"Hey, how about we go and train ourselves this weekend?" Kashino abruptly suggest. It perked Andoh's, Hanabusa's & I's interest.
"Training?" I asked, curious as to what brought that up.
"Yeah, sounds good." Andoh said. "I'll return home and get my grandfather to coach me."
"Then, I'll go to Tokyo and look for some new rosewater." Hanabusa replied.
"I'll go to my uncle's chocolatier." Kashino said with, as usual, a blank expression on his face. Thinking of my teams wishes and just-made decisions, I guess it would be futile to tell them that I actually had wanted to hang out with them this weekend… Oh well, maybe I could get some training from my uncle too!
"Then, I'll go get special training from my grandma's shop!" I said eagerly, already beginning to think of all the recipes I could finally try out with my uncle! He's been telling my dad that he's been itching to spend some time with him, mama, Natsume and myself! This could be a good opportunity, even if it does spoil my original plans…
That was the decision made the day before yesterday, on Friday, and since then I had come home to find my sister depressed. With the help of mother and father, I was able to make Natsume a strawberry tart and I successfully lured her out of the room. After that, and where we presently are, I packed a picnic basket with a strawberry tart in it and took Natsume to a spot I always went to when I was sad. This would be the perfect place to talk. Especially because of the view! It always helped me see that, no matter what, whatever problems I had could always be worse. And that they always would seem so small, that I would feel better instantly.
"What a nice breeze!" I commented with a smile, leaning on the wooden posts along the view spot. The nice wind blew through my hair gently, making me feel relaxed. I turned to my little sister, smiling at her gently. "Let's sit down here and eat."
"Okay…" She said, with confusion present in her still-depressed eyes. Her face may be blank, but her eyes were clear as day to me. She can't hide how she truly feels from me – I am her older sister, after all! And so, we sat down on the bench, admiring the view, as I opened the box that held the tart. Natsume then turned to me with slight hesitance. "Why'd you bring me here?" She asked. I could almost hear how guarded she was. I frowned slightly. Why is she guarded with me?
"Maybe I never told you before, Natsume…" I began, my frown turning into a small concerned smile. "When I was a third grader in elementary school, I announced that I was quitting the piano, just like you did, and mother yelled at me." I stated, watching Vanilla have the time of her life in the garden behind us from my peripheral vision. "I cried and came here."
"Now that you mention it, I kind of remember that." Natsume said, a look of faint remembrance in her eyes. I smiled at her, and cut the tart, putting a slice on a plate, and served some to her.
"Here, eat up." I said. Natsume had a guarded look in her eyes again, but it vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. She took the plate from me, grabbed a fork, and ate a bite of it. And just as she swallowed it, I saw her face light up in shock.
"It's delicious!" She exclaimed. I smiled fondly at that comment. "Did you really make this?" She demanded. I almost giggled at her behaviour.
"Yup, I did. But it's still nothing compared to grandma's strawberry tart…" I told her. Natsume took another bite.
"That's not true! It's incredible!" She declared. I was flattered, but I knew the truth.
"That's because you're really hungry, Natsume." I said. In my peripheral, I could've sworn that I saw something move – past where Vanilla was – but I shrugged it off because it was so quick. Must've been my imagination. "Grandma's strawberry tarts are really amazing." I said, trying to convince her. "Just one bite and they'll make you smile." I stated, closing my eyes as I could faintly remember how happy I used to be whenever I ate one. "And a feeling of blissful happiness will wash over you…" I continued, wishing that I could remember how it tasted. I couldn't, which was sad, but it was understandable. It's been three years since grandma died, and even longer than that since I'd last had one of her strawberry tarts.
"I'm a little happier now, actually." Natsume told me, looking at me with a soft smile. I opened my eyes and looked at her the same way.
"Just a little though, right?" I asked. She looked at me like she'd been caught red-handed doing something she wasn't supposed to, but then that look quickly melted into one of sadness.
"Sorry…" She apologised. Oh, this situation is just too funny! All of a sudden, and Natsume must've thought what I did, my sister and I abruptly burst into fits of giggles. Once we'd calmed down, Natsume dug into the tart. I didn't eat mine, instead choosing to analyse her.
She ate the tart like she was trying to savour it even though she was pretty much warfing it down. That could mean that she was more hungry than I thought, and that she also was trying to enjoy it rather than just fill her up. She must've gone quite some time without any food. I must've zoned out, because the next thing I knew, she was putting her empty plate into the box the tart used to be in.
"That hit the spot." She sighed in delight. She then turned to look at the view with a smile. I smiled then, too, knowing that I had cheered Natsume up – even if just by a little. Without giving it a second though, I handed her my untouched plate.
"If you want, have mine." I told her. I knew she was still hungry. I could just sense it. Natsume turned to look at the strawberry tart, a look of admiration in her eyes, and I then knew I was right. Beneath the admiration, I could detect hunger.
"You sure?" She asked me, not taking her eyes off the sweet. "Thanks!" She said, taking the plate from me before I could tell her that it was fine. She took a delighted bite, taking her time with this one, and her fork went down to swoop up another bite-sized piece, but stopped. After a moment, she spoke up. "I've always wanted to ask you…" She started, her face going from blissful to serious in a mere second. Only Natsume could do that. "But, why did you quit playing the piano in the first place?" She asked. I thought I heard a faint Shush! It's getting good! In the distance, but when I couldn't hear anything else, I mentally shrugged and answered Natsume's question.
"Well, you see…" I began, thinking of where to start. When I knew where, I spoke again. "When I was starting to play the piano, you may have gotten a bit… jealous. Because one afternoon, I remember you walking in on one of my lessons with mother, and you said 'I wanna play too!'. Mother didn't approve of you coming in like that, so she turned to you and told you, 'Your sister is practising now. Don't get in her way, okay?', and you then began to cry. That's when you started to chant 'But I wanna play too! I wanna play! I wanna play!'. I felt bad, because you just wanted to join in, and mother spoke to you so harshly, so I looked at mother and told her, 'Mama, will you teach Natsume, too?'." I said, beginning the story. I turned to see Natsume look slightly embarrassed, but I just smiled gently at her and kept going. "Mother didn't know what to say, so she just smiled at my suggestion and picked you up. She placed you on the piano chair, once I got off it, and you smiled so big… Immediately, your little fingers danced across the keys. It wasn't good, but it wasn't terrible either. And you know what?" I asked, and Natsume nodded for me to continue. I smiled. "At first I was better than you." I said. Natsume then looked at me with confusion. She was about to say something, but I continued to talk.
"Around when mother opened up the piano classroom, you got way better than me, Natsume. And I had been playing piano longer than you had!" I giggled. "In fact, I remember this one time, when you were got good, and it was in one of mothers' classes… You played a piece I could only hope to play, and mother applauded you with much pride. 'That was excellent, Natsume!' She's said. 'You're ready to move on from Beyer now!', and all I could think of was how I wished mother would praise me like that, instead of giving me disappointed looks all the time. Eventually, I just couldn't play confidently anymore, and began to slack off because of those unnerving looks. And I lost all interest in playing the piano." I explained. Natsume was silent for a moment, before putting the plate down in the box – half of the strawberry tart still on it.
"So, it was because of me…" She said, a little bit dejectedly. I turned to her with a panic.
"Oh, no, not at all! It was all my fault!" I tried to assure her, my panicked expression turning into a reassuring smile. "Since I didn't put any effort into it, mother would just be angry at me all the time." I said, looking at the view again. I stood up. "On the other hand, you enjoyed playing so much, Natsume." I said, and then walked back over to the wooden fence and leant on it. "After I quit the piano, I was jealous of how mother placed so much hope in you. So, wondering if I had a talent at something, I tried learning how to paint from dad, but I quit after three days." I said, mentally giggling at how fast I'd given up the ways of an artist. "Swimming, ballet…" I continued. " I was no good at any of them." I said, a twinge of tiredness seeping into my voice. Just remembering those attempts made me feel exhausted again! "Then grandma cheered me up with her strawberry tart. And that's when I first thought that maybe I'd like to become a pâtissière…" I recalled. I smiled fondly at the memory. "But grandma passed away, and I forgot about that dream." I concluded. I heard Natsume stand up in protest.
"But you're trying really hard at making sweets now, right?" She asked in alarm. I turned to her in slight surprise.
"Yeah!" I assured her. "After I met Henri-sensei, I remembered that dream of mine!" I told her, and saw her visibly relax a bit. She still looked concerned, though. "And now, I'm having so much fun making sweets, I don't know what to do!" I told her, letting happiness colour my tone of voice. Natsume then looked down in shame. Oh no, what did I say? Did I make her upset?
"I'm jealous of you, older sister." She said, shocking me into silence. "Piano… isn't fun for me at all right now." That tugged at my heartstrings.
"But you always play so confidently, and seem like you're having fun." I protested. Natsume looked at me sadly. My heart felt heavy, wondering what could possibly be making her resent playing.
"Two weeks ago, a boy joined the piano class one level below me." She started, her eyes glazing over, as if she were retreating to a recent memory. "And he could play difficult pieces I couldn't handle like they were nothing." She continued, sitting down roughly, snapping out of her daze and closed her eyes in a way that she looked lost. "I worked so hard so I wouldn't lose to him, but the more I worked, the more worked up I got…" She explained. "And now I'm not enjoying piano at all…" I almost sighed with relief when she told me this.
"Oh, is that all it is?" I asked, feeling my heart immediately felt lighter. For some reason, though, I imagined I could hear Kashino saying What's with Ichigo's face? In the distance, but then again my mind kept playing tricks on me today so I thought nothing of it. I stretched, feeling good as my muscles contricted and relaxed at the same time.
"He's really good, seriously!" She tried to convince me, helplessness in her tone. I then stopped stretching, and crouched in front of her, looking her in the eyes.
"That's not something to get so depressed about!" I declared. "If you quit playing piano over something like that, I'd have quit being a pâtissière, like, 100 times by now!" I said. Natsume blinked in confusion.
"Even though you can make such a delicious tart?" She asked. I stood up straighter, and folded my arms across my chest.
"Now, listen up." I told her, deciding on telling her about my own predicament. "Thanks to the recommendation from Henri-sensei, I was stuck in the A group with people called the Sweets Princes, even though I had no skills!" I said, feeling frustrated.
"Sweets Princes?" Natsume asked. I thought I saw blonde in my peripheral, but didn't care. My mind is fried, so I just kept talking to Natsume.
"First," I started. I was going to describe them to her, deciding that was the best way to help my sister understand where I was coming from. "There's Hanabusa-kun, who's a master of candy art and decorations. Then, there's Andoh-kun, the son of the Yumezuki confectionary, whose specialty is Japanese sweets. And the chocolate specialist, Kashino!" I said, and Natsume looked genuinely interested in what I was saying, so I continued. "All three are really good looking, and they're tops at making sweets and studying, too!" I said. "Being stuck in a group with a bunch of high-level people like that…" I trailed off, feeling a bit dejected. "I don't know how many times I've thought of quitting…" I admitted, hanging my head.
"Now that I think about it, you did run back home once…" She said. I stood up straighter, my arms out, as I kept talking.
"Yeah… And that devil, Kashino, especially. He's always getting mad at me!" I said, in frustration. "It's like I can never make the man happy, no matter what I try! I can remember my first day clearly, still… How he'd eaten a piece of my failed Mille Crêpe, and said, 'yes, this is definitely the work of a novice. You had ten days between your acceptance and when you arrived here, right?' he'd asked, and when I replied with a 'yeah', he then laid on the heavy guns. 'You're more than one year behind everyone, and you didn't think to practise? Did you assume everyone would take pity on you and help you out, just because you're a beginner?' he'd asked with an annoyed face. I tried to decline, but he cut me off after I'd gotten 'No, I–' out of my mouth. 'Take a look around!' He'd said. 'We're aiming to be pro's here! If you don't have the same motivation, then go home!' Kashino had said in anger. I can remember how I cried after he said that, right then and there in front of everybody. Humiliated." I told her, angrily.
My blood boiled slightly, just thinking about his cruel words.
"He said something that mean?" Natsume asked in concern. I felt my mouth mash into a straight line from being so mad.
"He's a real devil!" I repeated.
"Seriously… Seems pretty scary." She said. I nodded.
"He's way beyond scary, he's…" I trailed off. Kashino was cruel, yes, but then again… "As much as it is weird for me to admit, he's actually my muse." I said. Natsume's jaw dropped, and I could imagine Kashino's jaw dropping too, in my mind. "And by that, I mean… Even though he's mean, and scary, and down-right impossible, without him, I wouldn't have the drive to better myself. I would keep on going with content at how things were, but he spurs me on to become better… In fact, he's the one who suggested to the team that we all come home this weekend to train ourselves. I had actually wanted to spend time with them this weekend, and my plans all got shot to hell when the others agreed to his idea, but then again, if he hadn't of done that, I wouldn't be here talking to you. In a way, I have yet another reason to thank him." I said, looking behind me and staring at the view again. I smiled gently. "When I think back on my time at St. Marie Academy, I realise…" I began, and turned back to Natsume with a bright smile. "Without Kashino there, I'm just no good!"
"S-sis, are you saying what I think you're saying?" Natsume demanded, standing up abruptly. My big smile melted into a small, but completely adoring, smile.
"Yup. They say opposites attract, right? Well, Kashino is about as opposite to me as one can get… And yet, I still fell for him." I said, and Natsume slumped back down in her seat. "I ain't ever telling him, though. Because if I know Kashino, he'd reject me in two seconds flat – declaring that he has no time for relationships and that he wouldn't be interested in a klutzy idiot like me." I sighed. Natsume looked at me sadly, but I perked up again. "But I guess it's not so bad… I mean, sure, we're all still friends and a team, and Andoh & Hanabusa are just as busy with the whole Grand Prix thing going on as Kashino… But I met my best friend, Vanilla, and she helped me do my best. Especially when Kashino, Andoh and Hanabusa couldn't." I said, remembering all the times that she's cheered me on, helped me, and been there for me when I needed someone the most and the others just couldn't be there.
"Vanilla? So there are students from other countries?" Natsume asked. I froze for a second, before just going along with it, knowing that it was true… Even though it didn't exactly mean that it applied to Vanilla.
"Yeah, sure…" I said. I then relaxed a bit and smiled softly at my sister. "Thanks to Vanilla, I started learning how to enjoy making cakes, and thanks to practising all night with her – on the things Kashino said I needed to improve on or practise more with – and although I've still got a long way to go, I'm getting better, bit by bit." I said. Natsume smiled.
"Oh, I see." Natsume smiled at me. I crouched in front of her again.
"Natsume, when you give up, that's when it's all over." I told her. "I know that talent is important for the piano, but the most important talent of all is having the determination to keep going."
"Older sister…" Natsume whispered. I smiled at her gently, glad that I've gotten to have this heart to heart with her.
"That's exactly right, Amano!" I heard a voice say. I panicked, because that sounded too close and too real to be a trick of the mind this time. I looked up in fright and slight horror when I saw that Kashino was there. Literally. And it wasn't just him; Andoh and Hanabusa were there too. I felt butterflies go crazy in my stomach, and my heart beat erratically in my chest. I freaked out.
"What are you doing here?" I asked frantically, backing up and almost falling over the wooden fence because I lost my balance.
"Ichigo-chan, are you okay?" I heard Andoh ask. I flailed around, trying to get my balance back.
"I think she'll be fine." Natsume said, standing up and turning around to see our 'guests'. "She's pretty used to it." She continued. "But wait, are you three the Sweets Princes?" She asked, curiously.
"That's right, Natsume-chan." Hanabusa replied. Although the boys didn't pick the nickname, they just got used to it. Now they just instinctively respond to it. "Here, a present for you." Hanabusa said, giving her a candy art rose.
"For me? Thank you." She said, taking it. I just regained my balance, and walked back over to them.
"I thought I was a goner." I muttered.
"Older sister! They're not just good looking, they're total hotties!" Natsume gushed. I sighed.
"I suppose so." I said, keeping down the blush that wanted to roam free onto my cheeks, due to Kashino standing right freaking there when Natsume said that.
"Anybody would work hard if they could be with these hunks!" She continued, making an adorable face at them. I opened my mouth to explain that that wasn't the case, but Kashino beat me to it… In a harsher way, as usual. I prayed that he didn't hear my confession earlier. I prayed dearly.
"Looks have nothing to do with sweets!" He yelled. Natsume cowered into me.
"Older sister, I'm scared! It's the devil! The devil, I say!" She chanted. I supressed a laugh.
"Well, I'm so sorry about being the devil!" He retorted. Anger flashed through me, not liking the tone he was using with my sister.
"Hey, Kashino!" I all but growled out. "No picking on my cute little sister!" I glared at him, once again fighting a blush, and wrapped my arms protectively around Natsume.
"Now, now…" Andoh started, holding his hands up in surrender. "We're sorry for startling you, Amano-san." He said, trying to diffuse the tension. I still let out a growl at him, after I felt Natsume tremble a bit under his glare. Kashino then looked at me with amusement. I narrowed my eyes, before I remembered what I asked earlier, but never got a response to.
"Why are you here?" I asked. Hanabusa spoke up.
"We planned on each improving out skills on our own, but then I got phone call from Kashino. Apparently, his uncle is on a trip to Europe and his store was closed. So, he figured that he would go visit your grandmother's shop to taste one of those strawberry tarts you were always talking about. He'd already talked to Andoh about it, and since I was having no luck with finding a new rosewater, I figured I would go too. We decided to meet up at your house, first, but…" He trailed off.
"You weren't there. Then we heard from your mother where you'd probably be and came here." Kashino finished. I froze.
"So, you heard what we were talking about? How much did you hear?" I asked, stiffly.
"Sorry, we overheard… Almost all of it." He said. Before I could react, Hanabusa came to my rescue.
"You make a pretty good elder sister!" He complimented.
"If you're here, then speak up!" I declared, beggingly, as my face went scarlet with embarrassment. "And here I thought my mid was playing tricks on me when I saw Kashino's… blonde… hair… Just before…" I trailed off, my face now as red as a blood plum. I facepalmed with a loud SMACK!
"So, the three of us were thinking…" Andoh said, attempting to rescue me from the situation, like Hanabusa tried to do. "Why don't we all make some extra special sweets for you, Natsume-chan?" He asked, diverting the attention from me onto my little sister. Good. My brain just fried itself.
A while later, we were all at my family's house. The boys immediately excused themselves for the kitchen, as my family and I stayed in the lounge room.
"I can't wait!" Natsume cheered. "I wonder what kind of sweets the Sweets Princes are going to make?" She pondered, turning to me with an excited face. Hmm, if it'll get my sister to be this happy, maybe I should bring them all over more often?
"Sweets Princes? That's what they're called?" Father asked, a displeased look on his face.
"Y-yeah, something like that…" I reluctantly said. Even though people called them that, and they were used to it, it's not like they picked the name…
"Well, duh! Look at how cool they are!" Natsume gushed. Dad sighed in frustration.
"W-well, you know…" He began, lifting up his shirt on the side a bit to reveal his flat stomach. He tried to pinch some of his skin, but barely anything was trapped between his fingers. "I'm called the 'Metabolism Prince' by the students I teach at school!" He said, trying to make himself seem cool. My mother, Natsume and I all just deflated at his statement. We recovered after a moment.
"Sheesh, dad…" Natsume whined.
"Stop with your lame jokes already!" I said.
"Honestly! You're an embarrassment to the Amano name!" My mother said. "How unsightly in front of the Sweets Princes…" She said, touching up her make-up.
"And what's with you? Putting on make-up even though you're not going out?" He asked.
"This is simply proper etiquette when meeting total hotties." She replied.
"Don't you think you're putting on a bit much?" He asked, trying to hide a shit-eating grin that was trying to make its way onto his face. "Must be tough, hiding all the wrinkles…" He trailed off.
"What did you say!?" She growled at him, closing her portable mirror with a snap. They both stood up and glared at each other with such intensity that I almost thought the living room would catch on fire.
"Stop it, you two!" Natsume spoke up. Our parents stopped, and turned back to look at her. "The Sweets Princes are going to laugh at us!" She said. Then we all looked over to see that the boys had, in fact, stopped what they were doing to smile amusedly at us.
"W-we're sorry!" I heard mother and father apologise at the same time to my team. I sighed, and looked the other way, pretending not to know them. That's when Vanilla came to my rescue.
"Hey, let's go take a look." She said, and I nodded. I got up, went over to the door and tried to peak. Only to be ratted out almost instantly by Chocolat.
"Hey, it's Ichigo and Vanilla!" She called out, and everyone stopped working to look at us. They all looked a little bit annoyed. I was confused.
"Wh-what? Can't I take a little peak?" I asked.
"No!" They all responded. I flinched, feeling outnumbered and suddenly unwanted. A sad frown graced my features before I could stop it. I went to turn away, but then Kashino spoke.
"If you see it before it's finished, that'll ruin the surprise." He said, his tone sharp but his face gentle.
"Sorry, but please wait patiently outside." Hanabusa asked. I sighed and nodded, turning away and walking off with an annoyed face.
"What's with them…?" I asked myself, rhetorically. I just walked back into the lounge room, when I heard my mother.
"Hey, hey… Ichigo…" She started, I looked at her curiously. "So, which one strikes your fancy?" She asked. I looked away abruptly, a blush on my face.
"Uh… I'm not really…" I was going to say I wasn't comfortable with discussing this with her whilst dad's present, but she cut me off.
"Don't be embarrassed! Tell me, who is it?" She begged. Before I could respond, she went off day dreaming. "Is it Hanabusa-kun? Such a nice smile, you know! He'd always be you kind escort… You'd feel like a princess I bet." She sighed. I felt a shiver of displeasure go up my spine. I shook my head 'no' at a fast speed. "Or maybe Andoh-kun? He's really intelligent, isn't he? I bet a calm boy like him would be a perfect match for a scatterbrain like you!" She continued. I gulped, not liking that she was imagining things like that with me and those two involved. I shook my head the same as I did before, at the same speed as well. "Or… Wait, Kashino-kun? You like that cool attitude of his? But boys like him are trouble. I'm not sure you'd be a match for him." She said. This time, I merely blushed, hanging my head low, and sighed in defeat. "So, which one is it?" She asked. I felt my face heat up slightly. I really hoped she'd drop it…
"Well, don't worry. I'd be fine with you marrying any of them!" She blurted out loud. I turned to her with a tomato-red face.
"M-Mother!" I exclaimed.
"MARRIED?!" Father yelled and stepped in. "I'll never allow it!" He declared. I held my hands up in surrender, my face still burning red, and I tried to back away. I felt myself trembling in embarrassment. I really hoped that the boys couldn't hear us right now…
"Why not? Don't you want a son in the family that's cool like them?" Mother asked, in a challenging tone.
"What are you even…" Father tried to say, but I cut them off.
"Argh! Stop it, you two!" I yelled embarrassed. My face was still bright red, and I was doubting that it'd ever return to its normal colour again. "The three of them are my teammates! We're battling together in the Cake Grand Prix… That's right! They're my band of brothers!" I told them, mentally excluding Kashino from that band. I most certainly did not think of him as a brother.
I must've been too close to the kitchen, whilst my parents weren't, because I could hear Kashino's faint voice…
"Band of brothers, huh? Liar… I don't believe for a second that she thinks of me as a 'brother' after what she'd confessed earlier…" I heard him say. I was probably a lunatic in my mother and father's eyes right now, because I turned my head in the direction of the kitchen and squealed.
"EHH?! YOU HEARD THAT?!" My face was now dark enough to put the colour of red wine to shame. I then heard a bang coming from the kitchen, before Kashino stepped out with a light blush on his face.
"I-It wasn't on purpose… You just have a loud voice…" he said, trying to justify himself. I, however, could've died fright then and there from embarrassment. I put my head in my hands and ran up to my room, slamming the door behind me. I ran and jumped onto my bed, covering my face with the pillow. God! Kill me now! I'm so embarrassed, I would die happily now if it meant I wouldn't be anymore!
After a few minutes, I heard someone knocking on my door. I got off my bed, calming myself down, and opened it.
Kashino stood there with a light blush on his cheeks.
"… Nope, can't do it." I muttered, before my face promptly went dark red and I fainted. Right then and there, in front of the guy I love. I dropped like a sack of potatoes.
"AMANO!" Kashino exclaimed in shock. That's all I heard before my world was surrounded in darkness.
When I awoke, I found myself on my bed. And Kashino was sitting on the end of my bed – the door closed – watching me.
"What happened?" I asked groggily, sitting up. Kashino blushed.
"W-well, what do you remember?" He asked. I racked my brain, until…
"The last thing I remember… Was… Fainting at my… Bedroom door… Because…" I trailed off, a blush coming onto my face as well. "Kyaa!" I squealed, turning around to bury my face into a pillow.
"A-Amano… Please don't hide your face." He said softly. I felt my insides turn into butter, and I turned, sitting up and leaving the pillow behind, to look at him with a red face. "Listen, I figure that since I heard your confession… It's only right that I reply to it." He said, running a hand through his blonde locks. My eyes widened in horror.
"N-NO! That's n-not necessary! I-I'm okay! Really! I already know what you're going to say anyway! No need to say it yourself!" I said, panicked, sad and defeated.
"You… Know what I was going to say?" He asked, not believing me. I nodded.
"You were going to say, you'll thank me for my feelings. You're sorry, but you don't feel the same. For me to please find someone else. You don't want to be my boyfriend, because being with me will only bring frustrations and unneeded stress. And that you're not looking for a relationship right now, because the Cake Grand Prix comes first." I said, checking them off with my fingers. I smiled bitterly at my hands, feeling my eyes sting with unshed tears.
"…Wrong." He said after a moment. I looked up at him in surprise, and saw that he looked at me with a sad and frustrated expression. "I was going to say, I do feel the same way. I've felt strong feelings for you for a while now, but never manned up and asked you out because I thought that you were only interested in Henri-sensei, and would tell me to get lost or to stop playing games. True, the CGP is important to me right now, but so are you. Maybe now wouldn't be the best time for a relationship, but I don't really give a damn right now, considering that I now know how you feel about me. Maybe you will bring frustration and unneeded stress, but who cares? A lot of things do that to me anyway. It's not like the world will end. And right now, Aman–I mean Ichigo, I want to ask you out on a date. Once the CGP is over, will you go on a date with me? And right now, will you be my girlfriend?" He asked, his cheeks stained red. I felt a few tears escape.
"You mean that?" I asked, and he nodded his head. I smiled happily. "Then, yes! A thousand times yes! To both!" I replied. And right as he smiled, I found myself leaping across the bed at him. I had meant to give him a hug, but I must've misjudged where my head was, because the next thing I know, we were kissing.
And, God, I felt like I would melt.
After a moment, I pulled back and stared adoringly into his, shocked, golden brown eyes.
"I love you, Makoto." I declared, and watched as his red face became even more red, and he smiled.
"I love you, too, Ichigo."
After our little moment, we decided to go down stairs and enjoy the cake that he and the other two made for my sister.
It was an unexpected day, but I wouldn't change a thing.