Work Text:
It was a surprise for Sigma to see the building open again. What was more surprising for him was the line forming around the building. Carefully trying to push past other people, Sigma could see the inside contents of the building.
His heart nearly sank yet he wanted to jump out of his chest. He looked up at the welcome sign to recheck that this new shop was what he thought it was.
“Bungo Patisserie”
Sigma sighed softly upon reading the sign before looking through the windows to see the insides. It seemed like a quaint cafe. Well, as quaint as one could be when it had a bunch of new people swarming it, Sigma thought.
His heart had slightly swelled upon seeing the different decor of the bakery. Up until now, this shop had been closed down. The last time another store had inhabited its doors was months ago when an old man and his wife had run the shop. Sigma often came to the bakery to indulge in their cookies and tea. Financial troubles were the downfall, and soon after the couple had closed their doors.
Sigma sighed as he looked down at his watch, noting the time was starting to catch up to him. With one final look at the bakery, he walked away from the crowd, taking a mental note to visit on a day with more time.
It would be months later until he fell through on that promise.
***
The only thing that registered with Sigma was an uneasy and annoyed feeling. It was usual considering his god-forsaken coworkers. One who was insane, to say the least, but he supposed was well-meaning.. and the other couldn’t be described in many words that were still polite. At least, that’s what Sigma thought.
It wasn’t uncommon for him to get off of work feeling rather antsy as well as exhausted, to say the least. However, it was pretty much the same every day, simply walking back to his apartment to catch up on a small drabble he was messing around with in his head or to get a small jumpstart on the work for tomorrow. That is until he saw a sign.
“Bungo Patisserie”
He couldn’t remember the last time a sign came back to haunt him so hard. It had been at least 3 months since Sigma first passed around the bakery and noticed the number of people, however, today was different. Upon slightly peeking in through the window, Sigma could conclude that it was a lot less busy than it was before, now that it didn’t have a surplus of people swarming around it.
Well… Sigma did promise himself that he would visit it on a day with more time. Hesitantly, as if he was intruding, Sigma pulled the door open and slowly began to take in the scenery around him.
It was… different, to say the least. He is slightly in awe of the change in decor and… atmosphere. Before the shop had been decorated in a fairly standard way, looking quite modern and clean with the softer touches of looking like a home with the certain pillowy padding on the seats. However now it seems like whoever the owner is decided to scrap that aesthetic and go for a more vintage rustic theme. With soft greenery plants lining the ceiling and dark wooden tables. A wall full of books with what Sigma could make out as full of classic authors and a couple of more mainstream books. Careful detailing when it came to the light fixtures being just the right amount of bright when you walked towards the actual sellers of the bakery and more dim and soft when you moved towards the seating area. There was also a steady hum of music coming from somewhere which trailed and fit in nicely with the steady stream of voices being heard, from laughing to arguing to other pleasant conversations at Sigma that was able to simply absorb.
It was not only a change of people and building, it damn well felt like Sigma stepped into a completely different place. Pulling his eyes away from every small nook and cranny of the bakery, he managed to make his way to the front of the store, waiting for a cashier to come to attend to him while he looked at the brochure for the shop. It dictated the owner of the restaurant, Fukuzawa Yukichi along with two other names that Sigma assumed were possibly either collaborators or other managers. Ranpo Edogawa and Yosano Akiko.
Sigma narrowed his eyes as he continued to read over it before someone swayed into view.
“Hey, Welcome to Bungo Patisserie, how may I help you?” The cashier asks with a pleasant and polite voice as well as a small welcoming smile on his face.
And dang. Sigma took in the boy in front of him with slightly wide eyes. The cashier (or would it be better to call him a baker as well? Sigma wondered) looked young as well as another clashing addition to the bakery’s environment. His hair was a pure and silvery white with a single black strand and what he thought were some black strands framing his neck. The boy's hair was also seemingly cut by an inexperienced barber as he had a choppy fringe and a longer lock of hair that framed the left side of his face.
However, Sigma’s gaze naturally drifted towards the boy’s eyes. Heterochromia eyes that were laced with deep purple and the most vibrant gold. It was something unlike anything Sigma had ever seen before.
Sigma was at a total loss for words as he cleared his throat softly. “Ah… yes um… What would you recommend?” He asked instead of immediately asking for cookies which he wouldn’t be opposed to… but there was something about this boy that made Sigma want to remain for just a minute longer.
“Oh!” The boy seemed surprised by his response before his eyes clouded with a bit of thought, “Well there are a variety of different sweets that we offer, strawberry crepes, donuts, sweet bread, and cookies”
Sigma hummed in acknowledgment as he stared through at the glass containers seeing the beautifully decorated and iced cakes along with the lines of cookies. Some looked as if they were chocolate chips while others looked… differently decorated. The ones that drew his eyes were cookies shaped like a cartoon tiger, a golden butterfly, and a magnifying glass.
“What flavor are those?” Sigma found himself asking as he pointed at the ones that artistically caught his eye. Atsushi bent down as he inspected the cookies that Sigma was pointing to.
“Oh, those are sugar cookies with royal icing. The tigers have vanilla icing, the magnifying glass is chocolate and the butterfly is lemon flavored.” The boy asked as he looked at Sigma with an expectant look.
Sigma thought as he looked at all the sweets. The urge to just buy anything and everything that was prettily decorated to either admire it or taste it was very big.
“What’s your favorite?” He found himself asking as the cashier looked surprised at that answer. “Ah… well, we don’t have them on the menu today but the brownies we make are to die for.” The cashier gushed in an honest voice, making Sigma curious about them.
As if reading Sigma’s mind, the cashier carefully pointed towards one of the pamphlets causing Sigma to carefully flip through it, seeing the brownies that looked as if they had chocolate chips in them along with a single pipe of whipped cream.
“Why don’t you have them today?” Sigma questioned in a polite tone causing the white-haired boy to grow sheepish.
“We run out very quickly, they’re a fan favorite for regulars and one of our employees likes stealing them so we only make them on the weekends.” The boy said in a polite tone before he looked back at the glass case.
“The sugar cookies are delicious, I prefer the vanilla tiger one. The crepes are also delicious, however, we also only make those on weekends.” The boy explained with a polite smile. Sigma hummed in response as he looked at the boy.
“I’ll try the tiger cookies then. Could I also have some chocolate chip ones?” Sigma asked as the cashier nodded his head.
“Of course, how many?” The boy asked as Sigma hummed.
“One of each, please.”
The boy nodded his head as he grabbed a small white box, carefully lining it with a checkered parchment paper which resembled a chess board as he used tongs to carefully place the cookies in the box, closing it and placing it on the counter.
“That’ll be 900 yen.” The boy said as Sigma handed him a bit extra, instructing him to keep the change as the boy beamed.
“Please enjoy the sweets and come back soon.” The cashier spoke with a smile as he carefully placed the right amount in the cash register before placing the rest in the tip jar that had a small sign stating that the money went towards keeping the business open.
Sigma smiled as he took the box carefully before looking at the boy. “Pardon me for asking, but what’s your name?”
The boy gave a closed-eyed smile as he bowed slightly. “Atsushi Nakajima.”
Atsushi Nakajima…
Sigma gave a polite smile as he bowed his head. “Thank you, Nakajima-kun.”
***
It’s become a routine. After Sigma got out of view of the bakery he ate the still warm chocolate chip cookie and practically melted in delight. The chocolate was still warm on the inside as the outer was a bit more crunchy. It was a perfect blend of what was needed to make a cookie. Not too tough or crunchy but also not too soft and gooey.
With confidence, Sigma declared that this was his favorite cookie he’d eaten thus far. He tried the tiger cookies afterward (not without admiring the cute little cartoon face on it as Sigma felt a little bad eating something so beautiful) and it was a bit too sweet for his taste with the frosting but it was delicious. He had found himself wishing he had gotten the lemon and chocolate-flavored ones so he could see which one was the best.
So he managed to go at least twice a week.
That changed to about four days of the work week, not gathering enough courage to go on the weekends. He felt it would’ve been odd to go every day considering the only regulars that he could see were much older people or parents with young children.
Still, he managed to lug himself over to the bakery and 9 times out of 10, Nakajima was there to greet him at the counter. He would smile and usually guess what Sigma wanted to get that particular day.
So that particular day when he decided to be bold enough to walk in on a Friday afternoon he was a bit surprised to notice the boy with white hair missing from his usual post at the cash register. Instead, it was a man with curly brown hair who was talking with someone in the kitchen.
Perhaps talking was too kind of a word.
It sounded more like someone was chastising him.
He cleared his throat as he approached the counter and the man looked up at him, his brown eyes flickering in friendliness. Just not the same one he was always used to.
“Hey, welcome, what can I do for you?” The man said in a far more relaxed tone than Nakajima ever would, even after he had become a bit more friendly with him.
“Ah… could I have a matcha cake..?” He asked impulsively. He had never dared to try it yet he remembered one time Atsushi had recommended it for him. The brunet nodded as he carefully sliced the cake and maneuvered it to a box, shutting it quickly and looking at the register.
“1600 yen” The brunet answered simply with a grin as he took the money Sigma handed it and in turn handed him a fork. He chirped with a small wave “Enjoy”
Sigma grabbed the small cake box as he began to turn away before he hesitated and turned back to the brunet.
“Hey… um… Do you know where the guy who usually is at the cash register is?” Sigma asked stupidly and hesitantly. The brunet’s eyebrow arched up before a smirk grew on his face… one that made Sigma realize he’d made a grave mistake.
“Oh, you mean Atsushi-kun?” He asked knowingly as Sigma nodded his head hesitantly.
“He quit!” The brunet chirped as Sigma felt his eyes slightly widening before the brunet snorted at seeing his reaction. He leaned on the counter and rested his head in his hands with a knowing smirk.
“Atsushi-kun is super busy with his finals this week, he’s asked for a couple of days off while he works on that and such.” The brunet purred out as Sigma relaxed slightly. But only slightly.
He did not like the way that the brunet was looking at him with a hint of mischief.
“Do you know when he’ll be back?” Sigma found himself asking. The brunet hummed in response with a slight shrug.
“Dunno, but you probably won’t see him at the cash register so soon. Kunikida-kun is training him to learn how to bake and whatnot.” The brunet yawned as Sigma nodded his head in acknowledgment before he turned on his heel and left feeling embarrassed for even asking.
*
Sigma had avoided even walking past the bakery. He had felt far too embarrassed and felt as though he crossed a line. He didn’t even know Nakajima like that so why on earth would he ask for his whereabouts? That was just… off-putting and creepy to say the least.
So, Sigma made sure to not even breathe in the direction of the bakery. The closest he ever got was seeing a younger girl with long black hair in pigtails at the register seemingly being trained by a woman with short cropped hair.
He hadn’t seen Nakajima at all through the short and quick glimpses. More so, he was terrified that his brunet coworker ratted out Sigma’s weird questions to the young boy.
Days turned into weeks and those weeks turned into a month.
A month and a half to be oddly specific.
It was when Sigma was in a chain restaurant bakery where he bit into a less-than-average cookie that he frowned. They weren’t… bad by any means. However, they were lacking something. Sigma wasn’t a chef or baker or whatever you want to call it… he wasn’t particularly picky either. It was just lacking something.
He took another bite of the cookie with his brows slightly furrowed before he sighed placed it down on the parchment paper and tucked a strand of lilac hair behind his ear, his finger slightly catching on his earring with a small playing card engraved on it. He frowned at both the taste and the feeling of clanking metal.
Sigma had been on the hunt for any sort of sweet that would be on par or even better than the ones the quaint bakery offered.
Even Nikolai shoving sugar cookies and semi-expired gingerbread cookies in his face did more to annoy him than to fill the cookie-shaped void in his heart.
As dramatic as he sounded.
He then decided that enough was enough as he forced himself to finish the cookie (he would be damned if he let food go to waste, no matter how good or bad it was). However, he told himself that he would be returning to the bakery like nothing happened.
***
Sigma had decided to step back into the bakery despite his better judgment on a weekend, a little caught off guard by the amount of people. Generally, there was never a large stream of people in line, however, perhaps because of the weekend more people came. He stood patiently in line as he took in the change of scenery considering more people were sitting at the tables and he even noticed some of the sweets that people were eating were some he hadn’t seen before.
They all shared the same beautiful and careful decorating though.
As Sigma got closer to the front of the line he noticed the slight arguing towards the front. Slightly peaking his head past the shoulder of the person in front of him he noticed a blonde man with glasses smacking the brunet -whom he remembered took his order the last time he was here - with a strong chastising while another voice piped through to talk to customers in a friendly manner.
He saw the slight flash of white hair and nearly lost all his nerves as he continued to approach the front of the line, slightly growing more nervous at being able to hear the conversations at the front of the store.
Very soon he reached the front and watched the boy with sunset ombre eyes face him with a look of recognition dawning on his face. His pink lips spread out into a smile.
“Oh, hey! I remember you!” He chirped happily as he slightly leaned forward. “Sigma-san, what can I help you with today?”
Sigma opened his mouth to order before a taunting and slightly amusing voice interrupted him, he faced the brunet man who rested his head on his hand in a sly manner. “Oh! I remember you too…”
Shit.
Sigma opened his mouth to interrupt but the brunet was quicker with his sharp tongue, speaking with the blonde co-worker behind him. “Kunikida-kun.. This was the man I was telling you about who was very infatuated with our Atsushi-kun!” the brunet purred out. Sigma felt his cheeks redden a bit as he noticed Nakajima’s grow a bit pink in response.
“Sigma-san…” The boy said softly before Kunikida interrupted with a sharp glare at Sigma causing the brunet’s grin to slightly widen.
“Now now, Kunikida-kun… no need to get like that!”
“You’re just instigating at this point, aren’t you? You intolerable plaster!” The blonde, who assumed his name was Kunikida, spat out as he slightly shook Dazai back and forth, causing the other to flash a lazy smile.
“Not entirely!” The brunet chirped out causing the blonde to groan in frustration.
Another party cleared their throat bringing Sigma’s attention to the patron behind them before Kunikida sighed and waved the customer over to a secondary cashier and Sigma was left with Nakajima.
“Haven’t seen you in a while.” The white hair boy commented as he carefully began to place a large double chocolate chip cookie in a little box on instinct.
He remembered my favorite… but then again it wasn’t a complicated favorite… Sigma reminded himself.
“Nakajima-kun…” Sigma found himself saying as Nakajima paused and held his tongs still. The boy hummed in response as he looked at Sigma. Carefully pushing a purple strand of his hair back he took a deep breath.
“You mentioned something about the brownies… one of the times I was here. I would like to try that.” He said honestly as he pointed to the clear display and saw the brownies which were dwindling fast.
Nakajima smiled a bit as he looked down at the cookie and raised an eyebrow.
“So… no cookies this time?”
“Don’t ask ridiculous questions,” Sigma said with a playfully exasperated tone as Nakajima laughed a bit, carefully pushing the cookie in the box from the middle to make room for the carefully cut brownie as he looked up at Sigma.
“Anything else?”
Sigma looked back at the glass display with a thoughtful look. He remembered the crepes that Nakajima once talked up… however, nothing was indicating such a thing at the moment. Besides… that might be a little much for right now and Sigma was sure that despite how good sweets may be he would have a major stomach ache should he choose to eat something more.
“No, that’s all,” Sigma said as he carefully got out his wallet and waited for Nakajima to ring him up. After paying he politely took the box and began to turn away before Nakajima stopped him.
“Actually, um…” The white-haired boy said with a small awkward smile. “I really hope that you’re doing alright and that you’ll be able to come more frequently again.”
Sigma paused and looked at the boy with a bewildered expression. It still felt like the two of them were largely strangers… I mean, they had only ever encountered each other within these four walls. He continued to stare at the boy with sunset eyes before he let out a soft sigh and gave a smile.
“Thank you, Nakajima-kun…” He said before he turned to leave, allowing himself one final glance and seeing those beautiful eyes stare at him through the glass before they quickly averted their gaze.
Oh, he was so fucked.
***
Sigma had fallen back into the habit of returning to the bakery to visit Nakajima but also to indulge in the wide array of sweets. In the newer visits, he had gotten to try nearly all of the sweets, including the crepes that Nakajima had hyped up and fawned over. It was cute to see his enthusiasm but also to see that the boy had just as much of a sweet tooth as he did.
Today was no different, he walked into the bakery with a relaxed smile, slightly hesitating when he saw a familiar face sitting at one of the tables. He paused seeing Nakajima-kun sitting at one of the tables staring out the window before he looked up.
“Sigma-san!” He exclaimed immediately waving the other man over with a grin on his face. Sigma approached as he noticed the white box sitting in front of Nakajima with a curious gaze.
“You aren’t working today?”
“Nope, got the day off.”
“Little weird to hang around your workplace, no?” Sigma asked teasingly as the younger boy playfully rolled his eyes with a chuckle.
“Little bit, yeah.” He admitted with a smile causing Sigma to look at the more casual wear the boy was wearing. Nakajima was wearing a simple black graphic tee with a pair of fingerless gloves along with a pair of light baggy jeans. He looked far more relaxed than ever.
“However,” Nakajima continued as he carefully pushed the box forward with a slight red tint to his cheeks. “I assumed you’d still come to the bakery and I decided to make you something in advance.”
Sigma raised his eyebrow as he slightly tilted his head to the side with a grin. “How’d you know I’d even come?”
Nakajima laughed a bit as he slightly instinctively popped his knuckles… perhaps to settle his nerves? Sigma personally didn’t like hearing his bones pop or the feeling of it but he knew that Fyodor-kun did something similar to that.
“I didn’t,” Nakajima admitted as he chose not to elaborate. Instead of pressing, Sigma decided to carefully open the box, his eyes slightly widening. Inside sat two chocolate cookies, not much of a surprise there. The surprise was a rectangular frosted cookie that was iced to look like a playing card. An ace of hearts to be specific.
“It’s red velvet with cream cheese frosting. I noticed that when you tried to tiger cookie you probably weren’t a fan of the sweetness of the icing.” Nakajima explained with a smile. “I thought you’d prefer a chocolate-type flavor with a tamer flavour icing.”
“I-... It’s beautiful, Nakajima-kun… I just… I’ve never seen this design out on display.” Sigma said with a slightly flushed expression. Not even daring to touch or pick up the cookie for fear that he would ruin the design so carefully crafted.
“I made it just for you Sigma-san… I noticed your earrings and I assumed you liked playing cards and poker and such.” Nakajima said as he slightly leaned forward on his elbows. Sigma slightly chuckled before he nodded his head.
“I do. I’ve always been fond of playing cards and poker.” Sigma admitted as Nakajima’s smile grew more fondly.
“I’ve always wanted to get into that kinda stuff but I assumed it was a little too strategic for me to get into,” Nakajima spoke in an honest tone with a slight shrug.
“It’s a game that involves both strategy and chance, so you’re really as good as your deck.” Sigma shrugged as he looked at the thoughtful gaze in the white-haired boy’s eyes.
“With my luck, my deck would be pretty shitty.” Nakajima joked. “I’ve never been good with strategic games in general. My friend… loves chess and plays against me pretty much every other day and… the losing streak runs wild that I can’t even face the damn board sometimes.”
Sigma laughed a bit in response as he listened to Nakajima with a fond expression, his own tone growing playful. “My friend is incredibly insightful with cards. He specializes in chess but whenever we play poker it makes me want to tear my hair out from the way the odds are stacked against us.”
They settled into an easy conversation with Nakajima recounting his tales of the tragedy at the hands of the brunet whom he now had a name for, Dazai. Who he conveniently didn’t notice watching out of the corner of his eye.
Or so Sigma claimed and prayed.
“You still haven’t eaten the cookie yet, I promise I’m not trying to poison you,” Nakajima said with a playful smile as he tilted his head to the side slightly.
“Ah… it just feels wrong to eat it, it’s decorated so nicely,” Sigma admitted honestly as he looked back at the frosting. “I felt bad when I ate the tiger cookie.”
Nakajima chuckled again as he shrugged his shoulders. “You can’t preserve a cookie, Sigma-san.”
“Perhaps I’ll do so for this specific one, Nakajima-kun.”
“Atsushi.” The boy clarified.
“Pardon?”
“Atsushi.” The boy said plainly in a more assured manner. “I’d prefer if my friends called me Atsushi.”
“Friends?” Sigma asked as he rested his head on his palm inspecting the boy and his slightly flushed cheeks. “Moving a bit fast there, don’t you think Atsushi-kun?’
Atsushi smiled a bit at hearing his first name as he shrugged his shoulders with a relaxed smile. “No, I don’t think so. Besides, I think our banter should at least get me above an acquaintance level.”
Sigma hummed in response before he nodded his head. “I do think that if we are to be friends then we should take the friendship out of these four walls. It isn’t like we’re grade schoolers.”
The white-haired boy snorted in response as he looked up at Sigma with a playful look as he crossed his arms. “Are you asking me out?”
“Which way are you taking it.”
“Whichever way you want me to.” Atsushi clarified as Sigma hummed in response.
“Let’s go out for lunch sometime,” Sigma decided as he looked at the way the boy’s eyes lit up. It made him wish he asked for it ages ago. “If you aren’t completely bored out of your mind then we can go for a date or something.”
Atsushi nodded his head as he took out his phone and passed it towards Sigma. Taking it, he carefully put in his contact details and handed it back to Atsushi.
“Send me a message so I have your contact.”
“Will do.” Atsushi nodded before he stood up and stretched slightly before sliding his thumbs through his belt loops as he looked down at Sigma. “I have to head out to run some errands, catch you later?”
“Of course… thanks again, Atsushi,” Sigma said, not sure if he was thanking Atsushi for the cookies or for the promise of the time they would spend together in the future. Either way, Atsushi beamed as he waved before he headed out of the bakery.
Sigma’s attention turned back to the cookie in front of him as he hesitated before taking a careful bite, his eyes growing wide as he nibbled on the cookie. The texture was not too thick or flat… the flavour was both simple but also immensely delectable and he couldn’t help but immediately take another bite out of it. The frosting wasn’t too sweet either nor was it bitter. It was a perfect mix and it melted with the cookie nicely. Sigma continued to eat the cookie with a content and pleasant expression. He was certain that he had found his new favorite.
Not a single other flavour could compare.
As he finished the cookie he heard his phone ding and carefully pulled it out, noticing the unknown number who texted him. With a smile, he pressed the message and read the simple symbol
Perhaps not a single other person could compare to Atsushi either.
[unknown]: <3