It was cold, to say the least. Goosebumps were on his body as condensed air was breathed out from his cold exposed lips. He folded his arms, dammit was freezing. His head pounded as he walk towards the white covered building where the demon woman lied. "Hah... it's so freaking goddamn cold." The short boy cursed. Normally he would be unfazed, however the Yakuza were party animals and decided, "Who cares? Your the heir of the Kunazumi family, let your hair down!". That's what he did, only to wake up to a massive headache and dizziness. Putting last night's events behind him, he continued to walk, more the snow would crunch and more this footprints would be indented. He could feel the sun slowly trying to break it's way through the snow. No one was really here, of course it's pretty early in the morning. He reached his humble destination. Sighing, he opened the shutter and unlocked the door with clunk!

It was... dark. To say the least. He took a step, into the unknown. Crack.... Was that glass? Oh, hell no. He walked to were the light was and with a click it flickered on. What happened next shocked the hell out of him.

There was glass on the floor, a young lady sprawled out beside said glass and red liquid appearing to come from under her. What the hell? Running to his fallen master he tried to shake her, seeing if she was alive or not. "Lila-sama! Are you alright? Are you okay?" Panicking, he tried to see if there was any signs of life in her. Fortunately for him, her teal eyes fluttered open.

"Oh... Kiku-kun? Is it morning already?". Her groggy voice was obvious. She was tired but alive. He sighed in relief. "I must have had too much to drink, my head is pounding. Ugh... I think I fell on strawberry coulis. Hey, is that the sugar glass? What on earth happened?". Wasn't he supposed to do the questioning? With an obviously annoyed look, he gave a cute pout as he sighed. "You threw a New Years Party remember? I think you got drunk? Hold up, did you give any minors drinks?".

It was just another day at the bakery. Wonderful. Freaking. Ful.

Sumiko skipped towards the bakery, hair fluffed out behind her and warm jacket thrown over her to protect her from the cold. She was tired, but that was to be expected. It was the new year, Sumiko had stayed up late. She saw that the door of the bakery was open and saw that someone was inside. So, Sumiko decided to go with a more, male-free route. The side door to the kitchen.
Sumiko used the spare key she had to go into the kitchen, grabbing her apron from it's rack on the wall. She tied it around her waist and put her hair in a ponytail.
Sumiko began to pull out mixers, ingredients, and her recipe book. She couldn't remember all the recipes by heart, so she kept a little handwritten book in her apron with the recipes written down. She had a spare in one of the cabinets in case one was stolen or lost.
Sumiko began to bake, starting with small things: breakfast pastries, things like that. It was her normal work routine. And Sumiko was going to fulfill it. Then she might go interact with the guys. Maybe.

Earphones plugged in, Theodora marched with a beat in her steps, the bass keeping her head mildly nodding along in time as she approached the bakery. Her even breath frosted in snowball-like puffs before her in the frigid air. Even the cloth strap of her sling bag in her hands felt dangerously like gripping a frozen poker. Perhaps she should have worn something warmer than jeans ripped at the knees and a singlet. Theodora hadn't experienced many winters, but this first of hers was infuriating, making her think of humid air and tropical climates with a pang of loss. At least she had a windbreaker on, and music to keep her blood bumping.

As Theo neared the lit bakery, she came to a standstill in the doorway. Kiku was crouched next to an incapacitated Madame Lilacflour, shattered glass and a crimson puddle painting a crime scene around them. She cast one glance at her employer, conscious and mouthing words that Theodora could not hear over the song pulsing in her head. Averting her eyes, Theodora muttered, "Feel better soon, Madame Lilacflour. If you need any help, Kiku, you can call for me." and pushed through the double doors leading into the kitchen, not waiting for a reply.

As the doors swung shot behind her, Theodora plucked out her earphones and tucked them away into her pocket. Chucking her bag to one corner, Theo shimmied out of her black-blue windbreaker, the kitchen warmed to a decent temperature by ovens, as was to be expected in a bakery. She eyed the small girl working busily away. "Good morning, Sumiko," she greeted flatly, taking a stool and perching herself atop it. Balancing her elbow on the spotless counter surface, Theodora rested her chin on the heel of the palm, expressionless eyes watching her colleague bake away. Madame Lilacflour was in no fit state for company, and damn if Theo was going out there to suffer the fumes of alcohol. She was handicapped enough in manoeuvring around average social situations as it was, and an intoxicated boss did not assist matters.

David saw Madame Lilacflour, but also noticed Kiku and Theodora near her. "She's in good hands." he said to himself as he parked his bike. His parents weren't happy with the fact that he had to come work after New Years Day. For a matter of fact, they were planning on flying out, back to France to meet the rest of the family again. Though it would be without David. "Good morning, Madame. Kiku." he greeted each person when he entered the bakery. He entered the kitchen and noticed Sumiko already hard at work. Just like always. he thought with a smile. He didn't really 'get' Sumiko. She was a nice girl and had a talent for cooking. But sometimes it felt like she was almost avoiding him. Theodora was less 'nice' and more 'annoyed' in his eyes. Never the less he greeted both with a "good morning!".

He remembered being told to make 'a gigantic load of cupcakes' so began gathering the flour, bowls, eggs and other ingredients he would need. Of course, he bumped into the small Sumiko. "Oh, I'm sorry." he said. Hoping he didn't hurt the girl or anything.

"Good morning Theo-san. Good morning David-san," Sumiko voiced when they entered the kitchen. When David began to gather around, Sumiko began to become slightly more nervous. This would mean that David would be great n the kitchen for a while.
When David bumped into Sumiko she fell. She was okay but it was awkward.
"I'm okay. Don't worry," Sumiko stood up and stepped back towards her batter. However she bumped into a cabinet. Her forehead thudded against the cabinet and she fell back again. She stood back up, rubbing her forehead. Sumiko then went back to her baking, hoping a bruise wouldn't form. If she did get a bruise at least it would be under her bangs.

Theodora reached down from her stool to pluck a book from her bag. It was thick, heavy, and its paperback cover slipped like silk over her fingertips as she brushed its spine, inspecting it for marks, creases or tears that could have befallen it during the treacherous journey from home to bakery in a bag, vying for space with a laptop as it was mercilessly jostled about. It was obsessive and almost obscene, the way she caressed the book. But her heart could rest easy. The book was hale.

She cracked it open, cradling the spine in gentle hands, when she heard an apology from the boy, David. She glanced up over the top of her book, and watched Sumiko return to her feet, hand to her forehead. "I'm okay. Don't worry," Theodora heard. Her eyes lowered once more to the words on her page.

"Are you certain?" asked Theodora in a dead voice. "Do you require an icepack?" Timing it deliberately, she flicked her eyes upwards to land on Sumiko's in the space of a heartbeat, measuring the girl.

Heading from his apartment down to the bakery wasn't really all that bad for Ben, despite being in Japan for the last 3 or 4 years, his blood was still used to the cold of Canada. Therefore, while several people were about in parkas and hoodies, Ben was just as comfortable in his lightweight windbreaker, humming a soft little tune. Staying up until 2am as part of the New Years celebration wasn't really that much of a challenge for him, particularly since he's normally a night owl anyways, for him that has always been one of the best times to cook anyways. As a matter of fact, he smelled as though he done quite a bit of sweet making the night before for his family including some maple syrup cookies, which his jacket smelled quite a bit like. One good note to him spending most of the night cooking was that he didn't drink much of anything other than water, wanting to keep on his best.

Eventually, he made it into the Bakery through the front door and looked around at everybody, blinking as he watched everyone in a little bit of discord, "Uhhh...?" he asked before shaking his head, "Good morning, everyone. Is everything, alright." With that, he headed to the cashier's counter and the fresh goods display, starting to tidy it up, keeping an eye on everything, "Hey, David...ummm..." he paused for a while, as if trying to remember something, only to curse to himself, "...shoot!" However, he recomposed himself, "David, do you remember where the cleaner was?"

Shinji was running as fast as his legs would allow to the bakery, checking his watch after crossing every street. New Years at home was a quiet affair his mother often spent on the phone with his father in America. The two would recount what they had done with their lives for hours on end before ever discussing Shinji, so he'd taken it upon himself to go to a public celebration in one of Fukushima's many parks. It'd been a fun idea. Until Ryu and his friends showed up.

Three minutes fast, Shinji reminded himself while waiting for the traffic light to shift. His watch was three minutes fast. That put him at less than 2 minutes until he had to clock in.

The last time he was late, Lila-sama had shrunk him a whole foot for every minute just as a joke. It was hard to wash dishes when one was only four feet tall.

As the light changed, Shinji barreled through the clump of pedestrians on the crosswalk, only to trip and land on the pavement of the road- right in front of a truck that was screeching to a stop. The tires stopped close enough where Shinji could smell the hot rubber.

The driver leaned out the window to shout at Shinji, calling him an idiot for not waiting to cross, but he was already gone- running down the block toward the bakery at full speed.

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Shinji arrived four minutes late to his shift at the bakery, screeching to a halt as he came through the door. His arms were dirty from the fall on the pavement and his clean white shirt and jeans were no longer up to regulation cleanliness, but most noticable was the shiner over his right eye. He'd taken a hit to the face recently, and he guessed that- combined with his appearance- would leave him in the kitchen today either baking or washing dishes.

Either way he took a moment to formally bow to Lila, saying "My sincerest apologies, Lila-sama. I was delayed from arriving by traffic. I promise it won't happen again!"