Chapter Text
“Yaaaawwwn…”
Koraru Rozu (or Rozu Koraru, for overseas bros) reached over the seat to turn off the blaring siren that is her alarm. She sat up and stretched, she had a kink in her back. Sleeping in a van would do that to you.
Yes you heard that right, she slept in a van. Our protagonist turns out to be a homeless orphan. It’s not so bad though, she was orphaned at a young age so she never knew her parent’s anyways.
More importantly, her little homeless problem was about to change! She isn’t quite sure how she did it, but she struck a goldmine. She found a home that comes at the exchange of working at the city’s local bakery, she even got paid for it! A job for money and even a free house with it! Yes please!
But first, she had to go through her morning routine. She slipped out of her pajamas and put on some proper clothes. A slightly dirty ,light pink, leather jacket, a white shirt underneath, and some ripped blue jeans.
Now, despite how absurdly gangsta this choice of clothing was, Rozu would like the reader to know that her clothes were chosen out of pure necessity. (I.E: She found them lying around somewhere. Homeless, remember?) It’s not like she actually liked the look, pfft. She was a nice girl! Not some gangsta! …Probably.
(Author’s note: She actually is a nice girl, but at the same time, she does indeed like the look. Don’t tell her I said that though.)
A meow caught the girl’s attention, as at that moment her roommate had finally woken up.
“Nyah.” A black furred cat appeared from a nearby alleyway. The cat would always disappear somewhere at night and return by morning. Rozu had no idea where he went.
“Hey Ensomnya, where’d you go this time?”
The cat just stared at Rozu in response. Typical. She felt the same brand of unimpressed she always felt from the cat.
With that done, Rozu quickly went through the rest of her morning routine. She ate some cereal after digging it from under all the random crap she had in her van. She brushed her teeth and spat the toothpaste into the sewer. She left some food out for Ensomnya… yada yada. You know, the usual.
Finally, she brushed her pinkish orange hair, a color that you probably didn’t even know existed. The author definitely didn’t.
Primed and ready for the day ahead of her, she took hold of the wheel and sped ahead. At least that’s what it felt like, but unfortunately Rozu followed the speed limit like a good citizen. No drifting this van today.
After about 30 minutes of driving, the bakery she would work at finally came into view of her pinkish orange, (bordering on scarlet) eyes.
Built on the very outskirts of the newly created Magical Creatures District, the bakery stood alone atop a large plateau that jutted out from a mountain which nearly blocked the sun overhead. The building itself was rustic, not all too different from a classic Edo Period Japan building. It wasn’t too grand of a place, but it wasn’t any dump either. That, and it was big. Like, really big, not mansion sized, but big enough to make you wonder why a bakery would ever need so much space.
Hanging from an overhang was a brightly colored sign that heavily contrasted with the dull building. In bold letters of every color imaginable the sign read,
“Pantasia Mogu-Yubi Bakery.”
She forgot about the strange name… Who would name their bakery finger? And what the duck (quack) is a pantasia?
No matter, she shouldn’t be judging the place she’ll live and work in for the foreseeable future.
Besides… she had a feeling she’d get used to it.
Rozu parked her van in one of the few parking spots. The place was quite desolate, it rested on the outskirts of civilization where not many would venture. Naturally, this led to there not being any need for a big parking lot.
Rozu liked it that way, having to sense the emotions of too many people gave her a headache. She had learned to block floods of emotion before they overwhelmed her, but sometimes that was like trying to block the ocean with a dam made of cardboard.
That’s right, Rozu, along with being a homeless gangsta girl with weird colored hair, was also an empath. Somebody who can naturally sense the emotions of those around them. She could even sense the emotions of animals like Ensomnya, although that wasn’t really useful cause Ensomnya only seemed to only ever be in a constant state of unimpressed. Her power came in handy sometimes, as she didn’t even need to look at people to sense them. This allowed her power to double as what was essentially a form of danger sense. Nobody could stalk her!
But anyways, she wasn’t here to catch stalkers, no, she was here to start her new life! To get a job! A home! A chance at living comfortably!
With a hop and a skip, Rozu bounded towards the entrance of her new home. Ensomnya quickly followed behind, clearly confused on what all the excitement was about. Oh if only his stupid little cat brain knew! No longer would they be living off the streets! They’d be-
And then the front door exploded.
Rozu was knocked onto her butt from the blast. Luckily she didn’t hit her head, that would have been bad. The only thing she could see was a thick black smoke. The smog enveloped her, like a very not cuddly blanket. After what felt like years of coughing and flailing about, the smoke finally cleared. A figure stood above Rozu’s prone form, she could sense an aura of worry and remorse emanating from them.
“Are you okay?!
While Rozu still couldn’t see well, due to having to rub her burning eyes, she recognized the voice as her employer’s. Coughing, she sputtered out a reply, first impressions were important. “H-hey Boss… I’d like to order… a large pizza...”
Okay, maybe she did hit her head after all.
After a moment the smoke cleared, and Rozu finally managed to get a good look at her new boss, and probable culprit of the explosion. She was a dog girl, with brown hair, eyes, and dog ears to boot. Frankly she was kind of cute. Not the time Rozu! You’re dying! Well, not quite dying, but the point still stands!
“I think you’ll need more than pizza for that head wound.”
“What?”
“Nothing, just,” The dog girl then proceeded to bow down to their own employee, causing Rozu to feel a surge of remorse from them, “I’m so sorry for the explosion!”
“It’s fine it’s fine, please stop bowing, you’re supposed to be my boss. Not the other way around,.” Rozu also wanted them to stop projecting such overwhelming sadness, even if Rozu wasn’t an empath, she would still feel it.
On a dime, the remorse immediately disappeared, only to be replaced by an equally intense aura of excitement. Again, Rozu didn’t need empath powers to feel it. She could see it in the way the dog girl’s face literally brightened and her tail began wagging so fast it threatened to take off.
Thank goodness I happen to have sunglasses with me. Damn, that’s bright! How is she even doing that?
“Well in that case, hello! I am Inugami Korone, your new boss, but you already knew that! Come on, let’s get you inside so I can show you around!”
The dog girl then grabbed Rozu’s wrist and proceeded to pull her way too fast towards the bakery. Rozu felt like she was suddenly strapped to a rocket. A very cute, dog girl shaped rocket, but still a rocket.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! SLOW DOWWWN!!!”
How the hell does she even go that fast!?! Rozu could swear she saw her life flash before her eyes as the world became a blur.
They abruptly came to a stop somewhere inside the bakery, Rozu couldn’t tell where past how fast the world was spinning. If it weren’t for the fact that the universe seemed to decide to stop obeying the laws of physics for the moment she would’ve probably died from the g-forces throwing her body around. Is my head spinning because of the concussion, or because my blood was forced out of my body like a juiced orange?
Once Rozu regained her vision, the fact that she was behind a wooden counter was the only thing she could notice before Korone slammed her hands on it. Rozu watched as the counter shattered right before her eyes.
“IT’S TRAINING TIME!”
“Wha- hey! What happened to the counter!?!” By the fox spirits, what kind of strength does this girl have!?!
...It’s kind of hot.
“Actually, that’s your first task in Korone’s Bakery Training Course Of Awesomeness And Yubis.”
Rozu was snapped out of her simpage by a wave of absolute confusion.
“Huh?’
Korones tapped the cracked counter, “Fix this.”
“Huh?!”
It was then that Rozu felt an aura of smugness and mischief from her new boss, allowing her to come to a revelation.
“Wait a minute, you’re just messing with me! You know full well I can’t fix a counter! I’m an employee not a woodworker!”
Korone gave a giggle, blessing Rozu’s ears. “Oho, I see those empath powers are quite useful aren’t they?” The aura of smugness then increased, coupled with something manic, and a smile to fit it,. “However, just because you called me out, doesn’t mean you don’t have to do what I say… I am your boss, remember?”
Rozu sweatdropped. What have I gotten myself into!?! I haven’t even been here for five minutes! Or have I? I’m not sure, that explosion could’ve been anywhere from a few seconds to half an hour. Wiat, wait! This isn’t the time to think about that now!
“Wha…?”
Korone gave a sadistic grin, and spoke in a sing-song voice. “Now. fix. It.”
Rozu thought about how that voice would have been a blessing if it didn’t mean her demise.
<~|T_T|~>
Some suffering later…
\|>_>|/
A few hours later, Korone had forced Rozu to do a number of strenuous and ridiculous tasks that had NOTHING to do with running a bakery.
Such tasks included, plumbing, getting rid of a giant rat infestation, carrying several logs of wood, killing demons, patching a hole in the roof, hunting a rabbit, boxing, spoon feeding Korone, shoe shining, building a gaming computer, escaping the attic, and the list goes on.
Rozu was panting on the floor, the rug below her would have to be washed due to all of the sweat it’s absorbed. Korone sat on a couch nearby, looking pretty, as if there wasn’t a half dead employee that probably needed medical attention.. They were in the employee lounging area, which was actually pretty cozy. It had a nice flatscreen tv, a ceiling fan, nice chairs, and even a fireplace. Rozu would be admiring it if, you know, she wasn’t SUFFERING.
Pant “...Whatever happened…” pant “...To me having…” pant “a head injury?”
“If you can stand, you can still work!” Korone’s cheer almost made Rozu feel better, it was quite contagious, especially for an empath.
“Guh… well…” pant “I can’t even stand!”
“Hmm, I suppose so… that’s no good. I’ll be right back!” With that Korone proceeded to leave to Matsuri knows where. In the meantime, Rozu lamented on the situation.
What is even happening? I barely got any time to process this, what just happened?
Rozu just wanted a home and a stable job, instead she got… whatever this is.
…To be honest, it wasn’t that bad though. Sure she felt like dying, but Korone was good company, her smile the brightest thing Rozu had ever seen. She could probably do anything if she leeched off of the dog girl’s contagious energy enough.
Also… being humiliated like this by my boss… it’s a little exciting!
Oh no she’s an M.
It was at that moment that Korone returned with a cat girl following her.
“Rozu! Meet Okayu!” Korone roughly picked the exhausted girl up and set on her feet, much to her dismay.
“Hi Okayu…” Rozu slumped down against the nearest wall, sliding to the floor.
“Korone, I told you not to overwork the employee, it’s only been one day.” Okayu put her hands on her hips and gave Korone a disapproving look.
Although Rozu could feel that there wasn’t any real worry behind it, again, to Rozu’s dismay. Shouldn’t you be more worried for me?
“What!?! I didn’t overwork them! They’re perfectly fine!”
“Korone they can’t stand.”
“That’s why I brought you here! Just use your amazing magic healing onigiri!”
Okayu sighed and she conjured a rice ball in her hand, “I’m not going to let you rely on healing to keep our employees alive, you know.”
“Hmmph!” Korone gave a pout, it was honestly quite cute. “Fine, if you say so-”
Korone was cut off as Okayu placed her hand on her head, gently patting her. “I know you want to have fun, but there are better ways than messing with our single employee, okay?”
‘Messing with’ is quite the understatement.
Korone looked like a scolded child, and she felt like one, too, This girl really is an open book isn’t she? I don’t even need my empath powers.
Okayu on the other hand, was a little more guarded. Behind her gentle smile was a mix of worry, a bit of disapproval, and a large amount of swelling affection, something that Rozu recognized as love.
Looking closer, she realized that the same feeling of love was present on Korone, it was currently hidden under her shame. Wait, are they a couple? Damn, and here I was thinking of making moves on Korone.
“Alright…”
“Good girl, I’ll buy you some yubis later. Anyways, I should probably heal Rozu now.”
“Wait what was that about yubi-”
Rozu was cut off as Okayu knelt down and unceremoniously shoved the onigiri in the poor empath’s mouth.
“Hhrrk! Pfptalgalkefk!” Rozu sputtered about, as she somehow managed to swallow the onigiri.
“Aagh! Be careful! I’ll choke- W-woah, I feel a lot better!”
In an instant, Rozu felt better than ever. Her bruises had disappeared, the pain was gone, she was energized and ready to take on the world!
“Holy moly! This is great! How’d you do that!” Rozu jumped up and began excitedly jumping around the room, testing out her newly healed body. It was good as new!
Okayu chuckled, “It’s magic healing onigiri, it uses a recipe that was passed down to me by my mama.”
“Well your mama is amazing!”
“Why thank you.”
Korone coughed to get Rozu’s attention,. “Anyways, time for more training! Er, easier training this time.”
“Oh gosh,.” Rozu felt a wave of dread wash over her, Korone may have said that it’ll be easier, but that didn’t help ease her fear that much,. “For the sake of all that’s good, please at least it be related to running a bakery this time.”
“What!?! The other training WAS related to running a bakery!” Apparently Korone was genuinely offended by that comment, which left Rozu absolutely flabbergasted.
“What do you mean it was related!?! What does killing demons or breaking out of your freaking escape room of an attic have to do with working at a bakery!?!”
“It builds up your strength and resistance to stress! Obviously!”
“Why would I need either of those things at a bakery?!???”
Now Okayu coughed, getting their attention. “First of all, no arguing in the bakery, no matter how amusing it is to watch you two.” Rozu felt a wave of amusement from Okayu. “Second, Rozu, this is no normal bakery, this is the Phantasia Mogu-Yubi Bakery. Strength and resistance are absolutely necessary here.
Well that’s ominous!
“W-what? What does THAT mean?!”
Okayu just shrugged, “Who knows?” She then produced an onigiri from nothing and bit into it.
“What?! Don’t mess with me!” Rozu was practically overwhelmed by the sheer smugness that Okayu was producing at the moment. And I thought she was nice! She’s more of a troll than Korone!
Speaking of Korone, the dog girl grabbed Rozu and pulled her, thankfully not at the speed of a rocket this time. “Time for more training!”
“Whaaaaa?!”
Okayu gave her a big, overaggerated wave. “Have fun!”
“Okaaaayuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!”
o-(^_^)-o
A day of training later…
->{*0*}->
“Sleep well! Your first shift starts tomorrow!” Korone closed the door to Rozu’s new bedroom.
Rozu had spent the rest of the day training. This training was actually related to working at the bakery, and was in fact easier than whatever happened that morning. However, it was still hard, and left Rozu exhausted, just not so exhausted that she was at death’s door.
Thus, Rozu immediately flopped onto her new bed. Surprised to find it to be so soft, she had never experienced anything like it! Just how many experiences like this have been robbed from me because I’ve lived on the streets?
She rolled over onto her back to survey her new room. A room… MY room… it feels so surreal.
The room was a classic Japanese tatami room. It was quite barren, all things considered. The only furniture it had was the bed, a nightstand, the closet, and an opaque screen window.
Speaking of the window, something was scratching against it. On top of that, a meow was brought to Rozu’s ears.
“Wait… Ensomnya?” In all the chaos, Rozu had forgotten all about him! Was he outside this entire time?
Rozu got up and opened the window and, sure enough, the black void ball of a cat bounded inside and meowed at her.
“Hi Ensomnya, sorry I forgot about you. Do you want some food? Or do you want to sleep on my new bed!” Rozu brandished her bed. It wasn’t anything fancy really, just an average twin size, but to a homeless orphan like Rozu, it was everything.
As always, Ensomnya wasn’t impressed, as Rozu could feel.
“Right, right, you don’t sleep, don’t you?”
Without a word the cat then bounded back outside, to who knows where.
Rozu sighed, “Silly cat.” She went back to bed, deciding to leave the window open in case if Ensomnya wanted to come back inside.
I better get some sleep.