I took a very long break and came back... :) Hi ^-^

Ichigo POV:

"Vanilla! Vanilla!" I whispered loudly to my sleeping Sweet Spirit in an attempt to wake her up, but it ended up all in vain. She was soundly asleep, drowning in her own world of dreams. Oh well, I guess this means I have to practice baking alone this time, I thought as I stood up, grabbed a jacket, and walked toward the cooking classroom.

Brrrrr…. Why is it so cold? Gosh, it's only early October and the icy cold breeze had settled in the air. I quickly walked toward the promised warmth inside the cooking classroom only to find that "The Devil" was already there. Grrr… why is he here? But of course, it's Kashino Makoto we're talking about here. He is a sadistic devil of a critique who would be satisfied with nothing but flawless perfection, I ridiculed with myself.

I went inside anyways, ignoring his glances. I safely made my way to an unoccupied part of the classroom and started on my recipe. It was chocolate related. Vanilla said it was quite hard but I did not believe her, but only now I realized how wrong I'd been. Usually, I would have Vanilla walk me through the steps as she was supposed to, but tonight, she was out like a dead light bulb in the dormitory I shared with my best friend, Yumi-chan.

I wanted to ask for help, but the only other person here is Kashino and there's no way I will ask him for help. I can imagine that mocking smirk on his face if I did right now. (Kashino in a devilish, squeaky voice inside Ichigo's mind) ~"I knew you would ask for help. You're too stupid! Hahahahaha! " ~ I'm so angry right now! I screamed inside my head. Gosh! The frustration is eating me alive!

So for the next thirty minutes I struggled with the arduous recipe. I tried different methods, but none of them worked. I experienced failures after failures after failures, until I can't take it anymore. Unexpectedly, in frustration, I threw down my bowl causing a loud discordant noise that left my ears ringing for a few seconds longer than needed. That sound had also attracted Kashino's attention. Silently, I begged for him not to come over, but my wish was not granted as he strode over to my station that I'd claimed.

"AMANO! Don't you know that you shouldn't waste chocolate?!" he yelled in my ears. Ouch. Of course, of all things, it would be because I dropped a bowl half filled with chocolate on the floor.

"Such a devil," I muttered under my breath.

"What was that?" Kashino asked me dangerously.

"Nothing!" I told him quickly and started to clean up. I think I heard him sigh, but I wasn't sure.

I slowly lowered myself to the floor, knees first, with a towel and started to wipe up the spilt melted chocolate.

"What were you trying to make?" Kashino asked me.

"Nothing," I told him a little bit harsher than I thought, but before I have the chance, he grabbed my recipe book away from me.

"You're trying to make this? This is impossible for you even in a million years," he dropped the book with a thud on the counter table. My vision blurred as I lift my head to meet his taken aback eyes. Of course, he'd never seen me cried before. That's the last thing I want, or that was the last thing. Now, it's too late as a translucent droplet of tears slid out of my teary eye and slithered down my face.

"H-hey," he made a motion to move toward me, but I stepped out of his course. That devil, he'd made me cried and now he thinks he can make it all better? Well, I won't let him! That stupid Kashino doesn't deserve any forgiveness from me!

"Don't you think I know that?" I screeched at him in fury. I wiped the tears from my eyes. "But…" I'm loss for words as my throat started to clog up and I choked on my own tears. I am determined not to cry but my eyes seemed to have a mind of their own.

"Amano."

"No, forget it, i shouldn't have tried this, I should have known." For a second I'd thought I can actually accomplish something that had sounded so farfetched, but at last, I was wrong yet again.

Suddenly, my vision blurred as everything in the room swirled together like a big whirlpool. My feet don't know which way to go so I stumbled on them and was heading on my way face flat onto the cold hard floor. I did fall like I'd thought, but the floor was not as I had expected. It was not cold and stiff. Instead, it was warm and comfortable. My tired eyelids fastened and secured tightly as I drifted off into a dreamland. The last thing I heard were muffled voices.

Kashino P.O.V:

One moment she was fine as she yelled on the top of her lungs at me. The next, her legs turned into jelly-like substance and gave into her weight. Before Ichigo hit the hard, cold marble floor, I rushed to her trying to cushion her fall.

I had truly believed that she had stumbled upon something due to her clumsiness, but when her eyelids sealed against her skin, I started to freak out. Before I could do anything, she fainted. It was then that I realized my face was too close to hers for comfort.

There were dark circles that surrounded under her eyes. Her skin was paler than when I previously saw her. She looked exhausted with bags under her eyes.

Slowly, as if the slightest movement could wake her up, I laid Ichigo against the unoccupied wall of the classroom. I shrugged out of my jacket and wrapped it around her. Without further thinking, I decided to wait for her to wake up, but time seems to past like shooting stars and before I knew it, I, myself, had drifted asleep.

Dreaming… a garden…. Is that me? A girl with honey brown hair….. a strawberry cake…. I'm eating it. It tasted delicious…..

"Huh?" I mumbled underneath my breath. God was I really dreaming about cake. Help me! Ichigo must be rubbing off on me!

I felt something soft between my chin and neck and saw that Ichigo had somehow decided to rest her neck there. It felt ticklish, but I let her be.

Ichigo's P.O.V:

I felt the consciousness coming back to me little by little. Sluggishly I opened my eyes to the frail, bright, yellow rays of the early sun. I was leaning my head on someone's shoulder… turning my head to the right and looked up; I realized that someone was Kashino!

"Gah!" I screamed shoving him away. Kashino woke up with a start.

"Amano, it's too early to scream like that," he mumbled as his head landed on my lap and he went back to sleep. I was too stunned by the situation to do anything. So there I sat eyes wide, mouth open, and words trapped at my throat. I took a few breath with my eyes closed to steady my nerves. When I opened them, the first thing I saw was Kashino silky golden blonde hair. Is he even Japanese? I wondered. No matter. Intuitively, I reached out my hand and started to pet through his mellifluous locks of hair which felt like a calm and steady waterfall. Bit by bit, I too drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

I hope you enjoyed this one-shot :) it was on the spur of the moment. The characters are a bit off, but I hope you guys still like it anyways~~~ ^_^