Oh crusty nuggets!
Anna's eyes widened like a doll's as she looked upwards.
Tumbling towards her at the speed of light, was a bucket gurgling with foamy liquid. In tiny splashes, droplets of soapy water fell on her face, before…
SPLASH!
The entire content of the bucket showered onto her like a waterfall.
"W-what?" spluttered Anna helplessly as the water seeped into her clothes and plastered her hair to her face like a soggy mop of strawberry crepes. Choking on the bitter-tasting detergent, she could hear footsteps pounding towards her before they shuffled to a stop in front of her.
"I-I-I-I am so sorry!" Apologised the boy profusely before he continued to babble on about how sorry he was, bowing non-stop as he did so. Spitting out a strand of wet hair from her mouth, Anna parted her limp fringe to stare at the clumsy guy who dropped the bucket.
Surprise coloured her face immediately upon seeing the young boy's face. It was her class's representative, Yuu Tobita!
His moss green windswept hair flopped and danced as he bowed continuously while his button nose was scrunched up in shame. As the young boy continue to blather on nonsensically, his nutty brown eyes darted frantically about the corridor, too afraid to look at the victim of the bucket. Noting his crumpled and wet shirt, Anna smiled. Usually Yuu was neat and presentable, his t-shirt starched till they were crisp to the touch and his shoes tied with perfect butterfly bows. Now though, the laces of his shoes were undone and his shirt had a large water stain on it and was crumpled around the edges.
Guessing that he had most likely tripped over his shoes and thus dropped the bucket of water, Anna's gentle heart softened and she forgave him immediately.
"It's all right, Yuu. I'm fine; I just need to dry myself off before classes start." Interrupted Anna kindly, gesturing to her wet clothes.
Standing up, she wrung the water out of her hair before meeting Yuu's shocked eyes. He looked as though he had expected Anna to scream and yell at him before slapping him with her handbag…
With an amused smile, Anna waved good-bye to Yuu and headed on her way to the dorms. Suddenly, a soft piece of cloth was shoved into her hand, causing her to turn around in shock. She glanced at the white handkerchief in her hand, before looking at Yuu.
"Y-y-you can use the handkerchief to wipe the water from your face!" stuttered Yuu, his ears blushing furiously. Shock apparent on her face, Anna's first thought was, how sweet of him, before she grinned at him.
"It's all right, Yuu-kun! You can keep your handkerchief. It's too pretty to be dirtied by me." Then, after thrusting the handkerchief back into her friend's hands, she twirled around.
Calling out a cheery good-bye without looking backwards, Anna disappeared around the corner of the corridor, nearly tripping over with her heavy sopping wet skirt. Bubbles floated on the blue puddles of soapy water, glittering in the sunlight as the cleaner robot signed in resignation…
A few days later…
"Hey, over here!"
"Wow, did you see the latest Silver Blue Moon product? Their spring skirt was just perfect for me."
"I'm hungry… How about we buy some howalon as a snack?"
"Look, look! The latest issue of FashionExperiments has finally come out!" Squealed an excited Nonoko to her best friend. Grabbing the magazine from the rack, she hugged it to her chest, making Anna laugh merrily.
Shaking her head at her dark-haired friend giggling in the corner of the shop to herself, Anna continued browsing the store. It had been quite a while since their last trip to Central Town so she was determined to make the best of it.
Taking out her slightly crumpled shopping list, she smoothened it out and read out the spidery scrawls written on it. Looking down at her basket, she let out a groan of dismay. It was almost full!
And the worse thing was… Her handmade purse only contained a measly sum of 50 rabbits.
The bright pink basket was almost overflowing with all sorts of ingredients and knick-knacks, from boxes of relaxing plasters (since the exams were approaching), sour-sweet-bitter-salty chips (for an experiment) and wiggly dance balloons (to get back at Kokoro and Kitsuneme for their prank). With a sigh, Anna stuffed her checklist back into her pocket and made her way to the self-service counter.
On the way there, a certain flowery object caught her attention. Cursive Japanese characters swirled on the surface of a box which had tiny hearts that accented its simple lace background. To finish it off, a flouncy white bow adorned the top of the box with a flourish. That was merely the icing on the cake though. The real thing that caught Anna's eyes was the glossy picture of a stack of fluffy, golden brown pancakes dripped with cream and honey. In Anna's eyes, that picture was like what Mona Lisa was to art fanatics.
Almost dropping her basket in excitement, she bounced on her heels and stretched forward to pick up the item.
Suddenly, she stopped abruptly. Lips turning down in a grimace, the joy in Anna's eyes faded to disappointment as the price tag of the product glared into her face.
24 rabbits.
It cost three times more than most of the goods in her basket. Quickly doing the calculations in her brain, Anna inwardly face palmed herself. It was way off her budget! Nibbling her lips, she felt frustration slowly building up inside of her. It would be weeks before there would be another trip scheduled for her class to Central Town and by then, the product would surely be gone! Oh, she felt like stamping her foot and throwing a tantrum right in the middle of the store.
"Anna-chan? Aren't you going to check-out your purchases?"
Whipping her head around, Anna looked at Nonoko with a startled expression on her face and blinked. Hurriedly recollecting herself, Anna plastered a cheery smile on her face and nodded, before linking arms with her best friend.
As Nonoko chattered on jubilantly on how her idol Misumi Itahira was going to release her latest album, Fizzling Chemistry, Anna tilted her head back slightly to get a final glimpse of the beautiful packaging of the box. Her fingers itched to have a feel of the textured paper and silky fabric of the bow, even as she paid for her groceries.
Over and over again, as Anna walked out of the store, she reassured herself that the product would still be on there, waiting for her…
I wonder if that Kyarameru Berries Surprise Deluxe is still in the store?
Anna pondered thoughtfully as she pushed her mashed potatoes around her plate.
Sigh… I really hope that it's still there… Without even realising it, a frown had made its way to her face and it did not go unnoticed by her best friend. With motherly concern, Nonoko clasped Anna's hand gently. Immediately, Anna snapped from her daze and looked up in surprise.
"You haven't even taken a mouthful of your food, Anna-chan! Is it not tasty? Or don't tell me, are you sick?" Startled at her "revelation", Nonoko quickly pressed the back of her hand against Anna's forehead, resulting in Anna having to hastily reassure Nonoko that she was not ill.
Gosh, I must be going crazy. Pinning after that pancake mix like a love-sick puppy… But still, I really want it…
Letting out another sigh, Anna scooped a spoonful of mashed potatoes before shoving them into her mouth. After all, food shouldn't be wasted no matter what! Especially if you are feeling down and out. All the more reason to stuff your cheeks till you feel like a happy chipmunk!
Too preoccupied, Anna did not even noticed Yuu who was clumsily trying to balance a plate with a pretty pink cover on it. Luckily for her, Nonoko noticed the funny sight and nudged her friend, grinning mysteriously as she did so.
Sweet hotcakes!
Staring at Yuu with those wide, doe-like eyes, Anna could not help her mouth dropping to the floor like a sack of stones.
What on earth is he carrying?
"Might want to close your mouth or else the little bitty bugs will crawl inside," Teased Nonoko, who moved to the side, making way for Yuu.
With an embarrassed cough, Yuu placed the plate on the table. Clearing his throat as his cheeks blushed apple red, he said, "Erm… T-this is my apology for spilling t-the dirty soapy water on you…" Then, Yuu hastily removed the cover before looking at the floor self-consciously.
Holy cheeseballs!
Dripping with sticky, golden honey and coated with milky white whipped cream, a stack of pancakes baked to crisp perfection sat in front of Anna. Tiny berries glistening with melted sugar dotted the snowy surface of the pancakes like crystalised flowers. The heavenly scent of butter reached her nose in a delicate swirl and it overwhelmed her senses.
"This… This is the… Kyarameru Berries Surprise Deluxe!" Anna whispered in disbelief. She could not believe her eyes. Something that she had pinned for weeks was suddenly gifted to her! It felt so surreal to her, like she was in one of her fantasy confectionary dreams.
"W-well, when we were at Central Town, I saw you staring at this pancake mix in a shop… So… I bought it for you… As a present… I mean, apology…" Stammered poor Yuu. He felt as though he was about to explode from anxiety and nervousness. For a horrifying second, he thought that Anna was displeased by his choice of present.
Without giving a second thought, Anna stood up, surprising her classmates at her suddenness, before grabbing Yuu and planting a kiss firmly on his cheek. "Thank you! Thank you so much, Yuu. I love this present so much!" Anna squealed with joy
For the next two minutes, the entire canteen literally went quiet. It was so silent, that even if a pin were to drop, you would be able to hear it loud and clear.
Chocolate marshmallows! W-what did I just do?
Suddenly, all of the students in the canteen started whooping and cheering. Kokoro and Kitsuneme held each others' hands and danced in a circle while Sumire and Anna started tittering at the blushing couple.
Looks like spring may have finally arrived for Anna and Yuu with the help of…. Pancakes!
Author's Note:
Nice to see you again, my dear readers! Yes, I know that you're thinking that I am pathetic, since I haven't uploaded a story in ages… And I totally agree with you. Studying messes with my head and since I really hate it, it totally turns my head into a disaster zone like an out-of-control hurricane.
Hopefully, I will find more time to write and edit more stories… I sincerely apologise to my readers and the lovely and patient writers whose stories I beta read…
I hope you guys can forgive me with this silly story! I usually write quite dark stories in my opinion, so I think a more light-hearted story is in order. :D
Mini Dictionary:
Central Town- A shopping area in Gakuen Alice where students spend their rabbits buying all sorts of crazy stuff that other Alices make
Howalon- A very popular sweet in Gakuen Alice which looks like mini balls of cotton candy
Rabbits- The currency in Gakuen Alice and it replaces yen