AU / Author Notes:
- Shuuichi is currently at Tanuma-level of spiritual awareness. His glasses don't really help anymore. The Natori family was never in the exorcism business and his childhood was not so full of strife. Pretty mundane until he meets Natsume.
- It was interesting thinking about Seiji as an outsider. Of course, he is frighteningly competent at whatever he does, be it performing exorcisms or baking pastries. Both exercise high technical skill and reward an exacting precision. Perfect for Seiji!
- Whatever he makes is absolutely excellent! They have a strong customer base as a result. I want to go to this bakery ;-;
- Granted, some have come for Shuuichi's good looks..! (Does Seiji still get jealous!?) He takes care of the café side of the business, the cooking and such. Natori has great customer service skills; his sparkles do not go to waste! Their marketing budget is low too, lol.
- Seiji and Shuuichi met at culinary school, bonded over baking and cooking, fell in love, married, and are now running their bakery together. (Wow, that sounds like a rom-com.) They find each other in whichever universe they're in :-)
- One aspect that really drew me back into developing this story was thinking up Matoba & Nyanko-sensei interactions where they are not at each other's throats! (And where Nyanko has to play pet kitty.) Initially, it was more adversarial, but ultimately, my desire for Seiji's cat dreams to come true won out.
- It will be interesting when Sensei starts speaking to Seiji. What stories will he have to tell about Natori, I wonder? These two will get on like a house on fire for sure.
- As for the Book of Friends, I'm honestly not sure if it exists here. Of course, Nyanko is here, though… More than anything, I wanted to give everyone a gentler existence in this universe. So jury's still out for me about that.
- It will definitely be more lively around the bakery now. Seiji will be as curious as ever and Shuuichi can be more open with him about things!
- P.S. The fruit trees are lemons and loquats! Somehow!
If you've made it this far, thank youuuu :')
I have so delighted myself with this story (could you tell?) and I am happy to share it with you after all this time! Hope you enjoy! 3