Chapter Text
Rintaro sighed as the sweet smell filled his nose as he entered the bakery. It was currently 2pm, which meant his parents were currently in the kitchen baking cakes, breads and other kinds of pastries.
His family had owned the bakery since before he was born. It was nestled in the middle of the neighbourhood, so neighbours regularly patronised the shop, gathering there to talk about their lives and the latest news. In the upper floors of the building were where his family lived, which included his parents as well as his older brother.
“Hello Rintaro!” An elderly man called out as he sipped his coffee. “How was school today?”
“It was fine Uncle Watanabe,” Rintaro shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”
Watanabe nodded. “And how about your classmates? Are you getting along with them?”
Before Rintaro could answer, his mother’s voice called out.
“Rintaro! Could you man the counter for now?” His mother called out from the kitchen.
“Yes Mum!” Rintaro nodded. Apologising to the man, he walked to the counter, setting his schoolbag aside. Fortunately, there was no one waiting to buy anything at the moment. He sat down and waited for customers.
Truth be told, Rintaro was secretly glad that his mother had interrupted their conversation. He was having trouble making friends with most of his classmates. He wasn’t sure exactly why, but he figured it had to do with his appearance. He was tall for his age, and had sharp eyes and a natural frown when he relaxed. This gave him a rather unfriendly appearance that made his classmates weary.
Rintaro gazed longingly at the pastries on sale. He liked to eat cakes, but his parents never allowed him to eat them before finishing his dinner, and only in small amounts. “You can’t eat too much sugar” they had said
The ringing of the bell tied to the door snapped him out of his thoughts. A little girl who seemed to be around his age had entered the shop, accompanied by two adults whom Rintaro assumed were her parents.
Rintaro had never seen her before. She was wearing a pink dress and brown shoes. On her head was a headband that parted her long hair, causing it to hang loosely and frame her face. Wide, greyish eyes stared at him, as if looking in wonder.
“Hello Miss, would you like to order something?” Rintaro said politely. When he had first started manning the counter, his mother had taught him how to greet customers and communicate with them. “Aside from good and tasty food, customer service is very important when it comes to selling our products” she once explained to him.
This caused the girl to snap out of her trance. She looked at the pastries on display, then looked at her parents. “What kind of cake do you want to eat?” She asked them.
The woman smiled and stroked her head. “Anything you want Kaoruko.”
“ So her name is Kaoruko” Rintaro thought.
The girl thought quietly for a moment, then pointed out to a slice of cheesecake and chocolate cake. “Let’s buy these.”
Her father looked puzzled. “But I thought you don’t like cheesecake.”
Kaoruko shook her head. “That one’s for Kosuke.”
Her father smiled and ruffled her hair. “What a thoughtful girl, I am so proud of you,” he praised before turning to Rintaro. “We’ll get those.”
The boy nodded before taking out the cakes from the display. Placing them in a box, he calculated the cost on the cash register. “600 Yen please.”
The man took out his wallet and paid Rintaro. Taking the paper bag holding the cakes, he looked to his daughter. “What do you say?” He asked her.
Kaoruko gave Rintaro a warm smile. “Thank you for your service,” she said sweetly.
Rintaro blushed slightly. “Erm, you are welcome…” he mumbled.
As the three of them left the shop, his father came out of the kitchen with some freshly baked bread. “Put them in the display case. Be careful, they may still be hot.”
Setting aside his thoughts about the girl, Rintaro took the bread and began placing them for sale.
The next day, as Rintaro was walking to school, a boy with black hair ran to catch up with him.
“Hey Rintaro! How are you doing?” Ayato called out, slapping Rintaro on the back and causing him to gasp in shock.
“Hi there Ayato. I’ve been alright I suppose,” Rintaro replied as he turned to look at his friend.
The boys had known each other since the third grade. Unlike the other students who were intimidated by Rintaro’s appearance, Ayato was intrigued, and had approached him on the first day they had met.
“Hey there. Would you like to be friends?” Ayato simply said.
And the rest was history.
“Have you completed the homework Hinata Sensei gave us?” Rintaro questioned.
Ayato paled. “No, I haven’t.” He began to panic. “Could you let me copy your’s?” He pleaded to Rintaro.
Rintaro smiled and nodded. “Sure thing. But why didn’t you complete it in the first place?”
Ayato looked down in shame. “I was busy with my video games yesterday. I wanted to finish my work, but I guess I played longer than I expected. I really need to be more responsible, I do feel bad for copying your work…” Ayato paused when he realised that Rintaro had stopped walking. “What’s the matter? He asked.
“Someone’s in trouble,” Rintaro said as he stared across the road. Ayato looked at his direction, and understood what he meant.
A young girl was standing with her back against a wall, trembling in fear. In front of her was an older looking boy who was blocking her from escaping. Rintaro widened his eyes when he realised that the boy had grabbed onto her arm.
“You are cute. You should hang out with me. What’s your name?” He asked as the girl started to sob.
“Please leave me alone!” She begged, wiping her tears with her other arm.
“Not until you tell me your name,” he demanded.
“We need to help her!” Rintaro told Ayato, who nodded in agreement.
“Let’s go!” Ayato declared, and they ran across the road to confront the boy.
In the meantime, the boy was becoming increasingly demanding, and Kaoruko decided she had enough.
“I said NO!” She bit down on his arm, causing him to yell in pain and let go of her. The bite had drawn blood and left deep indents on his skin.
“You bitch! I’ll teach you what happens when you defy me,” he drew his fist back, ready to slam it into her face. Terrified, she closed her eyes and braced herself for the pain.
Only to feel herself getting pushed to the side, followed by a loud sound. Opening her eyes, she gasped as another boy with spiky hair was lying on the ground, blood running down his nose. Her harasser’s fist had blood on it. Kaoruko widened her eyes in shock as she realised that the younger boy had pushed her out of the way and taken the hit instead.
“Rintaro!” Ayato screamed as he reached his injured friend. Rintaro had been knocked unconscious by the blow, and wasn’t responding to Ayato calling his name. Snapping his head up to look at the one responsible, Ayato gave him a death glare.
“Picking on those smaller than you huh?” Ayato muttered as he stepped closer to the older boy, who was still surprised by what had happened.
“I…” he was interrupted by Ayato punching his cheek, which was followed by multiple blows to his abdomen.
While Ayato was beating up the older boy, Kaoruko hurried to the kid who had protected her. As she checked his face, she was shocked to realise that he was the same person she had met yesterday.
“It’s you!”