Disclaimer: not owned by me, and no offense to any related parties used in this purely fictional work.

Now Marui starts to work seriously~

Chapter 3:

Café Brûlot

"Che, Where is Marui-senpai, heh? He's not seen anywhere. Isn't he around here?" the wakame-haired boy scratched his head, lips twitching in frustration. A taller guy beside him was busily jotting down on his notebook, his slanted eyes staring at the next tennis court.

"The possibility of Marui seeking for food is 67%," he stated. "But there is also 48% chance for him to conduct the unfinished experiment in chemistry lab, and 32.5% to do his homework before the teacher comes after this lunch time."

"Say, Yanagi-senpai." The younger lad leaned against the big tree behind him. "What are we going to do this—aaaa!" he rubbed his head. "It hurts, Niou-senpai!"

"Puri." Suddenly, someone popped out of the tree, his silver hair billowing by wind. His left hand played a pebble by throwing and catching it. "Don't let your guard down." He said, impersonating a certain someone.

"Don't show off, Niou." Another man came; his glasses glinted against the sunshine.

The curly hair and the data man flabbergasted, exchanging glances.

"Where are you come from?"

"5th dimension?" The rattail said nonchalantly. "Have you seen the fat sissy? He ran right after the bell rang. It's hella weird of him since he doesn't run out of sugar." He stood with arm akimbo while another hand on the tree supported his weight.

"He doesn't in your class, Niou?" everybody's heed instantly turned into the heavy voice's owner. Behind him, a feminine, seemingly fragile bishonen trailed him with his permanent smile plastered on his porcelain face. Somehow, they practically heard gospel song. "I thought you were with him." The capped boy added.

Niou huffed. "Being his classmate doesn't mean being his girlfriend, Sanada. Even, facebook is more protective than me,"

"What's your point, Niou-senpai?" Akaya queried, still giving the bump painkiller gel.

The buchou said, walking to the center of them. "Let's check his account. Maybe he wrote a status."

"Or update his location on foursquare." A tanned man added. They looked around, staring quizzically at the said person.

Yanagi continued while Jackal sulked in the corner. "It is 93% probability that Marui has abandoned his account in social networking since 2 days ago. It is proved by the news feed." He tugged a tiny smile, priding himself.

"Hmm…" Yukimura pondered. "If he's not coming, we can't start practice…"

Akaya's eyes were gleamed, and so were Niou's. They grinned cheerfully. "So, we can head home now, buchou? I want to watch Kamen Rider!" the Demon Ace hooped while posing his puppy-eyes.

As expected, Yukimura smiled angelically. Niou, who sensed for something bad would happen was about to run off. Too late, Yukimura tilted his head to the vice captain. "How about fifty laps, Sanada?"

"Tarundoru!"

DAY 0

Marui sighed in relief. His hand swept the sweat on his forehead due to the heat when he was running to the particular pastry shop, Parfait Patisserie.

"Pheeeew," he slide down, leaning against the entrance. "Finally, I made it to here. I hope no one realizes I skip practice today." Then, he recalled something. "Okay, at least they don't stalk me. I know Yukimura knows." He panted slightly before falling back and his backside head almost kissed the cold floor of the shop. He stood up.

"Quick, change your uniform."

Ishihara was standing by the door, other hand that didn't hold the door knob handing him a neatly folded chef suit complete with the hat. Marui blinked twice first before took it. It smelled like tropical fruit and jasmine—he used the same brand of softener as his mom did. "I'm waiting at the kitchen." He turned back.

After changing, he went out from restroom, checking his appearance multiple times. Was he looking good and proper enough? He would not want to make the same mistakes.

Hhh. Wish life wasn't this hard.

"Finished?" Ishihara asked. Marui pushed the urge to say 'what does this look like?' and nodded instead. "Good. Now, in your—cough—day zero, you will assist me in baking pastries. I hope you still remember what I taught you yesterday—"

"Excuse me, sir." Marui couldn't stand it, saying in high pitch. "It seems that you didn't teach anything to me about how to bake and let me destroy the oven instead." He straightly looked at his boss' eyes, or rather, glared.

Ishihara formed his smile. "My, my," he shook his head. "You're braver now." And that successfully sent chills down Marui's spine.

He hoped he could take his words back. But that was not an attitude of a gentleman, right? Well, he was not Yagyuu, he would not have to worry.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled in annoyance.

"Okay!" Ishihara clapped his hand, flashing a Cheshire's grin. "Now, we have an order from Miss—" he opened a notebook, "—Ka-ga-mi-ne. Yeah, that. Who will write this bad? It is almost ineligible to read." His hand swayed and rotated the book as if he was trying to find how to read it properly. Not to mention his pretended nose-wrinkling that lowered his glasses' position. Marui merely kept quite. He just positively assumed that Ishihara has alter-egos. Many alter-egos.

"She said that tomorrow is her mother's birthday, so she requested for a birthday cake." Ishihara continued.

The pink hair youth rolled his eyes. "Ha, that's easy for you, right? What can I do? Preparing for the cream? Cutting the fruit for garnish?"

"No."

"Buying action figure for the candle—what?"

Ishihara coughed. "First rule: Don't talk before I order you to." He formed '1' by his point finger, and flipped his note open again, "The problem is that her mother has cold allergic that makes her to diet by not consuming some allergen which can trigger the skin disease from her allergic, like egg, milk, and chocolate."

"WHAT?" his eyes nearly jumped from their holes. "So why she bothered to order cake? Give her something else! Jewelry, or, else!" the Rikkai self-proclaimed tensai frowned. "How come we make a cake without egg, milk, and chocolate?"

"That's our job."

"We can't make a gold or diamond cake, Ishihara-san! FOR GOD'S SAKE!" Maybe, Marui thought, if he imitated Ishihara's way in exaggerating his act to show his statement, he would understand. So, he posed like a beggar not being feed in a freaking week, sliding on the floor and scratching the glass display box. After about five minutes passed, he decided to stop and found Ishihara was preparing the utensils.

"Done?" Ishihara asked without looking back. Marui was growing mushroom on the kitchen floor.

Couldn't Ishihara just turn into an old lady who cursed him so she could drag him to hell?

Marui got up and approached the head chef. "So, what can I do for you? This is my first—zero day."

"Correction: what you can do for us." Ishihara rubbed his jaw, pondering. "I myself don't have any idea, to be honest. This is the first time I received such an odd request."

"So why don't we cancel it and say we can't make it?" Marui played with his chef hat. "And tell them to be a little rational if it's needed."

Dark clouds formed above Ishihara's head, reminding Marui of some times ago when he found himself in the Wonderland of Ishihara, where he got electricity shock in the middle of hot summer.

No, not again. Not the stormy thunder.

"You know what?" Ishihara whispered while the sound of blaze appeared as the background. "Admitting the weakness in front of dearest costumer is something that is prohibited to do by a skilled, well-known chef like me. Since you are working behind my scene, I am fully responsible for your work and have the right to forbidden you to do so." he said sternly. "Un-der-stand?"

Now playing: Requiem by Mozart.

Marui nodded his hand before dumped his face to the kitchen bench, drenched by Ishihara's virtual rain.

So, what would he do next?

"Aye!" Akaya exclaimed randomly. "I. am. Finished!"

He tossed a punch to the air only to have it drop down helplessly a second later. His body fell to the ground like a pile of paper, producing a loud thud against the surface of tennis court.

"Exhausted, huh?" Niou sneered, mocking him. "Puri."

"I. am. Not." Akaya panted heavily. "I'll. Crush—"

Silence.

"Oi, brat." Niou, who was sitting by extending his muscled legs while pouring some water down to his esophagus, glanced at his kouhai. There he lied with red all over his body. Was he dead?

Niou came closer, picked a fallen branch and nudged it to Akaya's body. "In case he'll awake raging, I have to make a space." Niou mumbled to himself. But unlike the ticklish Akaya, he didn't move even slightly.

"I want to go to bakery after this. Wanna join? I may buy some cakes." Niou shouted. He was sure he was loud enough to be heard by heaven, but Akaya still stoned.

Shrugging, Niou finally got up and walked away. "Okay, maybe I will buy for myself. Eff, where's Marui?"

"I'm here, Chef! Hey, Chef!"

"What?" Ishihara's head reluctantly turned around, it twisted frighteningly as if it could rotate three hundred and sixty degrees. His face was blackish-blue, hollow, and there was not any single feature of his human face.

Marui paused from waving immediately, eyes going dots.

"Leave me alone…" Marui's boss dropped his head helplessly on the table. "Just… leave… me… alone…"

"Hey hey hey, since when you become an emo, huh?" the redhead punched his shoulder, well, while pretending that the guy before him was healthy and friendly. Inside, he was afraid, too. Ishihara sat in the corner of kitchen bench, holding a knife. Not to mention that he put it close to his veins. Marui let out a trembling awkward laugh.

"You said that we have to be optimists, we have to fulfill costumer's request, we have to do our best." He continued. "And now?"

"We can't make it, Marui, we just can't." Ishihara said faintly. The tennis genius wannabe crossed his fingers so Ishihara would not move the knife closer.

"Oh c'mon… who says such an intimidate remarks with lightning bolt and Katrina tornado? Telling that we can bake even the most impossible cake in the universe?"

"You're hyperbole." Ishihara's low ponytail fell messily. Marui rolled his eyes counter-clockwise.

The redhead tapped his jaw while pacing back and forth. Maybe that could help him to get some ideas like when the detective was looking for a clue. Or, at least, he looked cool and got some efforts. Suddenly, what he waited came. He snapped his fingers.

"You can change!" as though he just invented a new brilliant product after iPad, Marui tossed a punch to his hand in enthusiasm. "Can't you? You can turn yourself into someone else, even fictional character. You can impersonate Jamie Oliver or Callum Hann, or Kuroyanagi or maybe Sebastian Michaelis. That butler can do everything."

The chef shook his head. "Even if I can imitate them, my skill is way too higher than them! So, what's the point? It's pointless. Or are you trying to mock me?"

"No! Geez," Marui gritted his teeth. "Then, if you're the greatest of all, you sure can do it."

Ishihara sighed again aimlessly. "No…"

"I don't understand. When I'm pessimistic, you got the spirit. When I got the spirit, you look as though you just listen to suicide songs!" he stepped backwards, and then pointed a finger to Ishihara. "You're the one to hyperbole things! Strawberries know that!"

"Can you just shut up, Marui?"

"You speak up! Act now! Talk less do more!"

"Like you mean what you say."

"I do—FINE!" The jingling bell was heard, noting Ishihara that Marui was about to leave the shop. He abruptly opened the door and glowered threateningly. "Okay, I work for you unintentionally, but I can prove you that I am worth to be here! I will make the requested birthday cake!" he banged the door quite harshly, leaving it move back and forth slightly before coming to stop point.

Silence fell upon them since the wind suddenly blew softly and Ishihara was smirking behind his strands of bangs.

"You got trapped again, young boy…"

"Akaya! OI!"

The said boy did not make any slightest move. In fact, his trickster senpai was still standing beside him. However, he could not leave Akaya alone like a dog pretending to die in the center of tennis court, burned by the UV rays. The upperclassmen especially teammates specifically him got a 'responsibility' to take care of him. Well, that unwritten rule was from a certain angel buchou, anyway. He said a demon must be well-treated in order to keep him sane. And no one would object that, as usual.

Being impatience as he was, Niou could not take it longer. He inhaled deeply and ranted with stomach voice. "OI YOU BRAT GET THE EFF UP! DO YOU EFFING HEAR ME, HUH? OH FINE I'M GOING." Still in the loud tone, Niou bid farewell as he went. "SEE YOU IN HELL, BAKAYA!"

To hell with the rule, he will make it up somehow, Niou thought. No sooner then he would trail him and ask for a treat of parfait. After all, Akaya was a sucker for foods. And however, Akaya did not show his bad side to his role model Yukimura so Niou concluded that he knew the boy better.

Niou turned around after half midway only to find a leave flew by the passing wind.

"All right…" he drawled. "I'm starving, anyway." The sun began to set in about three hours. He then continued his journey to the patisserie.

Thank you for your reviews, they helped me to continue :D If you have something to say about this story, just let me know, 'kay? :) I hope you enjoyed it!