Authoress' Notes: And I realized I haven't been posting in for quite some time, eh? Ahwell. I've still been writing these past few months, but since I'm too lazy to HTML encode it for FF-dot-net, I just post it over at LiveJournal instead. (Yes this is a very shameless spam for my LJ. Wahahah.) XD Visit if you can, ne?

And as most LJ user-writers would know, there are writing challenge communities that give off themes you have to do a drabble/ficlet for whichever pairing/group/character you choose. I chose SatoshixRisa as my pair (because they are so LURVE) for the 30kisses comm. And so here thus is the result. (Yes, this drabble is one out of 30. XD)

Enjoy, people. (And I did miss FF-dot-net!)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but a copy of the anime. See? No manga, even. (I just freeload off my best friend. Fuuu.) So what makes you think I'd own the whole thing?

---

Strawberry-topped Chocolate Cake
by psychedelic aya

Summary: And they argue. (No, not really.) Satoshi and Risa, one fine Saturday afternoon.
XXIII. Candy

She smelled like strawberries.

And Satoshi could vaguely remember the scent (really, how could he forget?)--wafting over his nose when she passed by (it was heavenly and he remembered thinking of sweet candy)--teasing him, beckoning him; it was especially strong when her hair tousled around with the wind, like a sheet even more delicate than Chinese silk (would it feel that way too, he often wondered) blowing along with the gentle zephyr, shimmering gold under the sun's warm hands--

"Hiwatari-kun?"

He could merely blink as her head turned around suddenly, auburn hair flipping over her shoulder with the movement. For a moment, her tresses passed near his nose (were they that close already?)--and he could smell the addicting strawberry--

(He suddenly had a craving for candy--)

He tried to look attentive. "Yes, Harada-san?" (And maybe he would've been listening to her rants in the first place if she just wasn't so distracting--)

She pouted. With her hands on her hips, "Mou, have you been listening?"

He pushed up his glasses before replying; and still, his face betrayed nothing. "I believe I have been."

(And despite the fact that her smell and her hair and her lips and everything else was distracting--too distracting--he was still listening to her babblings about school and shoujou manga and strawberry-topped chocolate cakes--)

She looked disbelieving. Poking his chest accusingly, "You're lying!"

He looked as if he had been scandalized. "…I am?" And he had that small smile on his face--that smile that was so enigmatic and so charming and yet so very annoying at the same time. Satoshi seemed to look pleased with himself for being the vent of Risa's anger. "You accuse me of such horrible things, Harada-san."

He said it so simply--and matched with that grin on his face, Risa would almost think he was innocent.

Almost.

"What was I talking about, then?"

He didn't skip a beat. "Strawberry-topped chocolate cakes. You ate one awhile ago, and you were asking me if I had tasted one."

(Damn, he was right.)

Risa crossed her arms, pouting; she tried desperately not to look embarrassed for accusing him of wrong things (while also trying to regain some lost dignity in the process.) So, as a comeback, she replied a little too haughtily for her tastes. "Well, have you?"

There was silence for a moment, and she'd expected him to say no.

(Then she'd laugh and maybe regain some dignity and tell him that they could go to that quaint little bakery together--now even, if he wanted to--to taste that strawberry-topped chocolate cake and talk about stupid things where he'd listen and she'd do most of the talking.)

But their relationship was really like that anyway, and so she could already envision how this Saturday afternoon would go.

(Meanwhile, Satoshi was still staring at her hair and at her lips and he started wondering what kind of gloss she used, because they were too red and too shiny--they almost looked like strawberry... so if she smelled like strawberries would she taste like them too? He really wanted some candy--)

...Imagine Risa's surprise when Satoshi kissed her.

(She'd like to think, what the hell…?)

It lasted for only a moment, a fleeting blissful state--and they had kissed before (once or twice or thrice; under the rain and under the sun--like a haze through a memory--) so this shouldn't be so surprising.

But it was.

(It was a good kind of surprise, though--)

When he finally (finally!) let go of her, Risa was still in a daze. Her eyes blinked blank and her cheeks were aflame.

"It must be good," Satoshi suddenly said, his eyes crinkling with a laugh and his mouth curved in a smile. He was slowly turning away from her as he spoke, but she knew he was amused. "…This strawberry-topped chocolate cake."

Risa fumed at Satoshi's talent to look so damn innocent.

.//FINI - 111205

---

Authoress' ramblings: I know the pains of criticism. Yesss, indeed. Feel free to tell me it sucked, huzzah. And yes, Satoshi was out of character, of sorts. Ohwell.

Remember, someone up there loves you.