Before leaving her room, Kamui decided to double check herself in the mirror once again to see if there's anything out of place concerning her appearance. No loose strands on her hair, no stains on any of her clothes, nothing on her face.
"Perfect!" Kamui exclaimed, smiling that she's happy with how she looks and ready to meet Tsubaki at Rose's Thorn.
Kamui could have arrived with the outfit she wore to school, but decided to change into something more appropriate considering the circumstances she's in. One, it's hot for early October, and a hoodie wouldn't do compared to a short-sleeved blue shirt with stripes. Two, she wanted to look a bit nice for Tsubaki as she assumes he'll dress up in something nice as well. And three, because she's going to Camilla's workplace, Camilla is going to see the two juniors and assume the two are in a date.
Despite the fact that Kamui has specified in her text message that they're meeting for a school project. In short, a study date in Camilla's mind. Heavy emphasis on date.
Grabbing her gray purse and journal, Kamui walked out of her room, closing her door and making her way downstairs to the front door. Besides Kamui, there's no one at home. Both Xander and Camilla are at their jobs (Xander as a history teacher at a different high school and Camilla as the owner of her cafe), Leo is at the library and will later be at Owain's house for a short session of Dungeons & Dragons, while Elise is taking her violin lessons at a music studio (which she kind of forgot).
Before leaving, Kamui hurried to the kitchen where there's a message board with a dry-erase marker on top of it. As Kamui is scribbling her message on there just in case someone comes home early, her phone inside her purse vibrated, indicating a text message. Once she finished writing on the board, Kamui pulled her phone out of her purse and checked to see that Tsubaki has messaged her.
Reading the message, Kamui quickly put her phone back into her purse before yelling, "I gotta hurry!" and slipping on her blue flats before storming out of the house and to the bus stop due to the fact that both of the cars are gone.
Sighing as the bus isn't here, Kamui sat down on the bench where she decided to look at the various of scenarios she had came up with for the assignment. She had topics on romance, friendship, family complications, an epic adventure on one person deciding between two families, a girl from the future going back in time to save her family from a terrible fate…
"Wait, the last two seem too long for a short story. Maybe better for a novel or a video game," Kamui commented, crossing the last two scenarios from her journal. "Wonder if… No… Not sure if Tsubaki will like it..." Kamui added as she's now making swirls on her topics page.
Right as she closed her journal, the bus has arrived at the bus stop, and Kamui pulled her bus pass from her wallet as she waited for the people exiting from the bus before entering, swiping her card on the transaction machine and took her seat.
As she's waiting for the bus to move, she can overhear one of her classmates, Severa, talking to a girl with short black hair. Kamui assumes the girl Severa is talking to is from a different high school as she's sure she has never seen the black haired-girl in the hallways in school.
"...And right when I got my math test back, Mr. Perfect happens to get, once again, a higher score than me, and the highest test grade in the class. Again," Severa groaned as the bus started to leave the bus stop. "Can you believe that, Noire?!"
"Y… yeah. You studied really hard for that test," Noire nodded in agreement with her friend. "But shouldn't you be happy?"
"Happy for what?"
"Well… you got a 100 on your test. That's a pretty difficult score to obtain, especially in math," Noire reassured Severa, knowing that subject is the hardest in school.
"Not for Mr. Perfect! I got that 100 because I answered the extra credit question correctly. As for him," Severa growled on the last word, "He answered every question correctly, including the extra credit question, and got a freakin' 107! I thought that was impossible, but of course, he happened to accomplish that like it's child's play!"
"Good for him."
"Yeah, right. Mr. Perfect is just showing off that he's better than everyone else, which isn't even possible." Severa heavily sighed as she added, "Gawds, I really need some caffeine to forget about this."
Oh, my gods. Tsubaki… Kamui sighed in her thoughts after hearing Severa's comment on Tsubaki. Do people really talk bad stuff behind your back?
After listening to Severa's conversation, Kamui tries to remember the time some of her classmates negatively comment on Tsubaki.
He's such a showoff!
Thinks he's better than everyone else…
Perfect grades, perfect looks, perfect life! Gods, it makes me sick to think that an asshole like him can have everything we want!
Sure, he may seem nice, but he secretly thinks that everyone is inferior to him.
Wish he could just die already.
Kamui assumed that someone like Tsubaki would be respected by most of his peers, but it ends up being false as not everyone liked him. Or worse, completely despise him that they'd be glad if Tsubaki is dead.
She even remembered someone saying a "word on advice" concerning about the red-head.
"I'd avoid him if I were you. And if you do get paired up with him for a project, just pretend to like him and ditch him once it's over."
Of course, Kamui knew better not to listen to that horrible advice. She won't know if Tsubaki is a really kind or a terrible person if she doesn't get to know him. And she has at least a month to know him better, starting with the short story assignment.
Wait a minute… Kamui thought as she pulled her pen and started to write on her journal, finally thinking on a topic that she hopes she can write.
Now only if the bus can stop so her handwriting doesn't look like crap.
Kamui: On my way, Tsubaki! I didn't know you'd be there early…
Tsubaki: It's fine. If it's okay with you, I already ordered our drinks for us, and I was wondering if you wanted something else like a slice of cake or pie.
Kamui: Is there apple pie?
Tsubaki: Yes? Why?
Kamui: It's only there on Friday, and it's the best one I've tasted in my life! Don't worry, I'll pay for it… Be there in two minutes!
4:58. It's been almost a half-hour since Tsubaki arrived at Rose's Thorn and is currently waiting for Kamui, with his laptop open on a blank document. Tsubaki didn't even planned to order anything in here, but one of the workers pressured him to get something or leave the cafe. That sounds a bit absurd to him as no other cafe did this to him, but not wanting to frustrate the worker, Tsubaki ordered one vanilla chai for him while a cinnamon mocha for Kamui.
Okay, the drink for Kamui was purely a guess since he doesn't know if she likes cinnamon or not. Or maybe she prefers tea over coffee… Too late to change orders since he already payed for them.
A bell chimed as some girls were entering the cafe, one of them happens to be Severa, the other a black haired girl wearing a green sweater, and one last girl that happened to rush into the cafe…
"Oh, thank the gods. Barely just in time..."
"Kamui!" Tsubaki exclaimed happily that she arrived.
"Oh, hey Tsubaki! Be right there," Kamui replied, already on the line waiting to order her apple pie.
While waiting for Kamui to order her dessert, Tsubaki pulled out his phone as it had some of his ideas for the assignment he really hopes they write about. If not, then surely Kamui's ideas were as good as his. But the chances of that are the same as a coin toss.
"Sir, your drinks are ready."
Tsubaki looked to see a girl with light-blue downward pigtails carrying a tray containing the drinks, both having whip cream on top and a cookie straw on them.
"It's still hot, so be careful," the waitress advised as she placed the cups onto the table, along with some napkins since there's not a napkin dispenser in the table. "Enjoy."
Right as the waitress left the table, Kamui is carrying two plates of apple pie and sat in the remaining seat on their table.
Curious on the second pie, Tsubaki asked, "Are you seriously going to eat two slices of that?"
Giggling at that question, Kamui answered, "No, silly." as she pushed the plate to Tsubaki, along with giving him a fork.
"Really?" Tsubaki questioned Kamui's gesture for him to have the pie.
"Yep. Can't think on just coffee," Kamui stated as she took a bite of her apple pie. "Oh, gods! This is sooo good!"
Tsubaki then followed Kamui's example as it's been a while since he had a slice of pie; mainly apple. He'll admit it, this pie actually isn't too bad. Better than the ones from the store and in some bakeries.
"Did your sister made this?" Tsubaki asked, taking another bite of the pie.
"Oh, no. She does make some sweets sometimes, but it was Jakob who made this," Kamui answered.
AKA, the person who 'persuaded' Tsubaki into buying drinks in the first place.
"But anyway, can I see your ideas for the assignment?" Kamui requested as she started to eat the whip cream off from the cookie straw.
"Only if I can see yours," Tsubaki replied, giving the blond his phone as Kamui handed him her journal. He opened it to see several ideas jotted down, with two of them crossed out and one of them messily written, though still legible. That one interested him, no not because of the different handwriting compared to the others, but because of the topic.
As Kamui scrolled through Tsubaki's phone that listed the potential topics for the assignment, Tsubaki started to speak, "Kamui, can I ask you something?" pointing to the last topic.
"Is it about the crappy handwriting?" Kamui guessed. "That happened because I wrote that on the bus."
"No, it's not that. Well, before I start asking the question, the topic is probably the most interesting one out of them all."
Kamui looked at the topic she wrote, ignoring the slanted letters she wrote. The topic Kamui has written reads: The star student loved yet hated by others attempting to face her harsh reality hidden from others. She expected Tsubaki to have second thoughts on it, or say it's good, but not fantastic. Instead, this one might be a contender for the short story topic.
"Y… You really mean it?" Kamui asked, wanting to be sure if what Tsubaki is saying isn't a lie.
"Absolutely," Tsubaki confirmed. "I mean, I thought about my topics and thought were perfect for this assignment..."
Kamui checked the list on Tsubaki's phone to see the topics he had. The feeling of losing hope, acceptance from their peers, choosing between personal dreams versus and ones from parents, and a progression from suicide to feeling better about themselves in their high school life. Interesting yet dark topics compared to Kamui's heartwarming topics (most of them at least).
"...But I never thought you'd come up with something so…" Tsubaki paused to think up a word to describe the topic, but failing to do so. "Gods, it's kind of difficult what words to say."
Especially with a topic like that, Kamui thought.
"Anyway, I want to know what inspired-"
CRASH!
Both Kamui and Tsubaki, along with most of the people, turned their attention to the front counter where the loud noise came from. Not too shortly after, Peri is catching a girl with pink hair tied into a ponytail, with the latter carrying a tray with three cups of coffee and a whole pie with the top filled with whip cream.
Kamui knew that the pink-haired girl, Felicia, has been working here since the cafe opened and is trying to not mess up any of the customer's orders while getting it quickly to them. What surprised Kamui is that Peri works here since she's wearing the white shirt and black skirt uniform that all female employees must wear. Though how someone so crazy and childish like Peri could get a job like this is beyond Kamui's mind.
"You ruined that drink! Give it to me, or else!" Peri threatened, chasing Felicia with a spatula.
"I only added an extra teaspoon of sugar on the mocha! I'm sure they won't mind!" Felicia replied, trying to avoid a ravage bashing from her co-worker. As she's avoiding Peri, Felicia is trying to keep everything on the tray in balance as she doesn't want the group of three she's serving to be mad for ruining their order.
Unfortunately…
"Right where I want you!" Peri exclaimed, swinging her spatula at Felicia's arm, causing the pink-haired worker to wince in pain before she felt both of Peri's hands in her wrists.
"Gods, Peri. Let go of me," Felicia pleaded as she's enduring her co-worker's tight grip.
"Not until you give me the tray."
"No! They've been waiting for fifteen minutes, and I'd hate for them to wait any longer."
"I said, GIVE IT!" Peri yelled as she tugged Felicia's arms harshly, causing one drink and the pie from the tray to fly off, and unfortunately landing on Tsubaki; the coffee landing on his black pants and the pie landing on the top of his red hair.
Tsubaki didn't say anything for a few seconds, but he ended up looking at the mess at himself, hands shaking and ignoring the people laughing at this disaster. In particular, he can hear Severa laughing loudly, falling off her seat and attempting to pull out her phone, with the chance to catch Mr. Perfect looking so messy and properly humiliated.
I hate this, Tsubaki thought as he's sure that he's the main attraction of this late afternoon. God, please make this end!
"-ir? Sir? Sir?"
Tsubaki turned around to see Felicia, no longer carrying the tray, with a frown in her face and her eyes attempting to fight the tears from coming out. She bowed down, frantically saying, "Oh, my gods. I am so, so, so sorry! I didn't mean to do this, I swear!"
The red-head didn't say anything to the pink-haired employee.
"Oh, gods… This isn't good..." Felicia knew that while Tsubaki isn't clenching his fists or glaring at her, hearing no response out of him is probably the worse thing Felicia can experience. Sure, it's probably to spare her from his wrath, but she feared that he'll talk about the clumsy employee behind her back. And she never likes it when people talk viciously about others when others aren't around.
"Tsubaki?" Kamui attempted to get her partner to speak, snapping her fingers in front of his face.
No response.
"Hey!" Kamui tried again, waving her hands in front of him.
Nothing.
"I can't believe it came to this…" Kamui muttered before she breathed deeply and slapped Tsubaki in the face, causing the red-head to jump out of his seat and closing his laptop before grabbing it quickly.
The sound of this caused everyone in the cafe to cease what they were doing. Even the employees stopped making the drinks or treats to see the scene with Kamui and Tsubaki.
"Why…?" Tsubaki can only say, taking a step backwards as Kamui is getting closer to him. "Why, Kamui?"
"Tsubaki, I am so sorry that I slapped you," Kamui said, trying to grab his hand. "You didn't respond to me, so I had little choice in order for you to say something."
"I…"
Tsubaki backed up farther from Kaumi right when she was close to him. He knew that Kamui didn't mean to hurt him on purpose, but that incident was similar to another one that he can't dare to forget, no matter how hard he tries.
Don't you even dare come closer to me you piece of shit.
"-okay?"
Are you deaf? Stay away from me!
"-no choice but to take him to our house…"
You've asked for it…
"-Tsubaki…"
Please, no… I beg of you… Don't do this to me.
The clock reads 6:00 PM; almost a half-hour since the unfortunate incident. But for Kamui, it felt like forever the moment she left Rose's Thorn with Camilla and Tsubaki.
Kamui can remember Camilla coming out of the back of the kitchen and wondering what was going on due to hearing some loud chattering from the customers before it was silenced with a loud slap. By the time Camilla arrived, Tsubaki was muttering random words as his eyes were starting to form tears, losing his grip on the laptop.
The two sisters agreed that Tsubaki should be taken to their home so he can not only shower, but so his clothes can be washed due to the lack of a washing machine in the store, let alone a laundromat nearby. Besides, they didn't know where Tsubaki's house is, and getting the directions from Tsubaki might be difficult in his distressed state. And getting him into the car wasn't an easy task as Camilla had to carry him out of the cafe and into Camilla's car.
As Kamui is waiting for Tsubaki to finish showering in the downstairs bathroom, Kamui is sitting on the living room couch with her own laptop sitting on top of her black skirt, creating a document on her Google Drive account. Since Tsubaki has approved on her topic, it seems fair for her to start the first paragraph, along with creating a title for the story.
However, as she's finishing up typing the title and starting on the first paragraph, her phone vibrated from her skirt pocket (yes, they were real) and from the front screen, Camilla had messaged her.
Camilla: Back at work. Nothing went wrong while I was gone, but… Let's just say you don't want your partner to know, let alone see 'this'. Also, have fun home alone~! I left some spaghetti at the kitchen table, all heated up. I doubt he would want coffee and pie after that incident.
This isn't already going to be good based on her sister's message. Quickly going to the messages, when she checked Camilla's section, there was not only her latest message but…
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"
Kamui turned around to see Tsubaki, out of the shower with his hair down, and his loud voice almost caused her to drop her phone to the ground, along with letting her laptop slip from her lap. Thank the gods it didn't fall, yet that's the least of her worries…
"T-Tsubaki!" Kamui can only say as she locked her phone despite the fact that action felt pointless. "Please don't scare me like that."
"Sorry," Tsubaki said, sitting down next to the sandy blond. "But I didn't expect… well… OH, GODS!" He snatched the nearest pillow, planting his face into it before screaming and lying down on the couch.
Concerned about him, Kamui placed her laptop on the coffee table and placed her hand onto Tsubaki's head, still a bit wet from his shower. She then slowly stroked his hair, in hopes he would calm down a little bit and talk to her. While doing so, Kamui noticed that Tsubaki's hair, while still drying, is really soft, and can easily brush it on her fingers. He must have spent a lot of time to take care of it in order to be this soft, especially since whip cream and chocolate syrup were stuck on his hair. Not to mention his hair… has a floral aroma…
Oh, gods! What the hell am I doing? Kamui thought as she noticed she was too close to Tsubaki. Guess she didn't noticed that she was leaning in towards him. Quickly, she pulled away from Tsubaki before she got off the couch and went to the kitchen, grabbing two plates and forks from the cabinet. She knows that they ate, but they only managed to finish at least half of it, and assumes that Tsubaki has room for spaghetti.
As Camilla stated in her message, the pot of spaghetti, sauce and pasta all mixed together, is in the kitchen table and used the tongs to grab a generous amount of noodles into both plates. Honestly, she didn't take into account how much Tsubaki eats, but once again assumes that it's something to fill him up for three to five hours.
Balancing both plates on her hands, Kamui made her way from the kitchen and back to the living room where she still sees Tsubaki has his face on the pillow, his words muffled. Sighing, Kamui placed both plates on the coffee table while it's away from her laptop.
"You want some spaghetti, Tsubaki?" Kamui offered the red head.
Tsubaki's attempt to answer the sandy blond ended up being difficult to hear due to the pillow on his face.
"What?" Kamui confused on what he's saying, grabbing her plate from the table. "I won't understand unless you get your face out of the pillow."
Tsubaki lifted his face off the pillow, then placed said pillow into the end of the couch before replying to Kamui, "I said sure. At least it won't badly stain my current attire."
As in, he's wearing Xander's black long-sleeved t-shirt and gray sweatpants for the time being while his clothes are getting washed.
"You think he'll mind it that I'm wearing his clothes?" Tsubaki asked Kamui as he grabbed his plate of spaghetti.
"As long as we explain it to him, then it's okay," Kamui answered, taking a bite of her spaghetti. As she was devouring her pasta, Kamui heard a short ringtone that she's not familiar with, assuming that it's coming from Tsubaki's phone. And the sound kept repeating itself every couple of seconds, with Tsubaki being annoyed with that sound, clenching his fork tightly in his hand.
It wasn't until a minute later that Tsubaki hesitantly picked up his phone and placed his plate on top of his lap, hoping it won't fall off while he's checking who texted him.
He really wished he didn't check his phone a second ago.
Hinata: Got yourself in a sticky situation, eh Baki~? Haha! Joking aside, hope you feel better. o_o/
Oboro: Jeez, did one of the employees did this to you on accident or on purpose?
Sakura: Oh, my goodness! Do you need a hug?
Hana: Holy crap! What happened? Did the employees tried to make a dish out of you? You look so ridiculous! (Seriously though, get yourself cleaned up…) -_-
While he's glad that some of the text messages that he received weren't that bad (such as Sakura's for instance), the one thing that all of them had in common was a picture of him in Rose's Thorn with his hair a mess, some of the chocolate syrup dripping onto his white shirt and blue tie. The same picture Camilla sent to Kamui.
After reading the four messages, a couple more were popping up, mentioning the events that happened at Rose's Thorn a half-hour ago. Tsubaki didn't dare check on them as they'll probably say the same thing and the picture will show up.
Ignoring the text tone, Tsubaki carelessly tossed his phone to the floor, not caring if it ends up broken or if there's a crack on the screen.
"Tsubaki!" Kamui exclaimed, picking up his phone from the ground. She looked at the screen to see that there were more messages; some of the names being unfamiliar to her. Regardless, they're all about 'that' incident.
"Why did this happen to me?" Tsubaki questioned, now eating his pasta in a faster pace than Kamui did earlier.
"You know what happened," Kamui answered, setting Tsubaki's phone on the coffee table. "It was all an accident. And if you want point fingers at someone…"
Which is something she doesn't like to do.
"… Peri was the one responsible who caused this mess. Literally and figuratively," Kamui said. "But even then…"
"It was an accident, like you said," Tsubaki finished Kamui's sentence as he got another bite of the spaghetti. "If she were to do that on purpose, she would have taken the tray-"
"And cover us with whip cream and chocolate syrup," Kamui concluded.
Tsubaki stopped eating when heard the last part.
"I thought it would be just me," Tsubaki added. "Why would you say that?"
"Well… It might be unbearable to endure all the humiliation on your own. I figured if that happened, I'd lightened the mood and make you laugh."
"Like…?" Tsubaki wondered as he imagined if Kamui joined in the disaster.
"Like eat the whip cream from your hair for instance." Kamui responded by touching Tsubaki's bangs with her hand, still soft and now completely dry. "Gods, your hair is so soft. What did you use, my sister's shampoo and conditioner?"
"Uh…" Tsubaki decided to place his plate on the coffee table as he's trying to answer Kamui's question. "Well… there was a purple container on the shower stall..."
Kamui took a few seconds to realize what the red-head answered to her before she burst out laughing, she forgot that she had spaghetti in her mouth! She coughed a little bit before chewing the remains of her pasta and swallowing it. Once that's over with, she set her spaghetti on the coffee table before she continued to laugh a little bit.
Face blushing red from embarrassment, Tsubaki was confused on why Kamui is laughing over his answer. Curious, he asked, "What? Did I use body wash instead of shampoo?"
"No. It's that you actually used my sister's..." Kamui didn't finish her sentence as she started to laugh again, falling off from the couch and to the wooden floor. Fortunately for her, there was a rug below, so it didn't hurt as much. "Oh, sorry about that. I wouldn't think you'd use a shampoo for girls." she added as she got off her back from the floor.
"I always want my hair to smell nice whenever I shower!" Tsubaki exclaimed. "I've done it since Elementary-"
Crap, Tsubaki! Don't say anything at this point! Tsubaki's mind screamed as he ended up covering his mouth, not completing his sentence.
"Uh… What was that last part about using girl's shampoo since childhood?" Kamui questioned the red-head.
I'm screwed!
"Well, the reason behind that is… personal," Tsubaki started to explain, crossing his arms. "I-"
"Oh, no! You don't have to explain it if it makes you uncomfortable," Kamui reassured Tsubaki from revealing parts of his background that he might have trouble explaining. Even if it does involve something as small such as Tsubaki using girly shampoo at a young age. "Sorry if I almost made you brought it up."
"It's fine," Tsubaki sighed as he looked at Kamui's laptop, her screen showing a document with a couple of words. It didn't take him too long to read what Kamui currently has and asked, "Did you really name our short story 'Pancakes'?"
Oops.
Embarrassed, Kamui snatched the laptop from the coffee table and to her lap before exclaiming, "It was just a placeholder title!"
"I see." Tsubaki's mind for the past hour was still on the incident at Rose's Thorn and he remembered the question he wanted to ask Kamui before he was interrupted from… that. "Kamui, about the short story..."
"What inspired it?" Kamui remembered, staring at the screen, trying to find the right words for the first paragraph. Sighing, Kamui answered, "Remember when I said I wrote the topic at the bus?"
Tsubaki nodded yes. Writing while a vehicle was moving is a difficult task and keeping the handwriting as neat as possible is easier said than done.
"Well, I came up with that topic because…"
"Mr. Perfect is just showing off that he's better than everyone else, which isn't even possible."
"I overheard Severa talking to her friend," Kamui started to explain, "About how annoyed she was with you being perfect."
Tsubaki can only sigh and reply with, "Is that it?"
"No. After she was done, I remember some hurtful comments people said about you, and I especially remember how someone said you should… Well… Be gone."
Silence followed, besides the beep from the dryer indicating that Tsubaki's clothes were finished drying. However, none of them didn't decide to pick up his clothes. Kamui is just waiting for Tsubaki's reaction, while the red-head is trying to take this information in his head.
The star student loved yet hated by others attempting to face her harsh reality hidden from others. Tsubaki thought it meant someone else at school such as Takumi or Severa, but he didn't expect that HE'S the inspiration for the entire topic. Besides the obvious, the topic brings Tsubaki a little bit too close to home; especially the last part. But still…
"If you want to change topics, then it's okay," Kamui suggested, lowering her laptop screen down and looking up at Tsubaki, still at the couch.
"No, no. It's fine," Tsubaki replied, getting off the couch and sat down on the ground next to Kamui. "Besides, it's not everyday I'm the inspiration for a story." Tsubaki smiled and placed his fingers onto Kamui's sandy blond locks.
"Aw! You must feel special."
"Yeah… Can't wait to write my parts."
Right as Tsubaki is brushing through Kamui's locks, feeling how smooth her hair is, the two juniors heard the front door creek open, along with some footsteps that were getting louder and louder until…
"Big sister!"
Kamui turned to see Elise behind her, giving the junior no time to say 'hello' to Elise when the younger sister happily hugged her older sister.
"Elise!" Kamui greeted the young blond. "How was violin practice?"
"It was great! I played my piece without making any mistakes for the first-" Elise stopped speaking when she noticed Tsubaki sitting next to her big sister, and is brushing her locks with his hands. Elise asked him, "Who are you, sir?"
"I'm Tsubaki Miyazaki," he introduced himself to Elise. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"You too! I'm Kamui's adorable younger sister, Elise!" she replied as she shook Tsubaki's free hand. "So, what you doing here in our house?"
"We're doing a project involving a short story-"
"Called 'Pancakes'?!" Elise tried to finish Tsubaki's sentence as she spotted the title when Kamui lifted the laptop screen up. "Is it about pancakes?!"
"N… no!" both Kamui and Tsubaki responded.
"It's a placeholder title!" Kamui added. "Besides, we just started!"
Not too shortly, the three heard some footsteps coming closer to them, with Kamui turning around in time to see Xander, black coat and dark purple tie off from his white buttoned shirt.
"Nice to see you at home, little princess," Xander replied to Kamui using the nickname he still likes to use around her when they were younger. The eldest noticed Tsubaki, currently wearing his clothes and hands on Kamui's hair. "Can anyone tell me why-"
"It's a long and embarrassing story, Xander," Kamui interrupted her brother as she got up from the floor, setting the laptop onto the couch before exclaiming, "Right now, I need to get Tsubaki's clothes from the dryer!"
Kamui knew that she heard the beep a few minutes ago, but didn't bother to get the clothes earlier as she wanted to hear Tsubaki's reaction about him being the main attraction for their topic.
As Kamui is in the pantry retrieving the finished clothes, Elise sat on the couch and read the paragraph from the laptop that Kamui typed for the time being. Meanwhile, Tsubaki stood up and ended up meeting Xander's eyes glaring at him; probably because Tsubaki touched Kamui's hair and that he was alone with her in the house. Unexpectedly.
"Uh… Hi…"
Of all the phrases in his head, Tsubaki had to go with a simple 'hi' to Kamui's older brother! First impressions for him is looking… average at best.
"Xander, is it?"
"Yes," the older blond replied, still staring at Tsubaki. "And you must be Tsubaki. Correct?"
"Yes, sir," Tsubaki answered, though a bit fast as Xander does scare him a bit despite the latter not glaring at him for the time being.
"I'd prefer it if you'd call me by my first name."
Especially after a long day of being referred to as Mr. Hier by his students and staff alike.
"Anyway, I've overheard from you that you're working on a project with Kamui, so how'd you end up in my clothes?" asked Xander.
Oh, gods. Tsubaki didn't want to remember that event again. Yet he doesn't want to lie to Xander. This is going to suck.
Taking a deep breath, Tsubaki answered, "Long story short, I ended up getting some food on my hair and clothes at Rose's Thorn by an employee on accident." He didn't have to explain anymore as he knows that Xander can fit the pieces together just with that information alone. As in mess equals clothes getting cleaned and possibly taking a shower.
"I see," Xander understood the red-head's situation. "Though I think Kamui will give me the whole story."
And everything embarrassing about it! Tsubaki commented in his thoughts.
As if on cue, Kamui rushed back to the living room, carrying Tsubaki's clothes that are currently folded.
"Here you go," Kamui said, giving Tsubaki back his clothes, free of any stains and feeling warm on Tsubaki's hands. Clean clothes are the best feeling to him. "Feel free to change in the bathroom if you want."
Expecting Tsubaki to say 'thank you' and change, Kamui let out a little 'Eep!' when the red-head hugged her without any warning, both of his hands on her waist and holding her tightly as if he might not see her for a long time. Kamui's only response is to wrap her arms around Tsubaki's waist as well, hands on his red, soft locks.
"Thanks, Kamui," Tsubaki replied close to Kamui's ear before ending the hug.
"Y… Yeah. No problem," Kamui answered back to the red-head, face blushing red after hearing his voice. Gods, it's so sexy up close! "Can't believe how this day went."
"I know, but it wasn't all that bad..."
Because of you, Tsubaki wanted to say, but decided against it as he held his folded clothes tightly and made his way to the bathroom to change out of Xander's clothes and into his familiar attire.
Now that Tsubaki is out of sight for now, Elise, still looking at Kamui's laptop, asked her sister, "So, did you see him without his shirt?"
"What?! N… No, of course not!" Kamui replied, even more embarrassed as she's imagining the red-head shirtless. It's enough to see how Tsubaki looks pretty with his hair down and hearing his voice up close, but now there's something she'll have in her mind the next time she's dreaming.
And probably the next few days…
Unlocking his front door, Tsubaki slipped off his brown shoes in favor for his red slippers as he climbed up the stairs and into his room, plopping his back onto his bed. It's only been like an hour since he left Kamui's house, and two hours since the incident at Rose's Thorn, but it felt like an eternity for both of them due to the circumstances he was in.
Well, he can relax for now. The messages about the incident in the cafe has died down and he doesn't have to worry about taking a shower tonight. And maybe dinner since he did ate some of the spaghetti at Kamui's house. For now, he can focus on getting his part done on the assignment after exchanging e-mails, change out of his attire he wore just for Rose's Thorn, and let his hair-
Huh?
He looked in the mirror and realized that his hair is still down. Not only that…
"Shit. I left it at her house."
No pink flower on him.
Report cards have been released today at school. For most students, they couldn't dare look at the grades they've gotten, fearing they might get a low grade on their hated subject and get teased by their friends due to said bad grades. For Tsubomi Minami, she doesn't have to worry about either of those. Her report card is filled with all A's, nothing below a 90, and never missing class at all for this grading period. Her friends and fellow classmates congratulated Tsubomi on getting high marks on every class, especially in her AP classes. Other classmates weren't too happy with the girl getting good grades, calling her a 'nerd' and a 'show-off' when she wasn't there. But like always, Tsubomi knows better than to ignore those types of classmates.
Yet while she can ignore some of her jealous classmates' comments, it's not easy for Tsubomi to break down the moment she enters her room; the comments still fresh in her mind.
Perfect bitch. Stuck-up slut. A robot. A shut-in freak.
The list goes on. Those names from students who don't truly know her. Only going off from their observations from her when she isn't aware. But that's at school. No one knows what goes on in Tsubomi's life outside of school. Most of them assume she's doing homework and studying instead of goofing off. While that's true, there's more to it she feels uncomfortable talking about to anyone. Even to her counselor, who's a long time family friend to Tsubomi's mother. If only there was someone that she can share her troubles with. Someone who accepts others without a second thought.
Author's Note: At the end of each chapter, you can read the actual short story Kamui and Tsubaki are writing: "Pancakes"! Title is a placeholder as Kamui stated...
Italic is written by Kamui and Bold written by Tsubaki.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!
Later! ;D
