Chapter Text
Adachi Rei was awoken when the sunlight hit her face because she had forgotten to close the heavy curtains the night before. She groaned and pulled a pillow over her head to block out the brightness, but the damage was already done and her brain was already starting to whir into motion. She felt around on the floor next to her mattress until her fingers brushed against the cool metal of her phone. The first thing she did was open her messages to Kasane Teto. They had spent the previous evening arguing about whether a baguette could technically be classified as a blunt force weapon or a projectile, and Rei wanted to get the last word in before the day truly started.
Rei : hey fossil. hope you didn’t die of old age in your sleep. wake up or I am going to tell everyone you actually like it when i sing
She hit send and waited for the little bubbles to appear, but they never did. The screen just sat there with the ‘Delivered’ status staring back at her. A few minutes passed and then ten minutes passed. Rei felt a little bit of a pang in her chest because Teto usually replied with something mean within seconds. She tried to tell herself it was just because Teto was a lazy sleeper who probably had her face buried in a pillow, but she still felt a tiny bit hurt. ‘Maybe she is actually annoyed at me’ she thought while staring at the ceiling fan.
She brushed the feeling away quickly because she didn’t want to be the kind of person who got clingy over a text message. She sat up and stretched her arms until her back made a loud popping sound. She was wearing an oversized black t-shirt and some baggy basketball shorts that had a small hole in the pocket. She looked around her room and saw her heavy boots sitting by the door and her skateboard leaning against the wall.
Since Teto wasn’t answering her private messages, Rei decided to cause some trouble in the group chat instead. She opened the chat that included Rin, Len, Miku, Neru, Nero, Haku, Kaito, and of course, Teto.
Rei : is anyone checking on teto? I think she finally turned into a literal stone statue since she isn’t answering. the old age finally caught up to her.
Rin : hhahaaha she is probably just hibernating!!
Len : I think you should leave her alone Rei. I’m pretty sure was up late arguing with her brother.
Miku : Good and lovely morning everyone! We should all go to the roller skating rink today!!!1! The weather is nice and they have that new neon light event going on. Who’s in?
Kaito : i’m in if they have an ice cream stand nearby
Haku : ithunk i can go id kaito is going ild drive us
Nero : i’ll go if Neru goes.
Neru : do i have to?
Len : Yea I think so. You absolutely can’t let Haku drive she’s still hungover I think.
Haku : imd perfeftly fina
Neru : ugh
Neru : fine whatever
Rei bit her lip as she read the messages. She really wanted to go skating because she liked showing off her speed, but she knew she couldn’t - she and Teto made some plans for today a few days ago. They were supposed to go to the café that Teto’s brother had just bought to practice their baking skills.
Rei : i can’t go. i have to deal with stuff at home.
Miku : Aww why not Rei? Don’t you love skating?
Rin : wait a minute... teto isn’t answering and rei isn’t going????
Len : That’s quite suspicious if you ask me.
Rin : omg she isn’t going because teto isn’t going!!! you guys are literally inseparable it is so cute ahhh i need someone to send me pictures or something
Rei felt her face getting hot - she was glad nobody could see her. She started typing very fast and aggressively, subtly bending her phone’s screen with her thumbs.
Rei : shut up rin. I just have things to do. it has nothing to do with that hag. she probably wouldn’t even be able to stand up on skates anyway without breaking a hip.
Rin : sure sure. whatever you say
Rei threw her phone onto the bed and sighed. She hated when they teased her like that because it made her feel exposed. She and Teto had been in this weird, unspoken relationship for years now. They held hands when nobody was looking, shared meals together (sometimes feeding each other), and they even slept on the floor together during sleepovers they ‘begrudgingly’ went to… together, of course. But they never, ever, talked about it. They just said they were each other’s enemies and kept bickering back and forth because it was easier than admitting they actually liked each other. It was like a taboo topic that they both silently agreed to ignore. Wether they ignored because they didn’t understand it, or because they didn’t want to ruin it by defining it, was anyone’s guess.
‘I hope Ted isn’t in a bad mood’ Rei thought as she got dressed. Teto’s brother, Kasane Ted, was a very intimidating guy. He was tall and muscular and he always looked like he could fight a brick wall and win. He had recently bought some run-down corner building that was formerly a diner that needed a lot of work. Teto had managed to convince him to let her use the kitchen while he renovates the place. Rei was worried that he would be annoyed at them for being in the way, but Teto had assured her it would be fine. Teto said that Ted would be too busy talking to his girlfriend, Doa Tobiraka, about what to do with the place.
Rei grabbed her keys and her wallet and headed out. She didn’t bother fixing her hair beyond running her fingers through it because she knew she was just going to get covered in flour anyway.
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The café was a mess when Rei arrived. The front windows were covered in brown paper and there was a pile of old wood rotting on the sidewalk. When she pushed the door open, the bell gave a lonely little ‘ting’ sound. The air inside was thick with the smell of sawdust, old coffee grounds, wet carpet, and a weird metallic smell. Rei had to carefully maneuver around the floor, as there were broken lights and wires that she believed would electrocute her both from accidentally bumping into them and from stepping in an electrified puddle of water.
She saw Ted standing near the counter with a hammer in his hand and sweat on his eyebrows. He looked up and narrowed his eyes when he saw her. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt that showed off his arms that were covered in an unidentifiable black and dark brown sludge.
“What are you doing here” he asked in a low tone. They way he asked it sounded less like a question and more like a warning.
Rei felt her stomach flip. She stood very still and kept her hands in her pockets and looked down. “Uhm uh… Teto said I could come. We were gonna practice b-baking some bread” she said in a very small voice. She felt like a guilty dog that just got caught ripping up something she shouldn’t have.
“She’s in the back. Don’t break anything” Ted said before turning around to pull a nail out from the counter using the backside of a hammer.
Rei scurried past him as fast as she could. She pushed through the swinging doors into the kitchen and saw Teto standing there. She was wearing a stained apron over her hoodie and her hair was let down and not in it’s usual drill form - though the two ends of her hair that were let loose in front of her still had a slight curl to them. She was leaning against a steel table and looking at her phone.
“Look who finally showed up. Did Ted scare the batteries out of you?” Teto asked with a smirk.
Rei immediately felt her timidness vanish. She puffed out her chest and glared at the slightly older girl. “Shut up fossil. I just didn’t want to walk in while he was holding a hammer. And you can’t be mad at me, hag. Why didn’t you answer my text?”
“I was busy getting the yeast ready for you, idiot” Teto replied while tossing a dish towel at Rei’s head. “Now put an apron on. You look like you’re ready to go to get executed and not bake some bread”
“I look better than you do!” Rei barked back.
They started working, but it was a disaster from the very beginning - they couldn’t agree on anything. Rei wanted to use more salt and Teto wanted to use more sugar and they ended up arguing for ten minutes about how to knead the dough correctly.
“You’re doing it too hard! You’re going to kill the gluten!” Teto shouted.
“How can you kill something that isn’t alive? Don’t be a dolt!” She yelled back as a drop of sweat beaded down her face. Rei wasn’t prepared for the abnormal amount of heat - she knew baking required high temperatures but she didn’t expect those temperatures to come from a lack of air conditioning.
In the midst of their argument, a glob of wet dough flew through the air and hit Rei right on the nose. She stopped talking and stared at Teto who was trying very hard not to laugh.
“You. Are. A. Deadman.” Rei whispered. She grabbed a handful of flour herself and threw it back at Teto, hitting her right in the throat and causing her to gasp for a second.
Soon, the kitchen became a war zone. There was flour on the floor, the ceiling, the fridges, and especially in their hair. After several, several minutes of exhausting back and forth salvos, they became breathless and called for a truce. They were both laughing and panting while completely coated in white powder. It was the most fun Rei had had in weeks, even if they technically were supposed to be working.
Eventually, Teto calmed down and actually started baking again. She was surprisingly good at it, much to Rei’s dismay. Teto moved with a confidence that Rei would struggle to imitate. She kneaded and shaped some beautifully fluffy dough into baguettes and slid them into the oven.
Rei wanted to show off too - she wanted to prove that she wasn’t just a tag-along, deadweight, and freeloader. Above all else, she wanted Teto to look at her with something other than mockery. She tried to make a simple loaf of bread, but she got distracted by Teto’s humming, causing her to forgot to set the timer and to forget to check the temperature.
A few minutes later, a bitter smell started to fill the room.
“Uh… Rei... is something burning?” Teto asked.
Rei eyes went wide and she gasped. She ran to the oven and pulled out her tray and saw a black, shriveled lump that looked more like a chunk of charcoal than a piece of bread. To add insult to injury, it was, almost comically, smoldering.
Teto walked over and looked at the tray. She burst out laughing. “Oh my god Rei! I know we were talking about if bread could be a weapon, but you didn’t have to make a biological hazard to prove your point! Ahahahahahaha”
Rei didn’t say anything, she just stared at the burnt bread and felt a lump forming in her throat. She had tried her best because she really wanted to impress Teto, and all that she managed to do was mess up something even cavemen could do. She also felt quite stupid and sensitive for caring so much about a stupid loaf of bread.
Teto’s laughter stopped after realizing that Rei wasn’t firing back with a clever remark or insult of her own. She then turned towards her and noticed how disheartened Rei looked, causing her own expression to soften into something that nobody else ever got to see.
“Hey... it’s not that~ bad” Teto said in a quiet voice as she stepped closer and put a hand on Rei’s arm.
“My bread was burnt to a crisp, Teto. It’s literally black” Rei muttered.
“Well... maybe the inside is still okay?” Teto said as she picked up a knife and tried to saw through the bread. It made a loud, crunching sound that wasn’t too unlike the sound of a chainsaw hitting a rock. Teto eventually managed to break off a small piece and proceeded to pop it into her mouth. Her face twisted as she chewed, and it sounded more like she was eating gravel than bread. She swallowed, with much difficulty (a loud gulp), and wiped her mouth.
“See? It isn’t inedible. Uhh… oh yea, it also has a very... uh… smoky flavor” Teto said with a small smile. “A-And you can always try again tomorrow. I’ll help you from the start next time. I-If you want”
Rei looked up and saw the kindness in Teto’s eyes. The moment, as well as Teto herself, was so touching and pretty that Rei felt her heart swell with something she didn’t allow herself to name. At that moment, she felt a surge of desire to lean in and kiss Teto right then and there.
“You’re just saying that because you feel bad for me” Rei said in a deprecating way… but she was forming a smile now.
“I’m saying it because I want to eat your bread without losing a tooth next time” Teto teased while nudging her shoulder.
They stood there in the messy kitchen for a long moment just looking at each other in soft, kind admiration.
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That beautiful and sentimental moment was suddenly shattered by a high-pitched squeal coming from the main area of the café. It was so loud and so sudden that both girls jumped and nearly knocked over a bag of sugar.
“What the hell was that?! That sounded like a screechy door in a horror movie” Rei asked while wiping flour off her forehead.
“Yup… that sounds like Doa” Teto said with a groan.
They walked out of the kitchen and into the main room. They saw Ted standing very still while a smaller girl with muted brown-blonde hair was hugging him around the waist. The girl, who Rei assumed was Doa Tobiraka, was burying her head against his chest and swinging in delight against him.
Rei blinked because she was astounded - she had never seen Ted look like this. His face was a deep shade of red and he was looking at the ceiling like he was trying to pretend he wasn’t feeling any emotions while being hugged. It was an incredibly rare blush and it almost, almost, made him look human.
“Oh look at that!” Teto said loudly. “The big scary monster has a soft spot after all!”
“Looks like he’s being attacked by a koala” Rei added while crossing her arms.
Ted snapped his head toward them and his blush got even deeper. “Shut up! Go back to the kitchen and burn some more things you idiots!” he barked.
“We heard a scream. We thought maybe the building was finally collapsing” Teto said with a smirk.
Doa pulled away from Ted and turned toward the girls - her smile was beaming and her eyes were sparkling with excitement. She didn’t seem to notice the tension or the teasing in the slightest.
“We did it! We finally picked a name!” Doa shouted while jumping up and down a little bit.
Ted cleared his throat and tried to look tough again, but it didn’t really work since his face was still pink. “It wasn’t that big of a deal. She just wouldn’t stop talking about it.”
“It is a big deal!” Doa insisted. She looked at Rei and Teto with a huge grin. “We decided to use our initials together. It is going to be called TD’s Café!”
“TD’s?” Rei asked.
“Yeah! Ted and Doa!” Doa explained.
Teto looked at Ted and raised an eyebrow. “That is actually kind of sweet. I didn’t know you had a romantic bone in your body Ted.”
“I don’t. I just thought it sounds professional” Ted grunted, though he didn’t pull away when Doa grabbed his hand.
Rei looked at the couple and then she looked at Teto. She felt a little bit of envy because they were so open about it - they even had the guts to plaster their names together on a rundown dilapidated building.
Teto caught Rei’s gaze and gave her a small wink. It was a tiny gesture, but it meant everything to her. It was a reminder to her that even if they didn’t have a sign on a building or hug each other publicly, they still had something real that could be found in the messy kitchen in the back and in the shared jokes and bickering.
“Well… TD’s Café is going to need some bread that isn’t burnt to a crisp” Teto said while turning back toward the kitchen. “Come on Rei. We have some work to do”
As they walked back into the kitchen, Rei felt a sense of peace. They were still bickering, still messy, and still pretending to be enemies, but as long as Teto kept eating her burnt bread, Rei knew they were going to be just fine.