"What the actual hell is wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with you?"
"You're really going to treat someone you love like that?"
"I don't love her, I never did,"
"Are you trying to convince me? Or yourself?"
"I…"
"You know Natsume; I'd give anything to have a girl look at me like that, anything,"
"You just don't get it! I'm doing this for her own good!"
"I never believed everyone else when they said you were just some spoiled asshole, not until now,"
~XxXxXxXx~
Chapter One
Mikan sighed and wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand; standing so close to the ovens in the middle of summer was taking its toll on her. She rubbed her hands on her apron, smearing flour on the dark material.
"Anna, the cake is done," she called through the small heart shaped window that opened into the restaurant half of the bakery. A girl with a head of fluffy pink hair looked back at Mikan from the counter, her blue eyes pleading as the pig boy from the farm next door leered at her. Mikan let out a sigh and grabbed a large wooden spoon off the counter. She pushed through the swinging doors that led to the restaurant and smacked the spoon down loudly on the table, making both the pig boy, and Anna jump.
"Get outta here, Taichi, how many times am I going to have to tell you," she put her hands on her hips and glared at him. Taichi scowled, and dropped a handful of silver onto the counter, taking off with the three loaves of honey bread he bought each Monday. Mikan dropped the silver into the cashbox and steered Anna back towards the kitchen. "Every time," she grumbled, shaking her head. Anna giggled.
"You should be a prince, Mikan, or a knight in shining armor," Mikan dropped into a graceful bow, taking Anna's hand.
"Milady," she grinned, Anna blushed theatrically and they both broke out laughing.
Mondays at the bakery were always uneventful, the bakery was in a small farmer village, south of the Capital, and most of their customers were travelers, looking for a place to water their horses while they ate. A few farmers swore by the bakery, such as Taichi's father, Hideki, but that was mostly out of loyalty to the noble Imai family who owned it, other people avoided the bakery out of fear for the Imai's who, in all honesty could be quite intimidating.
Mikan collapsed into a chair, rolling her shoulders and popping the kinks out of her fingers while Anna frosted the cake. Anna had a real knack for the finer aspects of baking, Mikan appreciated her help, every time she had attempted to frost a cake it ended up kind of disastrous. Anna's head popped up from behind the fluffy mass of icing and whipped cream. "Can you grab me the strawberries,"
With a playful groan Mikan hopped to her feet and fished a pound of strawberries from the cooler. "I want to go home," she grumbled, plopping the bag of strawberries beside the cake.
"I don't see why, you have her waiting for you, don't you?" Anna dabbed some frosting on Mikan's nose and Mikan stuck out her tongue.
"Hotaru isn't all that bad," she popped a strawberry in her mouth and made herself to the chair.
"Maybe not to you," said Anna noticeably paling, "but she's so…" the bell rang from the restaurant rang, signaling a customer.
"I'll get it," Mikan chirped, dashing out the swinging doors before Anna could protest. She regretted her haste almost immediately. The figure behind the counter was draped in a dark, heavy cloak that concealed it's features, a large, masculine hand extended from beneath the thick cloth, it's fingers glittering with precious jewels and metals.
"C-can I help you?" she stuttered. With a soft, guttural noise the cloaked figure pushed back the hood, revealing a mess of shiny black hair resting atop the handsome, but stern looking face of a man. He swiped his hand across his head and opened his eyes, they were as red as rubies and they flickered and danced like fire. The man looked at Mikan for a long moment, his expression giving nothing away, Mikan stared back, feeling hot and cold at the same time, she had never seen such a striking person before in her entire life. The man could only be described as beautiful.
He pushed his messy hair out of his eyes, and pointed to the display case. "A cream tart," his voice was harsh and authoritative. He didn't say "please" or "thank you" he simply waited as Mikan struggled to collect herself. She ducked under the counter, eager to get away from his penetrating stare, and grabbed one of the many cream tarts that lined the shelves. She busied herself by wrapping it in rice paper and placing it in a small box, doing her best to ignore the eyes boring into her back. There was something wrong about the man, but she couldn't place it.
She smiled a shaky smile as she handed him the neatly wrapped box, he tucked it carelessly under his arm and turned to leave. But he stopped and turned back at the door, fixing Mikan with another stony look. "Do you know a place to stay for a few days?" he asked, his voice flat and cold. Mikan hastily scrawled directions to the nearest inn on a napkin and passed it to him over the counter. He accepted it without a word of thanks and disappeared out of the shop doors. Now released from his gaze, Mikan gained enough composure to fume.
"That's the rudest person I've ever had the displeasure of meeting," she told Anna, Marching indignantly back to her chair. She would never admit it, but she was hoping to run into him again, if only to give him a piece of her mind.