𝙱𝚊𝚗𝙶 𝙳𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖! 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛! | 𝚅𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚎 𝟷

| 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝟏 | • 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝟔 - 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐞!

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[ Location ] [ Yamabuki Bakery ]
[ First Person POV ] [ Katsuhiko ]

Days gone by after that one recent event. And it certainly left an impact on me- on us. From then on, I began to think how far can Toyama progress with this. Her idea of forming a band. I mean she's been making some progress thus far, managing to recruit a few members into her roster.

But the thought of whether she "can" or "cannot" has been on my mind ever since. And the ongoing progress she's trying to make can often have a likely unexpected result. Both good and bad.

I'm siding onto the neutral side for now. Despite having to be there to support them. I have yet to gain some assurance.

"You're pretty early for the job, you know that?" Yamabuki interrupts me from my deep thought. I raised my head and noticed her presence before me. A very amused smile evident on her face.

"The earlier, the better, right?" I shrugged with a casual smile. She giggled in response. "Besides, the smell of freshly baked bread in the morning is what I love the most. It feels heartwarming, and it makes you calm."

I made a very vehement posture. Looking like I made a quote from a non-existent philosopher.

"Sounds silly, but I get what you mean." Yamabuki replies in agreement. I then began to take a gentle whiff out of the freshly baked pastries that I just got out of the oven. It was blissful, I felt like I was in heaven. "Careful. Don't want to spoil the goods with your drooling, now do we?" She says with a chuckle.

"Oh." I snapped myself out from that brief gaze. "Sorry." I sheepishly chuckled. Momentarily, I went to the kitchen to wash off the excess of my baking.

Ever since I started working here, I went all out with the baking. Not holding myself back with the skill and knowledge that I have within this department.

Aside from my other motive. I'm pretty much glad that I worked here. It's actually fun.

As I finished washing my hands. I head back to the bakery where I then run into Yamabuki's mother. "Thank you for helping out, Natsuki-kun." She said her gratitude to me with a soft and genuine motherly smile.

"It is my job after all." I replied, shrugging my shoulders as I return with a smile of my own.

"I can honestly say. You've done a great job with all of the work here. And I'm rather impressed." Mrs. Yamabuki compliments to me, and I poised myself proudly from that genuine statement.

"I had to do the impossible in order to garner this much skill!" I remarked as I posed dramatically. "I had a duel against the eggs, I done tussle with the dough. Only last week I murdered a kilogram of sugar. Injured a bag of salt. Hospitalized a pack of wheat."

"Heck, I'm so mean. I make water dry." I finished my overly dramatic speech. I looked over towards the adult and noticed her brief confusion before it momentarily turns into amusement.

"That was some interesting journey that you had there." She says with a soft chuckle.

I let out an embarrassed chuckle. Scratching my head. "Obviously those claims weren't legitimate. I just learned all of this from my sister."

"Oh I see." Mrs. Yamabuki nods to my statement. "Hm, I can see that she taught you well." Once again, she gives me another genuine smile. One that is as pleasant as the last, but still shares the equality.

After that brief scenario. We both took a step inside the bakery. And there we saw her daughter. Busy with placing all of the pastries in their respective shelves. "Saaya, I can take over now." Her mother calls out to her.