[A/N] Because I saw this chapter was exceeding 2000 words, I thought I would split it into two chapters because I prefer shorter chapters. They're easier to follow that way. I don't know how many chapters this will eventually have, though I still have a lot I need to come to so it will probably be over ten chapters (again why I would prefer to keep the chapters at 2k words minimum).


MADE A GIRL CRY

CHAPTER THREE

The sweet aroma of vanilla and strawberry rose to the ceiling and filled the Horaki household.

Hikari had two reasons why she had decided to bake a batch of cupcakes – one, to pass the time, and two, to impress her guest.

She had heard somewhere once that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach, and she felt Toji was no exception. Losing her mother young meant Hikari learned how to cook from an early age, with baking a hobby she nurtured with the help of her older sister. So, Toji wasn't exactly the reason why Hikari cooked every day and baked every other weekend. He was, however, the reason why she had decided to cook a little bit more at dinner in the hopes she could share anything leftover with him.

Hikari heard footsteps creeping into the kitchen as she took the tray out of the oven, which was never surprising as she lived in a busy household that always seemed to be hungry.

"Wow, what's the occasion?" Kodama's voice came from behind her, and Hikari turned around to find her older sister, dressed up, sniffing the air as the scent of freshly made cupcakes wafted past her. "And why wasn't I invited?"

Hikari was glad her mittens made it difficult for her sister to see the way her fingers tensed around the tray as she thought of ways to evade the question. "You know I just like to make cakes from time to time, Kodama."

But Hikari's face couldn't be hidden by anything, and it ended up betraying her with a blush. Hikari never could figure out a way to push her heart back into her chest rather than wearing it so loosely on her sleeve.

"You're blushing!" Kodama teased, making no effort to hide the giggle in her voice. "Hikari, is there something... no, maybe someone I should know about?"

Hikari set the tray down onto the rack she had placed on the counter next to the stove and lowered her voice, her gaze straight on Kodama's face as she pleaded with her mittened hands clasped in front of her like she was praying, "Kodama, I have… a friend coming over this afternoon, because h… they want some tutoring… so…" Hikari was careful to avoid any gendered language, so careful in fact she may just as well have been teetering on her tiptoes around her older sister just to avoid any use of the pronoun 'he'.

When Kodama's cheeky grin fell from her face, Hikari felt it safe to continue, "I haven't told dad yet."

Kodama's grin only reappeared with that confession from her innocent little sister. "Would it be a problem? I mean, you've had plenty of friends over in the past, and he's never cared all too much. Unless…"

Hikari waved her hands, fully aware of how silly she looked with the mittens on. "It's not like that, okay! I'm just helping him because I'm the class representative and it's one of my duties! It's definitely not like that!" No matter what Hikari said, however, her face portrayed the exact opposite as heat rose across her flushed cheeks.

"But you like him, right?" Kodama continued to tease, and Hikari knew she had been caught out. She had never been the best liar.

"I… I'm just tutoring him…" Hikari said quietly to no one in particular. She wasn't even managing to convince herself anymore.

"Relax, sis," Kodama lowered her voice to match her sister's. "You know dad won't mind you having a classmate over, even if they are a boy. As long as you, well, stay downstairs…"

"We're going to!" Hikari answered so sharply and quickly that it wasn't until after she had spoken did she realise her sister may have not even finished her sentence. "We will. It's just studying together."

"It's not me you need to be telling," Kodama winked, walking over to the rack and lightly waving her hand over the top of them to cool them down. She picked one up when she felt they were cool enough, one decorated with creamy vanilla frosting, and held it in one hand, scooping stray icing off the corner with a finger from the other hand.

After sucking her finger to taste the icing, Kodama thanked her sister, who returned her praise with a look that said, 'But I didn't offer you any…' Still, Hikari didn't mind all too much, since she had baked twelve and that was more than enough for both her household and Toji.

"Anyway, I'm meeting my boyfriend, so I'll be back later," Kodama walked as she talked, unwrapping the cupcake and ignoring the crumbs that fell to the floor. Before leaving the kitchen, she flashed Hikari a peace sign and said, "Have fun!"

When Kodama had left Hikari's vision, she turned around to lean on the counter and sighed. Her apron was covered in frosting and flour, and she hadn't yet tied her hair up into two pigtails. She took off the oven mittens and looped them through the oven handle before quickly glancing at her watch to find it was just past twelve. Making the cupcakes had definitely been something to do to fill the time as well as something to cool her nerves as one crept closer, but now they were done with still just under an hour to spare, Hikari's nerves returned.

There's nothing to worry about… she kept saying to herself as she gave herself the pep talk Asuka started over the phone last night. I've talked to him before. It's nothing…

"Hikari?"

Kodama's voice calling Hikari's name from the hall startled Hikari enough to gasp, interrupting her self-pep talk. It even made her feel like her heart skipped a beat and got caught in her throat. Why was she so jumpy all of a sudden? Toji wasn't some scary monster. He couldn't be further from one. He was kind and so sweet and evidently cared so much for his little sister, which was so much more than could be said for most of the other guys in her class…

"Coming!"


"Is everything alr…" Hikari was cut off when she peered round the corner into the hall and found her sister still holding the front door open as she stood facing… "Oh, T-Toji!" She walked closer to the front door to stand beside her sister and quickly glanced at her watch again, trying to be as discreet as possible, "You're… you're early!"

"Sorry," Toji apologised, running a hand through his hair. He glanced over at Kodama before staring directly at Hikari. The longer he looked at her, the more difficult it was starting to become for the blush to stop spreading across Hikari's cheeks. "I just thought I'd come a lil' early, 'cus I had nothin' to do." Toji looked back at Kodama, who looked so much like a taller version of her sister it was uncanny, and continued, "Unless I'm interruptin'… then I'll…"

"No, no!" this time, it was Kodama who spoke rather than Hikari. "I'm heading out now. See you later, Hikari! Nice to meet you, Suzuhara!" She quickly dipped to bow lightly to Toji before slinking past him and leaving out the front gate.

Once she was out of sight, Hikari held her hands out in front of her stomach politely. She realised quickly that Toji was so tall she was having to hold her head up to meet his eyes. "I just didn't think you would come this early. I thought you would…"

Have forgotten, Hikari wanted to finish, but stopped herself in case it sounded too accusatory and offended him. The way he raised his eyebrows slightly indicated that perhaps he wanted Hikari to continue, only for her to shake her head. "No, nothing." It wouldn't have been a good start to accuse him of anything before he had even stepped out of the porch. Out of the porch

"Oh, I'm so forgetful! Please, come in, come in!" Hikari only realised she hadn't invited him in when the breeze from outside brushed against her cheek. He stepped into the hall, slipping his shoes off using just one hand, Hikari noticed, as under his right arm was a basketball and slumped over his right shoulder was a bag she presumed was carrying his laptop and other study items.

"Do you want me to take anything?" she offered, reaching her hand out to relieve him of any extra weight and make his shoe struggle easier before he could even answer.

"No, no, it's okay, thank you." With a grunt, Toji removed the final shoe, placing it next to the first one in the entrance. Hikari closed the front door behind him as he politely said to her, "Sorry for the intrusion."

It was one of the few times Hikari heard Toji drop his usual Kansai dialect to adopt more formal and polite standard Japanese phrases, but it was just one of many, many times that his voice caused Hikari's heart to soar.

"Don't be silly," she smiled, though her blush was growing harder to contain now. He smiled back at her before his eyes widened like he had caught sight of something – or, rather, caught the scent of something…

"Is somethin' cookin'?" Toji didn't even try to hide the excitement sneak into his voice. His childlike enthusiasm made sure Hikari's smile stayed there on her face, and she couldn't see it going away any time soon – even if it meant sore cheeks by the end of the day.

"I baked cupcakes this morning!" Hikari gleamed, only remembering she was still wearing her apron when she noticed flour had gotten onto her hands.

"Aww, all for me?" Toji grinned, and Hikari could slightly see his tongue poke through the gap between his top and bottom teeth. She just wanted him to stop being so adorable or else she feared her heart would swell so much that it would explode in her chest.

"I made twelve – six vanilla, six strawberry!" Hikari continued smiling right up to the corners of her eyes. "Well, there were twelve… my big sister Kodama took one before she left."

"She had crumbs all 'round her mouth," Toji slid his comment into the gap Hikari had made in the conversation to take a breath, and Hikari was sure he let out a little, airy laugh as he recalled his awkward greeting with Hikari's sixteen year old sister Kodama Horaki.


From leaving the basketball court near his home right until he reached the front step of the address Hikari had given to him at school the day before, Toji had debated his decision to turn up early. Even when he balled his hand into a fist to knock on the front door he was reluctant, staring at his fist and wondering if he should have gone home, leave his basketball there, and change out of his usual tracksuit, only for him to end up at Hikari's house.

After taking a deep breath and right when he had mustered enough courage to knock on the door despite his worries in case Hikari was busy and that's why she couldn't do anything too early, the front door unlocked and he came face to face with a teenage girl slightly older than him. If Toji hadn't been paying attention and was still lost in his thoughts, he could have easily mistaken her for Hikari, given how they shared the same wavy light brunette hair and cute freckles dotted across their cheeks. She was just taller, slightly curvier and more developed, and had a more mature face than Hikari. But, Toji thought, she was no less beautiful. If this girl didn't look like she could come first place in a Hikari lookalike contest, Toji would have thought he got given the wrong address.

Toji was sure he perfectly reflected the older girl's 'deer in headlights' expression like a mirror. He gulped, hard, and introduced himself. "Um… I'm here to see Hikari. I'm Suzuhara, Suzuhara Toji."

She had nodded somewhat in recognition, which simultaneously surprised and relieved Toji as he realised it meant he had come to the right house.

"Oh! She's in the kitchen. I'll call her for you!" It was getting weirder just how similar this girl looked and now sounded to Hikari.

"Hikari?"

Toji only realised his hand was still scrunched up into a fist when he heard the response from Hikari, and he unfurled his hand in relaxation.

"Coming!"


"So, unless you can eat eleven cupcakes all to yourself…" Hikari played along with his earlier playful comment.

"I'm sure I could give it a try."