Author's Note: Okay, so, after writing so much angst for so long…I decided that it was time for me to return to my "roots" and write something fluffy. But, I soon realized that going from angsty to fluffy is really hard. This little fic may not be great, but it's my valiant effort to return to fluff.

And, since it's Bowsergal's birthday, I had to have some kind of birthday theme. I settled on cake. It's very birthday-esque.

Happy Birthday, Bowsergal! I hope that you enjoy your present.

Disclaimer: I don't own Black Cat. Quite honestly, I can't remember who does own it right now. Sue me.

…not literally, kthx.

"…you don't like cake?"

"I don't like cake, Kyoko-san."

Kyoko stared at Sheldon with an unbelieving gaze—her mouth slightly agape. Who doesn't like cake? That just seemed…so…wrong!

"B-but…everyone likes cake! And ice cream! Cake and ice cream are staples of life!" Her arms waved a bit in the air as they walked down the street in the middle of the market. She just couldn't believe that he didn't like cake! Did he like anything sweet?

Sheldon's face had adopted a bemused expression as he watched Kyoko's antics through his opaque sunglasses. "That is only because teenagers nowadays believe that sugar is the source of all life on this planet." He chuckled at Kyoko's offended look. "Come now, you know that I have no need for sugar. I eat to survive, and that's all."

Pouting, Kyoko kicked up some dirt with her feet. "You're no fun, Sheldon-chan. And you're weird, too." She stuck her tongue out at him for emphasis. "I've never met anyone else who doesn't like sugar—especially cake." Turning her head to the side, she sniffed lightly in disdain, eliciting another chuckle from Sheldon.

"I am deeply sorry that I have offended you by going against the grain so much," he apologized as he reached out to ruffle her hair good-naturedly. She scowled dejectedly and quickly straightened her hair out, then folded her arms in front of her chest and gave a small 'hmph' before continuing on her way down the street.

He had to like sugar…at least some kind of sugar! Even though he insisted that he didn't, she knew that he did. She was going to prove it, too. Somehow, someway, even if she died trying…she was going to prove it.

"Yow!" Kyoko shrieked as her bare hand came into contact with the hot cake-pan. If she had been thinking, then she would've raised her body temperature to match the temperature of the cake-pan, or she just would've used oven mitts. But, she was too distracted to think about such things. Mission "Make Sheldon Admit that He Likes Sugar" was in full-swing, and she just knew that it was going to work.

It had to work! She knew full-well that Sheldon couldn't bear making her feel bad, so he would have to eat the things that she was baking for him. Although she wasn't the best baker in the world, people still said that she could make great desserts. Once he tried the things that she was baking, he would have to admit that he liked them. He had to; everyone has a sweet-tooth.

She made quick work of spreading the cream-cheese frosting on the chocolate cake, then moved on to putting sprinkles on the lemon cupcakes. The brownies had been done for a while, and they smelled so delicious that she could hardly keep herself from eating them right then and there. The thought of the wonderful-smelling brownies brought a sly smile to her face; no one could resist soft, moist brownies with slightly melted chocolate chunks in the middle, especially if they were served with vanilla ice cream. Oh, she was more than prepared, and she was going to take him down.

Then, suddenly, a little hand snuck up from behind the counter and attempted to snatch one of the snickerdoodles that she had made. Gasping, she took her spatula and soundly swatted the hand, leaning over to peer down at the small offender below.

"Leon, these aren't for you!"

The boy glared up at her, holding his limp hand—which was beginning to turn bright red. "You didn't have to hit me!" Folding his arms in front of his chest, he added in a mutter, "I just wanted a stupid cookie."

Kyoko swatted him on the head with the spatula, her brow furrowed in disapproval. "They aren't stupid cookies, first of all. Secondly, they aren't yours, so you aren't allowed to take any!"

"Fine, fine!" Leon held his hands up in surrender, silently pleading with her to put the spatula down. Once she did, he climbed up onto a stool and watched her as she put the finishing touches onto the cupcakes. "Who are they for, then?"

Tucking a few stray strands of her black hair behind an ear, she glanced up at him to make sure that he wasn't pilfering any more of her precious sweets. "They're for Sheldon-chan. He told me that he doesn't like sugar at all, and I'm going to prove him wrong. After sampling all of these, he's going to have to admit that he likes something."

Leon quirked an eyebrow, looking at the rather large assortment of desserts set in front of him. "You cooked all of this for Sheldon? How are you even going to manage to eat all of it?"

Kyoko pouted, her hands resting on her hips. "That's none of your business! I baked them, so I get to say who gets to eat them, okay?" She attempted to force authoritativeness into her voice, but Leon only grinned in amusement—obviously not intimidated.

"Oh, I see…"

It was Kyoko's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You see what?"

Clasping his hands, Leon sighed dramatically and fluttered his eyelashes in a cheesy manner. "You're in love with 'Sheldon-chan,' and you want to cook for him to prove that you'd be a good wife someday." A mischievous grin spread out across his lips. "How sweet."

For a few moments, Kyoko just stood there—staring at him with wide eyes in disbelief. How dare the whelp insinuate something like that? That wasn't it at all! …was it?

The few moments were enough for Leon to chuckle in victory, grab a cookie, and run off. Snapping out of her shock, Kyoko glared narrowly at his retreating form and viciously flung the spatula at him.

"Brat."

A despondent Kyoko looked at herself in the mirror, sighing at her less-than-perfect image. She had cake-batter splattered all over her shirt and her apron, and her face was dotted with puffs of flour. Her hair looked normal enough, but she hadn't been able to brush it all day long. She had been too busy baking to worry about what she looked like. But, as it stood, all of her baking was done, and Sheldon was due to be home soon.

Pouting, she turned away from the mirror—rubbing a hand up and down one of her bare arms. She looked like a wreck! But…maybe that would show Sheldon how hard she had worked to bake for him, and then he would be compelled even more to try each and every single one of the things that she had made.

It was a nice thought, but it didn't fully comfort her. She always cared about what she looked like, but she was usually more laid-back than she felt at that moment. Leon's words kept echoing at the back of her head, too; she couldn't get the stupid brat out of her mind! Scrunching her face up in annoyance, she lightly hit the palms of her hands against her temples in a rather absurd attempt to stop herself from going down that thought-trail again.

Was she really trying to prove Sheldon wrong, or…was there something more to it? Baking desserts was one of her few talents; there wasn't much else that she could do, other than beat pretty much everyone at video games. Was she trying to see if she would ever be able to make Sheldon happy?

The thoughts were quickly banished from her mind as she heard the front door creak open and slam shut. Suddenly excited back to her usual state of perkiness, she dashed out—completely forgetting that she was still wearing her bright pink apron.

"Sheldon-chan!"

Sheldon opened his mouth to respond to her greeting, then stopped when he saw her. His eyebrows rose slightly. She certainly did look…curious. "…you look like you had a busy day, Kyoko-san."

Kyoko grinned and nodded her head vigorously. "I did. You have to come see what I did!" Grabbing his hand, she drug him into the kitchen with her, exuding all of the excitement and giddy pride that a child would have. She did act so much like a child sometimes, but he knew that, deep down, she really was a mature young woman. Being childish was just one of her many endearing quirks.

"Ta-da!" Spreading her arms wide, Kyoko presented her array of desserts to a rather shocked-looking Sheldon. "Look! I made brownies, cupcakes, cookies, and this cake is my absolute favorite. It's so moist and yummy and--" She stopped short, frowning when she realized that he was just standing there, staring. "Hellooo? Earth to Sheldon-chan!" Reaching up, she grabbed his sunglasses and slipped them off of his face, forcing herself to ignore the shiver that ran down her spine every time she saw his eyes.

Blinking rapidly, Sheldon broke out of his mini reverie, and a slight grin broke out across his lips. "You made all of this for me?"

Bouncing a bit, Kyoko nodded and placed his sunglasses on the counter—hopping backwards up onto a stool. "I did!"

Sheldon couldn't help but look a bit bewildered. No one had ever bothered to do something like that for him before. He had always been left to take care of himself, and no one had ever tried to intervene. But Kyoko…Kyoko was different. She had always been different.

"…why?"

Kyoko's brow furrowed a bit, and she canted her head to the side. "Because you said that you didn't like sugar…and that's completely impossible…so I wanted to prove you wrong." She could feel her heart sinking down to her feet. What if her plan didn't work, after all? "…should I not have?"

Sheldon felt a sharp pang tear through his heart, and he smiled broadly, shaking his head reassuringly. "No…I'm glad that you did, Kyoko-san." He couldn't stand making her feel bad. He wasn't a big fan of sugar, but…if eating it made her happy, then it made him happy, as well. Seating himself next to the now-beaming Kyoko, he took off his top had and set it next to his sunglasses—examining the many gut-wrenchingly sweet things that were set out before him.

Then, suddenly, Kyoko let out a yelp. She reached a hand up to her head where the pain resided, then looked down at the floor to see a large green rubber-band sitting there. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Leon!"

The boy poked his head out from around the corner, sticking his tongue out at her. "That was for the spatula, witch!" After speaking, he wisely retreated and disappeared down the hall.

Kyoko growled, getting down from the stool and readying herself to pursue the little bug. "That brat…I will kill him!" Then, she blinked, feeling Sheldon's hand rest on her shoulder, holding her back. Sobering almost instantly, she turned to look at him—somewhat ashamed of her outburst. "Sorry…"

Sheldon chuckled, lifting his hand up from her shoulder to smooth some hair out of her face. "It's alright. I know that Leon can get under your skin." That was certainly an understatement.

For a few moments, they sat there in silence, staring blankly at the desserts. Finally, a sigh from Kyoko broke the silence.

"Well…I kind of wanted to eat all of this in peace…but people will probably be coming in and out of here." She frowned slightly. "I guess that I didn't plan this very well at all, did I?"

Sheldon remained silent for a moment, thinking, then stood up and got out two plates—gently setting them down on the counter. In response to Kyoko's somewhat confused expression, he smiled. "If you don't want to be disturbed, then we can take what we need and go up to the roof. It's a nice evening—there isn't much wind, so it shouldn't be uncomfortable. We might even get to catch the sunset if we hurry."

That was all that it took to cheer Kyoko up. She hopped down from her stool once more, grinning broadly. "Okay!" It wouldn't have been an overstatement to say that she was a bit giddy. She couldn't think of a better way to spend her night than on the roof eating various desserts with Sheldon.

And, quite frankly, Sheldon couldn't think of a better way to spend his night, either.

Kyoko stared intently at Sheldon—her elbows propped up on her knees, and her chin resting in her hands. Her dessert plate was sitting next to her on the flat plateau that they had found on the roof. She hadn't touched any of her dessert yet, and Sheldon hadn't, either. So, she just stared at him with wide, expectant eyes, waiting for him to take the first bite. All that he did, however, was stare back at her with a quirked eyebrow.

"…Kyoko-san."

"Yes?" She blinked lightly, canting her head to the side. Was he not even going to taste the fruit of her labor?

Smirking lightly, he leaned closer to her, his face coming to rest just a few inches away from hers. "I can't eat when you stare at me like this."

"Then I'll make you eat." Grabbing the brownie from her plate, she brought it up to his face, smiling cutely. "Eat it. You know that you want to."

Sheldon blinked at her for a few moments, then chuckled and leaned forward to take a small bite of the brownie. He chewed slowly, squinting a bit as he stared off into the distance. It took him a painfully long time for him to chew it, and, when he was done, it took him an even longer time to swallow the bit—or, so it seemed to Kyoko. When he had finished, he continued to look off into the distance with a stony look on his face. After a few seconds, Kyoko just couldn't take it anymore.

"Sheldon-chaaan!" she whined, putting the brownie down and hitting him lightly on the shoulder. "Tell me!"

Sheldon grinned broadly, shaking his head at her in amusement. He knew that she wouldn't be able to stand waiting for too long, and he hadn't answered right away on purpose…just to see her reaction. As always, her reaction was absolutely priceless.

"It's very good, Kyoko-san. I'm sure that absolutely everything that you make is very good." He smiled softly, reaching a hand up to poke her lightly on the nose—causing her to go cross-eyed for a brief moment. He really did enjoy the brownie…more than he thought that he would. It was sweet, but not too sweet. There was just the right amount of bitterness in it to balance out the influence of the sugar. In fact…it reminded him a lot of Kyoko herself.

Gasping in happiness, Kyoko let out a shrill 'squee!' and clapped her hands. He liked it! He actually liked it! She did it—she proved him wrong. …and she managed to make him smile, as well. It was definitely a victory for her.

"Now you have to try the cake!" Repeating her little routine, she picked up her piece of cake and held it in front of his face. "I know that you said that you don't like cake, but you have to try it. I worked so hard to make it. And the frosting--"

Shaking his head, Sheldon put a finger up to her lips in order to make her stop talking. Just like everyone else in the entire world, Kyoko had her vices, and talking too much was definitely one of them—probably the worst of them. She never really knew when to be quiet or when she was ruining the moment. But, somehow, it just made him adore her even more.

"I will try the cake. You don't have to convince me." His voice was quivering a bit with laughter. The girl obeyed and just watched with wide eyes as he took a bite of the cake. Since he had already pulled the "wait forever to give an answer so that she goes crazy due to her own impatience" stunt, he figured that it wouldn't do any good to delay again. Some things are only funny once. But, when he opened his mouth to tell her what he thought of her cake, she suddenly gasped in dismay and cut him off.

"Sheldon-chan! You took a bite of the cake, but you didn't get any of the frosting!" Sighing in mock dejection, she shook her head at him. "The frosting is the best part. How on earth have you survived this long without knowing that simple detail?" With a grin, she ran her finger over the surface of the cake—gathering a good deal of white, creamy frosting on her fingertip and extending her finger towards him. "Here. Try it."

Sheldon looked at her for a few seconds, hesitant to do something that seemed so inappropriate, then shrugged and obeyed her command, knowing that he'd never hear the end of it if he didn't. Kyoko was a very stubborn girl, and he wasn't interested in testing her limits. So, leaning forward, he gently scraped the frosting off of her finger with his teeth, figuring that it was the least improper way to do it. For a few moments, he just sat there, letting himself taste the "best part" of the cake, and trying to ignore the urges that being in such close proximity to Kyoko caused him to have. She was an overly enthusiastic child, and she just didn't know what she did to him. But…that was, most likely, a very good thing.

After a bit, Kyoko couldn't help but sigh. "You are very frustrating."

Biting back a grin, Sheldon watched her with a look of feigned innocence. "What is it that you want to know?"

Her face settling into a scowl, she placed her hands on Sheldon's shoulders—gripping his shirt as she shook him lightly. "I want to know what you think of it! That's why I made everything, in the first place!" Goodness! For someone so smart, he could be really stupid sometimes.

"I think…" He looked off into the distance for a second or two, then switched his bemused gaze back to the young girl in front of him. She was really cute when she was frustrated. "I think that it tastes very much like you."

Kyoko blinked, her head falling to the side a bit as she looked at him in confusion. "…like me?" That didn't make any sense. How did he know what she tasted like? "What do you mean?"

Sheldon chuckled, lifting a hand to tug lightly on the fringe of her black hair. "It's very sweet, a bit tangy, with just the right amount of bitterness in the aftertaste…" He could tell that she was hanging onto every single word that he said—she was leaning forward, watching him intently. He was trying so hard to restrain himself…to keep himself from doing anything that he would regret later…but he couldn't take it any longer. Leaning in even closer, he softly trailed his fingers up and down her rosy cheek. "It has a perfect creamy edge…" Their faces were only inches apart by that time, and he could feel her breathing catch and then quicken. "And I can already tell that, no matter how much of it I get, I'm always going to want more."

That was all that Kyoko could take. In some weird way, Leon had been right about her all along, and that's probably why she had been so annoyed by him. Being so close to Sheldon was already making her heart flutter uncontrollably, but the things that he was doing…and the things that he was saying…they just made her melt. She couldn't control her own urges anymore. She had always been rash and impulsive, and it had gotten her into a lot of trouble before, but…she was done with worrying about doing something that she regretted. In fact, if she didn't do anything, then that was something that she would regret.

Quickly closing the distance between them, Kyoko softly pressed her lips to his—tightening her grip on his shoulders and letting her eyes flutter shut. She felt him stiffen for a brief moment, but then he relaxed and let himself return the kiss, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. The desserts were forgotten, and, for those few moments, nothing else in the world mattered but them. When the kiss finally broke, Kyoko moved to sit on his lap, snuggling hear head into his chest. His arms tightened even further around her small frame, and she let out a small sigh of content.

For a long while, they merely sat there in each other's arms, watching as the sky turned purple and pink due to the setting sun. They really didn't need to say anything; they were perfectly comfortable in their silence. Neither of them could think of a more picturesque way to spend their time with each other. Even in the midst of so much violence and turmoil, they still managed to find their own peace—their own little slice of Heaven.

Finally, Sheldon's voice broke the silence.

"I take it back."

Kyoko turned her face up—resting her chin on his chest so that she could look up at him with an inquisitive gaze. "Hmm?"

After kissing her lightly on the forehead, all that he could do was grin. "I think that I do like cake."