Bake Shop Romance Chapter 23 7/11/12

[kuro808]

I might as well give it a shot with this pairing, if it doesn't pan out, I may put this one on hold too

Chapter 1


An artist without its medium is no artist at all.

That was never the case for Fukumura Mizuki.  Her brilliance in drawing made her unique despite her lack of resources.  She could draw out a picture in her mind and mentally recreate it on a sketchpad. 

Many peers commended her ability but it was the critics that weighed on her the most.  Since she was determined to continue on this path, she dropped out of school, and moved into an apartment filled with other hopefuls.  Fuku-chan, as she was affectionately known as, drew for crowds in the park for a steep price but soon just made a minimum set price for her customers.

They paid her a fair price on their liking, mostly young couples on first dates, and brought in enough to pay for her part of the rent.  However, she had issues with permanent housing and the numerous moves over a year led her to finding a job to support her financial needs.

She sent a few resumes out into the local area to no success.  The owners were deterred by her age or the lack of schooling she had under her but one shop took a chance.

It was a new bakery in need of a cashier.  Fuku-chan was attracted by the fresh tarts coming out of the oven and the owner, Michishige Sayumi, who was busy looking at the mirror, decided to let her work despite not looking over the resume.  She observed the customers coming in and out without a purchase and went outside to ask the reason.

She was surprised that the owner was cold towards them and she decided to make it lively by renting out a waitress costume for work the following day.  She had money to buy an apple pie from the oven for the masses to try it out and with a warm reception, she catered to them as well as she could, and made enough tips for a day’s work at the park.

Sayu was not aware of the situation and came out to a packed house.  She was surprised so many had come in for once and thanked everyone by shaking their hands while she Fuku-chan was cleaning up both areas and relieving the lone baker from his work.  It was a wonderful day until the dark clouds came overhead and it poured over the people’s heads.

“It was such a wonderful day and this happens.”  She pouted as she managed to throw all the dirty dishes into the automated dishwasher and hang up for the day.

Sayu was ready to lock the front door but someone had rushed inside to see if there were any more pastries left.  Fuku-chan handed her the last apple turnover and she gladly accepted it but she seemed to freeze when she locked eyes with the waitress.

“It’s closing time.”  Sayu called out as she still was frozen.

“Do you need help?”  Fuku-chan asked as she placed the pastry on the table.

“You look cool in that uniform.”  She murmured under her breath before running out with her food.

Sayu scanned the new worker’s attire and gave a quick smile before heading to her office in the back to count the revenue for the day.  Fuku-chan sat in the stall pondering why she would just freeze after receiving the food.  Then, she remembered that she didn’t pay and suddenly ran out into the street to see if she could find her but no luck within her view.  She suddenly took a right and saw her sitting near a store nibbling on her pastry.

“Did I forget to pay?”  She asked and offered the money plus a tip into the worker’s hand.

“Thank you.”  Fuku-chan vocalized as she turned back but she felt someone tugging at her uniform.

“Is there something else you need?”  The annoying tone of her voice was present as the rain was starting to soak her.

“Is it possible to have the same thing tomorrow?  I will come earlier next time, I promise.”  Fuku-chan nodded as she walked back to the store where Sayu was waiting for her return.

She handed her the last part of the money and went to the back to get changed from her soaked uniform.  She looked at it with a disgusted look as she had to return it without any incident and shoved it into her bag as she put her regular clothes on and hunted for something to protect her head from the rain and got a heavily-used umbrella from the container and rushed home without saying goodbye to Sayu.

The umbrella was good enough to get her apartment semi-dry and walked to her floor where the man was waiting outside her door.  Fuku-chan handed him the money in a messy bunch and quickly approved of the payment without any words.  She pushed through the jammed door and dropped off everything to her old dusty couch to rest from a hard day at work.

Her inner thoughts started to concentrate on that girl she had met before closing shop.  Her long black hair was distinct among the other she had met and her eyes was a point she had concentrated on in her dream.  She was back at work and had offered her the apple turnover with green tea to her.  She smiled at her before leaving the table but she couldn’t leave the table.

You look cute.

Fuku-chan grinned and told her thank you but her words were like a hook that prevented her from going anyplace else and decided to sit across of her until she paid and left.  The conversation was jumbled as she didn’t know anything about her and forced her to wake up to rid of the dream.

She took a shower to rid of the dust and other dirty particles from her body before walking down to the laundry room to wash her uniform.  As she loaded up the machine, she began her thought about her again, it was clearing up in front of her as the face seemed to stick a little better but she began to wonder why she was the only one she started to obsess over.

Fuku-chan theorized that since she was the last customer she had met, it would conclude she would remember plus the promise to give her the same pastry tomorrow.  However, on the other side of the coin, she was in fact risked the chance to introduce herself.  With the thoughts flying around like wild arrows, she was distracted enough to drop in the uniform without noticing the setting.

Kuso.  I hope it doesn’t get ripped.

Despite her mind being occupied, she was able to salvage the uniform for return tomorrow and had a comfortable night with the light winds blowing through her cracked windows.  She was confident that she would return and would at least introduce herself.

[oddball]

hmm interesting start. think I know who this girl is going to be, so should be interesting......

[kuro808]

@oddy you got me but might as well make it interesting with others.  Now its trying to associate other people

Chapter 2


The young girl walked into her mansion from the rain filled with the pastry and the warm smile from the waitress.  She wrapped her dampened shoes with a white towel and left it to the side as one of her maid’s popped out her head.

“Missus, where did you go?  Papa said that you were restricted from going outside.”  She shook her head.

“I wanted to enjoy a snack.  No one gave me anything when I asked for it.”  The girl shook the water from her hair onto the floor inducing the other maid to get a mop quickly cleaning the floor.

“Gomen, missus.  We were busy cleaning up and we never checked on you.”  She smiled cutely as the mop head slid across the across the floor causing a scratch on the white tile.

She walked onto the carpet toward the bathroom as she stripped out of her wet clothes and stepped into the shower to rinse off the cold rain.  The hot water deflected off her as she leaned onto the wall as the face appeared again and felt her body slipping down but caught herself before reaching the floor.

I wonder what her name is… Maybe I should tell the maids to get me the apple turnovers… wait, I said I was going to be there but I need to escape again…

She quickly observed her fingers getting pruny and turned off the shower.  She stepped out noticing the fresh towel and clothes hanged neatly on the counter next to the sink.  Swiftly, she wiped up the moisture and changed into her new clothes as dinner was prepped for her and her father.

“Erina… You know you are not in the best shape to go outside when it rains.  I cannot keep you out from school.”  Her father gives her a stern look as she slumped down into her chair.

“I was hungry and the maids didn’t get me food so I went to find something before dinner.  However, they weren’t at fault for not watching me.”  She picked up her chopsticks and tore off a small piece of the steaming fish to place onto her tongue.

Her father softened his face and let out a sigh as he dove into the food with the maids surrounding them.  Riho came up to the table to pour water as the father’s eyes burned into her while her partner, Kanon, stood behind making faces to make Riho laugh.  The maids were more of protection for Eripon’s safety but they were willing to do anything for her except for the storm and their daily chores.

The lightning came down streaking across the window followed by a loud boom startling the girls near the table.  Her father let out a snicker as the three huddled around each other.  After a few more bites, Eripon excused herself from the table and headed up to her room assisted by the maids bringing up her water from the ground floor.

She has still consumed with thoughts of the waitress from the bakery and dove into bed with her face smashed into the pillow as the maids closed her door.

“What’s wrong?  Are you sick?”  Kanon asked as Eripon flipped onto her back looking at the ceiling.

“No, Zukki.  I am tired from sitting out in the rain being controlled by others.”  She tilted her head to the side as Riho sat by the depressed missus.

“Well you could have waited for dinner.”

“I was really hungry and yes I did ruin my appetite if you do bother asking.  You are the worst maid ever not getting stuff for me.”  Zukki sat there wondering what she should do as her partner stood up and walked to the foot of the bed.

“Stop being spoiled.  We work hard to satisfy you and we get very little respect with your father’s help so you better be fortunate for our help.”  She shot back and Eripon stared at her with Zukki breaking them apart.

Eripon was ready with another bullet but slammed her head back onto the pillow and let out a sigh as she looked at them again.  The image of the face popped up and slowly wept as she closed her eyes.

“Mou, Eripon looks depressed.  She must be worried about something…”  Riho turned around to see the missus sprawled out on her bed.

“Whatever it is, we should care about taking care of her troubles.”  Riho walked out of the room as Zukki moved in closer observing the tears rolling down from the eyes.

Her throat felt dry as she wanted to ask what was on her mind but something was willing her to forget about the situation and finish up the chores.  Zukki bowed to the missus before leaving the room leaving her door ajar as Eripon turned to her right side.

After a few minutes of forced leisure, she sat up on her bed thinking about the waitress’ kindness and the return trip back.  She hoped for good weather and made an idol to chase away the clouds but the answer to her initial prayers was a thunder roll across the sky.  She lowered her head and let out a whisper praying for good weather tomorrow as she was ready to return back to school.

Eripon woke up to the sunlight peering through her window and glanced at her clock noticing the alarm was ready to go off.  She extended her hand onto the snooze button and pressed down hard as it turned quarter to seven.  Zukki peeked in with her usual smile and woke her up anyway to prevent any more time to go by from her return.

She rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom to do the usual routine of showering, brushing her teeth, and fixing her hair for the day.  Riho hanged her uniform outside the door and she quickly brought it to change before heading down to have a quick breakfast.  Her father was usually gone to work on his new project but decided to stay home to relax.

“Ohayou.”  He nodded as he flipped to the next page of the newspaper.

Eripon ate what she could and ran out to the car to get dropped off at the school.  It was cloudy from the day before but she felt healthier than the day she missed school.  She started to close her eyes and dreamed of the waitress but the car suddenly stopped as the truck swiftly shifted lanes in front of the driver causing him to honk and she looked at the streets to find a long-haired girl standing with a purse.

The car drove by and she looked back to see her face.  Eripon instantly turned red and slouched down in the back.

She lives around her… I have a chance.

[Shiawase_Honoo]

Oh, well...It's PonPon
Go Eripon! You have chances to catch up
btw, RihoRiho and Zukki as maids

[oddball]

Eripon! good, good, hmm, though she has the lifestyle (Riho and Kannon as maids lol) it seems as though Eripon craves some more freedom in her life, well that and apple turnovers apparently 

But it seems as though Fuku-chan may well have given Eripon something more than that cake when they met, it seems as though Eripon cant get her out of her mind, perhpas even more so now that she knows that Mizuki lives in the area!

[kuro808]

@shiwase happy belated birthday.  Yeah I really needed a 9th generation fic to work around my weird collection and kinda obvious for the pairing

@oddy I added an intriguing character too 

Chapter 3


Mizuki woke up to the sound of her alarm and rolled out of bed with sleep still in her eyes.  She looked at her cell phone and noticed a few calls coming from Sayu, most were panic calls to come into work but she knew she had about a few hours to burn in the morning.

She quickly threw on a t-shirt and shorts over her undergarments and headed to the shop to return the borrowed uniform.  Fuku-chan grabbed the bag and headed out without looking up at the overcast weather.  She felt the soft drops hitting her head and quickly headed to an overhead area to watch the mist past by her.

I should have brought my umbrella…

The mist was followed by the sun shining through as the crowd slowly came out of their slumber and filled up the streets.  She took a side street and walked along while figuring out her location.  It was a familiar sight to her but to get back to the costume shop, it would be an adventure. 

Fuku-chan only noticed the one car passing her acknowledging the road as less traveled and looked over to the main street to notice the sign hanging outside.  She rapidly burst through finding that the shop was foreign to her and entered without attracting attention but the front person was finishing up her preparations.

“Ohayou.  Are you returning the uniform?”  Fuku-chan nodded as she dropped the bag on the counter.

“Thank you for washing it.”  She gleamed with a hanger to place the uniform on.

She walked around while the lady was setting it on the rack.  Fuku-chan was surprised with the cheap alternatives from the store and the lady observed her shape as she quickly sketched out a design.  Fuku-chan floated over to the counter and noticed how cute it was on paper.

“Do you like?  I can make it for you.”  She rubbed her chin a few times before accepting the offer.

“Can I pay you with pastries?”  The lady’s eyes widened as Fuku-chan mentioned that she was working for a bake shop but the owner’s name made her rethink the offer but gave into the fact that she was being paid with food.

She left with that promise and a phone number to call her about delivery.  Fuku-chan tooka few steps before the lady stuck her head out.

“My name is Niigaki Risa.  If you wanted to know… I hope you can get them fresh for me.”

She snickered at the comment and went to the shop to check in on Sayu, who was in the middle of the morning rush, she stepped in with orders flying towards her quickly and in flawless fashion, got everyone out of there quickly with the owner catching her breath in the back.

Fuku-chan looked in the back and asked for a box of assorted pastries, which the baker filled quickly, and took a seat on a wooden stool wiping the sweat from his head.

She was curious about how he knew so much about baking and confessed his love for Sayu to make him come into here blindly with the job.  He asked his grandmother for recipes and quickly adapted them to his own style.  He was also responsible for supplies which made the job extremely stressful because Sayu rarely had any experience to help him.

After chatting with him, he started on the apple turnovers which reminded Fuku-chan about her meeting and rushed to Risa’s shop to drop off her payment for the day and glanced for a preview of her uniform which was perfectly fit around her body and the off-white color was perfect especially with the messes she would experience in the future.

She hastily left without saying a word and headed back to the bakery to the smell of the fresh turnovers in the oven as he skillfully watched the pastries with his eyes, as he carefully gave each of them love as if they were his own children.  Fuku-chan filled up a bucket and mopped down the floors before the café side would open for the afternoon.

She worked every corner with the mop as the floor became slick and heard a thump coming from the workers’ entrance.  Sayu rubbed her backside as she struggled to get up from the floor.

“Fuku-chan, did you post up the sign for wet floor?”  She nodded as she pointed toward the sign below her.

The bunny blushed in embarrassment while she set it back up again observing her worker grinding through the grimy floor.  The baker came out wiping sweat from his brow while he watched Fuku-chan finishing up cleaning the floor.

“Newbie, I need you to taste test a new creation.”  She turned and dragged the bucket back to the closet as she went into the kitchen to wash her hands.

She witnessed a small tart in front of her cut open with a fork as steam rose to the air.  She quickly mixed the contents and blew at it to cool down the filling.  The feel was smooth as it was juice and the taste exploded with different flavors hitting every taste bud evenly.

“Oishiiiiiii~  What is in here?”  He smirked as he held up his finger to his lips.

Fuku-chan stuck up her thumb and dug out a piece with the flaky crust, which was a compliment to the filling.  She was aware that half of the sample was gone and looked out at Sayu, who was occupied with the mirror.  The baker encouraged her to finish it as he wanted to hear a critical analysis of his new creation.

She loved the mixture of berries and that hint of tartness covered every crevasse of her mouth.  The baker nodded his head to every word as he was getting anxious for a problem and she questioned the content’s prices which he tried figuring in his head.  Then, he found what he wanted to hear and took the plate back to wash it before the start of afternoon service.

“Fuku-chan, let’s get started!”  Sayu shouted out with her greeting the customers and Fuku-chan taking the orders to the back.

The special tart she had tasted moments before the opening was quickly flying out followed by the apple turnovers.  She glanced at each of their smiling faces and knew they were good but the girl she had met yesterday hadn’t come yet with the supply running down quickly.  She knew she had to keep one to the side for her as she continually took on the cycles of orders until she returned back with the last turnover to deliver to the customer and turned toward the front door.

“Gomen, I just came from school.  Can I have the same thing as yesterday?”  She asked and was escorted to her window seat in the back corner.

Fuku-chan quickly got her plate and a cup of tea ready for her and headed toward the corner where she was staring at the clouds outside with a smirk on her face.  The sound of the plate distracted her attention from the window to the meal and she dove in with her utensils.  Fuku-chan went back to helping out the remaining customers as she watched her at work with the fork coming towards her mouth.

I wonder why she doesn’t go to school…

Her thoughts were growing about the waitress and her heart was progressing faster to the point she was losing her breath and dropped her fork to the side.

“Are you okay?”  She quickly shot up and laughed nervously as she wiped off her plate.

“Yeah… just was anticipating a moment.”  Fuku-chan tilted her head as Eripon covered her mouth and excused herself from the table.  She reached into her wallet and took out a 1,000 yen bill for her meal and tip and fled the café.

She was anticipating a moment????  Hmm, thank you.

[Koei]

Wooaahhhh Kuro-sama !!! I like this !! Hahaha well truly it's taking shape and with Risa there we jsut have to see how she contributes right? lol of course I want to know WTH with "anticipating a moment" Keep it up !!! My excitedness is growing !!!  And fingers crossed that you will get a spark of inspiration for the other fics !!! 

[kuro808]

@koei creating the awkward moment makes things so much better well I tend to keep my focus on my current fics unless something provokes me to update them but who knows, someone will end up doing something that will make me update them

Chapter 4


Eripon scuffled away from the bakery with enough dignity to realize that she over tip the waiter by 200% and yet was extremely happy that she at least got an attempt to speak to her.  She took out her wallet to count the amount she had left and didn’t notice a woman carrying a load of costumes coming towards her.

“Watch out!”  Risa spun to avoid the girl and threw the load into the garbage pile as she managed to stay on her feet.  Eripon gathered up the costumes from the garbage pile and presented them to the bean.

“Sigh… this sucks that all this needs to be cleaned again.”  She tried to sneak by the woman but Risa grabbed her from the back and dragged her back to her shop.

“Since you ruined these for a customer, you need to personally clean it.”  Her eyes opened up as she stuttered an objection.  Risa shook her head and instructed her on the cleaning with the stress building to get the stack to her customer.

Erina looked at the clock and bit down hard as she knew she was going to face her father at home and tried to distract the owner to get a chance to talk to one of the maids.  She got herself a while to talk to Riho, who was cleaning the kitchen at the moment, and found that her father was going to be late from work so she knew if the bean could avoid eye contact, she could just drop off everything, and leave without notice.

Slowly, she dumped it into the sink with soapy water dragging the materials down and looked outside in the front where she was talking to a customer.  Eripon looked over her shoulder and observed the customer with a frown as she heard the disappointing news.  She stepped closer and realized it was the waitress from the bakery.

I can’t believe I dirtied up her uniforms…

Eripon started to work on the uniforms in the soapy water; she kept her head down, and pushed through the scrubbing despite wanting to flee from the back.  She got them onto the empty counter and peeked outside as Risa was tidying up inside the store.

“You saw the customer right?”  Eripon nodded as her cheeks became bright red.

“She gave me a box of pastries to make those uniforms for her, since you got them dirty, I cannot offer it to her but she is willing to wait.”  Her eyes widened as she peeked outside again finding her thumbing through a magazine.

“What else I gotta do?” She asked the bean as she picked up the damp uniforms and placed them in the dryer.

Risa turned it to the lowest setting and pressed the button for an hour.  She left the back to see the customer again.  Eripon trailed her from behind revealing her face from the bean’s back and took a seat next to the waitress.

“You gave me too much so I lied to my boss about my tips…”  She held up her hand.

“You deserve it, I wanted to ask your name but I was nervous and left without thanking you and I ran into her so I am stuck her because I ran into her and made the uniforms dirty.”  Fuku-chan stroked through her hair as Eripon looked up and tried to present a smile through her explanation.

“I’m Mizuki Fukumura, I like being called Fuku-chan… What is your name?”

“Ikuta Erina.  Nice to meet you.  I attend Niji Shoujo Academy.”  Fuku-chan bit down on her lower lip as she needed to tell her that she had dropped out to take on an art career.

“I see… I don’t attend school because I wanted to be an artist.”

“Oh I see.  Well I hope you good luck in that career.  Are you considering if you want to?”  She shook her head as Risa came with a tea pot and cups for three of them.

Risa poured each of them a cup before letting Fuku-chan pour one for the bean to the quiet store.  Each of them took a small sip before thanking Risa for the drink.  They stared at each other for a moment before the ringtone broke their concentration.

Eripon opened her phone realizing it was Zukki calling to ask where she was and quickly went away from the other two to talk to her maid privately with Risa pondering if she was going to flee from the shop.  Risa moved her seat over to Fuku-chan’s right side with her tea cup next to hers.

“Do you know her?”  Mizuki nodded as the bean smiled.

“I guess I can’t get too angry, she seems really nice but just wasn’t paying attention to me.  Maybe, she can work for me.”  Risa brought up the idea and Fuku-chan agreed to the idea.

Eripon came back to the group with phone in hand handing it off to Risa with a confused look on her face as she took the call and heard her father’s voice yelling through the speaker.  The younger girl sat down sipping her tea without saying a word to either of them as Risa hung up with a concerned look.

“I’m sorry for keeping you out.  You can go home.  I will talk to him tomorrow about the punishment you should deserve for ruining the uniforms.”  Risa bowed as Eripon waved to both of them before walking out to the sunset.

“You must be in big trouble…”  Fuku-chan mumbled to the bean as she peeked at the dryer.

“I didn’t know her father was founder of the school.  I attended there without even knowing who he was and now I have his daughter trying to teach her a lesson.”  The girl tilted her head to the side as she found that she was a rich girl but the images of her didn’t represent her as a wealthy person.

Fuku-chan was deep in thought about the girl and shook her head about finding out the truth.  Risa wrapped up her cleaning of the store and packaged the uniform as an apology for the mistake.  The waitress grabbed the bag and offered another case of pastries as an apology but she quickly declined and left with her clothes.

Eripon anticipated the discipline she would face for the multiple offenses of her visit and arrived home with the greeting of her two maids who were in the middle of an embrace waiting for her.  They broke it off as soon as she passed them and headed to the kitchen to find her father in the middle of preparing food for both of them.

“You are required to return straight from school every day to study.  I cannot let you roam around as you please because I worry if someone will hurt you and lucky it was someone who was a graduate to keep you safe.  As punishment, your weekend will be stuck in your room.”  She slowly nodded with her bag at the edge of the table and a hot bowl of soup in front of her.

She ate all the solid contents of her bowl and left the table as usual to take a bath before studying her work for tomorrow but she was filled with thoughts of Fuku-chan as that touch was special to her being happy.  Even if she was grounded, she wanted to keep her in the thoughts for now.  The maids were in the middle of preparations of her bath as she stepped in and slowly stripping off her clothes.

“Missus, can you wait until we leave to strip for you bath?”  Riho warned as Zukki closed her eyes before leaving the bathroom.

I guess I can talk to Risa tomorrow for my punishment.

[oddball]

Hmm, so Gaki is now in the story as well, interesting, wonder how she is going to fit into it.....

lol 'anticipating a moment' hmm Eripon, never mind....

edit, missed that you posted another chapter after I posted!

So it seems as though Risa is able to get Eripon to pay her back for her accident, of course it had to be Fuku's outfit, stil she and Eripon got at least a little time, hmm I wonder what happens with Gaki now she knows who Eripons father is, and with Fuku too for that matter.....

[kuro808]

@oddy a lot more problems but I think it will present an interesting problem later on with the cast as we speak

Sorry for not saying this sooner but I was sick this whole week and I haven't written out anything in a long while and havoc to go through from one symptom to another was frustrating enough to make me stop writing and seek rest.  So I hope you guys can enjoy this one for now

Chapter 5


Fuku-chan looked up at the white clock with the sweat rolling down her cheek by the slow, oscillating fan.  The dim light outside was slowly becoming pitch black hinted by the street lights flickering outside the window.

“I have it ready for you.  Sorry for the wait.”  Risa bowed deeply as she handed off the plastic packaging to the waitress.

She grabbed the bag and headed for the door but the bean held her shirt from behind.  Risa shut off the interior lights within the store leaving the display lights on for the passersby.  They walked out to the main street with the people dragging through with combini food in hand.

“How is Sayu treating you?”  Risa grinned as the waitress took a few steps forward.

Fuku-chan sped up her walk to avoid any more conversation and the bean followed suit until she was halted by the stoplight.

“Michishige-san has no idea what she is doing… The baker and I have been taking care of the customers, but we cannot do it without more help.” 

“So you need another person without her knowing???”  Risa’s eyes slanted as she decided to figure out the punishment for the girl.

“I gotta go, I will take the corner after crossing.”  Risa nodded as she watched the waitress walk toward the apartment complex before heading back home.

Fuku-chan arrived to the same dusty apartment and dove into bed without considering a shower.  She quickly closed her eyes and let the night watch over her.

Risa arrived home with her partner’s eyes fixed on her entry.  She watched her walk through the dim hallway without noticing her standing at the end with her pajamas on.

“Gaki-san, why are you late without telling me?”  The bean flipped open the lights to see her with a smirk on her face and her foot on top of folded pajamas on the floor.  Risa walked up to her partner and brushed her hair back from her eyes to peck her on the cheek as she walked past by her.

“You will not get away with just a kiss, my little beany~~~” She tackled her onto the bed and Risa gave into the partner’s weight.

“I had an emergency cleaning and I needed to get it delivered tonight but a kid ran into me and it got tossed into the trash pile.”  She got off the bean and let her continue her story while getting her a glass of water.

“I scolded her and she hand-washed everything before leaving by her father’s discretion.  Then, I was left with the customer despite wanting to close up.”  She nodded and tossed a piece of paper to the bean.

Risa opened up the paper and it was a phone number scribbled onto it.  She looked up at her partner wondering the person and she shrugged her shoulders as she delivered the water to Risa.  She opened her cell phone to dial the number and prompted her to another number, which irritated her, and she quickly wrote down that number and placed onto the side of the bed.

Her partner followed the bean’s every move from her seat outside the bathroom until Risa closed the door to shower in peace and slid into bed to sleep.  After her long shower, she changed into her pajamas without noticing her partner soundly asleep on her half.

I wonder what she dreams about… Kawaii!!!!!

The next morning Eripon rolled out of bed to Zukki’s smile as she held clean sheets in her hands.  She was convinced that the maids were up 24 hours a day but it was a play on how they work their schedules for twelve hour days.  Eripon swiftly got ready for school and walked out to the dining room table with a note below her plate.

Meet Risa after school

-Love, Dad

Erina let out a sigh as she passed on breakfast to head to the car where her chauffer was revving the engine on the mild morning in the neighborhood.  It jolted forward and went off to school without noticing the scenery outside as her mind was still wounded around the waitress for the bakery.  It was a delight to meet her but a doubt casted over her about the effort being unilaterally towards her.  With more doubts soon to follow she was relieved that she arrived at school and headed off to her first class.

The day went by smoothly until there was an announcement to be brought into the headmaster’s office.  She didn’t think about why but was concerned that maybe her father wanted to talk to her about the note in the morning.  Eripon got to the front door and pushed to find her father with a half-smile on his face.

“I rarely get you to be called in but I have something you can do as your punishment.  Risa has elected you to work for the bakery you love going to lately.  It will be for a few hours for a couple of weeks, it should be enough to pay for the cleaning of the uniforms.  Other than that you can kiss your allowance for the week.”  She took a second to consider and agreed to the deal because it would only be working solely with her crush.

She exited the room to get to her final class of the day with high hopes that she can at least survive the class without incident and it was substitute teacher.  She couldn’t be happier for the luck but the news of extra homework tore that down quickly and used the period as a study period disregarding the teacher’s instructions.  Eripon was consumed into her work that she barely heard the bell ring for school and ran out with her open bag of books.

She ran while zipping up and arrived in ten minutes with Sayu pouting over the new expense put onto her as Fuku-chan and baker were in the back preparing for afternoon service.

“Niigaki-san asked if I could do her a favor and accepting you will only make me less money, so you gotta prove me wrong okay?”  The bunny tossed her uniform towards her and promptly went back to the back room as usual and out came Fuku-chan and two trays of pastries fresh from the oven.

“Eripon correct?”  She nodded.

“I will make it easy for you; you take the outside orders and write down whatever is needed for the customers.  Hopefully it is slow so you can watch them tinkle in and out of the shop.  If not, I will cover as much as I can, don’t get overwhelmed early.”  Fuku-chan’s instruction were clear but the nerves seemed to be unsettled and looked up with three minutes until the service starts and let out a quick prayer.

She opened her eyes and was sent out to action with little knowledge of the menu except for the apple turnover.  She touted the pastry as her first favorite and had a few but the elder, sophisticated customers were accustomed to the special tarts which threw her off her game plan and walked to the back to find small fruit tarts and the baker indicated it was the special and handed them out to the right tables with little problems.

She felt confident after the first wave of people and glanced at the menu with the ample of amount of time before the next crowd came in with children.  The baker set out another three pans and she rushed out to the tables to get whatever she could get her hands on as the parents were lambasting for her lack of experience and quickly she had to eat the words as she handed out to the table of ten a pastry each with the right orders for each of them.  Then, with a smile she walked away a winner of the match.

Two hours the crowd lasted and they saw the carnage after with the dishes building up in the back, the baker made it into small piles that were at least approachable but that method failed as the plates became a mountain to climb.  Fuku-chan felt overwhelmed by the crowd and looked at the clueless worker eyeing the dishes and relieved her to do dishwashing, which she attacked one dish at a time gently removing pieces like Jenga and luckily not getting the pile to fall onto her.

She was fearless for the one hour without any assistance; she finished up the washing and drying.  The baker was amazed that she finished the pile quickly and gave her applause with Fuku-chan joining in seeing the girl accomplishing the act on her first day.  Risa walked in seeking her box as payment and saw Eripon cleaning up the tables in the forefront as she yelled out to Fuku-chan.

The bean left after she got her box and the two walked back into the kitchen with a plate of cake and two cups of teas brewed by the baker as an appreciation for all their hard work.  Eripon quickly took a bite and sipped the tea before leaving the bakery.

School is such a pain.

[oddball]

Hmm seems as though Gaki has got things organized, looks like she had a cat with Eripon's dad at least.... seems as though Eripon did ok too.....

Aww and Gaki's love interest, wonder who it is?

[kuro808]

@oddy: the obvious but always gotta read it for the reveal

Chapter 6


Eripon left realizing that she had the borrowed uniform still on and the feel of a hard day’s work was a mixed feeling of exhaustion and happiness.  She was not aware of many of the hazards that was coming towards her and was awoken by the car at the corner.

She looked up with tired eyes and saw the stop sign on the crosswalk signal.  Eripon became to think about her new friend and seemingly a weird dream popped into her head.  Risa’s mean spirit was an attractive point that she could relate with but on the other side of the coin, she was shaking her head that Risa could ever be likable after forcing her to work at the bakery.

As she approached the gate to her house, her phone rang audibly, and picked it up to discover Fuku-chan on the line.

“Gomen, I will return the uniform cleaned.”  Fuku-chan giggled at the apology and took a second to compose herself.

“Don’t worry about that.  There was someone looking for you right after you left.”  She tilted her head and listened to the description of the person.

Brown hair.  Slender.  In a suit.  Not sure if it is a guy or a girl.

Eripon learned that she was a representative of a clothing company willing to help dressing up the waitresses but Fuku-chan declined as Risa was the one helping her with the uniforms.  The person bolted out after Sayu shooed her away from the bakery.

“I see.  I will return tomorrow with the clean uniform.”  Eripon hung up and saw her two maids swaying their heads side to side as they waited for her to enter the house.

The person in the suit turned its head towards the girl as she walked through the living room and offered a seat to her.

“The name is Kamei.  I am a representative of the uniform company that makes for your father’s school.”  Eripon pushed the card back to the turtle as she laid out a picture of the design.

“Why is it so weird?”  She tilted her head to the side and Kamei smiled as she felt praised for her work.

“I’ll take another design if you have one.”  Her father came out with a cup of tea for Kamei and the turtle took out the folder with the designs intended for her.

She scanned each of the designs and began to find flaws in each of the uniforms.  Eripon closed the folder and declined all of the designs.  The turtle looked at her father with concern and dismissed the turtle from the room leaving them alone.

“You have to pick one because they support us for a long time.  It is only for a couple of weeks so it will just be enough to go through the period.”  Eripon lowered her head.

“Can I work there for longer?”  She murmured as his head moved in closer.

“Why?  Does it bother you that I am spoiling you?”  She felt stiff in her movements and ran to the bathroom without answering his questions.

Fuku-chan dragged herself home feeling the weight of her body slowing down as she opened the door to her apartment and smirked at the filthy room.  She plopped her body on the couch and slowly closed her eyes as another day was ready to go by.  A loud sigh made everything come to a close and she fell asleep.

Risa saw her partner’s eyes through the blinds as she arrived at home with a half a box of pastries.  She pushed through and plopped the pastries on the table.  Feeling her partner’s arms wrapped around her, the bean grabbed the first tart she could see and presented it in front of her.

“Strawberry tarts?  It can’t be… There is only one bakery that makes these.  You are helping them.”  The bean slowly nodded as her partner bit into it.

“Ai-chan, you know about that place?”  She nodded as half was going down into her empty stomach.

“Michishige-san was telling me that she had opened a shop but since no one was applying, she was catering to the nearby businesses, so I thought she would never get a person to work the front side.”  Ai took the last bite of the tart and reached for her glass of water.

“The waitress is really young, I wonder if it is legal to employ her.  I know the other one isn’t old enough but Sayu hasn’t said anything.”  Ai nodded as she handed a piece of paper over to the bean.

She opened the paper to a message from a Kamei asking for assistance.  She dialed the number and a woman picked up on the other side.  Risa listened to the offer on the table and began to ponder over it as Ai was right by her partner looking over the notes.  The bean hung up with dissatisfaction on her face and pounded her fist on the table.

“They are trying to buy me out.”  She grunted.

“Don’t worry, they cannot buy what you produce.”  Ai comforting her partner as Risa wrote down the number and her eyes widened.

“That girl is going to make me rage over.”

“Risa, just let it go.  It doesn’t make sense to be angry about the new worker.”  As she cuddled up to Ai, her phone went off, and opened the phone.

“Niigaki-san, I’m sorry for all this.”  Eripon’s voice was murmured by her crying.

Risa took a deep breath and soaked the words from her partner.  She looked down at the number and shook her head before turning back to the call.

“It isn’t your fault.  I know you are only going to be doing this for a while…”

“I want to do this for as long as I can.”  Eripon interjected.

The bean smirked at the remark and looked up at the ceiling as she felt that change in her voice that she seemed committed to finish the job and continue until she wanted to quit.  Ai saw the smile and knew it would blow over soon enough.  Risa confirmed that she will continue to make uniforms for her as long as she works there and hung up the phone.

“I guess you seem to be in a good mood.”  Ai pushed the bean’s head aside as she couldn’t hide the grin on her face.

“Not tonight~”  Risa slipped into bed closing her eyes as Ai followed and wrapped her arms around the bean.

Risa placed the concerns in the back of her mind and slept until the alarm woke her up for the next day.  It was the first night that she had a comfortable rest and the hope was she could experience it more often than not.

[oddball]

Hmm so it seems as though Gaki noe has a more poweful rival to compete with, and it's Eri too, who knows Eripon's father.... hmm definatly conlicting things there...

And of course it was Ai, but having Kamei in the story too, interesting....

[kuro808]

@oddy: Kamei will be an interesting fixture as a bug on everyone   Although more issues should come up soon enough

Chapter 7


Eripon woke up to the sound of a light drizzle from outside.  The girl was still bothered that anyone would push Risa around especially her father after the opportunity given to her.  She closed her eyes at the thought of Kamei with the distinct grunt of dissatisfaction to finish her thoughts.

She walked down for breakfast as usual by herself and her maids were positioning the bowls to Eripon’s liking but the cook added a little extra food for her meal.  Eripon ate what she could before heading off to the car for her drive to school.  The gray clouds slowly cleared up to the bright morning sun as she arrived at the gates and a crowd had gathered.

“Ikuta-san, are you desperate for money?”  The first girl asked her as she walked by her.

The chatter was getting louder and she ran into her first class with the eyes staring at her as she took her seat in the middle of the room.  The teacher started class writing up her outline.  The class’ chatter distracted her writing and she looked over to see what it was about.  It took the teacher a while to get the message and instructed Eripon out to the hallway.

“I think your classmates are afraid that the school might close… Do you want to kill the rumor, if it isn’t true?”  She paused for a bit before facing the class.

Her hands felt clammy, their eyes were burning into her soul, and she stood in front of them with her head down.  The class became silent as she lifted her head and bowed to them.

“This is a favor for a friend.”  Her short statement caused the class to explode again and she excused herself from the room.

She paced to the nurse’s office and took a seat on one of the beds.  The nurse glanced over and saw her frown but didn’t bother her as she quietly went to sleep.  Her teacher dropped off her bag near the bed and left without following up, leaving the morning as an awkward moment to explain the situation.  She reached over to find her phones filled with texts from Fuku-chan.

She scanned through each of them slowly, talking about her dreams and her weird fantasy about being in a maid’s uniform while working.  She giggled to herself as the texts were mildly interesting to her and she felt comfortable enough to come back to the class before lunch.

The class became silent as she walked through the crowd and sit at her usual seat in the classroom with the teacher flipping through the newspaper before the bell rang for class.  Her classmates began to fix their attention at her as the teacher wrote his plans for the day.  Eripon took a deep breath and opened her notebook to take down the notes with the rest following suit as the teacher started his lecture.

The student slowly went into a daydream as she was reminded about the fantasy Fuku-chan had and snickered to her as the cuteness of the idea wouldn’t be so bad.  She turned her attention back before anyone could catch her daydreaming and wrote down the last page of notes before heading off to lunch.

Fuku-chan woke up later than usual as she gained back the energy from the draining day.  She took a quick shower and headed off to work where the baker was in work mode pushing out the pastries for the day.  Sayu was corralling the pieces into the box as she arrived with a yawn as her greeting.

“You’re late.”  The bunny grunted as she handed off the responsibility to the waitress as the bake hinted a smile towards her.

The baker lifted up the hot pan and tossed into the basin of hot water and soap as he patiently waited for his next set to pop out of the oven at any moment.  Fuku-chan counted up the pastries within the box and followed up the count for the rest noticing the variability of the boxes.  She shook her head and organized the boxes as best as she could with the new set shoveling out of the oven.  Realizing the peak in orders since she started, she organized the boxes by names, and set them side by side as the delivery person loaded his car.

The clock had struck noon and the orders were out of the way but the ones for service would be late by an hour.  Fuku-chan decided to draw up a sign delaying the opening for today by an hour and the sign caught Sayu’s eyes away from the mirror for a second and received the instant praise from the bunny.

Sayu posted outside backwards and flee without noticing the mistake and the waitress managed to get it correct before coming back to the waiting area with the first tray of hot pastries.  Fuku-chan glanced up again and rushed out to the front to open the entrance. Luckily, the pastries were out to cool before the first customer was allowed into the café.

The small crowd took little time getting their orders in and Fuku-chan was passing them out like hotcakes.  Every customer had a smile to Sayu’s delight and eventually slowed to a standstill.  The waitress swiftly cleaned each of the table before relief came in half an hour later for the next crowd of people to arrive.

Eripon changed in the back fleetly getting to the front to serve the first couple of her shift a fresh strawberry tart.  The waitress took the opportunity to train her in brewing the tea which was half the workload.  The younger girl placed the kettle on the stove and headed out to the front to get the customers’ orders before returning to the steaming kettle and pulled it to the side to settle.

The baker entered through the backdoor observing the new worker handling the kettle and prevented the tea bags from falling into the pot and let it steep before making cups for the customers.  The afternoon went by smoothly until a group of high schoolers took a corner and started to vandalize the booth.

“Fuku-chan, can you tell them to stop?”  Sayu said in a low voice as the corner was becoming a mess.

She slowly walked up to the group and faced them with a sense of honor and saw the paper balls thrown at her.  She shielded her face as they laughed at her and from the other side of the room; an older woman approached them with a cunning smile but quickly turned into an evil grin as she grabbed the first one by the ear.  The other two were pummeling her back as she knocked both with a sweep.  The group was in disarray and evacuated from the place without saying anything more.

“Are you okay?”  She asked as she picked up the broken pieces from the floor.

Fuku-chan nodded slowly as she helped the woman finish up the cleaning with customers slowly filing in.  Eripon took their orders and pushed them out quickly without any problems.  The two finished up picking up whatever they could and thanked the woman to help them rid of the scoundrels from doing any more damage.  She left before the doors closed for the day and Risa came from the back to pick up her box.

“Fuku-chan, I think I’ll make this the final payment for yours.  As for Ikuta-san, do you want to be fitted today for uniforms?”  The girl looked up at the clock and shook her head realizing that she had to leave to get home before the darkness arrived.

Risa poked her head out to introduce Ai to the group and the bunny finally saw her longtime friend with mirror still in hand as they chatted about the last time they had met each other while in college.  The bean took a seat and opened the box filled with sweets and bit into one of them realizing it might be a while before she could leave the premises.

[kuro808]

Well I had some time to write this one and I really need to find some guidance to motivation

Chapter 8


With the conversation passing the first hour, Eripon followed Risa to the shop to get the dimensions for her uniform.  The younger of the two walked like a snail with the sun setting only giving a little light to walk through the alley.  The bean looked back and hurried to turn on her shop lights to calm her fears down.

She entered the shop and saw the stool in the middle of the room with all the furniture cleared out to the side as Risa grabbed her tape measure.

“Stand on it.”  She barked as she untangled the fairly used plastic.

Risa kneel down on the floor and measured her right ankle’s circumference, and then quickly wrote it down on her clipboard.  Without notice, she wrapped it around her mid-thigh and Eripon let out a short giggle catching the bean’s attention.

“Are you okay?”  She asked with her pencil in her mouth and squinting to find the closest measurement point.

Eripon flashed an OK sign and Risa stood up to get her midsection.  Eripon showed her reservations about lifting her shirt but quickly threw them away as she lifted enough for the bean to get her measurement.  She could feel her breath on her bare skin and the case of nerves got her to shiver for a quick second.  However, she was far from normal and closed her eyes to gain back her composure not noticing she was on the chair, she wobbled for a bit, and her body pushed the chair from under her.

A person walking by heard the crash and opened the door to see the girl on top of the uniform maker with their lips inches apart.  The look of shock on Risa’s face said everything and the walker bowed her head before closing the door behind her.

“Mou, you’re heavy.”  Risa turned the girl off her and dusted off.

Eripon was dazed from the accident as she looked up at the ceiling and she smelled something coming from her lips.  She ran her finger over her top lip and sniffed it for a moment.  Her mind started going at a quick pace as the panic was becoming obvious on her face and turned her over and bowed while she was on the ground.

“Get up.”  Risa lifted her from the ground and dusted off the girl as she kept her head down.

Eripon lifted her head as she started to tear up and Risa quickly embraced her as a mother would and released her grip.  Eripon stood up straight to finish up the measurements and Risa escorted her to the street so she could return with Risa getting to the tail end of the conversation.

Ai glanced over at her partner and noticed the bruise on her cheek.  She poked the bean’s cheek with her partner giving a wince.  Sayu quickly went to the back to get a cold pack from the freezer and instantly put it on the bruised area.  Risa held it to her cheek as she pondered over the girl’s reaction.

Eripon jogged back home feeling her lips every step of the way.  The weird feeling was cramping her midsection and stopped a block before her house to catch her breath.  Her mind replayed the whole scene and she couldn’t believe that she had kissed her.  However, her heart was pumping quicker with every thought of the bean and even trying to shake it off made her anxious to apologize for kissing her.  Eripon got her energy back to push to her house and arrived with her maids setting up the table for dinner.

She headed up to the bathroom and locked herself inside to shield everyone away from her as her thoughts were being scattered on the floor.  On one hand, her feelings toward Fuku-chan were strong and by working side by side, she has a strong bond between them.  Then, the new found crush in Risa was giving her a weird feeling in her stomach but her bipolar personality was problematic towards her.

Her thoughts consumed most of the time in the bathroom as she laid down looking up at the ceiling.  Every issue was aiming toward how she can break through the wall with Fuku-chan while ridding of the feelings toward Risa.  Once she heard the knocking, she opened the door to Riho with her eyes aiming towards her and her hands shaking at her side.  Then, Zukki wrapped her arms around the other maid to prevent any damage she would do to the older girl.

“Eripon, are you okay?”  Riho irritated by the two girls around her.

“Don’t get mad at her because I placed the utensils in the wrong place.”  Zukki said cutely causing an annoyance to her partner.

“Don’t worry; I was just thinking about stuff.  I’ll eat while you guys prepare my bath.”  The two maids nodded as she headed back downstairs for her meal.

She took a seat in front of the hot food and picked apart the fish skillfully avoiding the bones.  Her chopsticks moved at a constant pace until the meal was all in her stomach.  She felt her phone vibrating and it was another text from Fuku-chan talking about her boredom, which entertained the girl, and returned a text about doing something on her own and suggested cleaning her room.

Her reply made her giggle and she headed up to the bathroom for her bath, it was a pleasure to have people help you with your every need but the emptiness was still unfilled within her mind.  As she sat in the tub, her mind started to swirl about what she could do to help around the house.  Her maids seemed well prepared for anything that she has requested in the past but what if she could learn or talk to them at an even level.

The maids looked at the time and wondered if Erina was okay in the bath and Riho popped her head into the bathroom seeing her head tilted up at the ceiling.  She crept in closer to find her eyes blinking fast before the clear water scared her away.

“Riho… may I speak to you and Zukki after my bath?”  The maid nodded as she excused herself before she had any more exposure to her own demise.

Ten minutes later, Eripon was dressed for bed and invited the maids to have a seat.  It seemed unusual for anyone to be casual in this setting especially when they would get berated for a poor performance but Eripon’s calm demeanor indicated a different type of conversation.

“I was wondering if you could help me with something.”  The two maids nodded simultaneously.

“I know that I may be out of my mind when I decided to work but I like somebody.”  Zukki scooted her chair in closer as Riho kept her distance.

“Who is it?  Is it a boy?  Maybe it could be someone mysterious?”  Zukki was going tangent as Riho closed her mouth from behind.

“Let her speak, Zukki before I get my cider drink and not talk to you.”  The other maid pouted as Eripon continued on with her thoughts.

“It was the waitress who gave me a pastry when I decided to stay in the rain.  I didn’t want to bother anyone but she was nice enough to get me some food.  I feel weird when I am around her but today I kissed someone else.”  Zukki gasped at the remark while Riho smirked.

“You kissed a boy.”  Zukki gasped again as Riho shook her head.

“No… a woman.  She was the one to give me the job with father’s permission but I feel that she is mean to me but that what makes her attractive.”  Riho nodded as she excused her from the room and came back later with a small bottle of cider in her hand.

“Riho-chan!  You are so mean to get cider while the master is talking.”  Zukki exclaimed as Riho poured her drink into the cup.

Riho took a sip and placed the cup onto the table.  She walked up to the master with her hands on her face and moved in closer with her lips before stopping a millimeter in front of them.

“You need to realize that Fuku-chan has more in common than you know.  The woman may not know your intentions but forget about her.  Zukki knows that I rarely show my true emotions except for my bottle of cider in which she teases me continuously but you know where your heart lies and stick to that.” Her explanation made sense and she acknowledged that is how she should approach it and wrote down an order for a case of cider which made the maid happy.

“One more thing before you leave, can you teach me how to do some chores?”  Both nodded and Zukki left the room while Riho stayed behind.

“How did you know her name?”

“Your phone is always ringing in the morning.  I think she stays up late to just text you her thoughts or she is sleep texting.”  Riho grinned as she skipped out of the room and Eripon lay her head on the pillow to sleep.

[oddball]

So Eripon now has a crush on Gaki, oh dear.....

seems as though Riho's advice is sound though.....

[kuro808]

@oddy I really needed the even headed character although a freaked out Zukki always helps

Chapter 9


Fuku-chan was awakened by her phone vibrating off the table onto the slightly polished wooden floor.  She picked it up and scanned over the message to find the message quite amusing.  She set her fingers into place ready to reply but decided to doze off instead feeling the slight breeze hitting her face.

 A few hours later, she awoke again to the phone but it was Sayu in her usual state of panic and replied back she would be in an hour.  She dropped her phone onto the table and head into the bathroom to take wash off her sleep.  Fuku-chan felt the warm water pelting her skin thinking about the previous days and popped the text from Erina.

 It was a long text in general and every word seemed to confuse her as to approach the situation.  She could have replied stating her feelings but that would have complicated the relationship.  However, by not replying, it was a sense of rejection from her part as she was trying to duck out of saying her true feelings.

 After a few minutes, she turned off the shower to get out and her phone fell onto the ground vibrating on the wooden floor.  She rushed out to pick it up to find another text from Eripon's phone and the short message gave her a smile before dressing up for work.

 She headed out with her uniform on covered by a thin, red raincoat to brave the passing showers overhead.  The sound of the raindrops gave a unique melody to the day and she slowly filled her brain with music while being observant of the vehicles on the road.  Fuku-chan arrived at ten o'clock with the baker sitting in the back taking a smoke break.

 "Where's Michishige-san?"  The baker pointed towards her office.

 "I see.  Thank you."  Fuku-chan headed toward the door and positioned her hand to knock but Sayu's head popped out.

 "You're late."

 "Not really.  You just forgot that I am part-time."  The waitress' smile pissed off the owner and closed the door in front of her as the pastries were laid out on the counter.

 She folded up the boxes and scanned over the orders as she prepped the boxes as it was ordered and placed the receipts onto the boxes while the baker looked at his watch waiting for his next batch.  Fuku-chan swiftly called the customers to pick up their orders and headed to the café to clean the tables for service in the afternoon.  The gloomy morning soon turned clear and the energy was soon picking up among everyone.

 Then, another vibration interrupted her thoughts as she looked at her phone and it was another message from Eripon asking about the café.  She took a picture but a sudden jolt of pain came onto her side and she headed to the bathroom to seek the problem.  The waitress poked at the tender area and realized she had over stretched and leaned onto the wall with her arms above her head.  Without realizing anything, she had sent a picture of her in the bathroom instead.

 Fuku-chan heard the phone vibrate again and took the call without noticing who was on the other line.

 "Are you okay?"

 "Eripon what's wrong?"  She asked as the pain slowly subsided.

 "You sent me a picture of you stretching in the bathroom."  She looked at her history and noticed she had just done that.

 "Gomen.  I was going to send you a picture of the clean café but I felt something sore so I went to the bathroom to stretch out and sent you the picture by accident."

 "Okay. I hope you feel better."  Eripon hung up and the waitress sighed at her action.

 After a few more stretches, she headed back into the kitchen to turn on the kettles for tea and set up the boxes of pastries for the day's service.  The baker was never aware of the demands of the customers until Fuku-chan came along and mentioned about setting up the amounts differently which lowered the cost of production.  She organized it in her way and opened the door to the first group of customers.

 Eripon still felt the eyes drilling into her about her job but it was less brutal as the people just avoided her like she was vermin and walked off the grounds without any incident.  She headed toward the shop first to check on her uniform but Risa had closed early for the day and went off to the rear entrance to change.  She noticed the café was packed with people and quickly relieved the impatience of the customers by getting their orders in before they started leaving.

 The two were working in harmony getting the orders and tea ready for the customers.  It was going smoothly until Eripon's father came in with Kamei.  She froze midway between the kitchen and the table as she hinted Fuku-chan to get their orders for her in which they periodically switched areas.  The younger girl glanced often at the table as they had their conversation.  She was aware that she had rejected the ideas from her and her father unsuccessfully swayed towards her.

 "Eripon, that woman has been around here before.  Do you know her?"  She nodded.

 "Okay, I'll take care of them.  You just get everyone on your side of the café."  Eripon nodded as she turned to find Risa in the front.

 "Ah, Ikuta-san.  I'm sorry I haven't worked on your uniform yet.  Business came up and I needed to do that immediately."  She started to look around and walked toward her father's table.  Her heart started to beat faster and suddenly she saw the napkin float in front of her and she managed to catch it on the fly.

 "Wake up.  We need you to be focused."  Fuku-chan snapped her out of the trance.

 She pounced on the next few orders as the crowd slowly died but the three were still in their conversation.  Eripon headed towards the group ready to inform them that the shop was closing but her feet felt like cement bricks causing her to slowly go to them and Risa waved her down.

 "I have news; Kamei has offered to make the uniforms.  She knows that you rejected the designs on your father's behalf but she is willing to take my designs and move forward with production."  She slowly nodded.

 "In addition, Risa has let you off the hook so you are not in debt with her."  Her father added as she looked over at Risa.

 She felt tense just looking at her as the flashback of the previous day came into mind but was quickly wiped as Fuku-chan offered the bill to the group and pulled the younger girl out of the way.  Eripon headed to the kitchen to pick out the extras and took a small bagful for herself.  However, she had that image in her mind and wrapped her arms around Fuku-chan.

 "Is there something wrong?"  She asked as Eripon dug her face into her back.

 "Do you sleep text?"  She mumbled out as the baker tilted his head back with a loud roar.

 "No, but I know you receive them and you don't like to reply."  She stuck her tongue out and brushed Eripon's hair away from her face.

 "I think my maid does that."  She said with a smile as Fuku-chan shook her head.

 "When you do reply. please say it is you."  She nodded as she took her bags home from work.

[oddball]

Hmm seems as though maybe Eripon and Fuku-chan are relying on each other more and more, seems as though Eri's plans are seeing to this in a way....

[kuro808]

@oddy it gets eerily closer

Chapter 10


Eripon let out a yawn as she dragged her body back home.  She was feeling the toll of working and attending school as she closed her eyes for a few seconds and immediately opened them back up noticing she didn’t move an inch.  She felt a strange presence like someone was following her and turned back to find the waitress a few steps behind her.

“I wanted to walk with you home since I was curious about your house.”  Eripon paused and slowly led the way as her body was becoming heavy with exhaustion setting in.

“You have a maid?”  Fuku-chan asked as Eripon stuck out two fingers.

“Wow, they must tend to your every need.”  She shrugged her shoulders and kept up her turtle pace.

The waitress admired the fact Eripon had maids but it seemed weird that she would consider working instead of being helped around and then she realized the reason why she had avoided that table.  Eripon looked back with a smile as Fuku-chan was drifting away with her thoughts and caught up right before the street light.

“Is there something wrong?”  Eripon didn’t answer and Fuku-chan grabbed her shoulders.

Fuku-chan elevated her voice and the younger girl turned and fell into the waitress’ arms.  Her weight pushed Fuku-chan back a couple steps as she tried desperately to hold her up.  She laid her down onto the pavement as she opened her eyes and quickly apologized.

Eripon stood up as Fuku-chan grabbed her bag and headed home without exchanging words.  Fuku-chan observed the two maids by the gate with their eyes straight at the waitress as Eripon approaching them.  She dropped the bag off to Zukki and let the exhausted teenager go into the house.

“You must be the one texting her.”  Riho scanned her and looked over to Zukki as she placed the bag down on the ground.

“You must be the ones texting me back that she likes me but she has never said anything about it to me.”  She replied back as Riho took her to the back of the house to the porch.

The other maid gave the two tea cups as Zukki sat between them and they looked at each other before the waitress broke the soundless evening.

“Eripon must be spoiled.”  She blurted out as the two maids looked at each other.

“She tries to stay away from that.  I would take that treatment if I was in her position but I could understand why she would try to earn her achievements.”  Riho took a sip from her cup while the waitress placed hers on the table.

Fuku-chan knew they would be in her defense but they seemed to acknowledge Eripon avoiding the title of spoiled brat but it seemed a long ways to gaining that from her.  Zukki went back inside and opened the box of album filled with pictures of Eripon in her elementary school years.  She opened to one particular page and pointed at the picture with her finger pressing down hard.

“That looks like… me.”  Fuku-chan said in shock.

“Eripon always wanted to make friends and I guess you were one of them before her father inherited the school.”  Riho glanced at the picture as she took another sip of her tea.

She was surprised that there was a picture of her in the album and began to look through it finding a few people she knew from when she dropped out and mumbled their status at school.  The amazement didn’t end there as someone took a picture of a painting that she had drawn during art class and placed it next to hers.  That was her favorite piece and she had it wrapped for safekeeping at her apartment.  Eripon was normal like any other student but luck just drew her to a better school and education.

“Eripon was shy when she first meets people and warms up to them when she gets to know them but ever since she had attended the school, she never has brought home a friend.”  Zukki explained while filling up the guest’s cup.

“In addition, everyone thinks she hasn’t been disciplined for any wrong doing because of her father.  However, she rarely puts herself into those situations and would face her father at home.  I think they want her to be suspended once to show fairness to the school.”  Riho added as Fuku-chan became furious over the classmates.

“I think they should understand that you shouldn’t mess around with people.  Many people I know can help her with protection.”  The two maids waved their hands rejecting the idea.

“It will be handled.”  Riho said with a smile as Eripon stepped onto the porch.

Eripon flipped through the pages with a smirk on her face and pointed out the picture of Fuku-chan and her standing outside a class.  She never knew who everyone else was but seeing that old picture made her beam as she felt glad that there was a picture of her at her happiest.  She took a seat next to the waitress as Zukki returned with another tea cup and poured one for the girl.

“I never knew had a picture of us.”  Eripon took a sip of her tea as they acknowledge the proof.

Fuku-chan looked over at Eripon as she let down her wet, slick hair that stopped right above her shoulders.  She had an awkward feeling within her as she smiled and tilted her head.  It made her glad that she had visited her but she felt out of place as the group was civilized compared to her.  She experienced the feeling only once as she was invited to her cousin’s party.  It was a bad experience hanging out with others her age as she was less popular and swung alone on the swings most of the time.

“Ah, Fuku-chan, thank you for taking me home.”  She waved her hand as she felt she overstayed her welcome and headed home for the night.

She began to think about school and how she was an outcast because of her abilities to do art and could outperform in her skill without any effort.  Her ability to draw out items was amazing for many that artists would witness a masterpiece in front of their eyes.  However, it made her feel empty that the people were concerned of her ability to produce an income off her ability.  Therefore, she escaped the conversation by leaving without any indication and took it to the real world.

Fuku-chan closed her eyes as she imaged the night sky and held her finger up pinpointing the stars in the sky.  While the idea was fresh in her mind, she ran home and drew out a creation that amazed the art form.  The moonlight glimmered in the sky as the stars formed a picture of her a female face.  The image was countered by another feminine face kissing each other on the lips and shaded it to bring out the hidden picture.

It was a great drawing of the love between two females with passion running through the theme of the painting and released her pencil as the shading was perfect and now was left with colors.  Fuku-chan looked outside at the colors and mixed it quickly to get the correct hue and painted it with a fine brush before it could disappear forever.  Within an hour, every part was pieced together to make the best scenery picture.

Fuku-chan placed it on her closet door and stepped back to admire her work.  It was uniquely different from her previous works and the theme brought back the picture that she had seen earlier.  It was a happy picture of Eripon and her posing together.  She regretted that she called her spoiled but luckily the maids broke down her doubts.  She could finally rest without heavy thinking but she began to wonder if any person out there could shoot down the nervousness in her heart.

[oddball]

Aww seems as though Riho and Zukki are taking control and teelling Fuku-chan what Eripon is like and laying her fears over Eripon being spoiled to rest! 

Interesting that they knew each other in the past though, I wonder if it was really only passing though.....

hmm seems as though Fuku-chan is getting slowly towrds the point of thinking about her and Eripon together.......