A brief summary: Ichigo wants to show Kashino how she feels about him, but she can't bring herself to say it directly. So, she decides to bake him a cake. What could possibly go wrong? Kashino x Ichigo fluff. ONESHOT.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN Kashino, Ichigo, or Yumeiro Patissiere.
(A/n: Hey guys! I decided to write a YumePati fanfic. I hope it's good and I hope that the characters aren't terribly ooc… and yes, the title IS a pun on the famous line, "To be or not to be.")
Too Sweet or Not Too Sweet
Ichigo collapsed onto the park bench outside her school. She panted loudly as she leaned her head back onto the head rest. Her sweets spirit, Vanilla, is next to her as usual, except instead of her generally cheerful attitude, she's scowling. Ichigo slowly opens her eyes to look at Vanilla.
"Ichigo! Why are you always so gluttonous? You're going to get fat if you keep it up!" Vanilla commented curtly. Ichigo looked like she couldn't care less as she reached into a small shopping bag, pulled out a box of cream puffs, and placed one swiftly into her mouth. A playful smirk came to Vanilla's face as she studied Ichigo knowingly. Ichigo turned towards Vanilla with a bewildered look on her face. "And of course, if you're fat, Kashino will think of you as a pig and he'll never want to date you."
Ichigo's eyes grew wider and she choked on her cream puff. She looked back up at Vanilla and with a blush stained face, she whined, "Vanillaaaaaaa! You didn't need to say it that loud! W-what if he happened to be walking down the street just now and heard you!"
"You'd die of embarrassment," Vanilla replied smartly without missing a beat. Ichigo hid her face in her hands and rocked back and forth in panic. Vanilla sweat-dropped and flew closer to her partner. Ichigo slowly parted her hands and looked around at her surroundings. A flash of golden hair caught her attention. She pulled her hands away from her face and looked up. Across the street, she saw Kashino walking nonchalantly with his sweets spirit, Chocolat.
Ichigo let out a small, but high pitched, "Eeeep!" Kashino heard the squeal and turned his head in her direction. He saw her sitting on the bench and he stopped walking to look at her. When he realized that it was Ichigo, his face flushed for a fraction of a second, but Ichigo didn't notice it. In a dire situation, Ichigo grabbed an empty shopping bag next to her and pulled it over her head. Kashino, Vanilla, and Chocolat sweat-dropped. Kashino made his way over to Ichigo and stood in front of her while raising an eyebrow.
"Nice disguise, Amano. Unfortunately, your bad eating habits and the fact that you spend all of your money on sweets gave you away," Kashino coldly stated with a smirk on his face. Ichigo removed the bag slowly as she felt her embarrassment set in.
"H-hi, Kashino," Ichigo stuttered with a bright red face. "W-what brings you here?" She suddenly noticed that he was carrying a bunch of bags with him. Forgetting about the current embarrassing situation, Ichigo leaned forward out of curiosity. "Swiggity-swag. What's in the bag?" Ichigo pried the bag away from a protesting Kashino and she peered inside. What she saw confused her.
"Huh? Chocolate? There's strawberries in here, too," Ichigo wondered aloud. A few seconds later, she was giggling like a maniac, "Hee hee! I guess my gluttony is rubbing off on you, huh? Say, Kashino, do you have enough chocolate in there? Or do you need me to go get you some more!"
"Sh-shut up! I'm not a glutton like you! I-it's just for practice, that's all!" Kashino defended sharply with a blush across his face, but Ichigo's giggling didn't stop. "St-stupid Amano! I've got to go!" Kashino grabbed his bags and sped away quickly. Ichigo stared after him and pouted.
"Why did he leave so quickly? I don't have bad breath or something do I?" Ichigo pondered gloomily.
"I don't know, but he was acting kind of weird," Vanilla commented. She smirked and turned towards Ichigo. "Although, when he first saw you, he was blushing!" Ichigo's face turned red and she swatted at Vanilla, who giggled. Vanilla landed onto Ichigo's shoulder and drew a deep breath in as Ichigo returned to the box of cream puffs and plopped one into her mouth. "So, have you decided how to confess to your love yet?"
"Nhn. I don' hab the shleitess clu (No. I don't have the slightest clue)," Ichigo replied with her mouth full.
"I-chi-go! Don't. Talk. With your mouth FULL OF FOOD!" Vanilla exploded as she tried to teach her partner some manners. Ichigo cried out in pain as Vanilla whacked her over the head with her magical spoon. "Back to more important matters, we should figure out how you should confess to him!"
"But I already told you that I don't have any ideas!" Ichigo complained. She flung another cream puff into her mouth.
"Hmm… let's think. What if you used something that Kashino loves?" Vanilla asked excitedly. Ichigo nodded her head in agreement.
"Ysh! Bt I dunnoh fwat hee rikes (Yes! But I dunno what he likes)," Ichigo replied with her mouth full again. Vanilla smacked her hand against her forehead in aggravation.
"Well, let's see…" Vanilla started as she thought. Suddenly, a devious grin swept across her face. "I heard from Chocolat that he likes drawing! Especially a certain thing… or should I say person!" (a/n: Yes, Vanilla is referring to the episode in the anime when it was revealed that Kashino drew a picture of Ichigo.)
"Huh? What?" Ichigo looked at Vanilla sideways.
"N-never mind," Vanilla stated flatly while sweat-dropping. A light bulb suddenly turned on above Ichigo's head. She rose to her feet quickly, and with a dopey grin on her face, snapped her fingers.
"I know! He loves chocolate!" Ichigo commented. "After all, it is what made him want to be a patissier in the first place, right?"
"Oui, Ichigo! Nice job!" Vanilla announced happily.
"Hee hee! I'll make Kashino a nice chocolate cake and I'll hide a secret message in it!" Ichigo revealed like a giddy school girl.
"That's great! Just one problem…" Vanilla began. Ichigo stopped squealing and looked back towards Vanilla. "He's a chocolate critique. If you make one mistake, he'll surely point it out to you like he did to Heiress when she gave him Valentine's Day chocolate. And knowing how clumsy you can be, you'll surely have at least one mess-up." Ichigo turned white and froze with horror.
"I guess it's not that good of an idea after all…" Ichigo commented sadly as she looked down at the ground.
"Ah no! I didn't mean to make you all depressed! I just wanted to make you aware of the reality," Vanilla assured Ichigo, but she didn't move from her depressed state. "A-and besides! If he really likes you back, I'm sure that he won't be too critical!"
"*Sigh* Well, I guess there's only one way to find out," Ichigo commented as she tried to reassure herself.
"That's the spirit!" Vanilla remarked as she flew onto Ichigo's shoulder. She pointed towards the school with her right hand. "To the kitchen!" Ichigo grabbed her bags and walked along the path back to her school.
As soon as Ichigo entered the library, she looked around for an open computer. Once she found one, she walked up to it and sat down. She logged into the computer and opened up the internet.
"Okay, Vanilla. Let's find an excellent chocolate cake recipe!" Ichigo remarked determined. Vanilla nodded in agreement. They looked all over the internet for about 2 hours.
"Aw. I can't find any good ones!" Ichigo whined desperately.
"Don't give up yet! Keep searching!" Vanilla said, fully energized. Ichigo sighed deeply as she opened up a new webpage and scrolled down it. She stopped at a picture of a delicious looking chocolate cake.
"Hey! Let's do this one! It looks amazing!" Ichigo announced happily.
"Hmm… I dunno," Vanilla replied and she examined the cake and its recipe. "This one looks like it'll be hard for you to make, Ichigo—"
"I can do it! I want to impress him after all! I need to put all of my best effort into it!" Ichigo cut Vanilla off.
"Alright then… but I don't know… I've got a bad feeling about this…" Vanilla said reluctantly.
"Yes! To the kitchen!" Ichigo commented as she raced out of the library. Vanilla followed after her.
"Tadaa! *huff* what *huff* do you *huff* think, Vanilla?" Ichigo asked her. Vanilla flew over to Ichigo and looked at the cake.
"Ichigo, I know you want to impress him, but I think you should stop now. This is your 7th or 8th time making that cake and it's getting late. The cakes you make are worsening as the night goes on. You need to stop and go get some sleep!" Vanilla announced worriedly. Ichigo shook her heads rebelliously.
"No! I-I'll be fine! I… I need to finish it… and make it perfectly! I-I…" Ichigo replied determinedly, but sleepily. She wasn't quite sure, but she thought the room was spinning.
"You're going to get run down! Look at yourself! You look so tired!"
"Leave me alone! I'm fine!"
"NO!"
"I-I don't… need you yelling… at me." Ichigo looked down at the floor. A single tear fell down her face. "Get out. Leave. Get out right now. ARE YOU DEAF? I SAID GET OUT!" Vanilla began bawling as she raced out of the kitchen, leaving Ichigo all alone. Ichigo looked at her cake disapprovingly before she walked over to another station and got yet another metal bowl to make a new cake.
Vanilla flew down the empty school hallways. She couldn't see very well, since her eyes were blinded by tears. She saw 2 figures coming towards her, but she couldn't tell what they were, so she hid behind a nearby painting. Vanilla wiped her eyes and peeked into the hallway. She saw Kashino and Chocolat strolling down the hall. Kashino was holding the bags of chocolate and strawberries he had gotten earlier that day. Vanilla waited for the duo to pass by the painting and then very carefully and quietly, she followed them down the hall.
"Geez, Kashino. I still can't believe you're doing this. You're becoming such a softie," Chocolat commented tsunderely.
"Sh-shut up! I'm not a softie!" Kashino barked as he glared at Chocolat.
"Riiiiiiiight," Chocolat replied sarcastically. A few minutes of silence passed before she spoke again. "I can't believe you chose her, though. She's such a klutz. I bet she'll be awestruck by the cake you make for her. Honestly, I don't see how she couldn't be, since you're MY partner, after all. You're working with the best. I hope the earlier incident didn't give too much away, but then again, she's too dense to figure it out, so I doubt it. But seriously, your method for confessing to her is definitely unorthodox."
Huh? He's making Ichigo a cake, too? How cute, Vanilla thought. Wait a second… that means he's going to the kitchen! Ichigo will be so embarrassed if he sees her! I have to stall!
Vanilla flew right up to Chocolat and commented really loudly, "Hi, Chocolat!" Chocolat and Kashino jumped 3 feet into the air.
"What do you want? Can't you see we're busy?" Chocolat barked annoyingly.
"I just wanted to say hi to my favorite sweets spirit. How's life?" Vanilla asked fakely. She grabbed Chocolat's hand and made her turn the other direction. "Seen any cute guys lately? Find any good recipes?"
"Wait! What are you—," Chocolat begun.
"Well, Chocolat, you have fun with your lady friend and I'll just continue on then," Kashino announced. He turned around and continued heading towards the kitchen. Vanilla gasped and let go of Chocolat's hand. She flew over to Kashino and began to annoy him instead.
"Hello, Kashino! Where are you going?" Vanilla asked fakely. Kashino ignored her. "Why are you ignoring me?" Still no response. "Say, why did you buy all those bags of chocolate and strawberries?" His face reddened a little, but he still didn't say anything. "Is it to confess your love to Ichigo?" Kashino stopped in his tracks and grabbed the little spirit by her hair.
"H-how did you know about that?" Kashino roared. His face was a bright scarlet color.
"I-I-I uh you know! I uh just happened to be floating around down here and I heard it," Vanilla answered honestly.
"Wait… does that mean… i-is Amano here, too?" Kashino asked, feeling even more embarrassed.
"Uh well um… not exactly…" Vanilla replied.
"Well just leave me alone then! I have business to attend to in the kitchen," Kashino swiftly said as he reprimanded her.
"No! Don't go in the kitchen!" Vanilla bursted out suddenly.
"…Why not?" Chocolat asked curiously.
"B-because um… I-Ichigo is busily working in there… maybe a little too busily…" Vanilla answered.
"What do you mean?" Kashino inquired.
"Well um… *sigh* she's trying to make a complicated cake and she wants to make it perfectly, but she's not good enough. She keeps trying over and over, but she can't get it right. She's made it over 7 times now and she hasn't gone to bed at all. When I tried to get her to stop, we got into a fight and she kicked me out of the kitchen. I just… I just don't think she wants any to see anyone right now," Vanilla told them. Kashino pushed past her anyway. "Wait! Didn't you hear what I just said?"
"Yeah. I'm going to knock some sense into her," Kashino boldly stated as he continued walking. Chocolat and Vanilla followed behind him. Kashino pushed the double doors open and saw Ichigo making another cake. Just as Vanilla had said, she was surrounded by countless other cakes. Ichigo turned around and saw Kashino approaching her.
"K-Kashino *huff*? What are you *huff* doing here *huff*?" Ichigo asked tiredly. Kashino walked right up to her and looked at the cakes surrounding them. He saw that she was holding a bowl of chocolate cake mixture. He slapped the bowl out of her hands and the mixture splashed across the white marble floor. Ichigo bent down to try to clean it up. "Hey! That was *huff*… that was *huff* my cake mix…"
"Idiot!" Kashino yelled fiercely as he kicked the bowl again. "I can't believe you! How could you even think you could make something like this! It took me years to make this! Surely someone who has YOUR abilities can't successfully bake this!" Ichigo stood up and tears slowly began to pour from her eyes.
"I-I… I just wanted… all I wanted to do… I wanted to make it for…" Ichigo tried to say, but it made no sense. She started bawling uncontrollably. Kashino stepped forward and gave her a hug. Chocolat and Vanilla flew out of the room unnoticed to give them some "alone time."
"Shhhh. It's okay. I-I'm s-sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, I guess," Kashino said as he tried to comfort her. "So, what did you want to tell me?"
"I wanted to *sniff* make it *sniff* for you," Ichigo replied. Kashino's eyes widened for a second and then he closed them.
"Why did it have to be perfect, then?"
"B-b-b-because! *sniff* You're a chocolate critique *sniff*! I had to make it *sniff* p-perfect o-or else *sniff* you'd r-reject it *sniff* like how you rejected Heiress' and her chocolate *sniff* on V-V-Valentine's Day."
"Heiress? I rejected her because I hate her."
"*sniff* you d-don't hate m-m-me?"
"N-no… not exactly…" Silence filled the room for a minute. "So, you wanted to make the cake for me?" Ichigo nodded. Kashino let go of Ichigo and walked around the room. He searched for a fork and then made his way back to the counter. He picked one of the cakes and pulled it closer. "Itadakimasu."
"W-what are you *sniff* doing?" Ichigo asked. Kashino turned around.
"Eating what you made me," Kashino answered as if it were obvious.
"B-b-but it's probably bad!" Ichigo remarked as she tried to stop him.
"I don't care." He took a forkful of the cake and ate it. Ichigo stared at him as she waited to hear his critique. He opened his eyes and looked at the cake again. "Hmm… well, the taste isn't that bad… the design is all wrong, but I can still tell what you were going for." He continued to eat it. "Hmm… maybe you used a little too much butter, too…"
"I-if you *sniff* d-don't like it *sniff*, w-w-why a-are you eating it?"
"Because you made it. And it's not THAT bad… I guess… it could even be one of your best cakes… maybe…" Ichigo ran over to Kashino and gave him a big hug.
"A-A-A-A-A-A-Amano!" Kashino exclaimed. He was extremely embarrassed and his face was scarlet red.
"Th-thank you, Kashino." Kashino hugged her back.
"I-it was… n-nothing." He hid his face in her hair.
THE END
Hey guys! Thanks for reading this! Anyway, so this is the cake that was used in this fanfic: .com/Birthday%
I don't know its name, but I thought it looked cool, but hard to make. I don't own this cake, either. Anyway, I hope you liked this :]
-everliferulz7769