"Kirishima... I'm afraid."
Kirishima stilled.
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At the first sign of the cherry blossoms in March, Bakugou continued on with his own work. He started working at a patisserie a few years back, right when he finished his culinary arts degree, and he has been slowly moving up the business's hierarchy. He became a proper chef at the bakery, and could make his own desserts to add to their menu. He's happy where he is, and although he would enjoy to have the menu be only his inventions, he can deal with sharing for now.
He didn't have a great first impression at the shop when he joined, especially towards the boss. He had lashed out on him, frustrated that he couldn't work in the kitchen, and was instead hired to do customer service and serve other people desserts that he hadn't made. He was very annoyed, and almost got fired on the first day for his behavior, but he and the boss had a long talk, which eventually ended up with them as friends, and with a promise that Bakugou could be promoted if he does his job well.
He wasn't the only one stuck at customer service though. His childhood friend, who also followed him and never left his side since they met, was also left at customer service, but he lashed out his frustration on his personal kitchen, crying to Bakugou when he realised he broke his two favourite cake molds, and his only sieve. They bought new ones together, and became new people in a matter of two days, surprising the whole of the patisserie's staff. They welcomed customers happily, answered any of their questions with expertise, and to everyone's surprise, Bakugou dropped all swears, while Midoriya stopped fidgeting nervously. But, well... they all knew only the customers would buy their attitude. Bakugou's furrowed eyebrows said everything, and Midoriya bouncing leg showed the truth. No one could complain though, they were treating customers well, and in a matter of just a year, they could finally work in the kitchen.
That also started as a disaster. Mostly just for Midoriya since he couldn't calm his excitement, and he accidentally destroyed two batches of pastries which were an order for the same day. It was quick to fix, but it alarmed Midoriya so much that the kitchen's atmosphere was tense for the first few days. However, Bakugou was a natural in the kitchen. He managed to reproduce half of the quite large menu in a week, and mastered the rest in less than a month. It boosted his ego quite a lot, and that didn't really end well for anyone. At some point, he almost began to boss everyone around, until Midoriya scolded him, and their boss mentioned putting him back at customer service permanently. He wouldn't actually do it, but he needed everyone to have their own control in the kitchen, so a threat was all he could manage to restore peace in the kitchen.
Half a year after that, both Bakugou and Midoriya were presented with the opportunity to be promoted to proper chefs, and their boss had given each of them a spot to fill for the menu. Those had been tense times, especially since they both really wanted a place for their own inventions on the menu. Midoriya had finished his first, and it was a simple pastry to win everyone's hearts. He had made a sfogliatella with cream fillings flavoured with lime, and then had a bit of icing sugar with sprinkled lime zest on top. It was a rather simple pastry, compared to what he had made before, but he felt like it was perfect. Everyone loved it, and it was an immediate addition to the menu. Customers loved it immediately, and it became a frequent item in their menu which ran out often.
Bakugou had finished his two weeks after Midoriya had, and it had made everyone speechless. He had made a batch for everyone to taste the night before, when he had the closing shift, and when they were all suddenly presented with a batch of pastries which weren't in their menu, they were confused and interested. The pastries looked normal, and were almost the exact same you'd find in a supermarket shop with the exception of the better icing on the top of it. Bakugou was a bit furious when he saw his pastries were already presented in front of everyone before he could show them, but he shrugged it off saying they were his. They were all surprised, and Midoriya had made a small insulting comment that they didn't look like anything special, and miraculously Bakugou hadn't exploded on him. Once they taste it though, the pastry was nothing but miraculous for their menu. The choux pastry was slightly crunchy on the outside, and soft and melting on the inside. The filling was vanilla creme with orange zest flavouring it, but it had a tiny hint of chili which tingled your senses but had no overall burn on your throat. The icing on top was smooth, but did add to the choux's outside crunch. The flavour matched the inside's, with only the addition of a orange chocolate with chili sprinkled on it. It really didn't look like anything but special, but it tasted exceptional. Before any of them could be critical about it, their boss ordered everyone to make sure it is added to the menu the next day. It was the best day of Bakugou's life, and his excited smile as he did customer service was such a tension lifter for anyone who had a bad morning.
Currently, all of the older staff retired to open their own patisseries, or to work at restaurants where their desserts could bring some first class to restaurants' menu. That meant that Bakugou and Midoriya are now their boss's oldest employees, or well, they are his current employees which have stayed the longest. The newer staff were bright, and brought a lot of happiness to their surroundings, but they weren't as experienced with the business as Bakugou and Midoriya were. Surprisingly, all of them were the same age, but they just hadn't gone into their careers immediately like how Bakugou and Midoriya have. They all had their specialties, and the patisserie was really becoming unique with its varied personalities on the menu.
No one would really want it any other way, and they all shared that unspoken opinion, which in the end brought them all together much more.
"Bakugou! You are stayed late today, huh?" grinned Uraraka, as she sat down on one of the stools in the kitchen. She stared at his concentrated face, and chuckled lightly to herself.
"I have the closing shift," he muttered. "What the fuck are you laughing at?" he growled, glaring at her.
"Well..."
"Kacchan!" exclaimed Midoriya. "How are you going on with the order? We just got contacted that they will be picking the order up tomorrow morning," he said.
"Urgh," sighed Bakugou, finishing putting the icing on the profiteroles he was preparing. "When?"
"Hum... They said they would pick it up at nine tomorrow morning," said Midoriya, going to one of their refrigerators, where he found one of the tiny desserts he had been working on. Thankfully, they were cooling off nicely.
"At nine?!" exclaimed Bakugou. "Are they fucking stupid?! Their celebration thing is only going to start after noon," he sighed, loudly. putting away all of the profiteroles iced with chocolate. "They better not fucking come back to us when it falls apart when they're carrying it," he growled.
"It's just a croquembouche," said Uraraka. "I'm sure it doesn't fall as easily as a wedding cake could," she shrugged. "But if they are bad drivers, then yeah, maybe it would fall," she chuckled.
"This is a fucking pain," sighed Bakugou, closing the refrigerator. "Deku, you finish it off tomorrow. I'll check on your raspberry tarts for you," he said.
"They aren't just raspberry tarts! Let me remind you that they are also going to have a cream filling under the raspberries as my typical lime flavouring," pouted Midoriya.
"Yeah, yeah," shrugged Bakugou, stretching, and taking off his uniform, putting on his coat over his tank top. "Anyway, it'll check on them," he said.
"Thanks," he sighed. "By the way, Uraraka, you planned on having more mochi on the menu, right?" he asked.
"Yep! I'm planning on making more, but I do really want to perfect making Bakugou's items on the menu. You, our boss, and Bakugou are the only ones who can do it. Iida was almost close, but he could replicate the perfect choux he made," she sighed.
"Me and All Might can't really replicate it perfectly," he smiled, lightly. "Kacchan is still the only one who makes it perfect, which is really no surprise at this point," he shrugged. "Kacchan aims to be the best at everything, so he does it. I'm glad that he can't replicate the pastry for my sfogliatella inventions. He had his forte, and we have our own," he grinned.
"That's true!" she laughed.
"Shut the fuck up, both of you," growled Bakugou, twirling the shop's keys on his index. "Now, hurry the fuck up, I need to lock the place up," he said.
"Ah, right, yes!" they both nodded with a grin, quickly changing out of their uniforms, which really is just the chef coat, or shop's apron, and made their way outside.
Bakugou locked the shop behind them, and shoved the keys in his pocket. "Who opens the shop tomorrow?" he asked.
"Mmh..." hummed Uraraka. "Let's do rock, paper, scissors, like usual," she chuckled. "Rock."
"Paper," continued Midoriya.
"Scissors," stated Bakugou.
Midoriya lost, and with a defeated sigh, he took the keys from Bakugou.
"You better have things in order before we open to customers," said Bakugou. "Anyway, I'll see you losers tomorrow," he said, with a wave as he began walking away.
"Goodnight, Kacchan!"
"See you tomorrow, Bakugou!"
As he walked, he couldn't help but breathe in the fresh air of the seemingly silent city. No cars were around, and the park right by his apartment was flourishing with life. The buds of the flowers finally opened, and he saw a few cherry blossom petals flow through the wind in front of him. The scent was refreshing, and Bakugou inhaled the new life coming in through the flowers and leaves. He hated weekday mornings when he got to work. They were always so busy with cars and people walking their barking dogs. School children were sometimes quiet, but often loud which didn't improve his mood. The late evenings were always calm. Bakugou always leaves an hour after the shop closes to customers, sometimes to clean up, sometimes to finish up an order. Other staff members like Iida or Asui often told him he should head home earlier, but others like Midoriya and Uraraka understood how peaceful the city could become, understanding why Bakugou prefers it that way.
March was going to end soon, and Bakugou couldn't help but think it would be his third year into his career. Sometimes it is a bit scary to think about it, especially when he thinks about how he used to go drinking sometimes with friends during university when he had free time, and how he used to go to parties and he would wake up with a hangover he could never get used to. Those were the days where he was free to be young, and out of his parents' control for a few times. Now, he doing work to make a career out of his life. He plans on being the best, and at this point, he doesn't really know what else he could do. The older staff left to continue on with their future careers in family businesses, or in five star restaurants. What will he be doing to become the best he could be?
He exhaled loudly as he reached his apartment, taking a cherry blossom out of his hair while he unlocked his apartment. He entered it, locking it behind him, and took off his shoes, then turned the lights.
His apartment was very clean, but sometimes it really felt empty.
'What time is it?' he asked himself, glancing at the clock in the kitchen, then sighing as he saw it was just eight in the evening.
"Food," he mumbled to himself, checking his fridge for any left-overs. 'I still have chicken from yesterday, I could just fry it and have it with steamed vegetables,' he thought, taking out the ingredients, and deciding he needed to talk to someone a bit. Well, someone, but not just anyone.
He took his phone, swiping through his contacts, and finding the right one. He pressed call, and held it up to his ear while he began cooking. He finally heard a voice, but frowned when he realised the call immediately ended. He look at his phone, confused, then jumped lightly at his loud ringtone. He accepted the call, and chuckled at the video call.
"Bakugou!! Bro! I didn't know you were going to call today," the voice laughed.
Bakugou smiled lightly. "Yeah, well, I didn't call yesterday, so I thought I might as well call you today, Kirishima," he said. "How was your day?" he asked, seeing how Kirishima's face immediately brightened.
"It was great, actually," he grinned. "Today, I met up with an orchestra and we had fun playing together. I played the second violin, and you know what? I really love playing the second violins," he chuckled.
"Really? I thought you preferred having the main melody," stated Bakugou, balancing his phone on the counter, making sure he was still in the camera shot.
"When I'm solo, yeah," nodded Kirishima. "But when I play with a big orchestra, I find it fun being a base block for the first violins. I like it... it gives a purpose I guess. It makes it feel more like I'm playing with others, I mean," he smiled. "But it won't compare to the great feeling of finishing a solo piece and receiving a grand applause for your personal own performance. I'm a bit selfish like that, but can you really blame me? We're all human here," he chuckled.
"I guess," nodded Bakugou. "I do also prefer being a soloist than a accompanist."
"See? You also get it," he chuckled. "But anyway, that's how my day went," he smiled. "How did yours go? Any interesting customers? Troubles in the kitchen?" he asked.
"I was rather normal, compared to the usual," shrugged Bakugou, preparing a plate. He wasn't patient enough to wait for everything to be completely tender. "We received an order yesterday, and I've been working on it all of today during my free time. It is a fucking stupid basic order, but the people who ordered it are basically asking for it to fall down. They want to collect it early tomorrow for an event that it later in the afternoon," he sighed. "Anyway, I made all of the individual profiteroles, so tomorrow Deku will set it up into the tower, while I take care of his new inventions," he shrugged. "So I don't have too much work, but we basically just prepared our work for tomorrow," he said, placing his food on a plate, and moving to sit down at the dining table, taking his phone with him.
"Huh? I wonder why they would need a tower though," thought Kirishima, aloud. "Is it like some really special event?" he asked.
"Probably. We weren't asked to put any specific text, so we don't really know the details. Anyway, once it is gone, I don't want to see it ever again."
Kirishima chuckled lightly, and stretched as he watched Bakugou begin to eat. For a while, they stayed silent for Bakugou's beginning of his meal, until Kirishima spoke up again.
"So, have you thought about making new pastries yet?" he asked.
Bakugou swallowed, then hummed with a shrug. "Dunno yet. I might come up with something tonight, but it will need a lot of work to be perfected. I don't fucking allow half-assed shit on our menu. Round face's mochi wouldn't even make it on the menu if it wasn't for the hidden flavours in them. We aim to be a unique patisserie, so I won't fucking allow our boss to put bad shit on there, including my own work. I'll ask for their criticism, if it is good then I'll assess it more on my side, and if it has more to improve I'll improve it. I only want the best on our shelves," he stated, shoving a large mouthful of food in his mouth.
"Mmh... I think they are really glad to have you as a chef there," he chuckled. "If the business was bigger, I bet you would be a manager. A great manager at that," he grinned.
"Hah! You'd bet that," he grinned. "I would be, without a doubt," he said, a proud smirk on his face, quickly dropping as he continued and finished his food.
"You'd be the best manager there is," added Kirishima, smiling lightly as he watched Bakugou push his plate to the side. "Maybe you'd be a bit too workaholic, but if someone can keep you in check you'd be fine," he smiled.
"I'm not a workaholic. I mean... I won't be," murmured Bakugou, his voice softening. "I'll be more calm when I have my career in place. I'm still unstable, I need a definite position, no chance of being fired," he said, with a small frown.
Kirishima smiled at that, his eyes softening their gaze as he stared at Bakugou. "You've got this. You'll be able to leave your past career behind, especially when it is so stable no one can tell you to get rid of it," he said, quietly.
Bakugou nodded, silently, staring at the table, collecting his thoughts. It was quickly interrupted by a loud voice though.
"Oh? Bakugou is on the phone with you?" asked a high pitch voice.
"Ah, yeah, he called earlier-" started Kirishima, straightening his back.
"Hey, Bakugou," grinned the girl next to Kirishima. "Have you been doing well?"
"Uh, yeah, I have," he nodded. "You?" he asked, briefly, not bothering with a smile.
"I really have! I got to meet up with my old high school friends, and we have been doing so much together. I would really like to bring Kirishima next time, but he always seems so busy," she sighed, taking a seat next to Kirishima.
"Himura, at least we spend time together at home," said Kirishima, pouting lightly, and leaning against her. "We have been together for a while, so it is natural that we don't go on dates all the time," he chuckled.
"I know, but youth, you know? I don't want to let go of my youth just yet," she chuckled. "Like, you see Bakugou?" she chuckled. "I admire that he has his whole life set in front of him, but that takes away all the fun parts, like going clubbing or having parties," she giggled.
"Yeah, except I don't like drinking," stated Bakugou. "Anyway, you guys be lovey dovey and all, but don't drag me to third wheel again," he shivered, thinking back to a few times where he just left them because he didn't want to be seen with them talking to each other in baby voices. It was embarrassing, but at least Kirishima apologised for it.
"Right, just say no if we ask, okay?" chuckled Kirishima.
"Yeah," he nodded.
"Urgh, you act like such an old man," laughed Himura, jokingly. "Your parents must feel like grandparents by how old you are acting," she chuckled.
Kirishima frowned, but let a smile take over, but Bakugou stayed silent.
"Anyway," she shrugged. "I'm looking forward to the next time we all meet up together. Who knows, maybe Bakugou will like some of my friends," she chuckled. "I have to go and get a movie ready for us, okay Kiri?" she asked.
"Yep! I'll join you in a bit," he grinned. When she was at a reasonable distance, and out of ear-shot, Kirishima sighed. "You still aren't fond of her?" he asked.
"Not really," he shrugged. "She's just an acquaintance. Until she stops being so immature, I won't be her close friend," he said. "I won't go hate on her though. I know you wouldn't like it," he added as a murmur.
Kirishima smiled. "Thanks man, it means a lot. We have been together for a couple years, and I honestly want to see us continue to grow our relationship, but we also have to consider our careers and stuff. She doesn't really see herself as a proper performer, and she is content to work at McDonalds for the rest of her life, but I want her to know how I sincerely want myself to become a famous performer, or well, more known than now, and earn money through tours and concerts. I want a career too," he said.
"You'll get your career, Kirishima. Don't get demotivated yet," grinned Bakugou. "Anyway. You guys seem to have plans for the evening, so I'll leave you two to it. I need to work on something new, anyway," he shrugged.
"Okay! I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I'm planning on calling at least," he shrugged. "See you tomorrow," he smiled, waving lightly. When Kirishima waved back, he ended the call, and fell into loud silence.
He stood up with a sigh, and quickly placed his plate and fork in the sink, letting it soak in water as he checked his many notebooks. He took one, looking at some of the choux recipes he made, and glancing at what could be altered for something new.
He didn't have many new ideas, but he liked making those types of pastries, so he'll try it out anyway. He sighed, and got to work.
Work at home usually cleared his head, and it was familiar. Unfortunately, his mind and heart always thought that working at the patisserie's kitchen was always much more calming, and more motivating than his own. Maybe it is the promise of sleep right around the corner, or the television begging to be turned on. He only cares about his kitchen and bed, the rest can go away. He just wishes he cared about his own kitchen just as much as he cares about the kitchen at work. There was just something missing which he couldn't quite put his finger on. It was frustrating, but there was nothing he could do if he couldn't state what was wrong.
After studying his notes a bit, he decided to leave it for the next day, and got to bed. He has a good future ahead of him, he knows it. He'll make it through happily, and he'll be the best at everything he wants. His best friend knows so, his childhood friend knows so, he knows so. Everything will always be fine. He knows it will.
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woohoo!!! a new story ;DD
who's looking forward to this? I am, tbh lmao
this is an AU, and the girlfriend is not in the manga, and all her friends won't be either, so they are just a bunch of filler OCs lolol
prepare for longer chapters. this one was just short for intro matters, and setting the scene lololol
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed!
Until next time~!! ;DD