Chapter Text
It had everything to be just another ordinary day at Sweet House, where employees seek to provide a sweeter life for their customers by producing and selling the most varied types of delicacies. Until Kaede, the owner and professional pastry chef who graduated with honors, decided to innovate with an idea for Christmas time.
Using her usual gingerbread cookie recipe, she cut the dough into little doll molds and, after everything was baked and cooled, she used royal icing in green, white and red to decorate and bring her creation to life. Finally, Kaede took one of the pieces of paper she had printed out from the Internet and folded into small squares, and glued them one by one to each doll's hand using a dot of chocolate ganache.
With the work finished, the lady who was already in her sixties left those cookies behind and went to check on the employees.
At reception, Miroku, Sango and Inuyasha serve customers, sell sweets and, when someone wants to place a special order, they forward it to Kaede or, in her absence, to one of those responsible for the kitchen.
Looking at those young people working nimbly during the late afternoon rush hour, the woman — who had more gray than black hair on her head — sighed feeling accomplished. The store that started with just her in her kitchen, so many years ago, now had a physical location on a busy avenue, a sign with the name she had created and a pink facade like she always wanted.
After this achievement, it didn't take long to hire her first employee, an assistant in the kitchen, then a second to serve at the counter and then, due to the demand for having many business buildings nearby, Kaede bought an espresso machine and started selling coffees and teas alongside to the sweets. Because of this, she needed to hire someone who could be responsible for the drinks and, with the increased flow of customers, she hired another person to work at the reception and finally another helper to make the sweets.
Business was going well, very well, there was no denying it, but Kaede gave credit to her employees. Everyone performed their tasks masterfully and gave their all, interacted with each other and, in the end, ended up becoming a big family; which she never got to build, as she spent her youth focused on realizing her big dream of becoming a confectioner and opening a store. It may have taken longer than she expected, but she did it and on top of that she gained the family she always dreamed of having one day.
Being completely sure that everything was in order at the front of the store, Kaede went to the kitchen, where she found Kagome using a piping bag to distribute the macaron dough into small symmetrical balls on top of the baking paper. After doing this process on the entire pan, she tapped the bottom of the tray on the counter to spread the dough better so that they all remained uniform without the marks from the piping nozzle.
Even though the noise was a little loud and echoed throughout the room, it wasn't enough to bother, much less break the concentration of the woman who was baking a cake in the back of the kitchen. With mastery, her precise hands used the most varied pastry nozzles to produce a cake with Santa Claus's face, one among dozens that would still be baked.
That was the first employee hired by Kaede, she was a dreamy teenager when this happened and started working both as a pastry chef and a store clerk to help.
One thing that caught the attention of the Sweet House owner at the time was that, even at just seventeen years old, that girl already knew how to produce extremely delicious and well-decorated handmade sweets. Anyone looking from the outside might think that a professional confectioner was responsible for making them, but it was the work of someone self-taught. Everything she knew was the result of years and years of dedication to studies and practice to reach perfection.
Kaede had a special affection for that hardworking and talented young girl, she considered her like a true daughter and, as time passed, the two created a special bond. They were always together and even exchanged tips, things they learned somewhere or their own tactics. They also lived creating recipes and always sought to innovate to bring unique experiences to customers, that cake with Santa Claus's face, for example, was the youngest's idea.
“Rin!” called Kaede, attracting the attention of the almond-shaped eyes.
When she was focused on work, it was difficult for Rin to answer immediately, it was often necessary to call her more than three times, or even poke her in the arm, except when it came to Kaede. All it took was a call and the girl responded, as if her subconscious had already understood the priority that that person had.
“Oh! What are you thinking?” asked the girl, smiling, while pointing to the almost finished cake.
“Very beautiful!” she replied, approaching. “It's more beautiful than I had imagined, actually. You always surprise me, girl.” She patted the younger girl's back, noticing the sparkle of joy in her eyes.
Kaede couldn't resist and smiled, realizing that time passes too quickly and sometimes we don't even notice. She had known that girl for twelve years, saw her transform into the beautiful woman she was now and also saw her grow and improve as a professional. Kaede wished all the best for Rin and that included not having a lonely life like hers. For this reason, she hoped from the bottom of her heart that, one day, Rin would have the chance to meet someone and live a romance worthy of movies.
Offering to help, Kaede took a cake that was already ready, just waiting for decoration, she also took a piping bag with icing and sat next to her pupil. At one point, Inuyasha appeared to say that the cupcakes were almost running out up front, so the three women dropped what they were doing just to fill and decorate some cupcakes that were baked earlier, but kept there until they were requested.
A few hours later, after the last customer left, the door was locked and the entire team got together to clean the store, just as they did daily. At the end, the employees and the owner sat together to drink something hot and eat while chatting a little about the day's events.
“Oh! I almost forget.” Kaede stood up. “Earlier I made something that I want to sell during Christmas and I would like your opinion.” She picked up the container with the cookies and took them to the table.
“But they are gingerbread men” Sango pointed out. “The same ones we sell every year. Did something change in the dough by any chance?” Picked up a random one to try.
“No, the dough remains the same, but these are the Lucky Dolls. Look at this little piece of paper stuck to their hands, it's like a fortune cookie, but in a Christmas style. Do you think customers will like the idea?”
“For sure!" replied Inuyasha, also taking one. “People tend to like these things involving mysticism and as we have never seen anything like this at Christmas, it will attract a lot of people.”
“You, Rin and Kagome better prepare many batches of these cookies a day, because I'm going to come to the kitchen every time to tell you that they're running out” said Miroku while using a candy cane to stir his chocolate milk. No one understood how he could think it tasted good, not even his girlfriend Sango, but every crazy person with their crazy things.
“Oh no! Will I always hear your annoying voice? What I put up with normally isn’t enough?” Kagome lamented falsely, only to tease her friend, who stuck his tongue out at her in response.
“Either way, we have to produce in large quantities, after all, Christmas is one of the busiest and most profitable dates.” Rin spoke as she picked up a cookie and analyzed it. “As always, Kaede, impeccable work.” She smiled, and the oldest noticed that the act didn't reach her almond-shaped eyes, which meant that something was bothering her.
Everyone stayed there for another thirty minutes talking about Christmas, which was getting closer, the decorations that needed to be put up in the store as quickly as possible and the expectations for sales that year. Then, one by one dispersed, until only Rin and Kaede were left to close the store.
“Rin, honey, are you okay?” Kaede asked as she watched her check once again that the door was properly locked.
“Yes, why?”
“It’s just that you barely touched the cookie I made and you didn’t seem very excited about my idea either.”
Rin sighed and adjusted the scarf around her neck, after a very cold wind passed through her.
“To be honest with you, the idea was very good, but I don't believe in these things about luck and bad luck, I think it's all nonsense. On the other hand, I know it will attract a lot of people and will be good for sales, that’s what matters.”
It wasn't just that, Rin also had a problem with gingerbread cookies. They brought back memories of a happy past, a past that she would like to relive, but she couldn't, and every time she came across a cookie like that she was reminded of the sad reality. But Kaede didn't know that about her, no one did, in fact, and Rin preferred to keep that secret.
Walking side by side along the well-lit street, which was still a little busy due to the time, the two women headed to the nearest bus stop.
“I understand that you don't believe in superstitions, Rin, I don't believe in many things either, but sometimes it's those little nonsense things that give us hope. Why don't you give the ticket you chose a chance? Sometimes luck can smile on you. Remember we are officially in the Christmas season, a time known for its food, beauty, charm and magic, where dreams come true.”
Rin ended up letting out a weak disbelieving laugh at what he heard. She knew that Kaede was passionate about Christmas, and the girl also really liked it, she just didn't know that Kaede believe in magic.
“It's OK. When I get home I’m going to eat my cookie and read my fortune, but I’ll do it just for you and because it must certainly be delicious.”
“First read the note and then eat the cookie remembering what you read, this way the chances of it working are greater.” She winked.
“Is that what you’re going to tell customers when you sell these cookies in the store?” The two women laughed and then Kaede saw her bus arriving.
“Huh! It's mine! Good night and good rest, dear. See you tomorrow."
Rin waved, watching the lady get into the transport, and it didn't take long for hers to arrive as well.
Later, at home and after taking a relaxing bath, Rin almost forgot about the cookie that was inside her bag wrapped in a piece of cling film. Leaving aside some notes about chocolate tempering, she picked up the little doll and saw that the icing had softened and stuck a lot to the packaging she had improvised.
Following Kaede's guidance, Rin first took the small paper from the doll's hand and opened it so she could read it.
“Someone important and special from your past will come back to stay.” She read it out loud and frowned at first, taking a bite of the cookie, and it was at that moment that her mind brought to her an image and a name. "No! Not even!" She shook her head. “You're going crazy, Rin. It can't be that person, you're just trying to deceive yourself once again. It’s been ten years, just accept it and forget it once and for all.”
Looking at the paper in her hand, Rin read it once more before crumpling it up and throwing it in the trash can in the corner of her room. She only finished eating the cookie because it was delicious, after all Kaede had real fairy hands. But as soon as she finished, the girl decided that she wouldn't think about that Lucky Doll nonsense anymore.