"It's too bright today…" a young man with sharp golden eyes said as he squinted and looked out of the window. Uesugi Fuutarou, 17 years old, single and taller than an average freshman in high school. 'Will this class ever end?' he thought to himself as the teacher kept rambling on how the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell… A few more minutes passed and the school bell rang and the boy got up and left almost immediately, but not before passing by a vending machine to get some coffee. He exited the school and walked down the path where he received a text, 'From Yu: Let's go to karaoke right now!' the young man sighed and replied, 'Sorry, I'll pass today' as Yu immediately texted back jokingly asking him if he had a girlfriend with some random emojis. Fuutarou just left him on read and continued on his way. Arriving at a bakery, he was immediately greeted by a stern voice, "Fuutarou, you're late! It's past six already! No excuses, get dressed and man the counter!" the voice said as the boy immediately went to the back and changed to a white long sleeve baker wear paired with a black apron and a skull cap. He immediately went to the counter as he rolled up his sleeves. Arriving at the counter, he catered to the customers that pre-ordered pastries such as macaroons and eclairs, although they mainly cater cakes.
The bakery, a family business just beneath their home, so sometimes he was asked to step in sometimes. The woman that shouted earlier was his mother who usually does the serving and cashier work while his dad was always in the kitchen baking and making new recipes and designs to the point that he looks like he lives inside the kitchen. His sister, Raiha who is 15 years old, helps out in the kitchen too sometimes, slowly following in their dad's footsteps of being obsessed with making new recipes. He still shudders as he remembers the chili macaroons Raiha made. Hours passed and the customers slowly faded yet there was one girl with bangs and blue headphones sitting on a table with multiple empty plates as she continued to munch on her current dessert. What piqued his interest is that the brownie she had was one of his creations. A matcha brownie. One where he made using a high grade of matcha where he balanced the bitter and sweet taste to make it have a unique and delicious finish.
The girl noticed his gaze midbite and choked, "HHHHAHGHDEHURBLeLEHHHHHHAAAHHAHAHH," the boy immediately ran and got her a glass of water, where she immediately gulped. "cough, Sorry about that…," the girl said as she composed herself, " No, that was my bad…" Fuutarou replied as he observed the girl, 'I've never seen a girl except Raiha eat so much… And she's so small… Is she a middle-schooler?' he thought to himself as the girl jumped from her seat as she noticed he was staring, "T-thank you for the food!" she yelled, or rather whispered as her voice was as loud as if it was just the wind. "D-did I scare her or something?" he whispered to himself as he looked at the mountain of plates on the table.
"Oh? That's one of our regulars. Nakano-san. She comes in every one or two weeks and mostly orders matcha. The ones you made." Hayami made sure she highlighted the last sentence as she grinned, " That kid likes your baking so straighten up!" the woman said as she patted Fuutarou's back. 'I should apologise to her the next time she visits for scaring her…'
Days passed since that encounter with the redheaded girl and Fuutarou just got back home from school and as usual, he helped out at the counter as his mom was at the back. A customer with long red hair and butterfly ribbons on her head walked inside with two other girls, all of them radiating the rich girl aura. "C'mon, why are we at this place, Suzumi-san? This doesn't even look like a good shop," the redhead told her friend as Nino gazed over the pastries displayed near the counter, without even trying to lower her voice, in which the young man's eye visibly twitched with from the insult. "Hey now Nakano-san, trust me, this place has really good cakes, especially pan au chocolat which are to die for!" the short haired blonde replied as the other girl nodded in agreement while the redhead visibly rolled her eyes and gave in to her friend as they approached the cashier.
"Welcome," Fuutarou said in a slightly irritated manner to hint that he heard what she said, "Wow rude," Nino said as she put her black card on the counter, " I'll give your pastries a chance and I hope it isn't as sour as your attitude. I want three of the most expensive pastries and the specialties of the shop, now." She said in an arrogant manner as the other girls looked away with one mouthing 'sorry' while smiling awkwardly. "As you wish," he replied as he took the card and forced a smile as he served what they ordered. The two girls gave their thanks to the young man but the redhead just looked at the desserts like she was analysing a maths equation of some sort, "Looks better than I expected. But what about the taste?" Nino remarked, still not believing her friend, who was already enjoying the desserts. Fuutarou, on the last line of his patience, gave a polite smile while still giving her the gaze as he walked back to the counter.
Nino took a bite from the brownie and smirked, "This isn't that bad," she begrudgingly admitted as her friends gave her the 'I told you so' look. "I'll take four more servings of this to go," she yelled at Fuutarou from her seat as she continued to slowly finish her plate. A few hours of annoying loud talk from that table made Fuutarou want to just go upstairs to his room and read a book. Just as he served her to go order, the three left as Fuutarou just sighed as he cleaned the table, " Now I hope that I won't see her again… I feel like she deserved what happened a few days ago…" he whispered to himself not knowing what kind of hell would come.
A/N: Look who's back? Just consider this as a draft/practice since I'm really rusty. Been busy and was checking some files and found my drafts for DT. You know what that means right? Till Next Time.