Chapter Text
Ranboo was sitting in the back seat of an old car, which wasn't ideal for a few reasons. One, being that older cars are usually smaller, and that was most definitely the case here. Paired with the teenager's abnormal height, he was completely squished in the cramped car. It had been hours of painful positions, Ranboo didn't know how much longer he could handle this.
The second un-ideal reason was the car's destination. He was going to go live with his relative. She was his cousin on some level, his mom's side of the family had always been complicated. All Ranboo knew was that she was in her mid-twenties and had gone culinary school with a focus on baking, graduated, and started her own business in a little town she grew up in. Apparently, when his mom was just a teenager and still saw her family often, she had been a prodigy at baking, making wonderful cakes and breads at a young age.
Her name was Niki Nihachu, and Ranboo was being sent to live with her. They had chatted a few times over the phone, which eased his nerves over meeting a new person. He still couldn't call her "Niki", much to Miss Nihachu's displeasure. She sounded sweet over the phone though, so maybe in time he would warm up to her.
"Only about fifteen more minutes left, honey! It'll be over in no time." His driver was sympathetic to his pain in the car but there wasn't much either of them could do. Thank goodness for the short time left, any longer and Ranboo didn't know what he'd do, but it wouldn't be pretty.
The thick woods that had been the only landscape for him to look at for the past hour were finally easing up, becoming a clearing of long green grass and wild plants and dandelions waving in the breeze. The broken concrete road turned to clean cobbled stone pathways, strangely well kept. As the car ambled down the road, small houses came into view along the roads. As the houses grew closer, Ranboo took a moment to really look at the place.
The town really was gorgeous, Ranboo mused. Pretty in a way that was indescribable, only experienced. The woods circled the whole area in a circle, but the other side was just miles of fields of green grass. In the distance was a small speck that Ranboo presumed was a farm, and fields of colorful produce surrounded it. The town itself was made of quaint looking homes and some commercial buildings, but very small. In the very distance blue and green hills sloped the landscape, contrasting against a bright blue sky and fluffy clouds.
He was itching to immortalize the picturesque land, thinking of his paint supplies among his belongings in the trunk of the car. Maybe he'd find a nice place to sit in the grass after settling in and paint the colorful town. That'd be nice.
Now that the town was closer, Ranboo could see that The small houses were a bit bigger than he first thought, and that on one side of town the houses were slightly bigger, with three stories instead of one or two. The car shook as a wheel hit a loose stone and His head banged against the ceiling.
"Ughhhh," Ranboo cried in muted pain. The driver apologized and a minute later they were turning into the town streets, passing through a few neighborhood areas. He spotted a few kids playing with a basketball by a lonely basketball hoop without the netting. They turned and stared at the car, whispering. Ranboo looked away and watched a few adults walking around the neighborhood, and even someone on a bicycle.
The homes slowly turned into small commercial lots and stores. Ranboo tried to make a mental list of everything he saw, catching a corner store, a small tobacco shop, a gas station, a few diners, a local theater, a pizza shop, and more. Was that a craft store?
The car drove by a dingy looking grocery store and a bank before slowing to a stop. Ranboo craned his neck to try and see where they had parked, but couldn't see from his angle. His driver said "Alright, we're here! You can get out now." Ranboo unlocked the door and awkwardly climbed out, limbs flailing to escape the vehicle.
He stepped onto the sidewalk and stretched his arms and back, sighing happily in relief. Rubbing his eyes, he looked up to where they had parked and saw brick walls, a cream door and windows, and most importantly, a shiny gold sign saying, "Bakery".
"Okay, kiddo! I'll let you walk in then leave, call me if she turns out to be a serial killer or something," his driver joked. Ranboo gulped, and turned back to the car to grab his suitcases.
"Nope, don't worry about those, I'll take them in. Go meet your cousin!"
Taking a few deep breaths, Ranboo slowly pushed open the pretty door. He had to duck slightly to make sure his head didn't accidentally graze the doorway. A rush of air conditioning blasted him and a high pitched bell rang way too close to his ears for his liking. Eyes looking around the room, he saw wood floors, a pink and blue color scheme, comfy booths with a few customers and a display counter. Curiously enough, there was no one behind the counter.
Unsure of what to do, he stepped closer to the display and took in the goods. Fluffy breads of all sorts, towers of cupcakes with rainbow icing, baklava and apple cobbler and cheese danish. Plates of macarons and macaroons, carrot cake and fudge and an assortment of soft cookies. Seeing the sweet foods, Ranboo felt the delicious smell in the air really hit him, warm and sugary from the different delicacies all melding and swirling in the cool air.
His mouth hung open a bit, drool collecting under his tongue, eyes glazing over at the gorgeous desserts on display. His hunger was only amplified from how he'd only had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a power bar on the hours-long car ride. His stomach growled loudly, making Ranboo go a bit red and snap out of his food-crazed gaze.
There was laughter near him, Ranboo looked up to see a pretty woman grinning and walking towards him. She was shorter than him, but that wasn't really a difficult feat to accomplish. Her pastel pink hair was tied up loosely, strands falling in her eyes and brushing rosy cheeks. Was that flour on her face?
"Hello, you must be Ranboo," she spoke softly and sweetly, voice matching the heavenly smell in the air.
"Uh, yeah. That's, that's me," he stumbled through an introduction rather lamely. "And you're Miss Nihachu, yeah?"
Her eyes sparkled with humor. "Well yes, but you can call me Niki, honey. It's so lovely to meet you! If you'd like, I can get you something to eat while we talk? You sound really hungry."
Blushing, Ranboo nodded and glanced back at the display. There was just so much to try, it all looked equally amazing. But hopefully, he'd have time to try them all. His eyes eventually landed upon a chocolate cupcake with chocolate flakes on top, and a- he peered at the label- raspberry filling.
"I'd like that one, please."
"The cupcake?" He nods in confirmation, "of course! I really like that one too."
She handed him the dessert and he slowly went about peeling the wrapper down. Miss Nihachu guided him to the back of the bakery, and through a door he hadn't noticed before. That must've been where she came from, he realized.
Behind the doors was a large and messy kitchen. Ovens lined a wall, there were cluttered counters and a farmhouse sink piled high with bowls and spatulas. There was an open door frame to a large pantry filled with bags and boxes on one side, freezers and fridges on the other. There was a small door on the back wall, presumably to the outside, and a larger door near it on the right wall that was half open. Ranboo could see that it held a spiral staircase to the second floor.
Miss Nihachu laughed self-consciously, grabbing a greasy rolling pin from the counter and placing it in the sink. "Sorry it's all... messy in here. I was going to clean it up, but I thought I had more time, and then the choux pastry needed to be made..." she trailed off. Ranboo felt the need to reassure her.
"It's alright, really! It's actually kind of nice actually, makes it feel... homely? Does that make sense?"
"Yeah, I think I get what you mean," she smiled, still awkward but a bit less stiff.
"So!" she clapped her hands. "The way it works here is that the first floor is the bakery and kitchen, and the second floor has two bedrooms, a bathroom and a small sitting area. The staircase is over there, behind that door-" She pointed at the door he noticed earlier, "and it goes up to the sitting area, with a TV, couch, and dining table. There will be a wall on your right with three doors. The first one, closest to the TV, is the bathroom. The second is a closet and the third is my office."
Ranboo repeated that in his head, wanting to remember.
"Then on the back wall are two doors, the right one is my bedroom and the left one is yours. Your room used to be a spare so there isn't any decoration, so you can personalize it with your own things! We can also go shopping for stuff if you need it on the weekend. Okay?"
"Mhm! I got it."
Miss Nihachu grinned again. She really smiles a lot, it made Ranboo want to smile too. "Perfect! Now, it's about to hit 3pm, so the school kids will be dismissed from school and coming here, which means that I need to get back out there. You can go explore upstairs."
"Alright Miss Nihachu. Good luck!" Ranboo laughed and turned towards the staircase.
"See you honey! And remember, it's Niki, not Miss Nihachu!"
(A blond boy finished his flaky pastry and stood from his seat in the booth. Walking out of the bakery, he called out a goodbye to Niki and stepped to the side of a few suitcases in front of the door. He started down the road to the library. He flipped up the hood on his purple sweatshirt, and prepared to share his notes on the peculiarly tall teenager that now resided at the bakery.)