I saw her get off the bus. She spotted me, looked in into my eyes and frowned. "You're tired," she said when she walked up to me.
"After being separated for a fucking week, that's the first thing you say?" I said, trying to act normal. Without warning she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. Nothing in the world was better than her damn kisses.
"You're tired," she said again after she pulled away. We started walking.
"Akira's fault," I told her.
"The regalia can wait a few months," she said. "Akira is strong and the regalia will make him stronger. You have to beat that with regular ATs if you want the regalia back, it will take time." Just when I thought I would be able to evade the subject she started up again. "To do this, you can't be tired out all the time, you have to train, not drain your energy. You know this and you knew I was coming back today, that means what ever tired you out was unavoidable. What was it?" How the hell could she read me like a fucking book?
"With Akira gone, there's more work to do. Kaito is passing the work on to me," I told her. She nodded.
"Akito?" she asked inviting him to come out.
"He's sleeping, Kaito has a mental hold on him and it tires him out,"
"Damn bastard," she cursed. She was as protective of Akito as I was. She said it was because she was the oldest of her siblings.
XXX
Months flew by too quickly for my liking. It was September now and something called the Grand Pre was going to be held. The Grand Pre was a cooking tournament held by the school. Teams of four were formed by those who wanted to enter. The Sweet Princes, who I had become good friends with, convinced me to enter with them.
In the first round we had to make pound cake, the theme was family. We were up against a group a year older than us, and their sweets were good enough to be served in the school's salon, which was run by the high school students.
Family was a difficult subject for me, but I settled on a strawberry pound cake. Kashino went with chocolate as always and Andoh made a maccha one with nuts. The only one left was Hanabusa. He was waiting by the oven, watching the pound cake as it baked for the last few minutes. When he pulled it out he frowned.
"Would you guys care to taste it for me? I tried using wild rose water to make a rose pound cake." He asked. When I tried the cake, it didn't taste like a rose cake. Kashino and Andoh agreed with me. The scent was off too.
"It's because of the heat," Kashino said.
"What if you tried putting the rose water directly on the cake?" I asked. Hanabusa shook his head.
"The scent would be too strong," he said.
"What's with that cake?" A guy asked. Team Ichimatsu had walked in. they were the team we were up against. "Is this the best team Sakura can do?" he asked. I had been chosen as the team representative with out my knowledge. "It has a nice ring to it," Andoh had said.
"We have time to correct one little mistake," Kashino said glaring at Ichimatsu.
"Let's have a nice, fair match," I said holding out my hand. Ichimatsu took it and immediately gripped it. He looked surprised when I didn't wince. He saw Kashino glare at him and he let go.
"You won't look like that when we're done with you," he said walking out of the kitchen. I rolled my eyes, Kashino was the only one who caught me.
"You okay?" he asked. It caught me by surprise and I didn't answer. "Your hand," he said.
"Oh, it takes a lot more strength to phase me physically," I told him
Hanabusa had taken the next day's practice off to think about the type of cake he was going to make. I was practicing with the others. Kashino insisted that we know how to make our cakes in our sleep. I couldn't concentrate. It bothered me, why was Hanabusa so stuck on making a rose cake? I knew that his mother was a flower arranger, she taught the class at the school. His father was a botanist that specialized in roses as well, did his parents have something to do with it?
Finally fed up with wondering, I went to search for him. "Aren't we partners?" I asked Kashino when he tried to stop me "A problem for him is a problem for all of us." I was let go.
I found Hanabusa sitting at one of the many sheltered tables that covered the school grounds. "Dawn-chan," He said when he saw me. He invited me to sit with him and have some tea. "So what did you come for?" he asked while pouring tea. He handed me the cup. It was a pale white, with pink roses caressing the sides. I took a sip of the tea.
"Why are you so fixed on making a Rose cake?" I asked. I didn't like beating around the rose bush, it had thorns. Hanabusa looked shocked at my direct statement.
"I guess you have the right to know, it is causing you trouble-"
"No, it's not. Both of your parents are involved with flowers and I wondered if that was why you wanted to make a rose cake. In other words I was curious about how deep that rose water of yours runs," He smiled a bit.
"It runs quite deep. When I was little I noticed that my father was happiest when he was eating cake in the garden with mother and I. He said it was because he was surrounded by his favorite things, Roses, cake and his family. I told him that I would be come a patissier and open a shop, that he could decorate it with flowers and that I would make rose cakes." He took a deep breath. "A few years after that he went on a business trip. He called in the middle of the night and told me that he had found a rare item, the wild rose water. He had remembered what I had said while I had forgotten. However on his way to the airport he died from a car accident. They told me that his last words were for me to take care of my mother and to give me the rose water."
"I'm sorry to remind you of such a sad memory," I told him.
"Don't worry about it," he said.
"So the water is a memento from your dad," Kashino said. He and Andoh appeared from behind a bush.
"Sorry." Andoh said. "We didn't mean to ease drop but we just couldn't interrupt," I sipped my tea to hold back my words. They had arrived just as Hanabusa was pouring tea.
"It's fine" Hanabusa said.
We had gathered in the kitchen once again, only this time it was to help Hanabusa create a Rose cake. We failed in the end and once again Hanabusa had wandered off. I ended up going to the lake to find him. There were wild roses there and I figured that he might have wanted to look at them. Clouds were covering the sky. It felt like a warning.
I found Hanabusa at the edge of the lake. I was about to call out to him when I saw him drop the bottle of Rose Water in to the lake. I didn't think much about what I did next, I just acted. By acted I mean I jumped in after the bottle. When I had it in my hands I felt someone grab me. It was Kashino. We both hit the surface at the same time. He had his arms around me protectively. "Did you get it?" he asked. I looked down at my hands and made sure the lid was on tight and nodded.
Andoh helped us out of the water seeing as Hanabusa was still in shock about what I had just done. Kashino and I changed clothes and me the others in the green house. My hair was still wet so Kashino gave me a towel.
"Dawn-chan, you didn't have to do that-"
Click
"- it was uncalled for."
Click
"I don't really have to make a rose cake-"
Click
"Once I thought about it, I saw that all the water has brought me is pain-"
Click
"You don't need to worry your self over something so little-"
Click
"- as making a cake that is impossible to-" Having popped off my last acrylic nail, I had no reason to hold back, so I let go and slapped him. I made me feel better knowing he wasn't spewing out those ridiculous lies any more. The boys looked at me in shock.
"Your father's memento," I said, my voice only hiding part of my fury "Is not something you can throw away so lightly. Wasn't blood spilt to get that to you?" He flinched. "Yes, pain is caused when blood is spilt, but you're forgetting that you have friends here willing to share your pain. Don't give up on some thing like this so easily, girls will think you're weak," Hanabusa smiled a bit. He made like he was going to hug be but then stepped back. "You still smell like pond water Dawn-chan," he said. Andoh laughed.
"Whose fault is that?" I demanded. Hanabusa ignored me and looked like he was deep in thought.
Sender: S. Dawn
To: W, Agito/Akito
Subject: first match results (Tues September 14) 5:27
We won
Hansbusa covered his cake in rose jam
We changed the cakes to match his
Mine, peach cake
Kashino, white chocolate
Andoh, coffee
We did it all in one night
Kashino declared no inter team relationships
I think they 4got I have u
I need 2 remind them
I'm tired now
Miss u, good night
-Dawn (New Beginnings)