Universal Power System

For the first time in his life, Mako was praying that the school bell never rang, but sure enough, the sound of Mako’s doom resounded through the halls right on time.

Mako slowly started packing his things and made his way out of school. There was no way of getting out of this as he had to face Sir Derek at some point. He couldn’t just quit his job without even saying a proper goodbye after how well Sir Derek had treated him while others didn’t.

“It is just a day off and no big deal right?” Mako said to himself in order to calm down, but he knew deep down that he was lying to himself.

Mako had once witnessed the biggest and most dangerous telling-off he had ever witnessed in his entire life when one of the ex-employees who was also a student in a nearby school took two days off without permission.

The scenes of that day and several other moments kept repeating in Mako’s head and he was not looking forward to being a part of one of these scenes. He was a lot closer to Sir Derek than the other employee and that was his blessing and a curse.

Since he was closer to Sir Derek, he would get away with being a few minutes late or getting the recipe wrong by a bit and Sir Derek would also offer him free breakfast, but when Mako made a genuine mistake, He would get the most telling off out of any of the other employees.

Mako viewed Sir Derek as family based on the way he had treated him for the past four years and how he was the only one who allowed a fourteen-year-old boy to work in his bakery and earn some cash to support himself.

Mako didn’t know this but the real reason why Sir Derek actually treated him this way was that he never openly expressed his feeling to him either. Mako never actually had the courage to have a casual conversation with Sir Derek.

Recently, Sir Derek had become a lot more friendly especially after Mako won the duel against Bill and when Bill himself interviewed for a job there. Yet, He would still yell at him if he didn’t add enough sugar to the buttercream frosting or if he overbaked the bread by a few minutes. So Mako still wasn’t quite sure what Sir Derek actually thought of him.

In his mind, Mako viewed Sir Derek as that one mom you would see in every park. The one who finds competition in their child was having a friendly race with another child. They want their kids to excel at everything and be capable of doing everything. They force great discipline on their children and become quite scary if you mess up or let them down, but deep down that mother is the one who loves their children out of all the mothers in the park.

Mako was quite sure that Sir Derek would fill the shoes of such a mom character quite well, but he still wasn’t sure if the love part about it all was true as well. Sir Derek could be just a business-orientated individual who would get mad if anything would happen that would affect his business other than that he was just a regular loving and caring human.

Mako was lost in these thoughts as he walked over to the bakery and before he even realized it, he had already arrived. He stood in front of the gate and gulped hard.

‘To think I would still be scared of facing him even after I was able to defeat 30 security guards all by myself.’ Mako said in his mind as opened the door to enter the bakery.

He opened the door to find a similar scene to when Bill first started working at the bakery. The bakery was quite empty with only a couple of tables occupied and they were mostly students looking for an after-school snack. Bill was serving 2 iced coffees to a student couple who looked like they were on a date.

Mako approached the counter and Bill returned to greet him. Surprisingly, Sir Derek was nowhere to be seen and this was more worrying than relieving.

Mako had a mental image of Sir Derek holding a giant stick or something in his hands and waiting near the front waiting for Mako to come and give a beating he was sure to remember. Sir Derek was quite an old-fashioned man and still believed that the best way to teach discipline was to enforce it physically.

Of course, he wouldn’t actually beat anyone but rather a slap on the cheek or on the back of the neck would do the trick, but for 14-year-old Mako who was never beaten in his life by his grandmother, it was the scariest thing in the world.

Mako and Bill conversed with each other for a few moments and Mako was obviously trying to avoid bringing Sir Derek into the conversation until he finally realized something…

“Huh! Don’t tell me!” Mako said after realization gave him a strong slap on the neck.

Bill broke character as he burst out laughing. The truth was that Bill was playing along as he conversed with Mako trying to see how long will it take for Mako to figure it out.

“He is in his office, waiting for you,” Bill said slowly, emphasizing each word, savoring the moment as he could see the panic build up in Mako’s eyes.

It felt as if the entire world had come crashing down on his shoulders. Bill hadn’t been around for long but he very quickly got to know about the way Sir Derek did things and Sir Derek was a major influence in his sudden change in character. Everyone knew that if an employee was called to the office, it could only mean one thing.

‘Is he really going to fire me after just one day of ditching work?’ Mako asked himself.

A group of five students entered the bakery and took a seat at one of the tables. Bill went over to take their order and wished Mako good luck as he was now left alone 30 feet away from the door of the office.

“Hello, What can I get you guys?” Bill asked politely to the students who just took their seats.

****************

Mako approached the door ever so slowly. He took one final deep breath before knocking on the door. 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝐞𝐥.

“COME IN,” Sir Derek came from inside the room.

Mako twisted the knob to open the door and enter the room. It was a regular-looking office with nothing noteworthy to speak of. Sir Derek was sitting on his favorite leather chair on one side of the table and he gestured for Mako to take a seat in Infront of him on the other side of the table.

Mako complied and quietly sat down on the chair accepting his fate and bracing himself for what is to come.

“So I hear that the military was at your school today to announce the recruitment test.” Sir Derek said in a rather low tone.

“Yes Sir Derek, They just announced it this morning,” Mako replied.

“Hmm… Good. So what do you think? Are you going to apply for the test or take the alternative route?” Sir Derek asked while scratching his chin.

Mako was not sure why Sir Derek was asking such questions but he did not want to question him right now considering the situation. He would just reply correctly to whatever he asked if that meant delaying the 5-star telling-off he was about to receive.

“I believe I have been working hard enough to try and take the test,” Mako replied.

“Oh wow! I wasn’t expecting that.” Sir Derek said as he was genuinely surprised by Mako’s answer.

“Well anyway, the reason why I called you here is that I want a favor from you, Mako.” Sir Derek said in a sad tone.

Mako did not know where this conversation was headed and he was genuinely more focused on Sir Derek’s weird behavior than his stupid punishment.

“What is it, Sir Derek? You know I would do anything for you.” Mako replied with genuine concern.

“Ho ho! Is that so? Then why don’t you start doing double shifts from now on.” Sir Derek replied.

The look of confusion and disbelief on Mako’s was absolutely priceless and so much so that it rendered him speechless.

Eventually, Sir Derek broke the awkward silence with a small giggle as he covered his mouth with his hands.

“I am just kidding, I can look a bit cold-hearted at times but I do still have heart.” Sir Derek said as he calmed down his giggling.

Mako was ready to wake up from this stupid dream any second now. He even tried pinching himself but it didn’t work.

Sir Derek quickly composed himself before opening the drawer that was next to his table and pulling out a picture frame. He first looked at the picture frame himself for a couple of seconds before smiling and handing it over to Mako.

“The favor I want from you is that I want you to help me find my daughter.” Sir Derek revealed his request to Mako.