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Tae opened the door to Yamabuki Bakery, and almost ran into someone's back. She had to quickly sidestep them to avoid the collision, and stood on her tiptoes to see where Saaya was.
"O-Tae! You came!"
She turned at the voice, and saw a hand waving to her through the crowd from the front counter. She wove through the mass of people until she reached her destination. When Tae came into view, Saaya immediately grabbed her arm so she didn't lose her.
"I came as soon as I saw your text. What's the matter?" Tae tilted her head curiously.
"Well, as you can see, we're kinda…super busy right now, and I thought that I could use an extra set of hands. Everyone else in PoPiPa was busy today, so you were my last hope, O-Tae," Saaya explained breathlessly, before turning to a customer and giving them assistance to find where something was.
Tae nodded along in understanding. "You can count on me, Saaya," she gave a thumbs up. "I've always wanted to try working here, it seems like a lot of fun."
"Perfect! Here, wear this; you'll need it," Saaya grabbed an apron and handed it to Tae, who promptly put it on.
Within a short amount of time, the two went back into a room Tae had never been to before, but that Saaya was familiar with: Yamabuki Bakery's kitchen. In here, was a lot of interesting looking stuff, all used for one purpose: to bake the best quality bread possible.
Tae was awestruck, but Saaya dragged her deeper into the kitchen because of just how strapped for time they were. It had been a surprisingly busy day, even Moca hadn't been expecting the GIANT line when she'd been around for one of her two daily visits (which had used to be once, but she upped it to twice on days when there wasn't a lot happening, which was saddeningly often).
"Come on, come on," Saaya ushered Tae to go a little bit faster. "I know we're short on time so my instructions might go right over your head, but please, I need help. I can't make enough bread to get through the day, I don't think."
"I'll do the best I can," Tae responded. "So, how is bread actually made? I remember you telling me at some point that all the bread sold here is home-made."
"That it is," Saaya reaffirmed. "I've got all the ingredients, we just need to put them together and stick it in the oven. Don't go too fast: I've screwed up a lot of bread by doing that…"
Tae nodded solemnly. "Yes ma'am."
They worked as fast as they could to get the bread made and put into the oven – and Tae was mildly surprised to see the sheer amount of ovens in the kitchen. But she was beyond glad that there were so many; almost all of them were soon filled up with various kinds of bread, timers set and ticking.
Saaya wiped her brow, washing her hands before motioning to the front of the store. "Once you wash your hands, could you help me to restock the bread that we already have made?"
Tae hummed as she washed her hands, and eagerly responded, "Of course I'll help you. That's what I'm here for, silly." She gave a tilt of her head and a soft smile.
Saaya looked away to hide the faint blush on her face, and giggled. "I guess so, huh. Alright then, let's go, O-Tae!"
Tae was once again hurriedly pulled along by the baker, and was taken to a room not too far from the kitchen. It seemed to be the place where all the baked bread was stored, and many of the spaces were either empty or rapidly approaching said fate.
Tae watched as Saaya reached for three different bags, before turning back to her temporary assistant.
"This is ciabatta," Saaya explained as she gave Tae the first bag, "this is sourdough," and the second one, "and this is croissants, although I'm sure you know those ones already," and then the third bag. Tae held them delicately, as if afraid she might damage them if she was too careless.
"There are labels on the shelves out there, each one won't be too hard to find," Saaya then grabbed multiple bags for herself, nodding to Tae. "Ready?"
Tae nodded back. "Affirmative."
It didn't take the two of them too long before all the bread was on the shelves, in wherever places they belonged. Saaya double-checked to make sure everything was in the right place, before giving Tae a thumbs-up that everything was good.
"Good, that's that batch done. We may or may not need to do another one… but for now I'm satisfied with that. For your first time, and with us not having a lot of it, you did really well, O-Tae," Saaya complimented.
"I'm glad I was able to help," Tae responded. "Happy that I was able to learn so quickly, too. Might come in useful later, some of this…" she trailed off, not really knowing what else to say.
"Hmm?" Saaya questioned. "Are you saying you might bake some extra bread yourself if it's a busy day?"
"Mayhaps," Tae answered. "Though, I think if I was going to be baking bread to help you, I'd rather have it be here, with you."
Saaya blushed. That was… rather forward. She knew Tae sometimes said what was immediately on her mind but she didn't know the girl could be so forward as this.
"O-Okay, then…" Saaya couldn't admit that she felt the same way Tae did, that she'd rather have Tae right there with her if she was helping.
"Remember to give yourself a bit of credit too, Saaya. You did really well today so far, considering the pressure from just how many people there are out there."
Before Tae could say anything more, Saaya whisked her back to the room right by the kitchen.
"Thanks, O-Tae," she responded. A small giggle came out of her mouth.
"What's so funny?" Tae tilted her head.
"Ah… Nothing," Saaya smiled. "Could you watch over the kitchen while I cash out the customers?"
Tae returned the smile. "Sure thing, Saaya. Let me know if it gets too crazy out there, and I'll come help, 'kay?"
"I will. Thank you O-Tae, you have no idea how much you've helped me today."
"Like I said, that's what I'm here for! As your helper, and your friend," Tae gave Saaya's hand a reassuring squeeze before making her way to the kitchen again.
Saaya watched her go, her smile growing just a little bit wider as she returned to the front of the bakery.
The next few hours went by as smoothly as it could – with Tae bringing out the second batch of bread that had finished baking, they had more than enough to get them through the rush. She even ended up helping Saaya at the register at some points, which the latter was very grateful for. The way they seemed to be perfectly in sync made things a lot easier, much to the pair's relief and delight.
Now, the sun was soon approaching the horizon, casting a warm orange glow through the windows of the bakery. Saaya hummed to herself as she flipped the sign from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED', and she turned to Tae, beaming.
"And that's the day all finished up! Thank you again for your help, it would've been pretty overwhelming for me to handle it on my own," she said.
Tae took off her apron and put it back where she got it, dusting off any excess dough. "It was really fun, thank you for letting me help you."
For a while, the two just stood there, embracing each other, as a way of calming down after what had been a rather busy day, before Tae, seemingly out of nowhere, crouched just a bit to give Saaya a light kiss on the forehead.
Saaya's face was blushing bright red now. She didn't know what to do, she was that embarrassed. After a while, she finally asked, "Wh-what was that for?"
"Today was fun," Tae reiterated, somewhat dodging the question, before giving an actual answer, "and I wanted you to know that you did amazingly today, Saaya."
"And so did you, O-Tae," Saaya responded.
Both of them somehow knew, they'd be doing this again in the future. Probably more than once, too.