What was he supposed to do again? Work and keep everyone under control, but how the hell can he do that if he can't even control himself!? Ah, anger was rising. KEEPING CALM. ERROR. SYSTEM OVERLOAD. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. Then the bakery exploded. Kiku shook his head for a little and slapped his face, he was the supervisor, the Kunazumi Yakuza was worse then this. If he was the heir, then a little anger wasn't gonna get him. Breathing in and breathing out, he looked up to see Sakaki waving to him. Not knowing the raven would want from him, until he saw doughnut fly through the air, moving back to catch it. It was squishy. Squishy, like the intestines of the bitch who decided to steal from him. Lifting an eyebrow just a little, he smiled. "Hahaha. A-arigatou, Watanabe-san, but I'm fine. I just have a headcahe." He then made a cup with his hands and brought it to his lips. Then Yuu came along, explaining that everything was done so he didn't have to worry. He liked Yuudai as rude and rough he might be, he was very reliable worker, unlike some of the others. "Ara? Are they? Thank you Kaito-san." Bowing a little, he walked around a little, the smiled, the store seemed to be going well.

Then didn't see the strawberry coulis still on the floor. Slip. "Aaaaah!" Everything seemed so slow, he see his life flashing before his eyes, the world was spinning he could see a white light coming towards him. Grandpa? His response was, "You're to young to do so go back to the bakery." with that he was back in reality. With a loud thud, he fell on to the tiled floor with wide eyes. What. The. Hell. Just. Happened?

He got his clothes sticky with the strawberry coulis, that was his favorite outfit! "Ow... Son of a-. I'm gonna get changed." Kiku said, obviously irritated. Going into the locker, he went to see if his spare clothes were there. Well, they were, his waiter clothes that is. Sighing, he discarded the other clothes and he put on the waiter outfit. One would argue that he could just wear the shirt and pants but he didn't. Walking out, a tad embarrassed he requested, "P-please, can you clean the coulis up...". Ah, the cuteness was too much, even for his standards.

Kinzo Sanada leaned against the railing at the middle of the bridge, his shuddering breathe a plume of translucent white. He watched as the wispy vapor trailed towards the gray skies, mingling with the light flakes of descending snow before dispersing entirely into the chilly air. He flashed himself a grin before turning around, leaning his back against the hard concrete and gave a nice, long stretch. For a guy that was out partying late last night, Kinzo was in pretty great shape. Then again, it wasn't like he drank much anyway. His night was pretty much occupied with keeping the place intact and making sure the minors got home alright without getting caught...regardless, the young man had a pleasant time and he enjoyed himself fully. Lilac-sama does know how to throw one hell of a party. Despite their clashing and distinct personalities, he cherished his time with his coworkers and friends.

Kinzo pushed himself off of the sturdy bar, tightening the black, flowing scarf wrapped securely around his neck. He pocketed his gloved hands inside his dark-blue winter coat, dusting the snow off of his black jeans and proceeded towards the end of the bridge. His white sneakers blended in with the swirling and icy powder that accumulated in the streets of Fukushima, giving him a very surreal illusion of gliding along the frozen concrete as he made his way towards a pleasant commotion sounding off in the distance - the New Year festival. The boy hummed gently to himself as he walked, wincing here and there as the icy wind bit at his pink cheeks and red nose, his face soft and serene. Though considering himself to be an extrovert, Kinzo couldn't help but revere in the rare moments of solitude that comes his way. It was morning walks like these that really helps clear his mind and soul.

He was in the middle of a light yawn when he noticed three distinct figures walking in the same direction as him towards his right. Squinting, Kinzo tilted his head. "Ah," he murmured to himself, smiling softly as he quickened his pace. Gradually, he closed the gap between him and the trio. Gently, he bumped shoulders with the girl with flowing, black hair.

"Ohayou, Fukazawa-san." Kinzo grinned at her, flashing his signature crooked smile. Leaning forward and twisting his body slightly so he could see the other two, he greeted them as well. "Kitabitake-san, Kuyu. Nice to see you guys." He pulled a hand from his pockets, giving them a small wave.

"On your way to the festival too, huh? I got a few hours to kill before my shift, so may I join you three?" Kinzo beamed.

"Will you at least hide that damn rodent before I chop it's mover ****ing head off. This is a place that serves food we can be shut down" The baka teme Yuu-san had said to him, he immedieatly want to punch him at the face for calling his friend a rodent but he was lucky enough to control it. "Teme..." He gritted his teeth and closed his hands into a fist. "He id not a fu***** rodent teme! He is my friend and at least he much more of a better companion than you!" Kuro shouted at the Yuu-san until he gave a sigh of irritation. He picked up Nezu with his right hand, put him at his shirt pocket and gave him little pet on the head. He had to do it sooner or later…or even never.

"Gomenasai.... Nezu..." With that said he helped the Baka Yuu-san with the breakfast menu. He helped remove the trays from the oven with the freshly baked goods. Watching Baka Teme Yuu-san frosting some cupcakes he gave out a small sarcastic laugh. "Ya...you sure do...Teme..." He tired his best to not cause any more uproar, just work and get it over with; he had deal with that kind of people before…

There was a strange sense of giddiness that overcame Lucy as she knelt down before the scattered pieces of sugar glass, and for a while, she just stared at it absentmindedly. So this was it; she was really going to be one of those girls who worked for a living. She wondered what her parents would think. They would be so surprised to see her actually cleaning something (other than her dessert plate), that's for sure. Would they be proud, though? She heard her mother say she wasn't good for anything that one time… Suddenly thinking about them made her heart hurt, so she tried to banish any such thoughts immediately. In any case, if they're back together, they probably don't have much time to think of her. Her father would be too lost in his ecstasy. Even she could tell her parents' relationship was an unhealthy one, but her father unfortunately fared so much better with her mother.

Her eyes started to sting and she didn't like what would follow, so she shook her head wildly and began picking up the pieces like she was instructed. It's work time, she chanted over and over, not drama time. She picked up each piece gingerly, as though the shards would shatter to even tinier parts if she weren't careful, and gathered them all in one of her gloved hands. Mr. Sakaki said to put these in the trash bin afterward, so Lucy looked around the bakery for anything that remotely resembled the container. Upon failing to do so, she approached the mouse boy, who had just finished quarreling with Mr. Mohawk. She overheard him asking for things to do a while back, so she thought he could help her out. Kuro had just finished helping removing the trays, so he didn't seem too busy.

"Here you go," Lucy said, smiling as she handed Kuro the shards she'd picked—though not before wrapping them in a napkin, of course; she had more sense than that! "Thank you!"

Then she scurried off, pushing past the kitchen doors to find her mentor and report her first successful endeavor. Tall and discernibly pink, Lucy spotted him almost immediately. She waited until he had finished whatever business he had with Kiku, who seemed to have some mishap with the floor, before marching toward him and standing at attention.

"What do I do now?" she asked excitedly. Didn't she just gain one experience point? That means she's closer to wearing the cute pink apron! While she awaited her orders, she snuck a glance back at the kitchen, where a tantalizing aroma drifted and carried all over the bakery. She wondered when she would get to eat some of their pastries, and willed lunch time to arrive soon.

Arisu began walking alongside Megumi and Kuyu towards the festival grounds. She slipped a gloveless hand out of her pocket to push her hair out of her face as the icy wind blew slightly. She froze a bit as Kuyu suddenly changed personalities. Maybe he's not so bad-

"Oh, Arisu-chan, you said I could last night," he gave that same, annoying wink again. I take that thought back. She abruptly changed her mind and angrily turned away, frustrated that she still couldn't remember anything from the night before. Kuyu then switched to Megumi.

Arisu listened as Megumi spoke about her mother. Kitabatake-san sounds kinda unsure... Arisu frowned a bit and glanced over to her. Not enough students, huh? Well, onii-san keeps nagging me to learn some self-defense... She suddenly shook off the thought. I... That probably wouldn't really work out for me... Arisu expeditiously hooked her eyes on a mask stand once they arrived to the festival grounds.

"Ah! Look there! That one looks just like Omu," she laughed happily when thinking about her dog. While hurrying to make her way there, someone bumped into her. "Hey, watch where you're-"

"Ohayou, Fukazawa-san." A boy with a familiar face grinned. Arisu stared at him blankly and slightly squinted her eyes. Huh? I've seen this guy before... I just don't really remember... A co-worker? After a little while of thinking, she still couldn't put her finger on it.

"Anta Dare?" She asked bluntly, and slightly in a rude manner. Suddenly she clasped her hands together. "Ah! Sakamoto-san?" Arisu wasn't always bad at remembering names, but for some reason she just couldn't remember Sanada's.

Waiting a little while, smelling some sweeter stuff being prepared now and again...and thinking of cake...Sakaki's 'apprentice' of sorts finally returned, having finished her easy task.

"What do I do now?"

"Make a tribute of blood to the blood god." He teased, before rubbing his chin thoughtfully. What to get her to do, what to get her to do...? Reaching into the pocket of the apron, he pulled out a wash cloth. The cloth was definitely worn, but kept white and clean in it's own way. Leaning and reaching down to the bucket of clean water with it, he dunked it in once or twice before wringing the excess water back in, and handing the wash cloth to the girl. "Clean all the counter and table tops that aren't in use, make sure anything sticky or discoloured be wiped clean." Making his way to the front, he began to mop up the floor.

*swab swab*

*mop mop*

*slosh slosh*

*swab swab*

It took him only a minute to clean up to white and red mess, leaving only a small amount of water where it had previously been...and the faint scent of strawberry still in the air. Instead of putting down a wet floor sign right in the middle of the front, since it may be an inconvenience to customers that would be coming in at the opening of the bakery...he instead got on his knees with a cloth and began to hand dry the wet area. It actually took a little longer than the mopping process, but the job seemed to be to his satisfaction. No more stickiness, no more wetness, only dry floor...like the mess hadn't even been there a few minutes ago.

Completing what he set out to do, he returned the bucket and mop to the back and returned to the front. There were some decorative display shelves and frames pictures that couldn't get enough dusting. Reaching into his frilly apron, he pulled an ostrich feather duster and began his new task, careful to dust away from the front counter.

As they reached the festival grounds, he took glimpses of the different stalls in the cold weather. Takoyaki booths, shooting games, goldfish scooping. Wow, there was a lot of stuff to do, he didn't even know what to do. Hearing that Megumi's mother was doing just fine but hadn't getting many students Kuyu rose an eyebrow, no students equals pain which equals bad, he guessed. He saw the kids running about with vigor and energy, it was just a matter of time before the festival would be full. They probably had lots of otoshidama, ah money, Kuyu never got one when he was younger, he could feel a twinge of bittersweet pain inside his heart. Giving a wry smile, he turned to see Arius missing, wait, where is she?

He spotted her in the direction of a booth full of masks, chatting up a handsome stranger, no, wait that was Kinzo. He didn't just call him handsome did he? Ah well. "Akemashite omedetou Kinzo-kun!" He called out with a cheerful smile as walked up to him. "Hahaha! Don't tell me your out here on a secret date or something!" Kuyu mused out loud. As popular as he was, he never really saw Kinzo with a girlfriend, or maybe he did but he just didn't notice. "Ora. Sanda Kinzo is his name!" he reintroduced him to Arisu. Turning back to the man taller than he pouted, "And what's with that? You call them with -san but you don't to me? As a punishment, I order you to call me Kuyu-chama!" He was on his daily tantrum about something utterly ridiculous again.

"On your way to the festival too, huh? I got a few hours to kill before my shift, so may I join you three?"

"I refuse." He said bluntly with a cheeky grin, it's pretty obvious he was joking. Pretty obvious. "Haha! Well, you're bored come with us then. I was thinking of getting some kurikinton in that stall over there. Where Lila-sama is!" He grinned then did a double take. "What the!? Lila-sama!?" Upon hearing her name the big breasted woman just looked up smiling and waving at her employees like nothing is out of place then looked back down to focus on the kids asking for the mashed sweet potato and chestnut combination. Kuyu just wondered how the hell does she do that?

'Omu? What a cute name!'

Megumi thought, freezing just a few feet behind Kuyu and in front of Arisu to watch the girl admire a dog-ish looking mask. Arisu most likely owned some kind of cute animal, lucky! Mother had said they couldn't keep anything bigger then a goldfish, so Megumi was only allowed to feed and play with the cute animals around the neighborhood (which wasn't exactly bad, but the idea of cuddling up to a cute dog or cat during a cold night sounded nice). Wiry fingers pulled through her short hair, and dark eyes connected with the pristine sky above, and once again it was quiet... Until Arisu's voice rose into an familiar, rude tone. She was quickly brought back from the land of daydreaming to catch sight of her co-worker and classmate, Kinzo Sanada. Her body quickly tensed, hands curling into fists against her chest as she began to realize just how many men were around. One was okay, two was a crowd.

"Kitabitake-san, Kuyu. Nice to see you guys."

"... G-good morning." she managed to murmur, eyes staring directly at her sneaker-clad feet. Boys, boys were no good. At least Fukazawa-san was around, if she was not Megumi was certain that she'd be half way home by now. The conversation soon picked up as Kinzo asked if he could join the three of them, smiling the smile that she could only describe as charming, to which Kuyu jokingly refused, then pointed out a Kurikinton where Lila-dono happened to be working. Megumi glanced up at the familiar woman and gave a half-smile, but it quickly vanished when a sudden force barreled into her legs and nearly knocked her over. A wooden toy clattered to her feet, and she glanced downwards to find a small girl, looking back up with wide eyes,

"S-s-s-sorry!" The girl stammered, seemingly confused by her height and emotionless face, and Megumi let out a soft sight and slowly lowered herself down, picking up the item that had been dropped first before making direct eye contact with the girl. The toy had been a Hanetsuki paddle, probably bought last night seeing how well the condition was, and Megumi managed to give a soft, friendly smile while holding it out for the girl to grab. After a second of awkward silence, the girl finally grinned and opened her mouth to say,

"Thank you, Nii-chan (Big Brother)!" and then ran off, toy in hand, to a group of children all holding similar paddles. Megumi blinked once, glanced down at her chest, ran a hand through her hair once more, then let out a loud sigh as she felt her face begin to burn. After standing up once more, she turned her attention back to the Kurikinton stand,

"W-Why don't we... Go say hello?" she murmured, eyes once again connected with the ground.

(I apologize for a short post I'm really lost though)
Alexia was now working and a girl enters the bakery.

"Ohayou! onee-san! welcome to La Pasteur! May I take your order?" Alexia introduced the customer with a smile

"Uhhhh..... I want some Strawberry Cheesecake please" the girl replied

"One strawberry cheesecake coming right up!" Alexia added as she writes the girl's order on the paper.

After a few minutes and the cake was done, she took the strawberry cheesecake and gave it to the girl

"Here is your strawberry cheesecake onee-san! Arigatou gozaimasu! and please come back again!" She said to the girl before giving her order with of course a smile and waves at her as the girl leaves

Kinzo blinked, though the smile remained warm on his face. It took a moment to register that the young girl had completely botched his name, and he began to laugh heartily because of it. Though it was true that he didn't know Arisu as well as the others, he was quite surprised that he had completely phased through her. But in a way, it was quite refreshing and he admitted that this had never happened to him, until now, that is.

He was about to respond and correct her when the other two showed up. Kinzo looked up at them both and grinned, giving them a little wave, causing white flakes of powder to flurry forth from his slender frame. He rubbed his head in slight embarrassment and chuckled as Kuyu, the petite ball of energy that he is, stated Kinzo's full name for Arisu to hear. Smiling, he gave her a small bow to formally introduced himself.

As the boy straightened up, he turned to Kuyu. "Hey now, I just thought we were good enough friends for us to just call each other by our first names," Kinzo retorted to Kuyu's comment about not adding san to his name, "since I did hear you calling me just that a couple of days ago on a shift together. Would it make you happier if I called you Kunazumi-san instead?" Kinzo stuck his tongue out in a teasing manner before giving the shorter boy a friendly slap on the back. "But thanks for having me along." Kinzo smiled. He then turned to eye Megumi, the girl with shorter hair, and gave a small bow. "I hope you're doing well today, Kitabatake-san. I passed by your family's dojo the other day with my brother, and he said he wanted to join when he's older. Would you allow him the honor when the time comes?" Kinzo's eyes twinkled warmly as he talked to his friends, his lips always curled in that crooked way of his.

But then a small girl suddenly appeared out of nowhere, the little bundle of energy that rivaled Kuyu's own slamming right into Megumi and disappeared just as fast, but not without that cute remark. Though he could see that the young woman was flustered, Kinzo couldn't help but laugh. Not at her, of course, but at the liveliness that was taking place so early in the morning. The Holidays were his favorite time of the year, where mirth mingled synonymously with contentedness, and he enjoyed every minute of it. Kinzo glanced at her apologetically as he chuckled to let her know he was not making fun of her.

As his laughter died down, the boy spun on his heels and faced the trio. "I agree with Kitabatake. Let's go say hi to our Lilac-sama!" Kinzo grinned.

He continue to get the trays with the from the oven, when everything was probably out a girl, probably a new comer comes in and gives him a napkin filled with some sort of shards of glass. "Here you go," The girl said as she handed him the napkin. "Thank you!" She then scurried of...’Teme…” He muttered out, he couldn’t believe that just happen. “Seriously? I am a baker not a person for clean up duty…baka…” with the napkin filled with shards he hurried over to the nearest trashcan and threw it in there. With that done he figured he helped Teme Yuu-san with the frosting of those cupcakes…or maybe bake some French bread. He ponder a bit on what to do…he looked at Nezu that ended up sleeping at the shirt pocket. “kawaii…”

Being in a waiter outfit was hard work. You have to run, bake and serve all the while coattails accentuate your butt in the strangest of manners, Kiku was no exception. Feeling that people outside were staring at his behind really pissed him off. "Mou..." he mumbled. Walking around the store seeing what people could do, he really couldn't see anything that needed dire attention. Walking to the counter, he saw Alexia, her red hair really made her stand out from the crowd. Figuring, she would need to know important things about the Bakery. He walked to her direction. Wait,was that a customer? The bakery wasn't even open yet! "A-alexia-san! D-did you just serve a customer? U-um... The bakery wasn't even open... So... please could you pay more attention?", Kiku stammered out. He hated when this happened, when people don't pay attention to what other people are doing and just act on their own. It's like they just decided to do whatever they want with disregard to other people. Honestly...

Kuyu on the other hand was rather dumbfounded. How the hell did Lila-sama do that? Dhaking the weird thought off he waved happily to his boss. "Kuyu-chan! Megumi-chan, Arisu-chan! Kin-chan! Hey there!" Lila called out to the group of four. Kuyu was really confused, why was she here and not at the Bakery? Who the hell cares? Seeing a girl come along and then call Megumi, Nii-chan, he had to stifle a laugh as she looked down at her chest rather depressingly. "Hey, don't get you're hopes down. Some people prefer a more flat chest than one with monstrous balloons! Daijoubu!" He complimented in a way to have her cheered up. Looking at Lila-sama, he had to admit it was still weird. Hearing both Kinzo and Megumi wanted to say hello, he decided to march up to her and say hello to! "Ohayou Lila-sama! What are you doin' here anyway? Where's Kiku?" He asked. She pulled a half smile, knowing how bad his situation was, "Well... He's a bit pre-occupied.... " Kuyu had to laugh at that, would Kiku make it through the day without killing anyone? They'll see.

"Wha-what! The bakery is not yet open!?" Alexia reacted

"Gomenasai Kiku-kun I don't know that the bakery is not yet open" Alexia apologized to Kiku

"I don't know why that girl enters the bakery so I served her" she added

"I'm really really sorry Kiku-kun" she apologized again then bowed.

"Damn it! It is the first day of work and I got already scolded" she said to herself

"The good thing is Kiku was the one who saw me not Lila-sama" she added

"If I was caught by her I'm sure I will get fired on the spot" she said to herself again.

Arisu was too focused on buying the dog mask to realize that Lila-san was there. As the rest of the group went to greet her, she quickly bought the mask and put it on. I feel... Completed..! She held up a fist as her eyes sparkled. Suddenly her eyes locked onto where Lila-san and the others were. Arisu was pleased to see her, considering she was one of the very few (or perhaps the only one at all) that she spoke to at work.

"Lila-san, ohayou," she walked over and bowed her head slightly with her mask still on. Wait a minute... Why is she here? That was when a young girl came and called Megumi nii-chan. Arisu giggled underneath her mask, but stopped immediately as Kuyu spoke.

"Hey, don't get you're hopes down. Some people prefer a more flat chest than one with monstrous balloons! Daijoubu!" He tried cheering up Megumi.

"Ecchi..." Arisu mumbled under her breath and angrily turned away. She let Kuyu do the conversing with Lila-san, still curious of why exactly she wasn't at the bakery.

"Hey, don't get you're hopes down. Some people prefer a more flat chest than one with monstrous balloons!"

Megumi felt her mouth form a sneer, eyes narrowing into dark daggers which she turned away from the group, instead glaring off into the distance. Her face always became tense when she felt insulted, no need to scare the others. After a moment of deep breathing and returning her face to it's normal, much less scary emotion, she turned back and ran to catch up with the group, bowing her head slightly as Lila-dono greeted them. Megumi was then brought back into silence, staring at the pretty, older woman as she and Kuyu conversed about his brother and the bakery, but her mind was on something else. Kinzo had mentioned that his brother wanting to join the dojo, but that would most likely be impossible for him seeing as it was female-only. A feeling of guilt brought down her mood even further, and she glanced at the dark-haired boy with sadly.

'I should say something about it...'

Words couldn't form. Megumi cursed her timid self and rubbed the back of her head, turning her attention the the stand in front of them. Lila-dono was pretty as always, with her nice, long hair and large... Personality (don't think about her boobs, don't think about her boobs). Megumi wondered what it must be like to be so pretty, perhaps she would be much more open and people wouldn't be so strange around her. A nice thought.

'Oh, don't be so gloomy, idiot!

Eventually, Arisu caught up with the group, and Megumi turned to see her acquaintance wearing the mask she had pointed out early. Megumi felt herself chuckle, just a bit, her mouth quivering as she tried to withhold any rude laughter,

"You look... Very cute, Fukazawa-san." she mentioned quietly, eyes gleaming cheering while the rest of her face was devoid of any emotion. The cute mask had luckily distracted Megumi from her gloomy thoughts, replacing them with ones like: 'Perhaps I could buy a cute mask too.' or 'I kind of want to meet this Omu, maybe he'll be that cute too?'

Yuu started putting frosting on his cupcakes when he turned over noticing mouse boy standing there looking a bit confused, which seemed to be his normal state of being. Reaching up and rubbing the bridge of his nose "Why am I not surprised that you seem confused. Check the order form to see what needs to be done" he said before turning back to his cupcakes. "only a few more hours" he thought and he would be away from this place, though admittedly it wasn't the place he had a problem with, more the people inside of it. Finishing up his cup cakes he picked one up and took a big bite out of it. Tasting that hit of rum with pineapple and coconut, it was like a mix of a pino colada and upside down cake as he munched away. Smiling he got to work finishing them up, frosting several more trays as he finished the one in his hand.

After a few moments he was finished them and started to carry the trays out of the kitchen into the floor, grabbing a plate he wrote "Pina Colada" and placed them in front of it. Smiling he looked over "hey the special item is Pina Colada cupcakes." he said before returning to the kitchen and grabbing more trays and filling up that glass case. Everything seemed to be out, he had done all his prep work and all the orders for that needed to be done for the morning were done. His job was done, well at least until they opened up and he would start on the grill making hot breakfast for people. Moving around he went to grab some coffee and blinked some, sighing as he wasn't even surprised at this point. So he got to work turning on the coffee machine and making some. Leaning back against the counter it wasn't his job to yell at people for not doing there jobs(outside of the kitchen) so he simply waited for his coffee to brew and soon was pouring himself a cup and grabbing a breakfast cake before moving over and sitting down at a table to eat.

Arisu folded her arms around her back and stood with her feet a good distance apart from the rest of the group. She glanced to the side, and up considering her height, towards Megumi and noticed her expression suddenly changing after Kuyu's remark. "Ano..." Arisu began, but paused after Megumi's eyes met hers behind the mask.

"You look... Very cute, Fukazawa-san."

"..." Arisu stared back at her blankly for a few moments. "C-cute?!" She almost yelled as her face flushed red. 'She... Did she call me cute just now? Nonsense!' A frantic mess was going about in her head, considering the fact that she's only ever been called cute by her brothers. She abruptly hit her fist onto the palm of her hand after coming to a conclusion.

"Oh, ahem, the mask! Of course," Arisu scratched the back of her and laughed nervously. She managed to regain her cool composure despite the chaos going through her thoughts. Her eyes then locked onto Megumi's quivering lips. 'Wait a second, is she making fun of me?!' Arisu's face turned red again as she looked away and scanned down the other festival stalls.

Lucy's eyes visibly widened when Sakaki told her about her next task and she peered up at him in disbelief. Tribute of blood, he said; she was sure of it. That's part of being a janitor?! She fiddled with her bow, an involuntary habit of hers whenever she's feeling particularly nervous, as she tried to figure out how one goes about making such a tribute. Her brows knitted together in concentration and she looked increasingly panic-stricken as time passed. Which god of blood was she offering it to, anyway? Only Shezmu, the ancient Egyptian demonic god popped in her head. If she remembered correctly, he was the god of execution and blood, among other things. But she didn't like the implications behind that. She would really much rather not have to execute someone on her first day of work… or at all. Pressing her fingers on her temple, she racked her brain for other possible deities. Perhaps there were obscure Japanese gods that she hasn't read about?

Her head was spinning with thoughts of gods and foolproof murder plans before Sakaki spoke again two seconds later. Oh. Lucy tried to laugh upon realizing that he was joking, but she had was too relieved to do much but sigh in relief and dab the few drops of sweat that formed on her forehead. She really must learn to quickly pick up on jokes like that! Shaking her head, Lucy refocused on the wash cloth Sakaki was handing him and nodded as he explained her next task. This one didn't involve any blood or gods.

Just as before, Lucy gave the older man a salute and marched off to find the dirtiest counter in the bakery. She was determined to level up to pink, so she made sure to inspect every inch of the establishment and wiped everything until they were pristine. When she finished, she moved onto the kitchen and used the same cloth, no longer white after her super intense cleaning routine (she didn't realize she had to rinse it every time), to wipe any remotely dirty surface she could find. She ended up leaving a trail of frosting on everything she wiped after cleaning Yuu's baking station, but she didn't seem to notice.

Lucy looked back at what she saw as a sparkling clean kitchen and smiled triumphantly, eyes practically full of stars as they twinkled with excitement. She was really good at working! Mr. Sakaki would be so proud. Humming a happy tune, she skipped all the way back to the staff locker room to throw both the dirtied cloth and pair of gloves in the washing station, and returned to the front as soon as she had gotten cleaned up.

Without warning, she gingerly sat herself down on the seat across from mohawk Yuu, who had been eating breakfast, and looked at him expectantly. After doing all that work, surely she was allowed to eat pastries now?

"I'd like one of those Pina Colada cupcakes, please," she smiled innocently, fully expecting the baker to fetch it for her. "And some Jasmine tea!"

Finishing his usual practise of dusting everything, since they hadn't been dusted till two days ago or so, he slipped the ostrich feather duster back into the apron and walked off into the back. Of course, before that, in passing, he couldn't help but notice Koshiba trying to talk to Yuudai. They seemed odd as a pair, but he was sure they'd have an interesting interaction. Getting behind the counters, it was only then that he noticed something. Leaning in close, he saw a thin layer of icing spread over the counter top...going to the back, he picked up the discarded wash cloth and returned out behind the counter.

"Koshiba."

His call wasn't loud, but it was clear and piercing. Waiting for the girl to come to him, he stood still and silent.

Kinzo grinned as he witnessed the quirky exchange from the two girls as he caught up to the trio. He placed his hands deep within the pockets of his navy winter jacket, shuddering slightly as a frozen gust of wind decided to give them a little tease. His dark hair, tips frosted with white from the gentle snow, whipped gently as the breeze danced around his head. He winced slightly from the cold before taking his place besides Kuyu, turning around to smile at the flustered Arisu and shy Megumi. "Ara ara. You two are funny," he said, brown eyes gleaming with amusement. "But I agree with Kitabatake-san. It's a nice mask! Oi, we should all get one too!" He flashed Megumi a thumbs up and let out a charming laugh before refocusing his attention to the woman in front of them - their benevolent and busty leader, Madame Lilacflour.

"Ohayou, Lilac-sama. Thanks for the party the last night. I didn't know you could drink that much." Kinzo said placidly, as if the thought of an adult drinking with minors wasn't such a big deal to him at all. Kinzo grinned at her before taking a step sideways so that he could gaze past the kurikinton stall, letting her and Kuyu chat some more. He reached up to fix his warm scarf, readjusting it so that it partially covered his mouth, as the wind was too cold to kiss right now. Still, despite the chilliness, warmth blossomed within his chest as he took in the cheerful scenery of smiling faces, the aromatic scent of traditional New Years delicacies, and the rhythmic sound of pattering of boots and shoes mingled with the laughter of the wearers.

A deep contentment settled at the young man's core, energizing him with youthful vigor. Now all he wanted to do was join in on the fun too. Just when Kinzo was just about to turn on his heels to face the girls and suggest they help him pick out a mask, he heard Kuyu utter an unfamiliar name. The boy stopped mid-spin, turning to Lilac-sama and Kuyu and tilted his head curiously.

"Kiku?" Kinzo repeated what the short boy had said, "There's a Kiku working at the bakery?" In all honestly, Kinzo could hardly remember all of the coworkers that are working at La Pasteur. Everyone worked odd hours and different shifts, after all, and he was no exception to their crazy schedule. But he had never heard of this 'Kiku' before until now.

"Is he a new person at the bakery or something? I thought Koshiba-san was the only new hire we got this month."