WOW. I got so many reviews for the first chapter. I'M SO HAPPY! I love it when I get reviews. For those of you new to my stories, I always put my chapters with one person's POV then next chapter another's. Confusing, I know. You'll see.

This chapter is Kyoya's POV.

DISCLAIMER: You know what I own? My life. That's pretty much it. And even then, my parents' have almost complete control. So I guess I really don't own anything….

Apparently, It's Hard to Break Ice

"Kyo-chan, when are we getting sweets again? Ousa-chan is hungry." Honey gazed up at me with tears appearing at the edges of his huge blue eyes.

"I told you, Honey-sempai. I put a request in at the culinary school here, but no one's applied so far. Those sweets we used to get had traces of lead in them, so I can't trust the marketers anymore. I don't want any unfortunate accidents here in the club." I sighed, and jotted down another note in my clipboard.

Check message board at Patissiere Section to see if any students applied.

"Awww." Honey pouted. "I hope someone applies soon. Ousa-chan and I can't go without sweets much longer. Right, Ousa-chan?" Honey hugged his stuffed bunny, and ran off to join Mori-sempai.

"Kyoya-sempai, are you sure that someone will even apply? You know how much the students in that section loathe us." Haruhi came up next to me, with Tamaki fussing over her. We didn't have any customers today, so Tamaki could be with her all he wanted. Which wasn't a very good thing for Haruhi, even if they were dating.

"I'm sure. Some new students just transferred in, so I'm hoping that one of them will take up the position." I adjusted my glasses, and flipped in my clipboard to the page labeled 'Patissiere School Student Selection.' On it was a number of students whom had just transferred into it, along with how many were girls and how many were guys. Names, however, were not listed.

A knock interrupted my thoughts. Tamaki walked over, and opened the doors leading into the room. Outside stood a girl with knee-length white-blonde hair and large, dark blue eyes with dark thick eyelashes. Her skin was extremely pale, almost blending in with the white Patissiere Section uniform that she wore. She carried a scrap of paper and her schoolbag, which looked more like a designer bag than something you took to school.

"Excuse me?" She asked, stepping in before Tamaki could get into his 'Host Club' mode. "I'm here for the pastry chef job?"

Honey immediately leapt at her. "It's open! It's open! Here, I'll show you the kitchen! What's your name? I'm Honey!"

I saw her eyes soften, but no smile appeared on her face. "I'm Avarina. Avarina de Montesque. I'm new here."

Honey smiled a big smile at her. "Really? Then I'll show you around too! Come on! Come on! When we get to the kitchen, you have to bake me your favorite sweet, okay?" Honey, still babbling on, took Avarina's slim hand, and led her to the door marked 'Kitchen.' I have a feeling she would've been able to find it on her own.

"Hey Honey! I want to show Avarina around too!" Hikaru ran after them.

"Besides, she hasn't even met the rest of us yet!" Kaoru followed suit.

I sighed, and pushed my glasses up again. The dammed things kept falling down. Avarina de Montesque, huh? Sounded familiar. Had I met her somewhere?

Then it hit me. That day in the hallway, when I saw her running down the hallway, and she had bumped into me. She had surprised me with knowing that I was an Ootori. Normally I'm the one who realizes things like that. The funny thing was that she had shown barely any expression throughout our whole conversation.

Maybe I just wasn't used to people like her. I think I've been hanging out with Tamaki too much.

"Kyo-chan! Kyo-chan! Look what Rina-chan made me!" Honey held out a small rectangular cake with layers of alternating pastry and crème. On top was a white and dark chocolate icing design, and sugared strawberries decorated the plate. All in all, the presentation of it was amazing.

"What is it, Honey-sempai?" I asked, taking the plate and turning it around for a better view.

"It's called a Napoleon, or the more professional term is a Mille-feuille. It's one of my favorites." Avarina came out of the kitchen, wearing a dark blue apron. Her long hair was tied up into a low ponytail, although even so it still reached her waist. "How do you like it?"

Honey handed me a fork, and I took a bite. Almost immediately I was whisked away in a world filled with pastry crème and puff pastry. The strawberry gave the crunchiness of the puff pastry and the smoothness of the crème a new flavor that complimented it very well. I could almost taste how much she enjoyed making it.

"It's...It's…amazing." I finished, my eyes wide with shock. Who knew sweets could be this good.

"Isn't it? I think Napoleons are my new favorite sweet. Rina-chan, do you have any more sweets that you like?" Honey looked up at the girl with huge adoring eyes.

"Well, I do, but I'll save those for when you guys are in business." Avarina took the empty plate that had once carried the Napoleon, and left for the kitchen. "I'll be in here getting used to the equipment. Please don't disturb me."

The second she had left, Tamaki formed a group circle with all of us. I stayed out of it. Flipping to Avarina's page in my notebook, I wrote 'Favorite sweet: Napoleon, or Mille-feuille.'

"Haruhi, since we can trust Avarina, I want you to tell her you're a girl, alright?" Tamaki took her by the shoulders. "Then you and her can spend time together, and reveal your inner femininess!"

"Umm, Boss-" Hikaru interrupted.

"I don't think that 'femininess' is a word." Kaoru finished.

"IT IS TOO A WORD! DADDY SAID IT SO IT WILL BE A WORD! KYOYA WRITE THAT DOWN!" Tamaki began one of his rants, but Haruhi stepped in.

"But, Tamaki-senpai, didn't you see? Avarina already knows I'm a girl." Haruhi sighed. Avarina must've been pretty subtle, because even I didn't notice her do anything that proved she knew Haruhi was a girl.

"WHAT? WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN!" Tamaki started freaking out and dancing around. "MOMMY! MAKE HER TELL ME!"

"'Mommy,' huh? Great nickname. I think I'll call you that now." Avarina appeared at the door of the kitchen, a slight smirk on her face. For some reason, I felt my face turn a little red. Why was I blushing?

"It's-" Hikaru began my line, noticing that I was otherwise occupied trying to think cool thoughts to stop my face getting redder.

"-based on club positions." Kaoru finished, also noticing my predicament.

"Tamaki and Kyoya both started the club, so they get the leading positions." Dammit, even Haruhi noticed.

"Right. Well, I just came out to ask who likes Crème Brulee, because I'm going to make at to test out some of the equipment. I just want to know how much I should make."

"Well, Honey can eat a whole cake store in a night, so I'd make a lot if I were you…" Kaoru glanced at Honey, whose eyes were dancing with images of the custard dish.

"Okay…Well, I'll be back." She turned and disappeared back into the kitchen. As soon as she was gone, Hikaru and Kaoru came running over to me.

"Why did you freeze up like that? She might be a little cold and doesn't seem to like showing expression, but seriously? She's not an Ice Queen." Kaoru stared at me suspiciously as he talked to me.

Hikaru butted in. "Actually, I tend to disagree with that. She really does give me that impression." He shivered. "I can already feel her icy aura flowing over here and freezing us to death."

"Hikaru, she's not that bad."

"Why? Have a crush?"

"N-No. What makes you say that?"

"Kaoru has a girlfriend! Kaoru has a girlfriend!"

"I DO NOT!"

"Break it up, you two." I pushed in between them, glaring at them. Immediately, they stopped fighting.

"You know what? I think we should give her a nickname. Like Ice. Or Cold. Or Evil. Or Kyoya's Counterpart. Or-"

"You can shut up now, Hikaru."

"Right."

"So, what exactly do we need a pastry chef for? I thought we imported all of our sweets." Sometimes, I really loved Haruhi. She always knew how to break out of an awkward silence.

"At first, yes, we did. But Honey-sempai seemed to like it more when we had homemade sweets, because then they came from straight out of the oven. It also costs less. So I decided to go with it."

Haruhi nodded. "I see. So, um, why do you like Avarina?"

Blood filled my face. I coughed a bit, and straightened my tie before speaking. "Ms. Montesque is only our pastry chef. She's nothing more to me."

"Really?" Hikaru smiled mischievously at me. He and Kaoru gave each other a look. Oh great.

Avarina came out of the kitchen at that moment. "The Crème Brulee is done. I couldn't find the torch, so it's really more of a-" Right then as she was walking towards us, Hikaru stuck out a foot, and Avarina tripped over it, landing on me.

Neither of us screamed, it was more of a gasp that came out. I caught her before we hit the floor, covering her protectively. We hit the floor, and a strangled gasp escaped my lips as my back hit the cold marble. It was slight, but from the look in Avarina's eyes, she heard it.

"Are you okay?" I sat her up, and checked her over, making sure she didn't bruise anything. She waved me off.

"I'm the one who should be asking you that." Her mouth twitched in to what was almost a concerned look, but it disappeared before I could make sure. I just smiled at her.

"It's no problem." Dusting myself off, I offered her a hand. It reminded me of the time when she had fallen into me for a first time. I smiled, despite myself. "This sort of thing just seems to keep happening to us, huh?"

Again, her mouth twitched. Again, the little smile that could've been there disappeared. "It does, doesn't it?" This time, she accepted my hand, and I pulled her to her feet. She pretended to stumble a bit, and fell into me a little. As she did so, she whispered in my ear.

"Are you sure you're okay? You hit the ground pretty hard."

It shocked me a little, but I nodded slightly, and gave her a reassuring glance. "I'm fine." I murmured.

She pushed away from me, and waved away the hands that were offered to her. Mainly Kaoru's and Hikaru's. "I'm fine, I swear. I just tripped."

I knew my face was heating up, so I kept my head down in my notebook.

What the heck is wrong with me?

I collapsed onto the couch in my house after school. I sighed loudly.

"I'm pretty sure the neighbors across the street heard that sigh. What's wrong?" Fuyuumi came walking in. In her hands she held a card.

I thought for a second. Should I tell her? Well, she was my sister. "There's this girl…"

Fuyuumi freaked out. "OMIGODS! REALLY?" She practically jumped on the couch next to me. "TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME! Oh wow, Kyoya, your first crush. Oh this is so EXCITING! Who is it? What does she look like? How did you meet her? Have you guys kiss-"

I held up a hand, and gave Fuyuumi a smile. "I'm not sure whether I like her or not."

"Who is it?" Fuyuumi could barely contain herself. She was literally making the couch vibrate with her enthusiasm.

"Well, erm, her name's Avarina de-"

"AVARINA DE MONTESQUE?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Oh that's so cute! My little brother is in love with one of my friends!" She grabbed me and pulled me into a hug, rocking me back and forth.

"I'm not in love with her!" I said, breaking out of her death hug.

She seemed disappointed that I had. "Avarina was my friend in France. She and I met when my husband and I were looking for a vacation home there. I had to leave her when I came back to Japan to visit you and the rest of our family, around the time when you were just meeting Tamaki Suoh. She was very sweet, and was always smiling at people. To this day I still haven't met anyone who can make a chocolate éclair as well as her. She made one for me with her eyes closed, and she was only a year younger than you were!" Fuyuumi sighed sadly.

"But then something tragic happened. She never told me what, but afterwards, gone were the carefree smiles she used to have and she only baked sweets if she needed to. I felt bad about leaving her behind, but I had too."

I let the news sink in. Was that why she was always so cold and stoic towards everyone? Did something happen to her? Or one of her family members? However, as I thought about this, a grin sprang up on Fuyuumi's face.

"Kyoya! I actually was just coming in to tell you! A friend and business partner of Father's just came to Japan to meet with him. He's living just across the street from us. And guess who his daughter is?" She sang the last part. My eyes widened as I realized.

"Crap. You're not seriously thinking…"

"And I was just about to go give them a 'Welcome to the Neighborhood!' present! Why don't you come along?" She smiled brilliantly at me. I couldn't say no to her.

"Don't embarrass me, okay?"

"YAY!" She grabbed my arm, and started pulling me to the door. Then she realized I was still in my school uniform. "Nuh-uh. That won't do. Go upstairs and change." She pushed me to the stairs and waited while I went up to change. Fuyuumi could act like a kid sometimes, but at others, she was like a mother to me.

And most of the time, not in the good way.

With Fuyuumi finally satisfied with my clothes, we walked over to Avarina's house. Surprisingly, I liked it. The way it felt like stepping into a fairy-tale with a modern touch was slightly refreshing to me.

Fuyuumi knocked on the door, holding her basket of cakes and other goodies in her other hand. A little sign protruded from it with "Welcome Newest Neighbor!" written on it.

"Hello? Avarina? Mr. de Montesque?" Fuyuumi knocked again, a little harder this time. I heard some faint footsteps, then a voice.

"Sorry! One second, I'm coming!" The door opened soon after to reveal a totally completely reverse Avarina from the one I'd seen at school.

Her pale cheeks were flushed with a bit of soft pink, and her dark blue eyes sparkled a bit. A dark blue bandana pulled her bangs back from her face, and her ghostly hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. She was wearing an oversized T-shirt tied back with a hairband and skinny jeans.

She saw Fuyuumi first, and a smile burst across her face. It was the first time I had actually seen her smile. At anyone.

"Fuyuumi! How are you! I haven't seen you in forever!" She and Fuyuumi embraced, and they were both beaming at each other. In other words, I felt like a third wheel.

"I'm great, but you look better! Here, I brought these for you!" She held out the basket. Avarina took it, and motioned inside.

"Come in, both of you!" She turned towards me and smiled.

That's right. She smiled at me.

Normally, I wouldn't be freaking out. I mean, girls smile at me all the time. The difference with her was that she looked so frickin' gorgeous when she did.

A minute later, we were sitting at the bar in Avarina's kitchen, eating the cakes and pastries my sister had brought. Fuyuumi and Avarina were catching up on things, and I was just sitting there, gazing at her house.

Hmm…White leather…a bit impractical, but it looks nice….

"Kyoya-sempai?"

What a beautiful vase…it looks like it's from the Renaissance Period…interesting…

"Kyoya?"

Look at that dark-wooded bookshelf…it's amazing. And all those books…Wonder if she'll let me borrow some…

"KYOYA!" Avarina interrupted my inspection of her living room. Her face was right in front of mine, and I felt blood begin to rush to my face. Again.

"Y-Yes?" I turned away so she wouldn't see. Dammit, what was wrong with me!

"Well, Avarina and I were wondering if you'd want to come with us to see her garden."

"I was just working on it when you got here. It's really beautiful. Come with us?" Avarina extended a hand, her long, thin fingers fitting together perfectly, like puzzle pieces.

I took it.

"Sure." I smiled at her. She smiled back.

It made me wonder who the real Avarina really was.

This one, or the one at school.

I hoped with my whole heart that it was this one, because she was really making my day.