I'm Afraid (KIRIBAKU)

I

"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.