There it sat, in all of its sugary glory.  A piece of cake, so delightfully smothered in a princess pink colored frosting that it made the strawberry and raspberry mixture on top of it look even more sinful than it already was.  As people passed, the number of round eyes that scanned across the guilty pleasure grew and grew until their pacing started to hesitate and then slow, albeit reluctantly.  Why was it that so many people's feverish walks were suddenly halted by something as so simple as a treat?  Simple, because, to all that passed it, that piece of cake was screaming—begging for someone to pick it up and slowly enter its spongy goodness into their mouths.  Although this cake was the single weakness for even men claiming to be as tough as nails, one person begged to differ.

One living under the name of .

Staring at the sugary syrup drip down the sides of the delicacy made her sick to her stomach.  Seeing how the white frosting oozed out of the cake's middle made her wonder how people could put something so disgusting into their little mouths.  Every little thing about the scene in the window before her could only be described in the definition of “nasty.”  Her eyelids started to close, but stopped half-way, only blurring the scene before her in hopes that it would soften the blow as a flash of red hair ran by, probably entering the shop that contained such a horrid food.

Something as repulsive as sugar in her food?  Hmph, no siree, she preferred her food--

Sans Sucre                                             

's slender, smooth hands gently grasped, then lifted, the top of her small lunch box as she sat in the quiet corner of the large classroom.  Although this scene may seem like something a bit out of the ordinary for a high school, for it was just another part of her "perfectly delightful" day at Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku.  Lunch for her usually went like this:  Sit in the corner, open lunchbox, munch on lunch, listen to the whispers of the class around her...

"Jeez, look at her lunch, raw vegetables and rice again!"

"She's so dull, isn't she the same girl who's against sweets?"

"Yeah, weird for someone so young."

"I guess what she lacks in sugar she makes up for in that pessimistic attitude of hers."

Yep, nothing out of the ordinary at all.

Prominent, large eyes darted from the lackluster lunch in front of them to the students who were so graciously commenting on every little aspect of the girl confided to the corner.  Apparently, that one shot of venom was enough.  The one single glare that could probably hurt a small child, and scare an adult to the point at which they swore they already had one foot in the grave.  Needless to say, the girls shut their lip glossed mouths and turned back to their lunches right away, daring not to look back. 

"Serves you right." Mumbling to herself, she picked up her chopsticks and continued forward with her lunch, not minding the small bump that had distracted her along the way.

------------------------------

"I can't believe that our parents let you work here." huffed as she gently leaned herself against the fruit covered wall of the quaint little pastry café.  Strangely, it was the same café that had nearly sent her rocketing to the bathroom as a result of her stomach being churned to such a gruesome point.  As it turned out, she had to experience that lovely feeling every single day as she waited for her older brother to get off work and take her home.  Why?  Because, unlike the small shop, her house was miles and miles away.  Hah, her coming to the café everyday because she actually liked it, now that was a laugh.

"Just because Mom and Dad have some big sugar complex doesn't mean that we have to also ."

"There was a reason that they had that 'complex' in the first place, ." Large orbs carefully watched the first of kin as he tediously sifted a mixture of pure whites together, not once letting his strained eyes fall upon her own.  So entranced just by doing something so simple as blending ingredients.  took in a large breath as something vaguely resembling a smile tried to push onto her face. Even if he did work at such a horrid place, she supposed she didn't hate him that much.

"I'd rather just not get into this now, I have a lot of work to do and I don't need you-" A sudden chime sounded. " could you handle the customer?"

"I don't even work here?!  Why should I-"

"!" 's eyes still avoided his sisters as he started to zest the rhine of an orange into the cake-mixture, pausing afterwards to let a silence fall upon them.  "Please."

As much as she hated everything that this store had to present, seeing her brother stop in his rushed process of cooking tugged at what little heart she had.  "Ugh, fine!" Her hand hastily grabbed a spare apron on the wall and quickly threw it on as she angrily walked to the front desk, mumbling a quick "How did I get roped into this?" before she reached it.

"What do you want?" She was still tying the back of her apron as she let off the angry groan.  Maybe if her brother had realized her lack of people skills he wouldn't have made the grave mistake of sending her to the ordering desk. 

"—Pop!"

A sudden raise of the girl's curious stricken eyebrow occurred as her lazy vision, which had been focused on anything but the form of life in front of her, focused in on the source of such an odd noise. 

"...Green...bubblegum?"

"You're not a very good employee, are you?"

Vision fully coming into focus, was finally able to make a memory of the person currently nagging at her.  His name was...well—she just called him "that disgusting little red-head.", "Red Hair", for short.  This was the boy that she constantly spotted walking into the sweets shop every single day from the back kitchen.  This was the boy that popped cakes like they were vitamins.  Wasn't he a part of the oh-so-famous "RikkaiDai Tennis Club?" 

"Helloooo~?  Did you hear me or am I talking to myself here?"

Right, the customer.  "Uh...sorry." Sorry?! Why should she be apologizing to something as blatantly unhealthy as himself? "What would you lik—"

"You're in my class aren't you?"

Although she tried to fight it, a sudden twitch, showing her annoyance, tugged at the corner of her pretty pink lips.  First, he chastises her about being a "bad worker" and then, when she finally denies every muscle in her body the pleasure of smacking him in the face, he interrupts her like nothing happened. 

"Yeah, I guess" Truthfully, she hadn't remembered the red-haired boy taking residence in her class at all and, truthfully, she agreed with him to keep herself at bay.  Rather than having a long, drawn out conversation, it would be better to just let him believe they were in the same class so that he would shut that trap of his for longer than 2 blissful seconds. 

"Yeah, you're the girl who sits in the corner and sulks all through class—Oh the strawberry one looks nice."

An indescribable noise of pure, unrefined anger escaped her mouth as she visually fought against her hand that begged to punch him.  "I'll-wrap-it-up-for-you-then." It was obvious by her voice that she was very annoyed, and if not for her brother looming in the back, she would have probably acted on it rather than bend down and retrieve the boy's desired sugar fix.

"Here." Her hand forcibly pushed the frosting laced sweet to Red Hair in front of her.

That was when the silence arrived.

The awkward silence caused by the boy, oddly studying the goodie before his brilliantly purple eyes.  "Hn..." Finally, he broke the silence with his smooth voice.  "No wonder no one in the class likes you!" Letting out a laugh he quickly snatched the treat and, just as quickly, replaced it with exact change before exiting through the chiming door. 

"Ugh!" A sharp noise of something hitting the clear glass door of the pastry shop was heard as the change, that had currently been set on the counter, now lay, sprawled across the cream colored floor.  "You had better hope that you aren't in my class Red Hair!"

------------------------------

So, as it turns out, 's earlier agreeance with the red-haired devil was in fact not a lie as she had previously thought.  Because, just her luck, Red Hair actually was a part of the class that she had been trying so desperately to avoid.  Oh, how she was so exited that words escaped her.  "Tch."

A sudden clacking noise invaded the classroom. "Okay class, settle down." Adjusting her glasses, the teacher took a good look at the silent class before her, pointer in hand.  "We're going to be assigning partners for the history project due next week." Cue groan of class. "Yes, yes I know, with the unsurprising rise of the RikkaiDai tennis team..." Her glance turned towards Marui. "In the tournaments you all have to spend your time "supporting the school"...However!  That does not give you all grounds to skip out on the quality of the project." Cue heads smacking against desks...  "In the words of my grandmother, "shut up and deal with it." "

watched as she plunged a hand into her neatly organized desk drawer and emerged with a single, white sheet of paper.  If this was supposed to be some sort of punishment for all the people using tennis as a means to replace homework, didn't get it.  It wasn't like she went to the games at all anyways, so what's an extra weight of a project on her shoulders?

Oh wait.  Partners?  That was the word that had come out of the teachers strict lips, wasn't it?  Partners meant that there was a small fraction of a chance that she would have to be paired with him.  There was no way that she could handle the hassle of having to see his stupid red-head of hair every cursed day of the week.  She'd rather just deal with trying to avoid him when he entered her brothers sweet shop and bought one of those dreadful treats.

"...and !"

"Huh?  What?!"

The teachers eyes started to close into a slim state, showing annoyance.  "Your partner."

"O-oh, yeah I—"

"Will the partner assigned to please raise their hand?  It seems she was off in her own lala land."

"I—!"

A creamy hand raised at the front of the class.  Taking a large gulp, 's vision nervously followed the hand down towards its host.  It was...it was...

Not Red Hair.  In fact, the host's hair was a dark shade of brown and rather long.  A girl.

"Thank you Koyama, now I'll continue on with the list."

There was a overwhelming wave of relief that took over her body when she realized how happy she was that the odds had been in her favor.  Not that having to work with some girl who probably bad talked her was any better, it was just less annoying. 

Either way, she decided not to let the thoughts twirling around in her head to get the best of her at her succulent moment of pure relief.  Slowly, her face started to turn away from the harsh teacher as her stringent-laced phrases started to become background noise.  Maybe she should be paying attention?

------------------------------

The musical of orchestra of students haphazardly throwing notebooks into their book bags played right on time with the indication of the bell allowing students their freedom. 

"So hasty."  scowled as she calmly reached out her hand for her bag, gradually putting each notebook in one by one.  She never understood why all of the students were in such a hurry just to leave, it wasn't as if the teachers were going to give them more homework just because they took their time putting things away. 

Finally leaving the confinement of her desk, she swung the chestnut brown book bag over her shoulder and flipped back her hair.  It was that time again.  The time at which she was graced with the pleasure of watching her brother annihilate others health.  Maybe she should bring a barf bag this time that might help her get through the rest of the day. 

's slender hand gave the door a gentle shove as she took advantage of its now open state.  Her foot had hardly even penetrated through the doorway before she caught a glimpse of a concerning sight out of the corner of her eye.  A flash of red, and a circle of green.

"Taking your sweet time, eh, partner?"

Was he stalking her now or something?  Might as well get this over with. "Why are you still her—" There was a sudden pause in her speaking as his words finally hit her. "Repeat what you just said!"

"The project, we're working on it together."

"Are you deaf?!  My partner is Koyama." Confusion was evident on the girl's face as she spoke, voice slightly raising with each word.  The teacher had never said anything about her having to deal with the gum toting tennis genius, was he trying to trick her?

"Look, I'm not exactly ecstatic about it either-"

"Would you shut up for one second?!" The silence overtook the two yet again as stood, breathing heavily because of her rushed yells.  "You are not my partner."

"Yes, I am"

"You wish."

Marui sneered at her tone.  "And you weren't listening, were you?"

"Listening to what?"

"We have two projects idiot."

She felt her lips part as her round mouth pulled downwards in a gape.  Two projects?  only vaguely remembered the history project that the teacher put her main focus on.  What kind of evil being would give out two projects at once? "No way.." Pause, then "What class?!"

"Cooking" There was a pop of his gum.  "So deal with it."  Although some people might not think of Marui as one of the easiest people to get along with, since sometimes his bragging annoyed some people, there was no way that he deserved this.  This girl didn't know anything about him and every time they spoke it was as if she was treating him like some type of disease. 

"Well I'm going to go before practice starts." With that, Marui turned on his heel and started down the long hallway.  "See you in cooking class." If she wasn't even going to attempt to make their time together somewhat pleasant, then neither was he.

------------------------------

hardly even flinched at the short ring of the shops doorbell and then the angry slam contradicting it afterwards.  "Bad day ?"  He walked out of the back, wiping the fairy-like white power on his hands onto his dusted apron. 

"You have no idea."

"Oh really?"  He laughed as he watched her throw open the door to the back kitchen.  It was no secret that his sister didn't exactly have a "happy-go-lucky" attitude about things, but he couldn't remember the last time that she had ever gotten so riled up about something.

"Why can't the teachers just let me work alone?!  I'm perfectly fine just sitting in the back of the room, watching those pathetic students—"

"Live their lives?"

"...yeah."

"You know, maybe what these teachers are doing isn't as bad as you make it seem, eh?"

"I don't need your advice."

"Hah, you don't now?  Because it seems like your lack of friends says otherwise."

"!" Her voice was almost cracking from the strain she had earlier put on it while talking to Red Hair in the hallway.  "I told you before, I'm perfectly fine how I am."  Quietness overtook the duo as she stood calmly for a second before giving off a sigh and making her way to the back of the kitchen. 

's eyes watched her as she carefully escaped the reality that she had presented to her.  "You can't just run away ." His words were hushed as he shook his head and followed her into the back, proceeding to work on the treats that irked his only sister.

------------------------------

"Ooookay class~ now it is time for you to meet up with your partners!" 

"Boy..." 's facial expression was anything but happy as she watched the energetic teacher dance around the room.  "I hate this teacher." Shaking her head, her hand hastily reached out to the white sheet of paper in front of her, crumpling it slightly out of undiscovered anxiousness. 

"Crepes."  Well, at least crepes were one of those magical foods of the versatile variety.  Which meant that she wouldn't have to touch that repulsing bag of sweet, sparkly, white granules.

"Now, now, now class~!  You were all given your partners for this project yesterday."  Did the teacher really have to sing every word?  "This project will, in fact, be a series of smaller projects!  Meaning that you will be graded on the execution of three smaller dessert recipes followed by a larger grade on a final recipe~!  So exiting!  Now, today's recipe should already be within your grasp, so meet up with your partner and get c-o-o-k-i-n-g~"  Instead of being the one who liked things sans sucre, maybe the teacher should be the one considering less sugar intake.

"So I guess this means that we're going to have to put our differences aside."

All of 's small movements suddenly stopped and her breathing slowed.  Maybe if she just sat there in that still, lifeless state then he would just go away.  Maybe if she just followed under the rule of "I can't see you, you can't see me" then she would be able to prolong the distance between the two. 

"Helloo~?  Are you ignoring me again?"

Then again, “maybe” was only a word that usually meant no.

"What do you want Red Hair?"

Marui sighed. "You know, I have a name."

"I'm sure, but I'd rather that we avoid the “name” topic all together, wouldn't want to get attached, would we?" Her voice was surprisingly coy, for one who seemed against total interaction with the purple-eyed tensai.

Crossing his arms, Marui watched the girl as he bathed in the muteness between them.  "Marui Bunta."

" ."

"Now lets get this over with."

"Gladly." She gracefully stood up as her long fingers pushed in the chair that she had been sitting in.  Marui had already left for the kitchen, but she still had to re-grab the recipe, that she had earlier scanned over, while he checked the equipment. 

"Eggs." Large eyes peered over the piece of paper at the ingredient-filled table in front of her, inspecting it for the two large, round eggs.  "Ah, here." She grabbed them gently and set them onto the tray.  "...and whipped cream."  Her faced morphed into something showing displeasure as her eyes, once again, peeked over the paper at the blue tub of sugar cream. "I'm sure we don't need it." With that, she firmly grabbed the edges of the tray and continued towards the kitchen.

"Did you get everything on the list?"

"I'm not stupid Red Hai—"

"Marui." He corrected.

"Hn, sorry." There it was, that subtly spiteful tone again.  It seemed that if she couldn't take out the bubbling anger that she had directed towards the boy in actions, she would do it in words.

"Don't underestimate me." Dipping his pointer finger into a cup of creamy white fluff he brought it to the girls face, swiping a small amount of it onto the side of her mouth as he passed by to get the frying pan.  "I'm a tensai." 

"Nn?"  Her head jerked backwards at the cold feeling and that all-too-familiar toxic sweet smell.  "W-whipped c-c-ream?!"  For one moment, all of the iciness of her exterior melted as she instinctively backed up, hoping that the whiteness would clear from her cross-eyed vision.  "S-s-s-s-"

"Sugar." Marui finsihed.

A noise consisting of disgust, anger, frustration and fear screamed out through the poor girl’s mocking lips as Marui snickered in the corner.  If this was supposed to be funny, she most definitely did not get the joke. 

"I hate you Red Hair!"

------------------------------

This wasn't just a teenage quarrel anymore, this was war.  And if she had any chance of winning a war where the other side was more favorable, then she had to do research.  She had to mimic one of those silly little data-freaks that every tennis team seemed to have and watch for a weakness. 

...which would explain her distant appearance at the outdoor practice of the Rikkai Dai tennis club. 

"I hate myself." She sighed, notebook in hand.  Although she was trying her hardest to take significant data, it wasn't as easy as Yanagi made it out to be.  So far she had this...

"Ate 5 cookies, played tennis" 

Not exactly the secret shocking scandal that she was hoping for.

An audible sigh escaped her wind-battered lips along with the words "This is stupid."  because, frankly, it was.  Just what was she doing, sitting out in the cold, waiting for a certain red-haired genius to falter?  What was it that compelled her to even bother with this abrasive insect in the first place? 

"Eh?  Since when did another person come up here?"

Unlike the other voices that had been breaking her straying thoughts, this one was unfamiliar to her.  Her body flinched at first, as a sign telling her to just ignore it like she always had, but something told her that she was already forgetting all that she previously knew as she turned around to face the male voice. 

"Oooh!  So cute~!!"  His hair was blonde and unnaturally kinky, however, the commonness of his chocolate brown eyes almost disregarded that factor. 

"H-hi?"  Again, her body had told her to shoot out some smart remark, but again, something made her do the opposite.

His chocolate eyes suddenly became less common as he opened them wide, showing just how amazing eyes could be.  "Are you here to watch Marui-kun too?! Lucky day~!"

Marui?  Oh right, the horrid reason that she was freezing her butt off.  "I'm sorry, who are you?" 

"Ah!  I forgot!"  He laughed impishly with a hand behind his head.  "I'm Akutagawa Jirou!" 

Akutagawa?  She had heard the name thrown around a few times at school, but she hadn't imagined that he attended Rikkai Dai.  She took a moment to look him fully up and down.  Hn, well maybe that was because he didn't.  His uniform implied that he was a student at Hyotei Gakuen...so then what was he doing here?  " , yoroshi—"

"Sugoi, sugoi!!!  Did you see that last shot that Marui did?!  Sugoi!" 

This Akutagawa certainly wasn't lacking in energy, was he?  "Um...yeah.  So I assume that you're a fan?"

"Yup, yup, that’s me!"

"Ah." A sudden idea sparked within her little head.  "So...just what is it about Marui that makes you like him so much?"  Her eyes half-closed in that sly manner as she held the small bit of useless information to her chest, masking her ulterior motives.

"He—"  He yawned, which was odd considering that he was nearly bursting with energy not too many seconds ago, before staggering over to her and plopping himself down on the tuft grass beside her.  "Inspires me." Another yawn as his previously attentive gaze was distorted.

"Weird..."  And it was, considering that he was now acting as if he had taken an energy drink hours before and now its effects were wearing off.

"I see...and does this seemingly invincible Marui have any...dislikes?"  She had to choose her words carefully, making sure that the tiring boy wouldn't catch on.

"I think he..." Jirou's words slowed and faded into the scenery around the two. 

"He?"  There was sudden quietness, and then a warm weight gently forming on her side.  "H-huh?!" What was he—wait—was he sleeeping?!  There was no way.

"Zzz" The snoring was what made her realize that he wasn't as full of energy as she had previously thought.

"W-what is this?!?"

------------------------------

Another slam of pastry shops door brought back out of the world filled with sponge cakes and sugar plums, and into the world so regretfully labeled reality.  "Okay , if you thought that I was mad yesterday then get ready for what I have today!"

"Hey, hey, don't keep slamming my door so much!"

"Well I'm sorry!  But today just hasn't been too good."

"Yeah?"  Her older brother’s eyes looked over her, a look of confusion evident. "You don't look too miffed."

"First" She disregarded his vocalized speculation. "I had to work with that stupid little Marui and do you know what he did?  He put whipped cream on my mouth!  Whipped cream!  That disgusting little mixture of cream and pure sugar, right on the side of my mouth, I could almost taste it." 

"Sounds horrible."

"And then, I went after school to find out his weakness and I met the most aggravating, oblivious little shrimp in the world.  When we started talking everything was fine, but then he fell asleep on me!  That’s not even the worst part because..."  She continued to ramble on and on.

In fact, was so entranced in her long string of complaints about the day that ruined her life that she didn't even notice the casual chuckle that slithered right out of 's defined lips. 

However, she did seem to notice the sudden silence that he was treating her to.

"What?!  Did I say something funny?"

"You know, even if your continuous ranting may fool some people, I know better than that."

She was not amused.  "...what are you getting at?"

"Are you sure that this “undying hate” is what you truly feel about your two new guys in your life?"

"E-excuse me?!  I think I know how I feel about these two sorry excuses for tennis players!"

"Mmhm, I can see that."

"Whatever idea that you're conducting up in that little head of yours is totally wrong.  I told you yesterday that I'm fine not having to deal with people."

"Mmhm, I can see that."

"Are you just going to sit there all day while I'm having the worst week ever?!"

"..."

"..."

"Mmhm, I can see that."

"Argh!?!"

------------------------------

Okay, so maybe the heartfelt, emotion-filled conversation that she had been hoping to share with her older brother wasn't all that she had wanted it to be.  But it wasn't like it was entirely her fault that it turned out what way.  always had this way of turning things that she said around, he had a way with twisting words.  If she said that she hated something, he assumed that she secretly liked it.  If she said that she was never going to that place again, he would most likely take her the next day. 

Hmrph, too bad that brothers weren't like partners that you could just replace every few weeks.

"Cookies?  Man, does that sound good."

Then again, “partners” wasn't exactly her favorite subject at the moment either.

"I'll pass."  Cookies.  They were just another stupid method to get people unhealthy and fat, neither of which she particularly wanted to be. 

Marui turned his gaze off of the recipe paper ridden paper in front of him and onto the sugar deprived Princess.  Why was it that she was always so against any of the sweets that they made in this class?  Come to think of it...she kind of resembled a girl that he once saw scowling in front of a small café that he liked to frequent.  Oh yeah, she worked there or something, didn't she?

"What are you staring at?"

"Why don't you ever eat anything with sugar in it?  You work at a sweets shop for crissake."

Strangely enough, didn't have a smart comeback to present to the boy.  Partially because the question had totally caught her off guard.  Usually when she let that small bit of smart-alecky tone slide into her voice, Marui was on it like a fly on stink, extinguishing whatever pride she had left with a full canister of retorts.  "I don't believe in shoving pounds of sugar into my body, unlike most of the population.

"It's just one cookie."

"That’s how it starts out."

"You do know that your body needs sugars, right?"

"Hn...hardly"

Marui's mouth fixated into a small frown at the side of his childish face.  Why did he even bother?  "Whatever, let’s just start cooking." 

's lips started to turn downwards also, mimicking the self-proclaimed genius's frown.  Although hers was probably for a different reason, but a result of the same cause.  "Let’s just finish this." It seemed that some variation of the phrase was the only way to start every cooking class.

"Do you have all of the supplies?

"Yeah."

"and the sugar?"

"...yes."

"Okay then, onto the first step..." He blinked a few times, reading the step over again to make sure that he had gotten it right.  "Sift together the dry ingredients (excluding sugar) into a bowl.  Easy enough."

"I'll get the flour"

"Then I guess I'll get the baking powder and salt."

Was there some sort of hidden tension that Marui was unaware of?  Because it sure felt like it.  At least before they were fighting about something and there was an odd sort of substance to the two's meetings.  Now, it seemed as if they only said what was needed and nothing more.  This was most definitely that somber queen's fault.  His eyes shifted to the side as they stole a glance of the girl mechanically pouring flour into a measuring cup.  Yep, this was definitely her fault.

"Here's the baking powder and the salt, just sift it together and add it to the wet mixture I made."

"Okay"

Seriously, where was this tension coming from?  "You ready?"

"Yes, you?"

Marui nodded instead of vocalizing a response.  "Now we have to pour the dry ingredients into the wet ones while they mix in the mixer.." 

liked this idea of just nodding rather than giving audible recognition, so she simply nodded.  She knew very well why today's cooking class was so unbelievably calm, although she wouldn't like to admit why it was. 

It had seemed that somewhere in the girl's emptiness, her brother had actually struck a chord.  A rather large chord actually.  Before she would have just assumed that she was fighting with Marui simply because she hated them, and although she still believed that their constant bickering was still an effect of utter hate, she was scared of what her brother had insinuated that it could be.  Being with people, talking to them, interacting with them...all of it scared her.  Ever since Jr. High she had been alone, and she hadn't intended of making any exception up until the day she died. 

Blank eyes veered towards the one who caused her mind to go on such useless tangents, as one thought briefly skidded across her fluttering mind.

"Stupid Red Hair."

"Red Hair"—as so kindly put it—was too busy to notice her stare of agitation as he reached a toned arm behind the large mixing machine, searching for a switch.  "Ah ha!  Here it is~" He almost sang the words as a sudden mechanical stirring followed after a flick of his wrist hitting the elusive switch. 

The blank orbs that had been oddly staring at the boy's antics turned to the slow spinning motion of the machine.  "Do you want to add the dry ingredients?"

Marui waved a careless hand in front of his face as he sat, staring at the machine, hands of his hips while sporting a disappointed look on his face. 

Curious, the girl had to ask "What?"

"The machine is going too slow."

"Are you sure?"  Her eyes strayed back to the mixer, which seemed to be at a fine speed to her. 

He made a small noise that sounded like an assuring "Mmhm." before, once again, plunging an arm into the depths of what lay behind the old machine.  "..Just a little more..." He chided to himself as he reached back farther, straining his facial features.  "...there!"

The machine went wild.

"Marui!  What are you doing?!"  Her delicate hands raised to her face to shield it from the flecks of flying egg, sugar and butter that were suddenly sprayed everywhere.  "S-stop it!"

"Okay," He dusted off his hands.  "Time to add the dry ingredients."

"Are...you...kidding me?!"  She said—in increments—as she dodged the splatters of sweetness.

His response was a grab of the silver, white-filled mixing bowl.  "Here we go!" 

"Marui!!"

This time, the flour-bakingsoda-salt mixture went wild.

"I'm serious!  This isn't funny!" And, oh, how she couldn't be any further from the truth. 

Marui threw back his head and, well, he tried to give off a laugh of achievement, but with the tiny particles of flour flying into his mouth it came out more like a cough. 

"Ugh, I'm turning it off!"  Her voice fought with the loudness of the machine to reach the boy's deaf ears.  She, however, really didn't care whether her heard her or not, or even whether he cared at all, she just wanted the air to return to a breathable state. 

A final arm reached behind the machine, although this one was more slender than the last, and flailed around, trying to hit the switch bringing her breathable freedom.  "Is this—?"

Flick.

Silence.

"Oh man." Exhausted and mentally spent, felt her legs begging her to give into the shakiness that they caused her, and she did.

Marui, oh the other hand, was still on the ground, coughing and hacking.  What a surprise.

After a long while of the two sitting on the ground and regaining what was left of their broken composures, she somehow gained the ability of speech, much to Marui's dismay.  "What were you thin—"

Laughing?  Laughing.  There was...laughing.  That whiny little delinquent was actually laughing.   After he nearly killed both of them, and a few unlucky surrounding kitchen groups, this boy had the gall to start laughing. 

She felt a twitch at the hand wishing to punch him again.

"Did you see your face?!  I've never seen you show so much—hic—emotion in your life!"

She blinked in confusion.  Of course she hadn't "seen herself", she was too busy trying to figure out how she was going to stay alive.

"I.."

"Look at yourself!"  His hand weakly pointed to the stove, surprisingly glossy enough for a reflection to be made out amongst the madness. 

A deeply agitated sigh was released from herself as she, for some reason, complied. 

"Is that.." Her eyes widened. "Is that me?!"  She, literally, looked as white as a ghost.  Her face was covered in pure white and the small dots of batter on her face made it look like she had a bad case of warts, of the face variety.  "W-well look at yourself!  You don't look so hot either tensai"

His laughing subsided just long enough for him to take a peek into the blackness of the oven.  "Ah—it’s in my hair?!"

Laughing again, but this time it came from a slightly more surprising source.

.

Marui stopped fretting over his appearance in the makeshift mirror as he sat, hunched over on his knees in his own silence.  Was this really happening?  Was the girl who found a way to turn everything into something negative...laughing?  He could've sat there all day thinking about it, but then he remembered a certain, widely used phrase.

"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

A coy smirk settled on his lips before his laughter came out at full force, imitating her own. 

------------------------------

's small feet stopped, just before the perfect scene of green and maroon displayed right before her.  Though, it wasn't as close as she probably would have liked to be, she figured that being high up and farther away was as good as any other view.  Besides, Rikkai Dai tennis club had tons of annoying members and fans that liked to watch the tennis club practice on occasion, and she most definitely did not want to have to deal with them. 

There was a pen laced through long fingers in one of her hands, and a small notebook engulfed in the other, just like they had been the day before.  Thats right, was at the Rikkai Dai tennis practice once again, still hoping that she could at least find one thing to rile that little spitfire tennis genius up.

Though...the desire to sabotage him was slightly less evident than before.

"I'll get you this time Marui" She mumbled to herself in an unconvincing tone.  Where had all that hate gone to?  Oh yes, it was still submerged under the fact that yesterday she had actually laughed.

"Ah!  , you're here again?!"  Unsurprisingly, the curly haired, sleep-deprived prince stood not too far behind her, glancing at the tennis courts, which were a good distance away. 

"Hm...I suppose."  Bringing the hands filled with a notebook and accessories behind her back, she started to fiddle with them as a smile tugged at the side of her lips.  Wait--a smile?!  What was wrong with her lately?

"Sugoooii!!! You must really like Marui too!!"

With that said, the girl decided that she suddenly didn't care about whether or not the hyperactive tennis pro knew about her plan to find Marui's weakness.  Why?  Because Jirou's sentence containing the words "you", "like" and "Marui" in it just didn't work, and she would much rather risk that then having to face the farce of his speech. 

"No, no, no, you got it all wrong I'm just watching fo—"

"Sugoi!!" Okay, so the phrase was getting a little annoying.  "That means I have a friend to watch him with now!"

"No, really, I'm only—"

"Haa~!!" She didn't even have time to contemplate the weirdness of his noises before she found herself pulled into a hug that made her realize what it felt like to not breath. 

"Aku...taga...wa"

"It will be so much fun, nee?  Nee?!"

------------------------------

"Nioh, 20 laps."

"Whaaat?!  It was totally funny, admit it Sanada!"

"...30."

"Erg-"

Ah, the common happenings of the tennis club.  How could there be any sound that was better than that of Nioh having to serve laps for one of his stupid jokes that he pulled as a result of his tenancy towards boredom? 

"W-well look at yourself!  You don't look so hot either tensai"

Marui shook his head as he tried to rid his mind of what actually could be better than Nioh's misfortune.

's crisp, clear laugh.

Ha, now that was a good one, right?  That stupid girl's laugh being something that was better than Nioh getting reprimanded by the hard faced vice captain. 

...Speaking of that "stupid girl"...

A sudden flash of blonde was seen on the skirt of Marui's vision.  Which was odd, considering that blonde wasn't the most "common" hair color...but then again...neither was a stark red. 

"J-jirou?" Although he couldn't have thought of anyone else blessed with a blonde hair color, something in him had put the possibility of it being Jirou way far back in his mind. 

But it wasn't just Jirou, was it?

"?!" Okay, now the confusion was starting to set in.  Just what was doing with Jirou?  He hadn't even known that they were acquaintances.  It was quite surprising to see their faint silhouettes, conversing as if they were friends.  Hn...since when did that fanboy stay awake for longer than 2 minutes anyways?

All in one second, it seemed like, the small figures moved close together.  And by "close", it meant that they were dangerously close.  Just what were those two doing?!  We're they hugging, or...were they...were they...

"Kissing?!"  Marui almost had to do a double-take at what he thought he was seeing.    

"Marui!"

"O-oh, uh, what?"

"I'd rather you keep the gossip off of the tennis courts."

"S-sorry" What was this weird feeling that he was experiencing?  It was a sort of mash of anger, disbelief, deception, crudeness...the list could go on and on.  The only thing that he was really sure of at that point was the feeling of something dropping through out his whole body, what was this? 

Again, his eyes gravitated towards the two as a scowl broke out upon his round face. 

"—Pop!"

------------------------------

"Tiramisu." paused as she tried to register the concept in her head. "Do all of these recipes have anything in common?"  She gently sent down the paper and stole a look from the gum chewing boy in front of her. 

Strangely enough, he didn't look amused.

"Marui?"

At the call of his name, Marui just sat still as if he hadn't heard anything.  Was he trying to start a fight with her?  As of late, she had been feeling a lot better about dealing with people and she would even go so far as to say that she didn't mind them that much, but if he was going to ruin that with his cocky little attitude problem then...

"Are you listening to me at all Marui?!"

He didn't even flinch.

"...Bunt—"

"Don't call me that."

The girl had figured that maybe trying to use his first name would make him at least acknowledge her, but apparently she was gravely wrong.  Marui had shot her a death glare that would have sent her flying out the room, had she not been caught by firm hold of reality. 

"S-sorry."  The weird part was that she couldn't remember anything she could've done to cause such a look to be shot at her.  Yes, the two fought a lot, but she didn't figure that it was as serious as how he was presenting it. 

"Get the egg yolks."

"I—" Even if Marui deserved it, something was trying to get her to not fight back.  Something knew what would happen if she gave in and shot off a smart remark, and now she was blessed with the knowledge of how to restrain herself, if only for a little bit.  "Yes."

Crack.  Tediously, she pulled the egg apart while letting the gooey whites flow out of the sides.  They didn't matter to her, all she was after was the golden nugget in the middle, which she plopped into the sugar filled bowl.  "There’s 5."

"Mix it."

She took in a deep breath and let it out to calm herself.  Okay, now Marui was really getting on her nerves.  Did he expect her to do the whole project herself?  "Why can't you mix it?  I have measure and mix the coffee and rum extract."

"Because I don't feel like it."

"Well maybe I don't feel like getting an A on this project!"

"Maybe if you weren't always so pessimistic about everything then we would be getting an A on this project."

"Excuse me?!  You have been nothing but "pessimistic" this whole period!  Every time you talk I'm urged to punch your face!!"

"Then why don't you just do it then!?"

She paused, letting her face soften as she stared Marui right in the eyes.  The balled up hand at her side squeezed momentarily, but then went limp again. 

The time had come and, as it turns out she couldn't hit him.

"See, you don't even have the drive to hit me.  You know why?  Because you're all talk and no action.  You would rather just sit in the back of the room, letting the class ridicule you day after waking day instead of actually act on it.  You would rather live your life without any sweetness at all!"

"You don't even know what I'm li—!"

"I hate girls like you.  I've never liked you since the dreaded moment that I met you in that stupid sweets shop!"

There it was.  The heat in her face telling her that tears were trying to work their merry way onto her red face.  For once, she didn't know what to do.  Her mouth opened momentarily but the response, which hadn't even been thought of yet, was cut short.

" and Marui!"  It was the teacher, or what looked like her through 's water filled orbs.  "This fighting is unacceptable in my classroom!  Cleaning detention after school tomorrow, if you're not there then I will fail you both."

"Hn.." Marui pushed back the bowl of sugar and eggs and took his leave from the quiet classroom, not once looking back.

"Marui?  Marui!  Get back here young man!" The usually bubbly teacher left after him, flailing a hand in the air out of sheer anger. 

Silence.

Even if the class had anything to say to the stunned girl, they wouldn't dare speak it.  She highly doubted that they had anything good to say to her anyways, but that wasn't what was on her mind.  Actually, there was nothing on her mind, well, nothing besides the one phrase that Marui had uttered to her through venom-laced lips. 

"I hate girls like you."

Falling to the ground, found out for the first time in her life what it was like to cry.

------------------------------

Something was wrong.  Something was horribly, horribly wrong.  The chime on the door to the sweets shop sounded, however, no slam of the door followed after. 

"....?"  questioned thoughtfully, though unsure.  Maybe it had been a customer?  He didn't usually get customers at this time, only his younger sister, and considering that the door was actually shut silently, he doubted that it could be her.

"......"

Then again, doubt wasn't the strongest form of thought in the world.  "Are you...okay?"  He peeked around the corner of the kitchen, hoping to see her angered expression staring back at him. 

But he knew that, that was only wishful thinking.

" why—" Her words stopped suddenly, for no reason, as she stood in the middle of the shop in a frozen state.  Then, all at once she turned to face him, revealing the true feelings that were underneath her hair and darkened eyes.  "Why couldn't you just let me be alone?!"

The eldest child stopped.  Were those tears streaming down her face?  He knew for a fact that never cried, it was just something she didn't do.  If she wasn't happy about something then she let it out through angered words and agitated motions, trying to keep the human side of her hidden deep inside her shell. 

"What happened?"

"I just came to tell you that I'm walking home today, so you don't need to drive me."

"But our house is miles away!"

"Yeah..." She turned around and put her weak hand on the door leading out.  "It is." The chime sounded once again as she started her trek home, leaving her brother to stand there in the shop's silence. 

"How long are you going to run?"

------------------------------

A pair of purple eyes moved to the seat right next to their host.  Figures that it would be empty, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that.  Marui sighed as he let his head fall onto the desk in front of him.  He blew it, really bad.  So bad that his pride didn't even allow him to know that he had done anything wrong, although he felt it. 

" !"  Marui flinched at the name being called by the teacher. 

"She's...not here."

"Hm?  Too bad.  Hoshi Natsu!..." The teacher just went on like nothing had happened, not that Marui could blame her.  After the two's fiasco yesterday, he was sure that the teacher was more than relieved to not have to deal with one of the persecutors today. 

"Okay, thats everyone~!!  Today is the day that we will finish our project, the final piece of the puzzle!"

"Man," Marui thought, "This teacher is annoying..."

"So get with your partners and—"

"Hey!"

"Yes Marui?"

His voice got notably lower.  "...My partner’s not here."

"Oh, now I wonder why that could be?" 

Marui tried to suppress a low sneer at the teacher’s words.  She knew darn well why wasn't there, it was because...because he yelled at her.  Because he let this unexplainable anger grab hold of him and not let go.  He shook his head so that maybe the thoughts would disperse from his head, but it didn't work.  Why did he get so angry at her the first place?  Ah yes, he had been angry ever since that day at tennis practice.  That day when she saw Jirou and together, doing who- knows-what from what seemed like miles away.

The groups of partners occupying the tables started to dwindle as each pair got up and started to cook their final project. 

He was mainly angry because of that weird dropping feeling that made his blood run cold at the sight of the two.  Partially angry because he couldn't explain it, and partially because he was just so confused.

"Marui" The teacher said, in an oddly calm voice as she walked over to his table and sat down in front of him. "You and are going to have to make this up also, the day after your clean-up duty.  I wish that there was another alternative to having you guys stay day after day, especially with your tennis practice being so busy, but that's just not how it works out."

The boy sighed, and the teachers face softened.

"And make up with her, okay?"  She patted his back and left it as that, running up to another group and commenting on how "Wonderfully delicious~!!" their project was turning out to be.

Again, the boys red head of hair turned downwards on the desk in front of him with a light "thud."

------------------------------

The sunlight warmly bathed the dirtied desks in the class as one stood.  His pupils narrowed as he looked outside, directly facing the waning sunlight that the day had to offer.  "She's not coming." His head swung to the doorway, as a means to confirm his earlier conclusion.

It was right.  The doorway sat, empty. 

He turned back to the window, begging for it to lend him some of its warmth at such a time like this.  "I'll just clean it up myself." Turning around again, his eyes were able to catch a different scene than the one that was shown to him previous.  "?"

"I only came to do our make up session.  I'd rather not fail this class."

"Ah." His tone was understanding, though unsure of what else to say. 

Her gentle fingers grabbed the bucket of sudsy water and lifted it off the table, not forgetting to grab a rag with it.  Apparently that was it.  After all that had happened, she had nothing to say to him.  No smart-remarks, no wild out bursts, not even a single question. 

"It's really messy." He spoke aloud momentarily, hoping to at least urge the girl to let words flow from her mouth.  He couldn't believe that, for once, he actually wanted her to say something, anything.

The only response he received was the harsh sound of the sopping towel smacking against the hard floor. 

"I guess I'll take that as a notion for me to shut-up then." His words were quiet, but a laugh still escaped his lips at the end of his sentence.  "I guess it’s what I deserve." Purple eyes glanced over the girl quickly, still hoping for her to give him some vocal recognition, heck, even a small returning look would appease him at this point. 

"Look, I'm sorry."

Finally, the girl paused.  It wasn't much, but it was a start, right? "I didn't mean to let my anger escalate as high as it did.  I just—wasn't having a good day and I took it out on you." 

This time, she stood up and dragged the bucket over to one of the kitchen counters, continuing her cleaning duties on their dirtiness.

"It was wrong, and believe me, those words don't come from me easily." He half-mumbled the last part as he avoided looking at her directly, taking some of the awkwardness away from the situation.  "The truth is...I don't really know what's going on with me lately"

What was this?  An almost audible sigh escaped the girl's lips as she hesitated in her cleaning for the second time.  "Me neither."  She looked up at him for a second before her eyes shied away from his.  "Well, what I mean to say is—" She forced her gaze back onto Marui who, for once, wasn't chewing his famous green-tinted gum.  "I accept."

Marui's eyes widened in disbelief. "Really?!" 

"Yeah, but don't push it." A smile tried to make its way onto her face, and half- succeeded.  "And you owe me a hug." She had always wanted to try this “hug and make up” concept out, but the old her would have never allowed it.

He laughed.  "That, I can do."

"Don't get any ideas now." She spoke playfully as she set the rag down and rubbed her hands off on a dry paper towel, turning to Marui afterwards and taking a light step forward. 

"Be careful the floors still—"

"What?  Ah!"

Bam.

"!" And arm reached out and...

another bam.

"Ow.." She sounded, and then proceeded to cough at the cloud of flour now encircling her head.   Was that what caused her to fall in such a way?  It must've been, since the lack of traction on her foot felt a bit powdery. 

"Are you okay?!" 

"Yeah, my head just hurts." The white powder had finally settled, allowing her to open her eyes.  And when she did, oh how sickening cliché the scene before her was. 

Marui was there.  Right there.  Staring at her, staring at him.  Maybe that was why her arms and legs were suddenly so hard to move.

"Thats...good."  He paused, eyes glazing over as, they too, realized how close the pair actually was. 

Her face got hot because of...embarrassment?  What a weird feeling.  "U-uh yeah, Marui we shoul—"

And then, out of something that was either gravity or maybe even himself, Marui got closer.  Stopping right before the point at which they were joined, stopping right before the point at which their lips would touch, stopping right at the point where she swore their lips had touched. 

"Bunta." He breathed, correcting her earlier phrase and allowing her to feel how warm his breath was as it slid across her face, which strangely, caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand still.

What was he doing?  Why couldn't he just get up and leave like she was going to earlier suggest?  "B-Bunta we should g-get up."  But, for some reason, she didn't feel like she wanted him to listen to her.  She wanted him to ignore her, like he had most of the school year, and just keep letting gravity take hold. 

And he did. 

"Sorry for having to leave dearies~!!" 

Or, he tried. 

"Are you having just the most wonderful time cleaning the classroom?" The returning teacher looked around, seeing no one.  "?  Marui?"

Red hair bobbed above one of the tables that were in the room, visually shaken by the return of the teacher.  "W-we're just down here cleaning up some of the flour teacher!"  She was just lucky that Marui didn't have something to throw at her, because he swore that he would've loved to shove something into that preppy face of hers at that moment.

Another head popped up afterwards.  "Y-yes!  It's very dirty down here."

"...I can see by the flour in your hair..." She was a bit confused, and even a little suspicious, but she decided that maybe it was better to not press the matter.  "It's very clean in here though!  I am so proud of you two~!"

Proud?  Did she even remember the reason that the two were forced to be there in the first place?

"I suppose that I can let you leave now~!  So go!  And have a wonderful, wonderful day~!!" 

"Is she for real?" Marui grumbled as he started to get himself up. 

stayed silent, keeping her eyes on the teacher as a shade of red was still apparent on her round cheeks.  Talking—looking—seeing him would remind her of the situation that had just taken place, and she wasn't sure that she could admit to herself what had just happened.

"I guess I should go, it’s getting late." He turned to the girl beside him, but it seemed that she was keeping her attention on something else.

He got up, albeit reluctantly and slowly walked to the door, teachers eyes tracing his movements along the way.  "Bye ."

She nodded.  He left.

"Bye-bye Marui~!!."

------------------------------

A worried sigh escaped the grown man's mouth as the few customers in his quaint shop looked at him oddly.  Not that it mattered to him, since there was an evident look of worry on his face as his eyes, once again, glanced over the glass door.  Where was the chime and the usual slam after it that would usually have taken place hours ago?  His large hand started to pick up the nervous, annoying habit of constantly tapping as he waited. 

"Where are you?" He muttered to himself, not caring that with every word he was received another odd look from one of the few customers that were eating their goodies in his small shop.  After all, it was still his shop, he could care less if they caught him at his worst. 

His eyes looked at the door briefly and then looked away.  "Maybe if I don't look then I won't think about it so much."  But how could he look away at a moment such as this?  He broke his gaze, finally, as he let his head fall upon the sweet scented counter.  As if on cue, he was able to hear a light chiming sound resonate from the door to his right. 

All at once, his head flew up and stared directly at the one who had just walked in.  "?!?"

The girl before him nodded quietly, face flushed, probably because of her brother’s rather loud outburst.  "I had to clean up after school."

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I didn't have a chance to!  Remember?  I didn't go to school yesterday."

He blinked and then paused, motioning for the girl to follow him into the back kitchen so that they could finish their discussion without having to worry about bothering the few that were trying to eat their sweet delicacies in blissful silence. 

"Sorry!"  apologized as she opened the door to the messy kitchen.

"It's okay, Mom and Dad probably left a message on my phone but I just don't check it that often."  He paused. "But why did you have to stay after school?"

The stare that she had been giving her brother broke at the question as she shamefully admitted that,  "I got in a fight."

"What?!  I told you to try and make friends not—"

"It wasn't a fist fight!"

"Oh, well then that’s okay." He rolled his eyes at her failed retort.  No matter what way you put it, a fight is a fight, and he was sure that the only way that his sister could achieve something better than what she had now was definitely not through a fight.

"It wasn't my fault, it was that stupid Marui's!"

"...?" 's eyebrow raised as if he had taken a sudden interest in the matter.  He remembered her coming in and complaining about some guy nearly every day since she started that cooking...thing, but that was the first time that he had gotten a name out of her.  "Marui, huh?"

"Don't you get any ideas !"

"You do realize how red your face is, don't you?"

"Ah—!" Her frail hands flew up to her face, covering the bottom half.  Indeed, she was rather warm.  Err, that stupid Marui was really going to get it after school tomorrow.  "You turned the heat up."

He leaned down to her height level.  "You won't admit that you like a boy."

"I don't like Marui!"

"Who said it was Marui?" A coy smirk made its way onto his annoyingly smug face as he crossed his arms and stood up straight. 

It was times like these that wished that her brother had just moved out of the country and started his life anew.  "W-well,  you—I—"

"How long are you going to keep lying to yourself?" 

"I really dislike you."

"But you really like him?"  Oh, how she could just punch him in the face.  "Right?"

Her mouth gaped for a moment, unsure of what to say.  "I'm going to do homework!" As if she had suddenly turned into a child again, the flustered girl turned away and stomped off to the back of the kitchen as her brother suppressed a laugh at her actions.

Maybe this whole "fight thing" hadn't been as bad as he had previously thought?

------------------------------

Students were still exiting the busy foods class as arrived and peeked her head into the classroom.  Yesterday, after that thing had happened, the cooking teacher had told her that her previous absence had landed on the day of the final cooking project, lucky her.  Since she missed such an important piece of "the puzzle", as her teacher would so nicely put it, she had to stay after school...again.  To make things worse, she had to stay after school with the red-haired spitfire that caused her so much grief in events previous. 

"Ah~ !  You've arrived for your make-up session~!!" 

She was definitely not looking forward to this one bit.  "Yes." She didn't speak anymore than she had to, hoping that maybe it would influence the loud teacher to do the same. 

"Is Marui with you?"

She flinched at the name.  "No, he didn't come with me."

"Really?  Hm...well I hope he comes soon~!"

"School did just get out..."

"La la la~~!"

was not amused.  What kind of teacher blows off their students when they try to reason with them?  Seriously...

She pulled out a chair, twitching at the noise it made as it slid across the ground, and took a seat.  Hopefully she could get a little peace and quiet before she had to create another sickening sweet.

"Oh!  I forgot to give you your recipe!" 

"Well," She thought,  "there goes that plan." The girls face contorted into something of dissatisfaction as her momentary silence was shattered by the sing-song voice of the teacher’s discovery.  No matter how much she wished that she could imagine herself blasting the teachers head off, she knew that it wouldn't stop her from skipping over to her, with a piece of white paper laced in between her short fingers.  "Here you go~!"  She set the paper down in front of her student. 

"Ugh.." sounded as she read it over and over, cringing each time as the list of ingredients.

"Cake?"

She blinked once, then twice, trying to register the fact that the voice who repeated the words on the paper out loud wasn't her own.  In the back of her mind, she knew who was going to be standing there when she turned around, but to herself at the time, she didn't want to face it. 

"Strawberry cake, at that~"

If she turned around and looked at him, would everything that she had been trying to avoid hit her like a ton of bricks?  If she faced him, would it make her brother's words true? 

"Are you ignoring me again?" Marui's hands rested on his hips as his lips turned outwards in a pout.  He swore this girl was bi-polar.

"N-no, I'm just making sure that I read the recipe right." Reading the recipe right?  Any excuse would've been better than that...

The boy gave the girl an odd look, but decided against asking her what she meant by last sentence.  It seemed to him that was really nervous for some reason, although he couldn't really see why.  Maybe she was just allergic to one of the ingredients?  Nah...probably not.  "You can go get the kitchen ready, I'll get the ingredients, okay?"

Some sort of affirming noise wiggled out of her closed lips as her head slightly bobbed up and down.  Getting nervous at such a simple request was just confirming her brother's suspicions, wasn't it?  How long was she going to play this constant game of ring-around-the-rosy? 

A small smile weaved onto Marui's face as he watched the flushed girl travel over to the kitchen station not too far away.  He hated her.  Why?  Because she was the single cause of the uncontrollable smile on his face.  She was the reason as to why he had been so confused as of late, and until their little fall yesterday, he had simply been avoiding it.  This girl was the person who he was supposed to hate.  They were just supposed to do this project, saying no more than needed, and then never have to deal with each other again.

"Everything's ready."

He was snapped out of his dwindling thoughts by the girl's soft words.  "Oh!" Turning around, he grabbed the tray of ingredients and brought it back over to the small kitchen counter.  Hopefully, getting this project over faster would help him put those primitive feelings behind him.  "Cream sugar and butter together."

looked to the bowl and then to the tray holding all that they needed.  Her hands nimbly made a grab for the two desired weight-gaining agents and emptied them into the mixing bowl. 

"I'll turn it on!" A toned arm reached out to the machine.

That was when Marui felt the warmth of something firmly grabbing his wrist.  "Not on my watch."  For the first time in the whole session, Marui was able to find 's eyes staring directly into his, and oh, what a nice moment it was.

He hadn't even realized that he was staring until she made a face.  "W-well you're no fun." He concluded as his he pulled his arm back reluctantly and felt his wrist with his free hand. 

"I'm just trying to make sure that we get this done." With a flick of her wrist, the mixer started to make a sound that indicated it wasn't very happy with being forced on before it started to turn, mashing the butter and sugar into a mess of yellow goo. 

"It smells so good!"

"It’s butter and sugar, how does that smell good?" She shook her head as she motioned for him to read off the next step.  True, she was finally beginning to act more normal around the boy who had basically straddled her yesterday, but that didn't mean that she wanted to believe that her brother was right.  She just, like Marui, would just rather try to push through this and get it done before anything else emerged.

Too bad she didn't know that it already had.

"Now add the eggs.."  A cracking of 2 eggs was heard.  "And then the flour...oh!  I can do that one!"

An all-too-familiar hand, once again, reached out to grasp his wrist before he was able to get hold of the bowl containing the flower and baking powder mixture. "No, you can't"

"Why aren't you letting me do anything?!"

"Because last time you did, we found ourselves covered in yellow mush and white powder!"  She took hold of the white-filled tub and gently started to pour its fluffiness into the mechanical bowl.  "I'd rather not have to explain to my family why I look like a makeshift version of a ghost again."

He sighed.  "All that’s left is to pour the milk in and then put it in the oven." 

"Good, then you can do that." She forced back a smile as she handed him the cup of milk and the two cake pans that they would have to separate the batter into. 

"Stupid.." Mumbling under his breath, he grabbed the pans and did all that instructions asked of him to do, while surprisingly, not at all faltering in doing so.  After all, how many ways could one mess up something as simple as this?

The oven door closed, which was when the awkward silence started to regain its ground and pull itself back over the two.  They had at least 30 minutes, and neither one could think of one thing to say.  Or, maybe, they just didn't want to say anything.  Turning this into something that it didn't have to be would just be trouble for both of them...right? 

Regardless of her fleeting thoughts, a sudden word popped out of her mouth, breaking the silence.  "Frosting!"

Marui was confused.  "Frosting?"

"Yeah, while the cake bakes we can make the frosting." A smile arose on her face as she spoke in an almost exited tone, which was odd considering that sugar wasn't her most favorite subject. 

"I thought you hated stuff like that?"  Frosting itself was only a stick of butter and a little milk away from being pure sugar, so why would the girl who scoffed at something like tiramisu want to make something as sugary as frosting?

"Well, yeah, but..." Could this really be happening?  How could she tell him that, amidst her overflowing feeling of denial, she actually didn't want the few moments that the duo had left together to be spent in a regretful silence?  "I just, don't think that we should sit here doing nothing for 25 more minutes."

His face, which was previously ridden with confusion, contorted into a sort of cocky smile as he listened to her words.  "Okay then, let's make some frosting."

"How do you start it?"  She, really, was in the dark on this one.  Sure, she liked to cook more than often, but sweets were obviously not her forte.  Not a surprise to anyone who knew her number one dislike.

"Butter."

"Butter?"

"Yes, butter."

She paused, taking the time to show him a look of disbelief.  "Are you sure that we use butter?"

"Just put it in the bowl and mix it." 

Letting the butter fall into the metal bowl with a watery sounding "plop!", started to mix it slowly, not liking how it looked at this point. 

"Then the powdered sugar."

"This sounds disgusting."

"I told you, you wouldn't like it." He grabbed the powdered sugar off of the counter and brought it over to her bowl before he gently knocked the cup into the bowl.  "And finally, milk, vanilla and red food dye." 

"Why red?"

"Strawberries, duh."

"Oh." She looked down at the mash of colors and smells before her and tried to hide a cringe.  It was all so...nasty.  How could people eat this stuff?

"Now you get to stir."

She looked down at the mixture once more and took the nearby wooden spoon into her hand.  "..." Slowly, she started to twirl the spoon round and round, watching the ingredients get more incorporated with eat stir.  She was starting to regret opening her big mouth and pitching the whole "frosting" idea.  It seemed like a good idea at the time...

"Stir faster!  The cake is going to be done before we're even finished with this!" 

Her eye twitched.  Did she really sacrifice her all-so-beloved quietness just for this annoying boy?  "I'm not an electrical mixer you know?!"

"Fine I'll help you!" Marui reached out and grasped the hand that had a firm hold on the wooden handle. 

A blush rose in a rosy-red on her twin cheeks.  "W-what are you doing?!"  Was this the last time their hands would get to touch like this?  It felt so nice, having his large hand enclosed over hers. 

"Helping." He spoke simply as he started to vigorously force her hand to move, trying not to think about the fact that their hands were in the company of each other.  Denying the fact that the small warmness underneath his hand was caused by a girl who he had earlier despised.

"You're making it go everywhere!"  And indeed, he was.  All over her face were little freckles of pink fluff, as well as on her shirt.  And here she had been hoping that the last time she would have to endure the horrors of sugar being on her face was when the whole "flour fiasco" took place.

"That’s how you know you're doing it right!"

"Have you ever made frosting before in your life?!"

"...I saw them make it on TV once..."

"Marui!"

"Ding!"

The duo at odds stopped for a second and turned their full attention to the clean oven that had sounded for their attention. 

"I think the cakes done."

"Well I figured that much." yanked the bowl away from his hands, causing the warmth of his hand on hers to grow cold.  "Let’s just frost this thing."

"Jeez, what got you all grumpy?" The all-too-familiar pout started to form on Marui's face as he shoved on the oven gloves and started towards the shiny black oven.

Her pointer finger stuck out of her balled up fist before it went up to point at the spots of pink frosting on her face.  "This."

A snicker accidentally passed through his lips.  "Heh" His finger moved towards her nose, this time swiping up the light mixture, and putting it into his mouth.  "It is good though."

"Yeah, I bet."  She rolled her eyes as she coaxed the cake out of the pans.  Was he trying to tease her?  Because it was working.  She had to fight every pigment in her skin to stop her face from turning red.  Maybe she was just thinking about it too much, all of his little actions probably meant nothing to him. 

"How annoying.." She sighed as she dolloped the frosting in between the two spongy sweet treats.  "I would feel a bit better if he at least..."  Large eyes momentarily glanced over the boy, secretly, as not to let him notice.  "I don't know." 

Grabbing the knife, she put the two cakes together on top of the bed of frosting and dolloped a few more spots on the outside of the cake.  As if she was some sort of robot, she started to mechanically frost the sides of the cake, in a careful manner so that there would be no ugliness of crumbs on the outside.

"Nee, , you're really good at that."

"My brother does work at a sweets shop."  With a swipe of her hand, the frosting was planted on the cake, and even she had to admit, that it looked quite appetizing.  Even if she would never sink her teeth into something that would rot them shortly afterwards, she still briefly considered placing it into her mouth. 

Suddenly, a clatter of silver and other kitchenware made 's small ear perk up.  What was that boy do—?

"Time-to-eat!"

"We haven't even gotten the strawberries on it yet!?"

"Mm, it looks so good." Marui played like he was deaf as plunged the knife into the white, spongy cake and frosting, the perfect combination. 

"Shouldn't we show the teacher first?"

He looked back at her with a stuffed mouth, and frosting around his lips.  "Shue kahn whait"

Biting her lip wouldn't work to stop the laughter that started to burst out of her when she saw Marui's face.

"Yhou're laughffing aghain!" Although it was very hard for him to just push the surprised words out of his mouth, he got them, though muffled and covered in bits of spit-cake. 

Hearing her laugh made him realize exactly why he had been so angry on the day that he saw Jirou and her together.  Seeing her smiling face made him disregard all the previous doubts that he had about the two of them being something more.  Even if he was just a stupid boy who was dreaming, he could care less.  This moment, this laugh, it was all his.

"Why don't you try—hic—swallowing, genius!"

There was a gulp, and then a very brief silence before—

"Pfft--ha ha ha!!" She tried, she really did, but seeing how that self-proclaimed tennis "tensai!" looked with that abundance of pink smothered all over his face made her forget the facade that she had always put up, and although she would never admit it, it was moments like these where she wished the project would never end.  The moments where she didn't have to hide that semi-sweet inner core underneath the image that her, and her classmates, had naturally created for her.  Just because she never ate anything sweet...how long had it been a means to reflect her personality?

"Hey, s-stop laughing!" 

Her laughing subsided as she reached behind herself for the red berry sitting on the messy counter and brought it to her front, perched in between her thumb and index finger.  "You still forgot the strawberry." Pink popped out of her lips as she smiled with her tongue slightly poking out, as a playful gesture.  Baking the cake made her realize that she didn't care anymore, about anything.  She didn't care about the fact that they had to stay after school, she didn't care about the fact that Marui and her were from different worlds, she didn't even care about the fact that for so long...she had actually liked this red-headed punk whose name was Marui Bunta.  All that mattered was now, and the limited time that they were allowed together.  As long as she had that, she figured, there was no need for barriers, walls and even façades.  This, was fine.

Marui looked up at her, frosting still sitting on his slightly childish features.  "Well put it on." 

She giggled.  "Okay tensai." She looked down at the confection before bringing the bright red berry to contrast the smoothness of the light pink frosting.  If she dropped this berry, would it mean that their time together was over?  Would placing it perfectly on top of the cake that they had worked hard to make, symbolize the end of all their previous events?  "Marui..." She started slowly, letting the berry touch the frosting, but not letting it slip out of her grasp.  "Marui I think that I like—"

There was a sudden, odd sort-of, sugary warmth on her lips.  When her vision finally came into a fuzzy sort of "focus", all she could see was a mash of red hair and pink frosting. 

He had kissed her.

And when he broke, she couldn't help but want more of the sweet taste his frosting left in her mouth.

"I thought I told you to call me Bunta." A smile tugged the edge of Marui's pink smothered lips as he took the stunned girls head in his skinny fingers. 

"B-bunta."

"Hn...good." There was a slight noise of paper hitting the wooden table behind him as he set the cake down, strawberry resting on its top, and then lightly kissed the girl again. 

For once in her life, she figured that maybe the frosting oozing out the sides of a perfectly executed cake maybe wasn't so bad.  For once, she figured that maybe a small taste of sugar was exactly what she had been missing.  Because, for once in her life, she was kissed.  Because, for the first time in her life, she tasted the thing that she was taught to avoid and revere... 

Marui Bunta.

------------------------------

SongBird - 03/24/08

Edited by Marishka