It all started from a caramel candy.
Akiyama Mio was brought to Tokyo Disneyland, far away from her small town where they reside, during the winter season when she was young, just a child of no more than four.
She got lost in the crowd when she ran away from the large crazy man pretending to be a smiling mouse in a tuxedo suit. She vaguely remember letting go of her parents' grip, when they were stubbornly trying to get their daughter to 'pet' the park mascot.
And now, the black-haired girl -lost, cold and hungry- was sobbing her heart out as she was stuck in an ironically bustling, yet lonely strange place.
"Why cha' crying?"
The little girl looked up, to see another girl of the same age as herself smiling at her. This auburn-haired girl was clad in simple shirt and pants, and had her fringe held back by a small black hair band, which exposed her large forehead. In her hand held a candy stick, which could be told that it was freshly-made from the steam emitted from the candy.
"Why is this girl looking at me like that?" Mio thought as she tried to suppress her tears, embarrassed by the fact that someone is looking straight into her tear-covered face.
"Hey. You all right?"
"I'm-I'm lost." Mio managed to say between sniffles.
Amber eyes started to inspect the crying girl, as though trying to determine whether her statement was true. She then stood up, and offered her hand toward the other girl.
"Then let's look for our parents together!"
Before Mio could ask about her previous statement, the auburn-haired girl placed her warm candy stick into the former's right hand, with a smile still on her face despite their similar situation, as she grabbed the black-haired girl's other hand with her now freed one.
"Here, you can have my favourite caramel candy, so don't cry anymore, okay? We can find our parents together!"
While the strange hair band girl pulled Mio by her left hand, walking through the crowd yelling for 'Mum' and 'Dad', the black-haired just stared at the beige-coloured candy, which was surprisingly the same colour as the hair of the girl pulling her. After a heated mind debate whether she could (or should, for that matter) accept the other girl's treat, Mio for once ignored her parents' warning of not accepting gifts from strangers (primarily due to the grumbling in her little tummy) and took her first bite out of the sticky candy.
The bitten portion of lukewarm candy dissolved in her mouth, instantly warming up the girl as she unconsciously formed a smile from her frosted lips.
"It's sweet…"
Her dream from then on was to be a Pâtissier.
A caramel Pâtissier to be exact.
Mio could never forget how that sweet honey-like candy dissolved in her mouth and engraved such a wonderful taste on her.
In grade school, she had written her dream job to be the Greatest's Caramel Pâtissier, but was laughed at by her peers.
But that didn't dampen her spirits.
In middle school, she spent most of her time in the kitchen that she literally smelled like caramel and had no friends due to her lack of social interaction.
But that didn't bother her.
In her last year of high school, her parents had almost disowned her when she even rejected her recommendation to Tokyo University to attend a vocational school specialised in pastry making.
But that she didn't stop her from doing whatever it takes to make her dream come true.
After many years of hardwork, 21-year-old Akiyama Mio had finally found work as a Pâtissier in a small shop owned by the Nakano's.
The couple's business, or Houdou Tea Time (Afterwork Tea Time), was small, so they didn't have much finance to hire another professional Pâtissier, after the last one quit from a certain customer's insatiable appetite. Their daughter did try and do a few stand-ins, but with her busy with her college studies, the Nakanos really needed help.
Which resulted in Mio getting a job.
This job wasn't something that big of a deal, but it wasn't too shabby either. After all, a place where she has lodging (after she ran away from home), a job with reasonable pay, and a place which gave her the opportunity to perfect her ultimate caramel recipe...
To Mio, this is her haven.
Recently, the Nakano couple had other business to attend to, so they had to leave the shop to their daughter and two employees temporarily.
And so another quiet afternoon eased by as autumn settled in.
"Azusa-chan, Strawberry Parfait for Table 8."
"Again?"
The café was almost empty during its off-peak hours, exception of the lone brunette would sat in her usual corner, stuffing herself with her fourth parfait for the day. While the exhausted part-timer gets up to start on yet another Strawberry Parfait, the blonde waitress took the chance to sneak a peek into the kitchen.
A black-haired lady, donned with a white kitchen apron and had her hair tied up in a bun and secured tightly in a chef beanie, stood in front of the large stove, slowly stirring dark runny honey-coloured syrup with a large wooden spoon in a heavy-gauge saucepan. Her face was filled with determination, as this task require both physical and mental endurance. The way the syrup went along with her spoon was like she was casting a spell, as the medium flame diligently supplied heat to it.
"How's the concoction going?" The waitress asked from over the kitchen counter, messy with various ingredients spread all over on top.
"Fine as of now, Mugi-chan" the Pâtissier-in-training spoke without leaving her eyes of the solution, afraid that any split second that she looks away will cause it to become burnt, "though it's still quite hard to say as of now…".
Mio then inspected her sauce, before proceeding to putting on her mittens as she lifted up the caramel saucepan before setting in on the counter. The blonde placed both hands on the counter to support her thin frame as she tip-toed to take a better look at the woman's creation.
"Looks pretty good to me."
Before the black-haired could retort, the familiar clinking sound of the front door bell rang throughout the store. Mugi got back on her feet and approached the door of the kitchen, but not before turning back to smile at her colleague. "Really, I think it looks fine."
The waitress scurried off to meet the new customer, while the now alone woman continued to inspect her sauce. Seeing a few burnt parts of the sauce, she took her wooden spoon and proceeded to scrap them out.
"Guess I should melt the brown sugar more careful next tim-"
"Aha!"
The woman's train of thoughts were interrupted when a stranger suddenly entered the kitchen. Mio looked up to see a woman, about the same age as herself, donned in a lavender shirt and black pants, wearing rimless sunglasses, which the black-haired thought served little purpose as they were indoors. What was the most attention catching was her shoulder-length auburn-coloured hair, which was tied to the back with a low ponytail.
Somehow, that shade of colour reminded her of caramel.
The stranger came over beside the junior Pâtissier, who mentally noted that this person was only up to her ear, placed her hand on the other's shoulder as though for support as she leaned to look at the sauce.
"Smells so good that I could smell it from the front! You made this?"
Mio turned to look at the intruder, still uncomfortable that this stranger was standing so close to her, "This area is restricted; who gave you permission to come in here?"
Not even turning to look at her, the auburn-haired simply replied, "And I'm asking you if you made this."
The black-haired girl raised an eyebrow at her. "Why should I answer your question if you are not even allowed in here?"
"Because I asked first."
Mio wasn't sure if it was from the angle that she was standing, or that the intruder's long bangs along with sunglasses which could very well serve as a half-mask, but she couldn't see the person's face really well. This pretty much annoyed her since this stranger could very well be laughing at her, judging from the tone of her voice. Nonetheless, realising that she could not win at this weird person's game, she let out a sigh before curtly replying, "Yes."
The shorter lady turned and flashed a wide grin, which was really unlady-like compared to the taller lady's initial impression. Though, she was now able to look clearly at this mysterious person's face better, and her rather charming looks didn't go unnoticed as the latter felt the temperature of her face slightly increase.
The stranger seemed to not take any notice of the slight pink in the other's cheeks as she continued. "Well, the sauce is a little burnt, though it is still okay in a sense. I didn't think Nakano-san was able to find a rather decent Pâtissier like yourself."
The black-haired opened her mouth to say something, but was abruptly cut off when another black-haired lady barged in.
"Senpai!"
"Ah! Azusa-chan! Long time no see."
While the two women started conversing, Mio could only stand at her spot, confused about the situation before her.
"Who is this person? And how is she related to the Nakanos?"
"Ah! You are referring to Ritsu-senpai?"
Night have fallen, and Mio's mind-boggling question was really bothering her. "Who is that woman?" That thought was permanently stuck on her mind as the rest of the day went on even after the mysterious woman left the café, resulting in her being clumsier than usually. She was really thankful that she works at the back of the kitchen, which no one else could see, but the possibility of this thought continuing to bother her worried her, that she had to let it out as soon as possible.
And so, Mio had caught the younger store owner before she could retire for a night's sleep outside her room, which was conveniently beside her own rented one.
"So her name is Ritsu…" "I was just wondering how she is related to the café. I mean, she seems to know a lot about the store, and she's pretty close to your family."
The younger woman stifled a yawn, a physical indication how taxing her day was. "I'm not sure if she knows much about the store, but I do know she is quite close to my parents, even though I'm not very sure about the reason behind it. Oh, and she was also the one who taught me pastry making."
"Oh, I didn't know that. Thank you for telling me that, Nakano-san."
The younger of two pouted. "How many times have I told you to call me 'Azusa'? I am a year younger than you, and we work together. You are even more experienced than me when it comes to pastry! So please, drop the formalities."
"Sorry, Nak-. Azusa-san."
"It's 'chaw~n'" Azusa was about to retort when another yawn came up, making her produce a sound which sounded a lot like a cat's meow. Mio had to use her remaining energy to resist the urge of laughing.
"Never mind. I'm going to bed first. Good night, Mio-senpai."
"Oh. Good night."
As the younger of the two retreated to her room, leaving the Pâtissier-in-training alone in the corridor, Mio decided to get some sleep as well. However, despite already getting an answer to her question about this 'Ritsu' person, more started to surface.
Suddenly realising the increasing concern for a person she hardly knew for less than a few hours, the black-haired woman ducked her head under her pillow as she tried to clear her mind of those persistent thoughts.
"At least I wouldn't see her again anytime soon…"
"Hello again, Miss Caramel-maker."
The Pâtissier-in-training was wrong in her self-fulfilling predictions.
Mio looked up from her current work to see the same person that had intruded yesterday, sitting opposite her. Her shirt was pink today, but apart from that the rest of her attire remain unchanged.
"I don't only make caramel pastry, you know."
"But you specialise in that, don't you?"
The junior Pâtissier's eyes widened, like a girl who just realised she was being stalked. "How do you know?"
The auburn-haired shrugged nonchalantly, "Just guessing, though you did had a bit of a caramel smell on you."
"You smelled me?" Mio exclaimed, a disgusted look plastered on her face.
The other woman quickly put up her hands upon that response. "Hold on a second! I couldn't help it since the smell was strong enough for me to pick up while standing next to you. Don't treat me like some pervert."
"Fine then." The black-haired had relaxed her face from the previous expression, though her eyes were still warily staring at the auburn-haired lady. "So what are you here for, Ritsu-san?"
Now it was the other's turn to be surprised, "Hang on, I don't recall giving you my first name, not when I didn't get yours."
"That doesn't matter. What business do you have here?"
"Not until I have your name."
"I asked first."
"Well, that was before when we were on even standing. Now you know my name, while I don't know yours. How's that fair?"
Mio felt like banging her head against the wall, since she knew that once again she can't argue against this woman.
"Akiyama."
"No no no no. I want your first name."
The black-haired sighed. "Mio."
"'Mio'. Nice name." Ritsu flashed her cheeky grin once again.
"So tell me, Ritsu-san," Mio placed both hands on the counter, like how a police officer would when interrogating a criminal suspect, "Why are you here?"
"Chill. I'm only here to help you."
"Help me?" Mio straightened herself, a quizzical look on her face.
"Yup." The auburn-haired got up from her seat, as she began to slowly approach Mio, making each step while emphasizing each syllable in next sentence.
"I. Am. Here. To. Help. You. Fulfil. Your. Dream. Mi. O. Chan~"
Ritsu was now only a foot away from her, and Mio was starting to become conscious about the distance (the lack of it actually) between them.
"How did you know about that?" Mio crossed her arms, pretending that she doesn't feel the least bothered about the lessening distance between them.
The grin widen even further. "I asked Azusa-chan~"
Mio opened her mouth to ask about how she managed to extract that information from the other black-haired, but stopped when she thought it was pointless anyways. "Why are you even helping me?"
The auburn-haired lady took a large step in front, now directly underneath the black-haired's face, as she looked over her sunglasses to look straight into the latter's grey irises with her amber own. The cheeky grin was still slightly intact, but her tone was dead serious.
"Did you think your skills as a Pâtissier is good enough on a world's level?"
Mio was surprised. "She can tell that just by a single glance at my cooking?"
"Just who are you?"
Ritsu flashed another grin.
"A friend."
The Pâtissier-in-training swore that the gods must be playing a really bad prank on her.
Early the next morning, before Mio had even opened the door as the indication of the start of the day, Ritsu was already outside the store, leaning again the café's wide window frame with her arms crossed. Further inspection on the former's part showed that even though the latter was still in her usual attire, today's shirt was yellow and was unusually folded up to the elbows, giving off a more serious outlook than her usual appearance.
The black-haired woman unlocked and opened the door, producing the normal clinking sound as the door met with the door bell. The auburn-haired turned in natural response.
The one more subtle yet drastic change in the person that had been standing outside revealed itself to the one inside as both eyes met, riddling her of her mental preparation to thoroughly rake the former for her purpose being here.
Ritsu wasn't wearing her sunglasses today.
"Now let's get down to it!"
Although she didn't really get down to cooking, the auburn-haired came to the Houdou Tea Time café every day, diligently inspecting and provided constructive feedback on the taste and style of Mio's creations, as well as being able to instruct Mio on the different ways to bring out the best flavour of different types of pastries.
Throughout the weeks under Ritsu's guidance, the café's pastries started to gain a large popularity, as both customers and the junior Pâtissier herself wondered about this strange development.
Though, when Mio asked her supposedly unofficial mentor about her unfounded knowledge on pastries, she either brushed it off or averted attention to a different topic. Particularly to concerns of Mio's increasing fanbase, which would earn the auburn-haired woman a large bump in her cranium upon impact of the former's seemingly titanium-made hands.
Nevertheless, the black-haired eventually gave up asking, settling down with satisfaction of just spending the peaceful days with her new unexpected companion.
"Seems like you have already mastered the techniques that the great Ritsu-sama have taught you before."
"Hmm…"
It has been 3 weeks since the auburn-haired woman had self-proclaimed to pick up the junior Pâtissier as her student.
"So now you only need to be able to reproduce it without me guiding you."
"Hmm…"
Ritsu thought something was odd as she turned to look at her student.
"Mio?"
"Hmm…"
The said person was just staring straight ahead with her head supported by her left hand on the kitchen counter. These few days, the Pâtissier-in-training had been out of sorts, like mixing the wrong portion of flour and water, setting the oven a few degrees off the appropriate temperature, placing pudding mixtures in the freezer rather than the refrigerator… Well, the minor errors weren't something that was too hard to fix, unlike the grave mistakes most other people would commit. Though there was a significant increase in the sweetness of the caramel sauce that she makes.
A little too sweet. That thought sent cold vibes down the auburn-haired spine.
Like the past few days, the black-haired woman's situation did not improve much over time, since she was still in a somewhat hypnotic state. Her grey irises were devoid of any signs of consciousness within her, as she continued to stare at the wall in front of her despite a worried Ritsu standing in between the two. Calling the former's name while waving the latter's hand in front of the lady usually snapped her out of her trance, but it didn't seem to bring about a response from the junior Pâtissier when she tried it now.
Ritsu straightened herself and looked away for a moment, bring up her left hand to scratch the back of her head, pondering on the next course of action.
Mio had been having weird dreams lately.
In the dream, she would be making caramel, as per usual, but not quite. Instead of the homely café kitchen, she would be in a large marble kitchen, with the highest quality equipments installed. This large place would be filled with the highest quality ingredients from all around the world, all neatly displayed on the large table before her, already prepared and ready to use. She also wasn't in her usual creased t-shirt and faded jeans with a grease-stained apron, but would be in a proper chef outfit, all prim and proper.
She was the Greatest's Caramel Pâtissier, after all.
Suddenly, a small kid would suddenly appear at her side, a small kid with caramel-shade hair and large amber eyes looking eagerly at Mio as she continued with her concoction. The child struck a familiarity chord within herself every time, but the black-haired would not recognise the kid.
She would sometime afterwards take a clean ice-cream stick made of the highest quality wood to scoop up some of the caramel sauce that she was making and offer it to the little girl.
Unexpectedly, the child would turn to run away. She would in turn run along and follow, calling out with a silent voice towards the running child. As she continued to chase the kid, her own body would start to degrade, slowly shrinking to form her 4-year old self. At some point, she would then trip over some invisible object, slowly being consumed by the lonely darkness around her.
And then the black-haired would always wake up covered in sweat, both shocked and puzzled by the hidden meaning of her dream.
"Why would I be sad about become the Greatest's Caramel Pâtissier? Isn't that my dream?"
"So why am I so bothered about that little girl?"
Mio usually would brush the matter off as feeling unwell. Then again, there wasn't really anything that could explain the reason for the bad dreams. She wasn't having a cold, that's for sure, for she would be sniffling every few seconds and had a nose as red as Rudolph. Nor was she having her episodes where she couldn't sleep after watching a horror show, for she had stayed clear of them since last Halloween. And she was definitely not having a fever, as the thermometer didn't go any higher than the usual 36.5 degree Celsius.
Though, the junior Pâtissier was starting to feel a little warm, especially her head.
"Maybe I should check my temperature again later."
The warmth she felt was starting to concentrate itself at the top of her head, which she later realise it was from an external source.
"Hang on… Did I just zone out again?"
Gathering back her scattered attention, the black-haired lady's vision cleared up within a second.
And the next, her eyes met another amber pair which were less than three inches away.
"Wha-!"
CRASH!
Mio, upon realising the short distance between her mentor and herself, jerked by instinct, hitting Ritsu in her face, and fell off her stool onto the cold hard floor. The auburn-haired was slightly taken aback by the sudden action, but quickly knelt beside the Pâtissier-in-training with a frown on her face.
"Something is wrong with you!"
The black-haired glared at her companion, puzzled by her sudden outburst.
"Me? You're the one with the problem!"
"What? Me? I'm not the only who dozed off in front of the great Ritsu-sama!"
"And I'm not the one who sexually harasses those who do!"
"What?" Ritsu shot Mio a confused look. "In what way is using my forehead to check your temperature a sexual offence?"
Imaginary question marks started to formulate above the black-haired woman. "Check my temperature?"
"Yeah. You looked out of sorts lately, so I thought that you had a fever or something. And naturally, since I don't have a thermometer apart from the one in the oven that goes over 100 degrees Celsius, I used my forehead as a gauge."
"Oh." Mio simmered down from her outburst, before the blood vessels in her face dilated in response, causing her whole face to turn red. "That's why your face was so near mine…"
"For a moment there, I thought…"
"Hey Mio, are you really okay?" Ritsu's voice broke her train of rampaging thoughts, which deepened the shade of red on the junior Pâtissier's face further. "Your face is really red."
"I-I'm fine! It's just hot in here, that's all."
"Hot? It's almost winter."
"Maybe it's the radiation from the oven's in here?"
"Mio, are you-"
"I'm fine!"
The auburn-haired still had the worried look on her face, but seeing how pressing the black-haired was, insisting that she was fine, she fell backward on her bottom as she too ignored the previous mishappenings. Then she pouted as she joked. "You may be fine, but after the way you hit me, I'm not okay."
Ritsu then used her right hand to comb her long fringe backwards and held it at the top of her head, revealing a slightly bruised forehead. "This was your doing; take responsibility for it!"
The Pâtissier-in-training giggled, before putting up a half-hearted serious expression as she played along. "It's your fault for scaring me in the first place. Why should it be my fault?"
"Guess you really are just fine," the mentor flashed her trademark grin, "just increase your dosage of caffeine more to stay awake next time."
"That's not exactly healthy." That was what Mio was intending to say.
But the instant Ritsu had smiled, with the way her fringe was held back, forced her to come to a shocking revelation that was locked in her sub-consciousness for the past few years, as that familiarity chord rang out in her mind.
The little girl in her dreams was Ritsu!
The girl who she met on that fateful Winter day.
"Mio?"
The black-haired woman's eyes widened, realising that she was still in front of her long-forgotten saviour. Despite still being shaken for her newfound knowledge and the need to hide from her companion to think grew, she was conscious that her behaviour was abnormal, which she needed to eliminate fast, before Ritsu realises. Mio tried to say some to lessen the tense atmosphere, but her mouth quivered uncontrollably, unable to form any audible words that could speak the stampede of thoughts going through her mind.
"Come on, Mio. Say something! Anything!"
However, her lack of control over her body proved useless in changing the shocked expression written on her face, and Ritsu had already picked up the sudden change in behaviour.
"Oh no. She's going to start asking me about my behaviour again!"
However, in contrast to her predictions, the mentor just released her fringe free of her right hand, allowing it to fall forward to once again cover the hurt look on her face. As though she could understand that the black-haired thoughts, she got up and approached the door. She momentarily stopped at the door, as she said the next words with a trembling tone in her voice without even turning to look at the junior Pâtissier who was still on the floor.
"Take care."
Ritsu left the kitchen, leaving a shocked Mio lying there as the room grew cold.
Ritsu's visits to the Houdou Tea Time café came to a halt since that day.
Whenever the junior Pâtissier tried to ask about her, Azusa and Mugi didn't know what to say. In fact, they would usually avoid the subject altogether.
It was as though the auburn-haired lady never visited.
The black-haired painstakingly tried to contact her time and again for the first few days, wanting to explain herself, but after many futile attempts of busy calls and no-shows, Mio had no other choice but to coax herself to forget Ritsu.
Not like it was any better.
Since the day the mentor abandoned her student, the weird dreams didn't seem to cease. Although Ritsu's adult form would now replace the previous small kid, and Mio wouldn't try to offer her a treat like how adults would treat little kids, but the situation was still the same; Ritsu will still run away, with Mio lagging behind.
And if Mio's nights are anything but good, her work is totally disastrous.
It like all those previous little mistakes had been amplified by a thousand times. And without the aid of a certain auburn-haired mentor, the other two employees, along with a very flustered junior Pâtissier who couldn't do anything but increase the complication of the matter, had a very hard time to clear up the messes.
And so, the black-haired woman, who couldn't go through one night without waking up crying and was uncharacteristically ten times as clumsy as an unprofessional on an unicycle, burnt out whatever remaining energy reserves she had left and collapsed in the middle of work onto the cold hard floor of the supposedly warm café kitchen.
Before unconsciousness taken over her energy-sapped body, the third most unexpected revelation had came to her, something that she had forgotten long ago, something that her dreams were always trying to remind her, something that she wasn't able to admit herself until now.
Her dream of becoming the Greatest's Caramel Pâtissier, the reason behind all those years of pursuing, wasn't because she fell in love with the caramel candy.
The one that she fell in love with was that girl that pulled her hand through the bustling crowd 17 years ago, the one that had offered help both now and then even when no one had forced her to.
The girl that had hair of the same colour as the one candy that Mio has yet to perfect.
Ritsu…
Mio woke up back in her rented room. Still trying to recall what had happened before her 'beauty sleep', she sat up on her bed as she assessed her surroundings.
And man was it messy. Clothes were scattered all over the floor, the dirty laundry was already starting to fall out of its containment, and her pillow stank of weeks of excretion. The woman frowned in disgust.
"When was the last time I cleaned my room? I think it was when I had that drea-"
An immediate blush erupted on her pale face, which she slapped on both sides with her hands, as though that action would reverse the reddening.
"Well, maybe I should first go and apologise to Azusa-chan about what happe-"
Her train of thoughts broke when the door to her room creaked open, and a familiar auburn-haired stepped in. Grey irises met amber ones as both remained in their positions for what seemed like an eternity.
If the junior Pâtissier's face was red before, that would be an overstatement.
"R-R-Ri-Ri-Ritsu? Wha- How- Why are you here?" a beetroot-red Mio stuttered upon sight of her crush.
The said lady was in a black sweater and jeans rather than her usual suit, which was so different from usual that it seemed like she was a totally different person. She raised up one hand in defense, which Mio noted wasn't holding a bowl of ice water. "I-I can explain! Azusa-chan said you had a fever, and that she was busy with the store and all, even though most of the time she is just flirting with that brunette. But anyways, there wasn't anyone to look after you, and so she called me to…"
The Pâtissier-in-training's eyes landed on the bowl in her previous mentor's hand, which had a small cloth floating in it upon closer inspection. She raised one hand to her forehead, and the tips of her slender fingers were able to pick up a subtle chilled at the skin's surface.
"She was looking after me all this time?"
Seeing the black-haired's action, the auburn-haired fished in her pocket with her free hand, and took out a pearly white clinical thermometer. "I checked your temperature with a thermometer this time, so there's no misunderstanding, right?"
The former student remembered the previous time how her mentor had check her temperature, and laughed at the memory. The latter only pouted in annoyance.
"Hey! I was seriously worried about you when Azusa told me you collapsed!"
"Worried about me?"
The black-haired stopped laughing, a dejected expression settling in.
"Then why did you leave and never come back that day? Or told those two not to discuss about you."
Ritsu set the bowl on the bedside table, turning away from the woman on the bed. "It's better not to associate yourself with me."
The junior Pâtissier raised an eyebrow, puzzled about her words. "Why?"
"Don't you know who I am?" The auburn-haired woman suddenly turned around, one hand on her chest, with a slightly torn expression on her face.
The black-haired was slightly surprised by her friend's question, but she answered truthfully, "You're my mentor and friend, Ritsu."
"Apart from that!" Ritsu's voice was already strained.
Mio's eyed were wide with shock. "I don't know… A Pâtissier, maybe?"
The auburn-haired took out an old folded cut-out newspaper article from her pocket. The slight yellowing suggested that it was a few years old. She then held it out towards the still shocked woman, who, with shaky hands, received the crumpled paper.
"Open it."
The ex-student did what she was told, and bold words met her grey irises.
Protégé Pastry Chef A Fraud, Caught Cheating in National Competition.
And below the headlines was a small black-and-white photo of two girls holding desserts that look identical. The girl on the left was someone the black-haired did not recognise, but was around her early-20s. The girl on the right was a younger version of Ritsu, probably around middle school, with her fringe held back with a headband.
"What?" The black-haired muttered in disbelief.
"Yeah. 'What?'. That was what I thought at that point of time. Just because she was a more experienced Pâtissier than me, the world wouldn't believe that she would steal a 14-year-old's recipe, but rather believe otherwise."
Tears were already forming in the ex-Pâtissier's eyes as she continued to dig deeper into the painful memories.
"Not only did I lose my reputation, but I even lost my friends; they wouldn't want a friend with a record like mine to pull them down in their careers."
Mio had already got up and silently pulled the crying woman into a warm hug, though with their height discrepancy, she only reached to the taller (rather voluptuous) chest. The former slowly stroked the top of the latter's head, trying to soothe the resurfaced pain.
"Baka Ritsu. Why would I leave you just because of that?"
The said woman looked up from her soft comfort. "Don't you want to be a famous Pâtissier? And didn't you find out my identity when you saw my fringe up."
The black-haired just ruffled the shorter woman's head with a small smile on her face. "I didn't recognise you as the Protégé Pastry Chef; I only realised you as the girl who helped me when I was lost all those years ago."
Ritsu jumped out off Mio's grasp. "Wait! You were that girl?"
"Yeah. You didn't realise?"
"No. I didn't! How does anyone recognise people when they met only once more than ten years ago?"
"I thought you knew, since you were especially friendly with me at the beginning."
The auburn-haired broke into laughter, which the junior Pâtissier didn't know whether she should be happy as it was an improvement from her earlier episode, or whether to be insulted. "I'm always friendly with everyone, but I didn't expect anyone to misunderstand to that extend."
Mio expected her to then follow up with her trademark smile, but was wrong when she went back into her state of depression.
"It's still better if you didn't engage with a person like me, you reputation will just be ruined-"
Ritsu was suddenly cut off when Mio pulled her forward once again and silenced her with her lips.
Although the small action lasted less than a second, it had a large impact on the auburn-haired. The ex-Pâtissier just stood in the same spot with her eyes wide open, even after the black-haired had backed away. After a seemingly long time of two minutes, her brain was finally able to process the previous action as a blush erupted through her cheeks and ears.
"W-W-Wh-Wha-What was that?" Ritsu finally managed to splutter out her sentence.
"A kiss?" The junior Pâtissier spoke in a rather confident tone, despite her face being fully-flushed and her thoughts running wild from her earlier action.
"I-I know it's a k-k-ki-ki-kiss! I mean, why?"
"Do I have to spell it out for you?"
"W-Well, seeing that you suddenly took my first without my consent, I most certainly need an explanation."
Mio sighed, pulling Ritsu into another hug, this time a little more forceful.
"Wanting to become the Greatest Caramel Pâtissier ever since that day; you are my reason for it."
"I only wanted to give that little girl, whose favourite snack is caramel, the best caramel candy in the world."
"Mio! I'm back!"
It had been a week since Mio and Ritsu had got back together after their fallout.
"Oh, Ritsu. Could you wait awhile? I have something for you."
The auburn-haired had since then resumed her everyday visits to the café, much to the Pâtissier's delight.
"Don't take too long."
Since then, Ritsu had trimmed her hair shorter. Although she still wouldn't wear her fringe up.
At least her face can be seen clearer than before.
Autumn was already making way for winter, resulting in the drop in temperatures, especially when it is night. The new comer now had to remove her large coat, which she found to be a really annoying extra action since the change of season, and hang it up on the coat-stand at the entrance, before proceeding inside and taking a seat nearest to the ordering counter. Today, her shirt was deep red.
"Here to see Mio-chan again, I presume." The blonde waitress served the ex-Pâtissier with the usual cup of coffee, even though it was already closing time and she had the obligation to go home.
"Yup~"
The blonde waitress giggled. "My. How lovey-dovey~ "
Before a blushing Ritsu could say anything, the Pâtissier came out with a custard pudding in her hands. When the former took a look at it, though, she had to suppress the really irritating urge to relieve the sudden itch in her back.
The custard pudding was shaped to look like a face, with maple as eyes and sugar icing as the mouth. Caramel, poured neatly on the top of the 'head' in a familiar pattern, formed the hair.
In other words, it was a pastry portrait of Ritsu which screamed 'cute' all over.
"Merry Christmas, Ritsu."
That urge to itch disappeared, but the auburn-haired sank into depression. "Oh crap! I was too busy with work that I forgot! I'm sorry, Mio."
"Too busy eating others' pastries as a pastry connoisseur that you forgot, Tainaka-san?"
Already becoming a routine, Ritsu hands would shoot up, defending herself from Mio's verbal attacks. "I really was busy, seeing that it's the holiday season and the higher-ups wanting more reviews to be done to boost commission. And come on, those others can't hold a handle to you-"
Ritsu was cut off with Mio's slender finger, coated with caramel and icing, placed in front of her mouth. "Cut the sweet talk and eat."
About halfway through eating the pudding, Azusa came around after cleaning the remaining tables. "Wah! Mio-senpai! Your creations are superb as usual; it really looks like Ritsu-sempai, even though she isn't really that cute-"
"Hey!"
"-Could you teach it to me next time?"
Angered by the younger girl's comment, the auburn-haired slung her arm around Mio's neck, as though marking her belongings, as she snarled at the part-timer. "Mio's custard pudding has her love for me in it, and I ain't letting you have it."
"R-Ritsu!" An immense blush flooded Mio's face, "What are you talking about?"
"Nah. Mio-chan, no need to be shy about it. After all, it was you who took initiative with that ki-"
The black-haired slammed her hand onto the auburn-haired's mouth, preventing her from completing her sentence.
"Ki?" Both Azusa and Mugi were curious.
"Nothing! She meant, er, kick! Yeah, that's right, kick!"
The younger Pâtissier was about to ask for a further elaboration, when she noticed something odd.
"Mio-senpai. You have something on your right cheek."
The black-haired blinked in surprise. "Do I? Where?"
"Here, let me wipe it for-"
Before anyone could react, Ritsu tip-toed and licked it clean off with one swift action!
Azusa was stunned, Mugi was pleasantly surprised, and Mio was downright shocked.
"Mmm… Caramel…"
A large bump grew from Ritsu's head as Mio's hand met her cranium.
"You know, Mio, I can give you a different kind of Christmas present tonight, if you want." Ritsu whispered seductively into Mio's reddened ear.
Another large bump appeared as Mio hit the top of the first one.
Now, supposedly I wanted to upload this on Christmas eve.
But with all the editing and reformating and paragraphing (it couldn't read the one I used in my computer), it dragged to the 25th. I'm sorry. At least I made it for Christmas.
So yeah, this was pretty much a random story, so I'm sorry if the characters were OOC. I know I should be updating the K-On GB... But this was bugging me ever since I listened to Tokimeki Sugar, so... I'm sorry.
Although there's not much indication, but I may make a sequel with Yui and Azusa (Probably after my 'A's) if I get a good response for it.
Oh yeah, and 'Houkago Tea Time' just sounded weird, since it is a cafe targeted to working adults, so I changed it to 'Houdou Tea Time'. Please don't flame.
So yeah, reviews/comments/critisms/rotten vegetables and pickforks are welcomed.