Not every Sunday, however.

For example, this Sunday, he opened the door only to discover a surprisingly familiar head of shockingly bright red hair directly in front of him. The owner of said hair indicated no recognition of his entry, and merely continued inspecting the café's interior with a discerning gaze.

"G, good morning," Yuuri stuttered, stepping aside slightly to avoid collision.

"Ah," the lady, Anissina if he recalled, answered.

He had frankly expected a greeting to follow, but silence fell over the café. Even Conrad was conspicuously absent. Yuuri had just given up and decided to head behind the counter when the back door opened to reveal Gwendal, hair ever so slightly astray. Yuuri froze where he was, halfway in between the alleged childhood friends.

"Anissina," Gwendal grumbled.

"Gwendal," Anissina mirrored with a smirk.

This time, Gwendal practically growled and silence fell once more. Yuuri anxiously glanced at the vaguely antique-looking clock hanging behind the counter. If they weren't careful, customers would start showing up, only to be immediately scared off. He would have said something, but as soon as his gaze dropped to see Gwendal's glare, he stood up straight again and kept his mouth firmly shut.

"What is it now," Gwendal finally acquiesced (it seemed to Yuuri) and asked. Or perhaps stated, as it was so empty of interest and full of despair that it hardly sounded like a question.

Anissina raised a finger into the air. "I'll have you know, I only ever come here to help you men out. You're simply too hopeless on your own. I was merely wondering if you had any notable visitors lately."

Yuuri could practically see from the rapidly increasing wrinkles on Gwendal's forehead all the things he wanted to say. However, he did nod, despite how little sense her statement had made to the uninformed party in the room. "We did."

"Ah hah," Anissina shook her head, a pleased and knowing smile on her face. "And they were great help, were they not?"

"Perhaps," Gwendal spoke lowly, his eyes averted, "in the future."

Yuuri was fairly exhausted by now from looking back and forth between the two of them. He did, however, suddenly remember the strange couple who had stepped in before their open hours the other day to speak to Gwendal and Conrad. "The mega-celebrities!" he couldn't help himself from exclaiming.

Both Gwendal and Anissina cast fairly astounded looks to the forgotten party in between them.

"I suppose you could call them that," Anissina laughed.

"But who are they?" Yuuri asked, somewhat helplessly. He didn't even know who to look at. They had both acted pretty secretive about the whole guest thing.

"The Original Owner," Gwendal mumbled. Despite the low tone, Yuuri could positively hear the capitalized letters of the title. He stared incredulously.

Before he could make any further inquiry, the bell quietly announced what Yuuri could only presume to be the first customer of the day. This particular Sunday, however, he couldn't say that with much confidence. He half expected to turn to find the mysterious guys with the dramatic titles and matching outfits. He hadn't, however, been expecting to see a little girl with a head full of curly brown hair. Said girl was looking around anxiously, hand raised as if to leave her the option of throwing the door back open if necessary. Yuuri, personally, blamed Gwendal for the anxious look on her face. Her thick eyebrows were turned down and her lips twisted into a frown.

Nevertheless, Yuuri smiled widely, eager to show how happy he was to see her again. "Good morning, Greta!" he had started to say when the door to the back flew open.

"Elder brother, has she le..." the newcomer, immediately identifiable as Wolfram, spoke right over Yuuri's greeting until his eyes fell on Anissina, who was still standing right in the center of the cafe, her hands posed on her hips. He immediately went quiet.

"Pardon, Wolfram?" Anissina asked, with a notably strained smile and a quirked brow.

"Good morning, Anissina, Yuuri..." Wolfram continued as if his previous entry had never occurred. He eventually noticed the small girl somewhat huddled by the door, and finished, "Greta."

Greta looked about as surprised as Yuuri had felt that he had remembered her. "G, good morning," she answered shyly, finally taking a few steps into the cafe.

Good one, Wolf, Yuuri silently cheered. "Good morning," he beamed at his co-worker, who promptly looked away. Himself, Yuuri turned to Greta after only the slightest quizzical look at Wolfram's somewhat pink cheeks. "Is there anything I can get for you?" he asked warmly, despite not even standing behind the counter like a proper employee.

Greta shook her head, her eyes still darting around the cafe at all the people. "Uh-uh," was all she said.

"Now, Gwendal," Anissina, who had been standing aside and evaluating the situation in silence, spoke up, "it simply won't do to waste your time standing around here frightening children when you should be doing your job."

At the mention of the baker's name, Yuuri looked back idly to where he had been standing. He had certainly been quiet for a good while now. Yuuri found him to indeed be standing precisely where he had always been. As a matter of fact, he appeared to be frozen still. His eyes were slightly wide (for him, which was not saying much considering how permanently down-set his brows were by now) and fixed on Greta. If he didn't know any better, Yuuri would have described his look as amazed or slightly frightened. As it was, he was completely mystified.

Gwendal said nothing before his face straightened out into his usual impassive expression, and he about-faced and closed the door to the back room behind him.

Anissina nodded, apparently satisfied with her work. She took a few strides towards Greta before bending down slightly, her hands resting on her knees. "Now that the scary man is gone," she said, her tone much softer than anything Yuuri had heard from her before, "you came here for something, right?"

Greta looked up at her with wide eyes, but the anxiety from earlier was gone. Her curls bobbed up and down as she nodded, before pausing to think. "He didn't seem so scary," she mumbled.

"Very perceptive of you," Anissina smiled, reaching out a hand to briefly ruffle the little girl's hair. "He's actually the biggest softie I know."

Greta giggled softly before averting her eyes again. They eventually traced a reluctant path over to Yuuri. She shifted just ever so slightly towards him. "I came to say sorry," she said all at once.

Looking at her shy gaze and timid demeanor with her hands hidden behind her, Yuuri practically shouted, "It's okay!" before he could even be certain what she was apologizing for. He was absolutely positive, whatever it was, that it was forgiven.

Greta bit her lip briefly before continuing. "I... I ran away before we could go back to the market, but, I... I bought two apples from the market today, to make up for it... s, so..."

Yuuri stared in wonder as she reached out her little hands from behind her to reveal the two shiny red apples. They looked to him like the most amazingly delicious apples ever. "I'm sure the old man was delighted! Now you see the importance of give and take, right? Give and take!"

Although her eyebrows briefly furrowed in confusion, Greta nodded. She pushed one of the apples towards Yuuri, eyes darting from his face to the apple.

Holding back a moved sob, Yuuri wordlessly took the apple and bit right in. "It's delicious! Thank you!" he cried without bothering to finish chewing or truly process the taste. Joy over the reformation this precious girl experienced had positively overcome him.

"You're making a fool of yourself," Wolfram grumbled from somewhere behind him. Anissina clucked her tongue, but Yuuri couldn't tell if it was out of disapproval over his poor culinary manners or Wolfram's henpecking. Greta was smiling shyly up at him, and that was the only reaction that mattered.

While Yuuri continued chewing loudly and making a show out of his enjoyment of the objectively quite average apple, the back door opened to reveal a smiling Conrad. This was not particularly shocking, of course. He was holding a lightly powdered croissant on one of their dainty porcelain plates. Yuuri recognized it as one of the special set with the strange pink bear-bug-like-thing painted on them. They didn't normally use those for customers. Actually, he had kind of wondered what they did use them for. They seemed to be almost exclusively for Wolfram.

"Good morning," he offered, eyes scanning the somewhat abnormally crowded room, before falling on Greta. He stepped out from behind the counter to approach her. "I have a special gift for our little guest, courtesy of the chef."

Yuuri nearly choked as he looked from Conrad and the adorable croissant to the little girl, whose face was quickly coloring red. Chef isn't even the right word, is it? Didn't you just want to say that?

"B- but," Greta stuttered, although her hands went towards the croissant, "what about... give and take?"

Swallowing his mouthful of apple, Yuuri stepped forward to wave his hands only somewhat frantically. "Gifts are a special case!"

"Please, don't concern yourself over it," Conrad continued, holding the plate out as far as he could without outright shoving it into her hand. Miraculously, no confusion over the strange and seemingly irrelevant phrase manifested in his demeanor whatsoever. "Gwendal will be quite delighted so long as you enjoy it."

Although her thick brows remained furrowed insistently, she reached out and took the plate.

"Excellent," Anissina nodded with a satisfied smile. She seated herself on the nearest chair in one swift motion, which sent her ponytail gliding through the air. "In that case, I'd like my tea, the usual way."

Conrad made no sign of acknowledgement of her order, but about-faced and took a teacup from the stack regardless. No one else moved.

When she saw Greta still standing there clutching her plate, Anissina patted the chair next to her. "Come now, have a seat," she demanded as if it were perfectly natural.

Seeing Greta in today's adorable soft yellow dress sitting there with her little croissant and her elegant big sister, as Yuuri's imagination dubbed Anissina, Yuuri was already moving to join them at the table when he heard Wolfram clearing his throat. "I believe your shift started already, Yuuri?"

No matter how much he wanted to groan in disappointment, Yuuri had to admit that Wolfram was extremely right. Feet feeling heavy, he trudged over to join Conrad and Wolfram behind the counter.

Just as he got there, however, a teacup mysteriously came sailing down out of the sky and onto the counter in front of him. He looked over to see Conrad grinning particularly widely. "Would you deliver this to the customer for me, Yuuri?"

A strong smell of roses came wafting up from the delicate cup. Yuuri smiled. "Of course!"

He received only a nod as acknowledgement from Anissina when he placed the teacup down with great care in front of her. She turned to Greta, who was busily chewing a tiny mouthful of croissant. Yuuri recognized from the jam in the center of the pastry that it was the rare apple and cinnamon croissant they'd been forced to basically retire due to the general distaste of the Japanese public for the word cinnamon. They were probably quite delicious. "Wouldn't you like any tea?" Anissina asked.

Greta immediately shook her head as she swallowed her bite. "It's no good without milk," she admitted quietly.

"We have milk!" Yuuri offered with great emphasis.

This time, Greta shook her head so fervently that it sent her curls darting about. "Can't," was the only explanation she offered.

"Can't... have milk?" Yuuri inquired cautiously.

Greta nodded once, much more subdued. "Or cheese. I'm l... latent... immi..." she trailed off before turning red and jerking her head down to stare at her knees.

"Lactose intolerant," Anissina supplied with a definitive nod. "It's quite common."

Yuuri had already turned to return to the counter before Wolfram could get upset at him for slacking on the job again when his gaze fell on the still incomplete assembly of pastries in the glass case, and it hit him. The cheesecake! It was always the cheesecake!

He spun back around to face the daintily dining ladies. "So you left because you couldn't eat the cheesecake? I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed.

Greta stiffened and stared down at her plate, which was now empty. "Y- yeah, and..." she trailed off, falling silent.

A few seconds passed, and Yuuri felt the weight of Wolfram's impatient glance on his back. Something about the heavy pause made Yuuri unable to turn around, regardless. Greta's eyes flicked up to look at the wall clock before going wide. Yuuri watched in increasingly panicked silence as she hopped down from her chair and, for all appearances, looked to be about to flee. "H, hold on! What's the matter?" he asked, frantic mind wondering how bad it would be to make chase.

Fortunately enough for everyone involved, Greta paused, flinching. "Gotta go... G... Grandma won't be happy..." she admitted, voice barely a whisper.

Yuuri barely had time to reach out a hand before the door was closed behind her. The image of her huddled in on herself defensively remained with him, however brief it had been. Something about the way her arms had trembled as she spoke made Yuuri's stomach turn with anxiety. "What must her life at home be like?"

He only realized he had spoken his concern aloud when he heard Anissina's loud sigh.

-That Very Afternoon-

Yuuri knew something was off as soon as he opened the door.

His exclamation of "I'm back" ended prematurely as he noticed the pair of large sneakers laid out in front of the entryway in addition to his mother's usual dainty footwear. He changed out of his own shoes in stunned silence. Perhaps, if he was quiet enough, he could make it up to his room without being noticed. He sucked in a large breath in preparation for his mad ninja dash.

His grand plans, however, were immediately shattered as a tall shadow fell upon the entryway. Surely enough, the figure striding in to greet him was that of his older brother, button-up and spectacles and all. "Welcome home, Yuuri," he said around a huge grin.

"Hi, Shouri," Yuuri winced, seeing his brother's arms open and waiting. Pointedly lifting one foot at a time, he trudged his way past the entry and practically walked into his brother. That was the closest Shouri was getting to a hug today.

Fortunately, this didn't seem to deter Shouri in the slightest. His arms wrapped warmly around his little brother's shoulders. "Big bro finally got a day off," he murmured before letting go.

Unfortunately, this revealed to Shouri Yuuri's blank look of distaste, which he attempted to conceal as quickly as he could. "That's nice," he laughed somewhat awkwardly. "What happened? No club activities?"

"Yeah," Shouri answered with a slight frown. For his part, Yuuri couldn't be sure if it was over his lack of enthusiasm or the topic he'd brought up. "None of the other officers could make it. They were all going on about some big celebrity... Gyu... something or other."

"Huh," Yuuri shrugged. "Haven't heard of them."

He was then hoping to make his escape by skirting around his brother and nonchalantly going up stairs. A hand planted firmly on his shoulder all but crushed that plan. "Mom is starting dinner," Shouri stated, voice about as heavy as the weight of his grip. "It's family time now."

"Says you," Yuuri muttered under his breath, but something flashed into his mind at the mention of the word family. He recalled the look of fear in Greta's big brown eyes as she remembered her grandmother. A shiver traveled down his back, and he turned back to his brother. The stern lines of his face clearly belied the deep familial affection Yuuri always knew was there and just chose to ignore. I'm so sorry, Shouri! No, big brother! his mind supplied like a line straight out of a soap opera. Despite the ridiculousness of the sudden thoughts assailing his confused head, Yuuri's eyes filled with tears for a second. He blinked furiously.

"Y... Yuuri?" Shouri asked, without a trace of the previous harshness on his features.

"It's nothing!" Yuuri cried immediately. Luckily for him, no more tears were incoming. Still, he could clearly see both Greta happily munching on her croissant with her little legs kicking under the table, and her trembling limbs just before she left. One thought rose out of the mess it left his mind in.

I want to protect her.

"I think," he mumbled into the silence his brother had finally fallen into, "I almost understand you."