Hello again there everybody! Or... y'know, whoever bothers to read this fanfic. 8D I have come with chapitre deux! Thank you for all the positive reviews, my tummy is feeling rather warm and fuzzy inside! Please, come again.

Their morning had been completely spent on buying groceries and cake baking supplies. Tiger's kitchen had been utterly bare to the bone - aside from a few things, that is. Karina wondered why she hadn't thought of that in the first place. He had no idea how to bake so he obviously wouldn't be aware of the ingredients needed, right? Ugh, she felt completely brainless for not noticing.

Luckily, they had managed to buy everything needed in an hour. Karina was glad that they had the whole day to bake this cake. Otherwise, they definitely would have been doomed. Albeit, she had to admit that shopping like this with Wild Tiger had been fun.

Fidgeting in the passenger seat of his car, she recalled how he offered to push the shopping cart and didn't protest when she spontaneously picked a few healthy ingredients for him to use for making his dinner along with a cookbook titled "Delicious Fifteen Minute Recipes".

Honestly, he only knew how to cook fried rice? A hero of Sternbild and a father at that! She somehow found it embarrassing. Karina smiled to herself and abruptly stopped once she realized what she was doing, especially when he was precisely seated beside her.

Alas, Tiger was too occupied with humming to some song that played on the radio, and paid no mind to her girlish actions. For some odd reason, a blush had creeped up on her cheeks, forcing her to look out the window.

She tried to clear her thoughts. After closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, her mind was a void-like trance. All she could hear coming from the other side of the car was the soft drone of his voice, followed by a few taps on the steering wheel.

If she could stay like this forever, she wouldn't mind. With him, grocery shopping, baking and doing various normal things that normal people did together – even if they both coincidentally happened to be everything far from normal.

Her eyes flew wide open. Karina found herself suddenly very familiar with the current song that blared through the radio. Her mouth might as well have had a mind of its own. Surprisingly, Tiger happened to be just as engrossed in the song as her.

She used to listen to this song as a child. The lyrics were always so cheesy and simple, yet at that moment they brought shivers up her spine. It was lovely.

"Oh well in five years time we could be walking round a zoo, with the sun shining down over me and you."

"Five years time
I might not know you."

"Five years time
We might not speak."

"Oh
In five years time
We might not get along."

"In five years time
You might just prove me wrong."

One part of her did not want the song to end; the other part denied the first.

He'd sing a line or two, then she'd take over again and again and they went like that until they were parked at Tigers house, suddenly breathless and laughing hysterically.

Karina glanced at the older man, his angular jaw-bone, the way his mouth moved, how cheery his eyes looked every day. He was beautiful - in a peculiar, manly kind of way of course.

"I used to sing that song with Kaede all the time. Ahh, it brings back wonderful memories."

Eh? Kaede? She didn't want to be another Kaede to him.

Her face fell for a moment, but then flew back up.

"Who knew you could sing so well?" She teased, banishing the little tug that had just occurred in her heart.

"What?" He sputtered. "Of course I can sing!"

Even if it was all a joke, their voices had sounded quite nice together. Then again, she didn't have much to compare it to; she'd done very few duets in her life.

Tiger grabbed the plastic bags filled with groceries from the trunk, heading towards the direction of the door when a particular lady in the neighboring house turned from the garden she was tending to. She appeared to be a little on the short and stubby side with poofy gray hair.

"Good afternoon, Kotetsu!" She said, with a wave.

"Ah, hello there Mrs. Rodney." He called back cheerfully while digging for the keys in his pocket.

"I feel so old when you call me ! How many times have I told you to call me Sydney?~" She whined, hands on her hips.

"Oops! Heh heh, my bad."

The elderly lady continued to squint happily at Tiger before scrutinizing Karina.

This… Mrs. Rodney clearly wasn't aware that she had a pair of glasses resting on the top over head.

The teen casually smiled at the woman. "Good Afternoon."

"Fufufu, oh my, my. Such a beauty! Is this your girlfriend?"

Karina's expression suddenly took something similar to that of a person who had just seen a ghost.

"Eh? G-g-g-girlfriend?" She stammered.

Kotetsu proceeded with a hearty laugh, obviously unfazed by the elderly lady's bold comment.

"Naw! I've got a ring on my finger, you know!"

The lady's eyes widened before they sparkled knowingly.

"Ooh, I see, I see!~" She singsonged before returning to her garden tending, unmistakably getting the wrong message.

Geez, he was seriously an idiot!

Once she was back inside Tiger's house, Karina couldn't help but press her hand to her forehead.

Regardless, it kind of hurt when Tiger had laughed and casually brushed it off. She crossed her arms and sighed.

What was her stupid teenage heart doing?

The pain in her chest magnified just by thinking about it. That sudden (and perhaps silly) hopefulness she had in the car had shriveled up in mere seconds.

"Oi, Blue Rose, something the matter?" He asked, tilting his head to the side like a confused pet of some kind.

"Eh?"

She realized that she had been standing mutely by the doorway for a good minute. The teen wasn't aware of the expression that she wore on her face, but Tiger seemed some-what concerned, so it was probably something miserable.

"O-of course not." She grunted and went into the kitchen to inspect the bags on the counter.

She began picking at the stuff, looking at what had to go into the fridge and whatnot. When she realized that Tiger wasn't walking up beside her she stopped and turned around. He stood there, hands in his pockets, scuffing the ground with shoes.

"You know, I'm sorry for inviting you like this. You probably have better things to do. If you want, I could-"

Karina couldn't believe her ears. He wanted her to leave? He thought that she wanted to leave?

"No! I want to help make Kaede-chan happy. I-I want to spend time with you!"

She gaped, slightly stunned at what she had said. Her fists were balled up and her face had almost positively gone crimson. What a mess she was!

"I mean, uhm… just thinking about letting you bake this yourself frightens me! You'll burn down the house! You'll poison your daughter!" She said, flailing her hands much more than necessary.

Wild Tiger stood there slightly stunned, to say the least. He then proceeded with a sudden chuckle.

"H-hey! What's so funny?"

"Ah, sorry, sorry! I'm just relieved… what you said means a lot to Kaede and me." He said, the habitual grin resting on his face.

Her cheeks warmed up at his comment. She could barely meet his eyes.

He walked up beside her and helped take out the milk carton and strawberries.

A sheer silence filled the kitchen while they wordlessly set up the ingredients.

It was a comfortable silence though.

"You sounded pretty cool when you said that, you know?" He elbowed her comically, and continued to laugh to himself.

"Of course." She said frostily.

When he turned away, still chuckling, Karina couldn't help but flash a smile.

That is it for now - I know, it's kind of short. At least I am finally back from all this traveling... the Caribbean for a week and then NYC for four days! Wow. Tiring, but fun. Now, I'm ready to begin writing the third chapter... if school allows. Yay!