*** Nothing good ever happens in pastry shops... D: I can't believe I've never noticed it before lol And to anyone who thinks there'll be a pairing that's not LenxRin let me just say that there won't be any. In this chapter. :) ***

Chapter 21: Normal

August 8th 1890

08:25 AM

A comfortable bed, a mouthwatering breakfast, a relaxing bath and a change of clothes from the finest of tailors, in a castle served by butlers and maids… Len had definitely died, and he was clearly in heaven. It was weird, because he was never interested in god nor religion, not to mention he had murdered people and he couldn't recall the last good deed he'd ever done to mankind. He knew he wasn't dreaming, he didn't have to pinch his cheek or whatever. But he did it anyway. It'd be great if god could heal the wounds he had before he died though, then his life in heaven would be perfect.

'Ugh, be serious Len.' He thought to himself. 'Where the hell am I…?'

None of the servants there replied to his question at all, it's as if he's… A doll. That's a scary thought. To sum it up, Len wasn't in heaven, he wasn't dreaming, he woke up in a castle and everyone treated him like a king even though they refused to say anything to him, and the last thing he remembered was…

"Good morning!" Len heard a familiar voice; and he realized it wasn't heaven after all, another resident from hell was there with him. As he turned around to face her, his memory came back. "Did you sleep well?"

'That's… Right… I remember now.' Yesterday… Or how many days he had slept through he wasn't sure, Mayu gave him an 'antidote' didn't she? It was a blank afterwards, but what's more important was… He was alive and he felt great! It was amazing how he could forget the pain of actually dying for weeks in just a short time.

It's great that he was alive, it's just… Everything had been so… Perfect. Down to the very last detail. He let his guard down and didn't even question where he was when he woke up on the fluffy king bed earlier. Maybe a part of him really did believe he was in heaven for a while? He was sure the second he drank Mayu's version of the antidote he wouldn't ever wake up ever again.

That won't happen the second time, he won't let his guard down… Wasn't he supposed to be a prisoner? Wait… What was he to Mayu?

"Hey, I asked you a question!" Mayu snapped her finger, clearly irritated Len dozed off like that. Could she really blame him though? "How rude… And I was just about to ask you if you're ready for desserts. I'm going to treat you but I feel like you should be the one paying me."

"I don't have money with me you know that." That's right… Mayu said she wanted to take him out to a pastry shop or something, didn't she? He couldn't really complain. It wasn't really clear to him what Mayu had in store for him, all he knew was… To complain would be suicide, to escape would be suicide, to deny anything Mayu says would be suicide.

"It's alright, I'll make you pay with some other method." That clearly did not sound good.

"…Fine." Was the only thing Len could say in response to that.

"Let's go, it's a long trip from here! If we miss the train I'm going to blow it up, hurry, hurry!" That did not sound good either. "I want sweets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner today…"

8:50 AM

It was so perfect Len was tired of getting suspicious over every kind act he was offered by Mayu and her minions. Of course he didn't literally mean that. Len was escorted to the station (from what turned out to be Mayu's mansion) by carriage, he was neither tied nor blindfolded, everything seemed so… Normal. He was on a normal trip, on a normal seat in the train, with such a normal weather outside, as a normal passengers, and a seemingly normal girl with a book in her hands.

And Len didn't like it. He'd probably feel less anxious if he were tied up in a bag somewhere in the cargo. Len meant that figuratively. He'd feel more at ease if Mayu could just explain why she was so… Nice.

"What do you think of this dress? Should I go with this one instead?" Mayu showed him two dresses in the small book she was holding.

"The black one." It didn't matter to him anyway, so he picked sides randomly.

"Yeah, but…" Mayu frowned. "I like the red one better."

"Then go with the red one."

"No, you're right, the black one looks better."

And then Len sighed. If she were so nice, would she really answer the question 'why are you being so nice to me?'. So far it was fine just playing along, would asking the question ruin the moment? There's just too many ifs and buts and maybes and Len was tired of it all.

"Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?"

"Eh, because…" Mayu's eyes were still fixed on the two dresses. Clearly she was still confused between the two and clearly making a decision between those two dresses was more important than that question. "I just feel like it, I guess."

And then Len concluded he could never understand how women thinks and he should just play along with her until she lets him go.

"Are you trying to kill me with paranoia?" Because it was definitely working.

"No, I could do a better job than that. I could make you think you're actually the queen of England who has three pet leprechauns and a penguin farm. No, I technically 'couldn't', but I know a guy who could and he could set your mind up like that." Mayu sighed. "Let me ease your mind a little bit. Remember what I said to you yesterday? If we're going to go eat cake in public you need to look… Presentable. Not disgusting and all bloody-like and depressing."

And whose fault was that exactly?

9:40 AM

"They all look so nice…" Rin said as she gulped at the sight of all the sweets lined in front of the pastry shop. "I want to eat them all…"

"You can't." Piko took it literally again.

"I know I can't, it's just…" She gave a faint smile. "The one on the bottom shelf, the right one with the strawberry on top! That one looks… The yummiest…"

Rin was having a fun time so far… When was the last time she felt that relaxed? Even though Rin had just met Piko and to her, he had one of the most blank expression and response any man could ever offer, she didn't feel so tense around him. She liked the fact that he was so open and straight forward to things, it made her feel like she could trust Piko. And she'd been having trust issues, so it was good. She was adjusting to… A normal life. And that day was a good start!

So far so good.

"I'll buy it for you later."

"No, no, you don't need to! It's just that, they all look really delicious and I got a little bit carried away." She tried hard not to stare at them so much though, Rin felt like the more she stare at the cakes the more she wanted it. "Should we go somewhere else?"

"We're close to the market." He knew Rin wanted the cake. And Rin knew he understood that. It was obvious giving too many gifts to strangers would only make the other party uncomfortable… He had to take note of that down.

'If Rin doesn't want to accept a gift from me, maybe she'll accept the cake if Kaito gave it to her… I guess I'll go buy the cake later and ask Kaito to give it to her.' Or he could buy two slices of cake and give it to the two of them. Naaah.

"Alright, we should go to the market next."

"Everyone, make room!" They heard a voice from the second floor veranda of the pastry shop. It was hard to see, but a man from the second floor came with a bucket and all of a sudden he poured the water down; emptying the bucket. And it was going to hit Rin in a millisecond.

Without a second thought, Piko pushed Rin away from the splash zone. With a big splashing sound Piko was drenched cold water… It was the second time that week that he got himself completely wet.

'And all apparently thanks to the same girl…' He sighed.

"Why would anyone do that here…?!" To suddenly just pour water off the second floor like that? Did he not know there were customers below them? That pastry shop had four sets of table outside for two, it could have hit any of them. So… The man with the bucket wasn't a worker there? Did he just throw it out for fun? Someone could easily catch a cold with that, someone could easily die with a cold like that.

"A-are you okay? You should go back and get a change of clothes right now."

"Not until I talk to the guy who just threw water all over me." Somehow Piko's mind was still in clouds. If he'd worked there or was a regular customer at that pastry he knew that there'd be people down there… Was that why the person who threw the water out gave a warning…? That meant he didn't want anyone to get wet, but… Why would he do that without even looking down and check? And why's it so important to throw the water out in the first place? It's not waste, it wasn't dish water, it's just plain water. He was just wasting water. And… For what?

"That can wait, you need a change of clothes now! Your bakery's a bit far from here, right?" Rin snapped him out of it.

"…Fine." It was irritating but he had to get a change of clothes…

'I can always ask around later. This walk with Rin's over anyway.'

11:02 AM

"Don't you think the cake here is great? No actually I think this one's better… I think I'll get another plate just to make sure." Mayu was in her second plate… While Len was in his second bite. He wasn't paranoid, he knew there was no poison there, it's just… He didn't feel like eating at all. "You see, I'm one of those people who… I don't know, for some reason no matter how many cakes I eat, I never gain a weight? Maybe it's because I tire myself at work…? But I don't know, it could be a blessing too!"

"That's great." Was the only comment Len could say. "This isn't the same pastry shop you told me before though, is it…?"

"Ehh, how did you know?" Mayu didn't sound surprised, she continued eating her cake. She probably knew how Len found out, but… That sounded like a conversation starter.

He thought the best cake in the world would be in the best pastry shop in the world. But the one they were in seemed so… Ordinary. It's not a place you could find nobles or anyone high up in the ladder of society to be there at all. The shop only four tables with a pair of chairs facing each other on the outside, it was summer so apparently on he and Mayu were out eating cakes there. Apparently someone spilled a large amount of water just in front of the display of the pastry shop too. It was slowly drying up and there were small puddles of it instead.

"First of all I read the newspaper on the train and I saw the date. You said you're going to take me to a pastry shop on Sunday, but today's not Sunday." He noticed that there were footprints from the puddles as well, someone must've gotten hit by it… "Second, this is the first time you've eaten any of these cakes because you still haven't even decided which one's your favorite."

"Yeah, it's not the same pastry shop. I just feel like going here instead." Again, the same answer. It obviously wasn't just a feeling, it obviously was a part of her plan. Or maybe Len was just over thinking it. He already concluded the fact that he couldn't understand women, (at least, Mayu) didn't he?

"So anyway, let's talk about things and stuff. Uhm… What to talk about… What do people in dates usually talk about…" It was obvious that she was more interested on eating her cake, but at least she was 'trying' to make a conversation out of it. "Oh, I know… Let's talk about that disgusting man over there who's picking his nose."

Mayu pointed at the man inside the pastry shop, as she described earlier, he was picking his nose. He was the waiter who served them earlier, and he was happily… Picking his nose in front of the register.

"What's there to talk about?" It wasn't a… Comfortable sight to see. That man hadn't noticed them looking at them and if he'd noticed it'd just be an awkward one minute stare for all of them in the end.

"That man disgusts me! Let's think of a way to kill him." She smiled. Hopefully the smile and 'teehee' in the end meant she was just joking… Damn it how could you understand that woman? "I can't believe he does it so openly like this. It's gross and not hygienic. And how can those two other people let him?"

"The name of this pastry shop is Stanfield, this is probably a family's pastry shop. And those two are his parents."

"Then how can we kill him…?" Mayu asked anxiously. Why did she have to say 'we'? It's not like he was emotionally scarred or bothered by the man who was just picking his nose in public. "He's still picking his nose, goodness how deep is that hole?"

"Just stab him with a knife or shot him with a gun, he's only human." If it bothered Mayu so much then she should just stop staring at him with those big eyes.

"In broad day light? I don't think so." She looked at the man, then back at her cake… Clearly she lost her appetite.

"Just poison the guy."

"That's a great idea!" She spoke as if it really was a good idea. Technically they were brainstorming on how to murder the man who was picking his nose in broad day light. In a pastry shop. But was she really going to take it seriously?

"I didn't mean it literally."

"Yeah, it's a good idea but not doable. I don't have any lethal poisons with me today." She chuckled. If the newspaper ever covers the hypothetical case of the poisoned man, the culprit's motive would be because he picked his nose and it disgusts her. That'd be a great read. "I've completely lost my appetite, I'm just going to go and pay now. Honestly I don't think they deserve to be paid, should we just leave them?"

"It's up to you." Len only had two bites but in the end, he really wasn't all that interested. That meant they were done with their cake hunt, was that the end of it? If Len couldn't take advantage of it and escape he'd regret it forever.

"Come on, let's go to the register." She stood up. "You're not planning to escape now are you? You still haven't tried the best cake ever at this one shop far far away from this one."

Damn it all. It's as if she could read his mind. And he had no idea how to read hers. With heavy steps Len followed Mayu into the pastry shop.

"On second thought, I don't feel like paying at all." It would've been a great idea not to say that out loud inside the pastry shop, of course.

"It's too late, just pay them and leave zero tips." Len sighed again. So far he couldn't think of any way he could escape. He could outrun her since she was wearing a dress, but… Was she really going to go easy on him like that? Len couldn't see it but he was sure… Somewhere Mayu's… Cronies were out there just waiting to catch him if he dares to escape.

"Fine."

"Here's your change sir." There was only one person left in the line, and Len was itching to get the hell out of there that instant.

'Must… resist... Urge… To escape without a proper plan in mind…'

"There's one more thing I want to ask. Earlier this morning someone dropped water from the second floor of the pastry shop. Do you know who did that? And why?" Poor guy. Len thought it was a bit weird of him not to ask the employee there before when he actually got hit.

"Uh… I don't know who you're talking about." The young nose picker was acting innocent all of a sudden… Did he feel guilty? "Next customer, please!"

"You did that? It was you, wasn't it?"

"I was paid to do that, I don't know!" While the customer's voice was still calm, the nose picker's voice was loud and even desperate. Why was he so… Anxious?

"Who paid you to throw water off like that? Were you trying to aim at somebody?" Len wasn't sure why he was interested in their conversation. To get paid to throw water off to somebody, huh… Was it supposed to be a prank?

"Uh, he paid me to that! This guy right here!" He pointed his finger to Len's face. The silver haired customer turned around, revealing his heterochromia eyes…

And Len recognized him immediately.

7/13

Changed the AM/PM! owo;;