Chapter 30

The familiar shop's front looms in the distance. Just as before, the scent of freshly baked bread wafts through the air. The sun is beating down on them as they walk, the humidity in the air makes it even worse, and Kit's clothes stick to his skin uncomfortably. The shower he had taken before going out has been for nothing; he is now just as sticky with sweat, if not more, than when he had just woken up. He will definitely need to take another one when they get back home.

A few paces behind him, Dee trudges slowly, dragging her feet across the ground. She lets out a feeble wheeze, "Damn it, this heat is killing me." They pull their cap lower over their head. Wearing a light peach coloured t-shirt and denim shorts, Dee should be feeling a lot less hot than Kit who is wearing pants and a white button down shirt. Yet, Dee keeps pulling at the collar of their shirt as if they were suffocating, and they haven't stopped complaining ever since they left the apartment. "Why does this place have to be so far away?" Dee whines. "I'm just going to sit down here…" They start inching towards the stairs of some shop, which form a sort of small porch providing shade.

"Come on, don't give up just yet. Look," he points out the distinctive red and white awning, "we're almost there."

Dee groans, but they (with much reluctance) continue walking.

When they step through the shop's front door, the cool air is a relief. Even if it isn't much, since the only source of air is a fan in the corner, just being out of the sun is enough. The bell overhead chimes, announcing their entrance, but it gets lost in the murmur of voices of the customers in the shop and the music playing softly in the background. It looks like the bakery is having a busy day, all the tables inside and outside are full, and at least ten different parties are in line at the checkout desk. There are two people working the cashier, one of them ringing up the customers while the other packages their orders. Seeing them, Kit gets the strong feeling like he has seen them before. Well, not both of them, the person working the cash register is completely unknown to Kit, but the other one does look awfully familiar. But he can't be completely sure of it, since the party in question has his eyes turned downwards, and the shop's uniform cap obscures his features. Still, Kit is sure he's seen him before…

"Huuuuh?" Dee's voice interrupts his thoughts. "Why is the line so long?" she whines. "We're going to be here all day…"

"You can go up to the counter and see what they have," Kit proposes, if only to get them to stop whining. And he's sure a kid going up won't be seen as cutting in line. "Just to see, mind you."

"Yeah, whatever," Dee answers half-heartedly. She had stopped paying attention to him as soon as he suggested going up to the counter, and they hurry to the display where the pastries and pan dulce are. From his position in the line, he can see Dee almost smushing her face against the glass of the display window. They hurry back after a few minutes. "Can we get one of each?"

His heart almost stops beating. "One of each?!" He can't imagine how much money that would cost. Definitely more than he can afford. He tells Dee as much. "Besides, the coupon only covers two items from the lunch menu. Not dessert."

"Aw!" Dee's expression drops. "You should have said so before I had to walk all the way here and sweat half my bodyweight off."

"So I'm taking it you don't want to eat."

"No, no!" Dee quickly cuts in. "I do want to eat! I'm just saying…" they try to put on an innocent smile, "wouldn't some dessert go along really nicely?"

"You're only saying that because you want some, right?"

Dee nods shyly. "Please?"

"...Fine," he sighs. "But just one." He lays emphasis on the word.

"Just one?"

"Just one."

Dee agrees reluctantly.

It speaks of the worker's experience that after only about seven minutes, they're at the front of the line. This close, the feeling that Kit has seen the guy dispatching the orders somewhere before. Which he probably has, when he came to deal with the gremlin infestation with Gnocchi. When Kit places his order, a personal pizza for Dee and a cream cheese and cucumber bagel for him, the guy raises his head, and Kit finally gets a clear look at his face. Now he recognises him. It's the same worker who had been working the ovens. But it looks like this time he was at the front desk.

"Ah!" he exclaims in surprise, causing the people behind him and the cashier to startle. "You're– You…" Kit can't, for the life of him, remember how they guy is called. He knows the name had been told to them, but his mind has gone blank. He has the name on the tip of his tongue, but it remains just out of his grasp, his fingertips only vaguely brushing against it.

"Oh." The other guy seems to have also recognised him. "You're the gremlin man."

Kit makes a sound in the back of his throat. He can feel his face heating up with shame. Next to him, Dee bursts out laughing, tears springing into their eyes after only a few seconds. The gremlin man… Was that really how he was remembered? It technically shouldn't be upsetting since he did deal with some gremlins the one time he was here, but the way it was phrased… It was a bit too crass.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The guy seems to have realised it too. "That sounded different in my head."

"No, no. It's okay," Kit quickly says. Now Kit doesn't feel as guilty for not remembering his name. Dee is still laughing, and Kit pinches their ear to get them to stop. "That's enough. Be quiet."

"Ow, ow!" Dee rubs their earlobe. "Sheesh, can't a person laugh these days?" they mutter darkly.

"I'm sorry," the guy apologises again. "I didn't mean to say it like that…" There's a light layer of pink also dusting his cheeks.

"Don't worry about it," Kit assures him again. "But… um. Sorry, what was your name?" There is no name tag that Kit could go by, so he has to restore to asking him directly. It had been bothering him all the time they had been in line, and he knows if he didn't clear it up, it will bother him for the longest time afterwards.

"It's Aki," he replies goodnaturedly. The guy, for his part, doesn't seem offended by the question. "I can't say I remember catching your name the time before…"

But just as Kit is about to answer, the door to the shop is flung open. Like a gust of wind passing by, a figure makes its way to the front of the line at full speed. Almost knocking Kit out of the way.

"Hey!" Dee grows outraged on his behalf. "Watch where you're going!"

A young boy, around Dee's age, is standing there. His black hair is tousled and his cheeks are dusted with red, looking as if he had run all the way here, which he probably has. "Ah! Sorry!" He quickly apologises, ignoring Dee's following complaints. Instead, he turns his attention to Aki. "Hey, hey, Aki," he sounds slightly breathless. (He has definitely run all the way here.) He's standing on his tiptoes, trying to look over the counter.

Aki, for his part, seems like he is used to this occurrence. Actually, the cashier also looks like they're used to this happening multiple times before. Aki sighs, "Where did you leave your nanny today?"

"I don't have a nanny." The boy pouts. "I'm not a kid, y'know."

"Sure thing." There is a teasing tone to Aki's words. Kit glances at Aki, and at this, Kit's eyes almost pop out of his head. Aki's previously stoic and serious resting expression, there is now a hint of a smile gracing his face. It looks… almost unnatural, if he were forced to say. But at the same time, it softens his features, and it makes him look a lot younger.

"Do you have something for me today?" The boy is practically vibrating in place.

"Brat," Aki reaches across the counter to poke his forehead, "do you think this is your personal kitchen?" He scolds, but there is no real heat behind his words. Further proof of his bluff, is that even before he has finished speaking, he takes a brown paper bag from under the counter and throws it the boy's way. "But this won't be an everyday thing, okay?"

The cashier laughs, "Don't pay attention to him, Fen. Aki over here is secretly a softie; he will definitely always have something for you, so don't worry."

Aki's expression remains as serious as ever, but the tips of his ears turn pink. "Gigi… don't encourage him…" he mutters. Once again, there is no serious heat behind his voice, and his coworker only laughs again.

A grin stretches across the boy's, Fen, face as he opens the package Aki had given him. Inside, there are three different pastries, in different levels of unpresentable. One of them looks as if it had been squashed, another one is what was probably supposed to be shaped into an elaborate figure, but has come out looking deformed, and the third one is a bit burnt around the edges. They must be the product that didn't pass the quality inspection and cannot be sold. But instead of being thrown away like they would be in most other places, they have been kept (at least those that are still edible and their flavour hasn't been compromised).

"Hey! No fair!" Dee has been peering over the boy's shoulder, and seeing the contents of his package, they cry out in outrage. "How come he gets free food?!"

"Dee!" Kit hisses at her to be quiet, but she seems to ignore him.

"This is completely unfair! Terrible customer service! I– mph–!" Kit clamps a hand over their mouth.

"Be quiet!"

Fen, however, doesn't seem offended at the rebuttal. "Hey, I can split with you if you want."

"No, don't worry, there's really no– ow!" Kit cries out as Dee bites the hand over their mouth. He quickly takes it away before Dee can bite him again.

"Don't go around answering for me! I do want to split!" Dee cries.

Kit sighs. Whatever, he thinks. It's not like they forced the kid to share his food, so there can't be any real harm. He offered to share in the first place. Not wanting to cause further incident and to continue to hold up the line, Kit quickly hands over the coupon to pay for their meal. But as he is taking their food from Aki's hand, he feels a pull at his side.

Dee looks up at him. "You forgot to buy me dessert."

"Dessert? Forget it! You're already stealing the poor kid's food!" Kit shoots back.

"HUH?! So you're not buying?"

"No!"

"But–!"

He pulls Dee away from the line hurriedly. A few of the other customers were already sending weird looks their way. They stalk out of the shop, but before they can go too far, a voice calls out to them.

"Hey, wait!" They turn back to see Fen waving at them. "You, the kid with the baseball cap!" Dee points at herself. "Yes, yes, you! I didn't give you your part!"

Dee quickly disentangles Kit's grasp around her arm and hurries over to the other kid. "Do I get to choose which one I want?"

"Um. I'll let you choose between the palmier and the gingerbread, but I want the milhoja."

Dee snaps her fingers. "Damn it! I wanted that one." They still take the palmier from the bag, biting into it with more force than necessary.

"So… Um…" Fen's eyes dart around the street, as if looking out for someone. When he doesn't spot them, he turns back to Dee with a smile. "Where are you two headed?"

"Home," Dee answers pettishly, as if thinking him stupid for not knowing that.

"Cool!" The kid seems completely unfazed by Dee's hostility. "Can I come with you?"

Kit regards the boy quizzically. "Kid… Do you… Where are your parents?"

"Hm?" Fen turns his gaze towards Kit. "Oh, mum's at home, and father is not in town."

"...Are you out here alone, then?" Kit is starting to feel a bit worried for the kid's wellbeing.

"No." He takes out the burnt gingerbread and starts eating it. "I was supposed to be with Adi, but I ran away."

All the alarms start going off in Kit's head. He has no idea who 'Adi' is (perhaps they're the 'nanny' Aki had mentioned), but he knows the kid shouldn't have run away from them.

Dee lets out a mischievous snicker. "Hehe, so you're on the run right now? Is that why you want to come with us?"

Fen nods.

"Okay. But you'll need to pay up."

"Huh? What? But I don't have any money…"

"She's just joking." Kit hits the back of Dee's head. "But I think you should probably go back to… whoever was in charge of you."

Fen's expression sours. "Do I really have to?"

"...I really think you should, yes. Won't your parents get worried if you get lost?"

"But I'm not lost. And Adi only looks after me because they pay him to, so I don't think he's actually worried. Well, as long as I go back to the house at the end of the day, he won't mind that much…"

Dee turns with a pleading look towards Kit. "Hey, Kit, can we keep him? He's fun. And I don't have anyone to play with and I've been so lonely all this time…" Kit knows Dee's just trying to guilt-trip him. "And he said he'll go back home, so say, can't you let him stay? Pleaseeee?"

"...Fine," he gives in. "But, only until your parents, or nanny– yes, yes, fine it's not a nanny– but until they show up, okay?"

Dee and Fen both cheer.

"I'm Dee, by the way." She sticks out her hand not holding her deformed cookie. Fen takes it and they shake hands. "You still need to pay, though!"

"But I told you I don't have money!"

"You can pay with another pastry…"

"Dee!" Kit scolds them.

Dee scowls. "Fine, you don't have to pay…"

Fen is visibly relieved. He quickly brightens up, though. "Do you want to go to the park?"

Dee's eyes widen. They look at Kit for confirmation. "Can we?"

"Sure," he agrees easily. Why not? Kit thinks. He can leave them at the park, where there will be a lot of mothers with their children around, and they would, one way or another, provide supervision for them, while he gets the much needed grocery shopping done. Hell, leaving them in the park with all those mothers was probably better, they were way more responsible adults than he could be.

Fen takes off in the direction of the park at a sprint, Dee following close behind. Kit just walks leisurely behind, not bothering to keep up with them. He'll follow to see where the park is just to know where to pick them up from, and then leave to go shopping.

The park is actually only a few blocks away. And just as Kit had predicted, there are quite a number of parents out with their children. It is the summer vacation after all, and with school out, there are plenty of people out even on a weekday. The park is, surprisingly, very nice. There's even a swimming area. It is definitely nothing like the one swing, one slide and a sandbox type of park he grew up with.

Once he sees Dee and their newfound friend (Kit wipes an imaginary tear from his eye at the thought; Dee was starting to become less feral, they had even made a friend!) are safe and not in any immediate danger, he goes to the supermarket he had seen on their way here.

~~~

After he has done all the shopping he needs for at least the next three days (considering Dee's appetite), he heads back to the park. Silently, he prays that Dee hasn't gotten into any fight with any kid. That would be really bad. Not for Dee, exactly, but for the other kid, who would have been sure to lose that encounter.

Thankfully, nothing seems to have happened while he was gone. Kit finds them simply tossing coins into the fountain in the middle of the park. (Once again, Kit is surprised at how nice this park is.) But just as he is about to call out to them that it is time to leave, he sees a man in a suit running towards Dee and Fen.

"Young master!" The man's tone is that of relief.

Fen freezes at the sound of that voice. He turns slowly towards the source, and he grimaces when he sees the man. By now, Kit has come to stand next to them, and his gaze is also directed towards the man who is clearly calling out for Fen. Just as he is about to bolt out of there, Kit grabs Fen by the shoulder. "You promised you would go with them when they showed up."

Fen's expression twists even more. "But…"

"You promised," Kit reminds him.

"Young master!" The man has reached where they are, and they quickly come up to check on Fen. "I've been looking all over for you! Thank god I finally found you!"

"Psst, Fen," Dee stage whispers, "is this your nanny?"

Fen puffs out his cheeks in indignation. "He's not my nanny!"

"Pfffft!" Dee lets out a barely suppressed laugh.

"He… He's my bodyguard…" Fen mutters.

Both Dee and Kit draw in a sharp breath. A… bodyguard?! What kind of twelve year old had a bodyguard?! Just who exactly was this kid? He had to be the child of someone important, no? Some politician's kid? Unlikely. The only thing close to any sort of "politician" family in this town was the Director's family, and Fluorite nor Baz ever had bodyguards. Some heir to a rich family then?

"You have a bodyguard!" Dee has finally snapped out of her initial shock, and she is shaking Fen by the shoulders.

"Hands off the young master!" The man tried to pry away Dee's hands, but when she tried to bite him, he quickly retreated.

"Dee…" Kit still feels somewhat dazed at this new revelation. "Let the poor kid go."

Dee tsks, annoyed, but they comply. "Why didn't you tell us you were Mr. Important?!" they ask Fen.

"Because…" Fen looks apologetic. "Well–"

"How come you were going around begging for food if your parents are rich?!" This looks like the one thing Dee is hung up about.

"Young master, you did what?!"

"I didn't beg for food!" Fen panickedly tries to defend himself. "I just went to the– the– uh…"

The bodyguard pinches the bridge of his nose. "You went to the bakery again, no? Even after your father explicitly forbade you to do so…"

"D-don't tell him!" Fen looks close to tears.

The bodyguard sighs. "I won't." Fen throws himself at him in gratitude. The man awkwardly pats his head. "But you have to stop running away, okay?"

Fen nods enthusiastically. (Kit has the feeling he will not keep his word.) "But… Adi, will you really not let me go back to the bakery? It wouldn't matter as long as Father didn't find out, no?"

The bodyguard clears his throat. "Young master…"

"Just– Just once every couple of days! Please?"

The poor man looks like he's been caught in the middle of crossfire.

Silently, Kit wonders why the boy seems so attached to that particular bakery. It isn't like there aren't others in the entire town, and even if their bread isn't bad, he wouldn't say it's the best he has ever tried. In reality, it is more of the accessible to everyone type of place, and the reason why it has such a large clientele is because for the prices they offer, the quality is above what you would expect. But he doesn't voice these thoughts out loud.

Dee, however, has no such qualms. "What's so special about that place? I mean, sure, you get free food, but with your money that shouldn't be something you're worried about. Besides, you only get the leftovers." Dee taps her chin. "Why'd you even get banned from going there, anyways?"

"Dee!" Kit mentally face-palms. Did this kid have no filter? (Though Kit has to admit, he is curious.)

"Ah, well…" Fen looks a bit ashamed of the reason. "It's because… Father says it's unbecoming to be visiting such places…"

"Huh?" Dee scrunches her face in confusion. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"

Kit taps their shoulder, and they whisper in their ear, "It means… it's just for poor people…"

"What?!" Dee shouts. "Well, that's stupid!"

Kit coughs. "Dee…" he tries to get them to stop shouting.

"But I like the place!" Fen is once again trying to plead his case with his bodyguard. "And- and the people who work there are nice! When I got lost that first time, Aki was the one who offered me help!

Kit has a hard time imagining how that would have gone. Fen looks like the type of kid to cry easily, and Aki definitely doesn't look like the type that knows how to deal with that sort of thing.

"And everyone remembers me, and they like me! And- and for once, I know it isn't because my father is the owner of some stupid meat company…"

Kit and Dee look at each other. They seem to be thinking the same thing: this kid… he was kinda pitiful…

"So, Adi, please? Won't you please turn a blind eye? Just this once?" Fen looks like he will cry if he's denied. "If- if you get into trouble with Father, I'll take the blame!"

"You…" the bodyguard sighs in defeat. "Fine."

"Thank you!" Fen once again throws his arms around the man.

"Okay, that's enough of that," Adi tries to diplomatically tear himself away from the hug. "But we really should be heading back home, or the madam will become worried."

Fen is in a good mood, and he easily agrees. He waves goodbye to Dee, promising to see each other again when he was allowed to go back into town. He bids farewell to Kit too, and after that, his bodyguard herds Fen in the direction of an expensive looking car parked at the edge of the park.

Dee and Kit watch in a stupor as it drives past them. They turn to look at each other after the car has disappeared from view.

"Damn that kid!" Dee shakes her fist at the air. "Why does he get to live well?!"

Kit sighs. "Well… You know what they say… A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money."

Dee blinks up at him. "What. The. Actual. Fuck?"

"What?"

"Is that supposed to make us feel better about being poor?"

"No… Not really."