The next morning, when Mink was getting ready to leave for school, he was making lunch for himself and carefully packing his things into his backpack so he'd have room to transport the cake safely. He opened the fridge door to retrieve it, and hesitated for a moment. Something was different. The container lid wasn't closed properly, and Mink didn't remember leaving it that way. Maybe it had come loose when he'd put it in the fridge yesterday and he hadn't noticed. He placed the container on the bench and opened it to check the cake was still ok.

Instantly, he felt his blood boiling in his veins. Half the cake was missing. Someone – obviously one of his parents – had decided to help themselves to the cake he'd made for Sei. Were they that stupid? Were they that selfish? Mink couldn't believe it.

"Mum!" he yelled upstairs. "Dad!" No answer. They wouldn't be at work yet, it was still too early for that. They were probably still asleep. But Mink wasn't planning on letting them snooze peacefully. He was sick of this. First his cookies, now his cake. He thought he had a right to be angry about this.

Stomping up the stairs to make his approach known, Mink slammed his knuckles against his parents' bedroom door. "Mum! Dad! I need to talk to you!" he called out again, keeping his voice raised so it would be impossible to ignore him. And yet, somehow, there was still no answer. Mink rapped his knuckles on the door again, a little harder this time and more furiously. "Wake up! I need to talk to you!"

Finally, there was a muffled reply from behind the other side of the door, something mumbled into a pillow. It sounded like someone had said "Go away" in a half asleep tone. Mink shook his head, balling his hands into fists until his knuckles turned white. His teeth were clenched so tightly he was almost hurting his own jaw. He didn't want to bang on the door again in case he accidentally broke it in his rage.

"I'm not going away!" Mink shouted back. "I'm really pissed at you! You have to stop eating my food!"

Suddenly the door flew open, and his mother was standing in front of him, her hair dishevelled and her eyes weary from sleep. "What do you want, Mink?" she asked, her voice a little groggy and irritable. "I'm trying to get some sleep before work. I was up late last night." She was dressed in a loose dressing gown, and she smelt like she'd been drinking last night. It was probably the first time Mink had seen his mother face to face for about a week. Even though they all lived together, his parents were usually out of the house and left Mink money to look after himself.

"Which one of you ate my cookies the other day?" Mink snapped, ignoring his mother's irritation. He wouldn't let her distract him or let her turn things around on him like she always tried to. He needed to maintain his anger in order to get through the entire conversation. "And which one of you ate half my cake last night?" he added.

Mink's mother just shrugged, not really caring. Why would she? The situation didn't really affect her. To her, it was just baked goods. They weren't anything special to her. "Look," she said slowly, completely brushing off Mink's anger. "I don't know anything about your cookies or your cake. All I've eaten was your soup the other night. Ask your father about the other stuff." Her nonchalant attitude was only serving to get on Mink's nerves even more.

"Fine, then I'll ask him right now!" Mink said, moving to get past her through the doorway.

His mother sighed, stepping aside and opening the door to reveal an empty room. "He hasn't been home since last night," she informed him. "But I can tell him for you when he gets home from work this afternoon."

"I'll tell him myself when he gets home," Mink snapped, knowing full well that his mother couldn't be trusted to pass on any messages for him. He stomped back downstairs to finish getting ready for school, intending on just taking the half-cake anyway.

When Mink got back downstairs, he glanced at the time on the microwave clock. Damn it. He was running late now after that confrontation. He couldn't afford to be late for home room again. He didn't want more days added to his detention; he had enough as it was. He crammed the last of his stuff into his bag and dashed out the front door without eating breakfast. Walking down the road, he made sure his pace was fast enough that he would get there just as the bell was ringing. He didn't want to run and risk ruining the cake in his bag even more than it already was.

And…luckily his timing was just right. The bell began to ring just as Mink's foot was passing through the doorway, so Mr Arnby had nothing he could complain about today. Mink quickly took his seat next to Sei, feeling a little out of breath and light headed from the lack of food combined with the rushing to school. He brushed a strand of hair out of his face and sighed, leaning on his desk with his elbows. Now wasn't really the right time to give Sei his cake, since all the other students in the classroom would see and it would probably just give them more fuel to add to their bullying fire. He'd wait until a break between classes.

The announcements were read by Mr Arnby, and unsurprisingly there was nothing new. Mink watched Sei out of the corner of his eye. Neither of them had said a word to each other yet. Would things still be a little awkward like yesterday or would everything be back to normal straight away? It was a little hard to judge the atmosphere this early in the morning, especially with Mr Arnby blabbing on in the background. But the bell soon rang and signalled the start of first period, which was English so Mink and Sei would be split up into their different level classes.

They walked there together and the conversation picked up as soon as they left the room. "Are you busy on the weekend, Mink?" Sei asked, his expression thoughtful. He wasn't meeting Mink's gaze, but instead staring off into the distance in front of them. Mink wondered exactly what was going on inside that head of his. Why did he ask about the weekend? Did he have some kind of motive or was he just making small talk?

Shrugging, Mink replied, "I was thinking about building a garden box and starting a proper herb garden." It was true, he had been mulling over that plan quite a bit yesterday, but he still hadn't found the motivation to read through the herb book. All he'd given it was a quick flick-through and that probably wasn't good enough. He didn't even know what kind of herbs he wanted or what soil they needed or how much shelter…

"That sounds interesting," Sei commented. "So you'd be building the garden box from scratch? I didn't realise you were creative like that. Oh, uh, not to say you're not creative. I just meant… I didn't realise you were into woodwork. Why don't you take it as a subject here?" Sei stumbled over his words a little but ended in a nice recovery. His cheeks were showing a slight red hue and Mink chuckled quietly at his awkwardness. He always seemed to try so hard not to insult people. He was almost too considerate, if such a thing was possible.

Mink shrugged in response again. "I'm not really interested in studying woodwork. Anything I need to make, I can just look it up and teach myself. Like garden boxes, they're really easy if you have the right tools. I don't need any formal instruction," he answered. Not to mention, half the woodwork class this year was full of people who didn't really want to put effort in and just slacked off all the time, which would get on Mink's nerves. Slacking off in a science or history class was tolerable, but slacking off in a creative, hands-on class seemed far worse.

Nodding wisely along with Mink's explanation, Sei looked very pensive, like he was trying to figure Mink out. He opened his mouth as if to ask a follow up question, but unfortunately time cut him short. They'd just arrived at the English block, so they had to part ways for class. "I'll see you next period," Sei said in farewell, giving Mink a small wave as he joined the crowd lining up outside the doorway.

Somehow, English class for Mink was slightly better than usual. The teacher was going over the exact same character analyses they'd covered in the last lesson, and even though Mink hadn't been 100% focussed, what he'd been listening to in the background had still stuck with him, so he felt like he could actually understand the work well enough to pass his essay. Apparently it was due in about two weeks, and the teacher was encouraging everyone to start planning tonight when they got home. Mink obviously wasn't going to follow that advice.

Next period was Art History. Mink re-joined Sei in the hallway and they walked there together, with Sei excitedly discussing his plans for his own essay, and trying unsuccessfully to bounce ideas off Mink.

"What do you think? Is that a good concept?" Sei asked, his hands fiddling with his bag strap. He looked up at Mink with a nervous expression on his face, eagerly awaiting whatever compliment or criticism Mink would provide as feedback.

"It sounds…good," Mink said, clearing his throat. Truthfully, he hadn't really understood a large part of what Sei had been trying to explain, probably because they'd been assigned different books and plays to read. But he didn't want to admit that and make himself look stupid. "I think you should just…write whatever you want to write about it. If you think it sounds good, do that. I'm sure it'll be fine."

Sei rolled his eyes a little. "I was actually hoping for something a little more helpful than that," he commented. "Did it make sense to you? It wasn't too confusing? I've always been told when writing essays, you should make sure even people who haven't read the same texts can understand the general idea."

"I don't know. What am I, an English teacher?" Mink snapped, deflecting. "You should just write up your plan or a draft or whatever, and take it to your teacher to ask their opinion. I'm sure they'd be much more helpful than me." Mink sighed a little, hoping this wouldn't become a common thing. He didn't mind Sei chatting with him while they walked to class, but it made him a little uncomfortable when Sei tried to discuss homework or assignments with him. There wasn't anything he could contribute to the conversation. It just made the difference between him and Sei even more glaringly obvious. Sei was a dedicated, smart student, and Mink just wasn't.

"Ok, I'll do that then," Sei agreed. His tone sounded pretty disappointed and there was a tiny crease between his eyebrows. It seemed like he'd really wanted to be study-buddies or something like that with Mink. Man, he'd really picked the wrong person for it though.

"Look, um…" Mink started. He averted his eyes and chewed his bottom lip for a second, trying to think of how to get his words right. He really didn't want to disappoint Sei or let him down. "I might not be able to help you much, but if you do write a draft, I guess I can try to read it for you and point out the parts I don't understand. Maybe if you get comments from an idiot like me, it can help you explain things so anyone can understand, you know?"

"Oh, Mink, you don't have to do that!" Sei said, waving his hands in a flustered manner and suddenly back-pedalling. He had instantly picked up on what was going on. "I like sharing my work and ideas with people, but I understand if you don't want to be a part of that. I would never force you to read anything for me. I'm sorry for being disappointed. I really wasn't trying to guilt you into anything, I swear. It's just… I haven't really made any other friends here yet… So I have no one else to share these ideas with."

Mink was a little relieved that he wouldn't have to proofread any essay drafts. Even though he'd suggested it, he'd been very reluctant about it. "I'll listen any time you want to talk about your assignments, but you can't expect me to give you good feedback. I am in the lower English class than you, after all," he told Sei. He wasn't really sure what to say about Sei not being able to make friends though. Something encouraging? He wasn't sure he knew how to be encouraging.

Was it possible Sei was bitter about being friends with Mink? Like Mizuki had said the other day, Mink was the freak of the school. Too big and too imposing and too unfriendly for anyone to really give a damn about him. And by being associated with Mink, maybe some of that had rubbed off on Sei. Maybe Sei was having a hard time making friends not just because he was shy, but because he was already friends with Mink, who nobody liked. Mizuki had definitely been interested in Sei, so if Sei hadn't already been friends with Mink, he would have had a chance at making friends with some of the popular kids in school. Did Sei regret his decision? It worried Mink a little bit, but he didn't want to bring it up now.

"No need to take your seats today, gentlemen," the Art History teacher's voice called out before they'd even entered the classroom. The spun around to see him and the rest of the class loitering in the hallway. "Today, we're going out to the oval to draw."

Drawing? Seriously? This was Art History, not Visual Arts. If Mink had wanted to actually practice art, he would have changed subjects. This was definitely very weird. But he and Sei followed behind the rest of the class without complaint. When they arrived at the grassy oval, Mink had a chance to look at the weather. It was perfect. The sky was a very nice blue and there were light, fluffy clouds hanging in it. It looked like the weather had cleared up in time for the weekend, which was great news.

The teacher continued to explain the lesson plan for the day. "Everyone is going to be given a random piece of paper with a different art style on it. You have to try and draw something you can see from this oval – it could be the school buildings, the trees, a trashcan, anything – in that art style. If you don't really know what it looks like, that's fine. We're going to be looking at them in more detail when we go back to the classroom." The entire class collectively groaned. Everyone had been hoping the entire lesson would be out here on the oval. The fresh air was really nice. Having to go back to the stuffy classroom would make it much more difficult to engage in the lesson, but there was nothing they could do about it. "You have 20 minutes," the teacher added. "Get started."

Mink grabbed his piece of paper and immediately knew what he was going to draw as soon as he read it. He'd gotten abstract art, so he was going to draw the trees, something he was actually not bad at. He looked over Sei's shoulder, trying to sneak a peek at the art style Sei had been given. "Pop art?" he asked Sei. "Seems hard. What are you going to draw?"

"I was thinking, the grass and the gate over there," Sei replied, indicating the direction with his pencil. "I'm not sure how to get the effect right, though."

"What are the common features of pop art?" the teacher interjected, overhearing the conversation. "Try to incorporate what you know." Not the most helpful advice, but Mink supposed he wasn't going to give anything away too easily. That would defeat the purpose of the exercise.

"Bright colours… But I don't have any coloured pencils," Sei said thoughtfully. "Hmm… Strong contours and bold lines, maybe sometimes dots for shading? I think I can do something with that." While Sei voiced his thoughts out loud, Mink busied himself with sketching on his own piece of paper. Sei looked over at his work and gave a little gasp of surprise. "Mink, that looks really good!" he complimented excitedly.

"Thanks," Mink mumbled, a little embarrassed. Sei's loud exclamation had drawn attention to him.

The teacher came over again to inspect Mink's work. "Hm. Yes, very good work Mink," he commented. "I'm surprised you're not taking Visual Arts." Mink resisted the urge to ask him what the point of this exercise was since this class clearly wasn't Visual Arts.

"That's a good point," Sei agreed brightly. "Why aren't you taking Visual Arts?" Mink supressed a laugh. First woodwork, and now this. It seemed like almost all of his conversations with Sei today had involved him explaining why he didn't want to study one subject or another. Why was it so hard for some people to understand Mink's general lack of interest in studying?"

"I like drawing sometimes as a hobby," Mink explained, with a loose shrug of his shoulders. "It's something I do absent-mindedly when I'm bored. I don't want to study it because that puts pressure on me to do well, and then suddenly what was a fun hobby for me just stresses me out. Plus, I don't want some old hag judging what I draw and telling me it's not good enough for her standards."

"I guess that makes sense," Sei said slowly. The art teacher was still within earshot, and Sei seemed a little concerned about what Mink said being taken as offensive, so he politely elaborated, "Art is about expression and everyone interprets things differently. It would be really hard to mark people's art."

"How's yours going?" Mink asking, quickly changing the subject and eyeing the teacher out of the corner of his eye as he walked away. He looked over at Sei as the boy tilted his page so he could see easier. It was pretty decent. He'd definitely incorporated the bold lines, simple shapes and dot-shading technique. Mink just kept questioning over and over in his head what the point of a practical exercise was in a theory class.

After a little while, the teacher called for everyone to lower their pencils and return to class, so Mink supposed he would finally get his answer. If he was expecting something actually worthwhile, however, he was mistaken. The teacher simply compared students' crappy art to actual examples of the real styles, demonstrating appropriate techniques and features and ones that didn't fit at all. It was just one big waste of time, but at least part of the lesson had been relaxing outside in the nice weather.

"Sei, don't forget," the teacher called out as the bell rang and everyone stood to leave. "You've got your first lunch time detention today. This means right now." Mink rolled his eyes. Did Sei really look like someone who needed to be reminded of important things? No, that kid was pretty organised and good with self-management.

"Thank you, sir," Sei replied as he and Mink walked out the door, headed to the detention building together as well. They'd been pretty much inseparable all morning. Maybe it was just luck that they'd had classes they could walk to together, but either way Mink was really enjoying getting to talk with Sei so much. It was pretty different from when they'd first met.

Maybe it wasn't a crush after all, Mink thought to himself while they walked. I don't seem to be so nervous and flustered around him anymore. I can still recognise that he's beautiful but I'm not so put off by it. Maybe I was just imagining things, and I confused wanting to be friends with him with something else. It was quite possible, especially considering Mink hadn't really had much experience with being friends with people before.

"I really did like your art earlier," Sei brought up, smiling up at Mink. "You really are amazing, Mink."

Mink's heart skipped a beat and he felt himself blushing heavily at the compliment.

Never mind then. Looks like I still have that stupid crush.

"Th-thanks," he mumbled. "Anyway, uh, this is the detention room." He motioned for Sei to go through the doorway first and inform the teacher at the desk that he was there for his scheduled detention so he wouldn't accidentally be marked as absent.

They sat at desks directly next to each other even though they wouldn't be able to talk for the entire hour. But it was nice. Mink didn't feel so alone. He gazed out the window and watched the clouds while time passed, feeling genuinely surprised at how today had turned out so far. For once, he'd actually been having a pretty good day at school. Who would have thought?

When the teacher signalled that everyone could have a few minutes to eat their lunch quietly, Mink looked over at Sei's desk curiously. They still weren't allowed to speak, but it was the first time Mink had actually had the chance to eat lunch with Sei this week, and he was wondering what kind of food Sei liked. Considering how much Sei liked baking, Mink was expecting something like cake and cookies, but the pale boy was actually holding a salad wrap. Is he watching his weight or something? He's already so thin. That's ridiculous.

Eventually, the bell rang again and signalled their freedom. Standing from his desk into a stretch, Mink let out a long yawn. Despite the day going so well so far, he hadn't changed his mind about wanting it to be over soon. As he and Sei exited the room, he asked jokingly, "So how was that for your first detention ever?"

Sei shook his head vigorously. "I hated it!" he responded, taking Mink by surprise. "You said it would be easy to sit through, but it was so quiet and eerie, I couldn't even really focus on studying! I felt like I couldn't move an inch at my desk without the supervisor staring me down like I was doing something wrong."

Laughing loudly, Mink slapped Sei on the shoulder. "Yeah, that's about right," he said, thoroughly amused by Sei's reaction. It was hard to really imagine Sei hating anything so passionately. It was just… kind of funny. Mink was so blasé about detention and Sei was so riled up about it. Total opposites yet again.

"Anyway," Sei said, breathing out a heavy sigh. "We have Biology next, right?" Mink nodded in confirmation, slightly impressed that Sei was already memorising his timetable so well. Even Mink had to keep checking between periods, but he supposed if Sei could study and memorise notes, remembering when his classes were should be a walk in the park for him.

Speaking of walks in the park… Mink really wanted to go on that picnic. And the weather on the weekend would be perfect for it. He'd had to put it off all week, but finally he'd be able to get what he wanted. He just had to get through the rest of this afternoon and then tomorrow, and then he was free to do what he wanted for an entire two days. He wondered briefly if he should invite Sei along or if that would be weird.

"Oh, yeah," Mink exclaimed, suddenly remembering about Sei's cake. They had to walk all the way to the other side of the school to get to Biology so now would be a fine time to give it to him. He doubted he'd have time after school. While walking, he shifted his backpack around to his front and carefully took the cake out of it. "I, uh, made this for you. As an apology."

Sei stared at the cake in Mink's hands, dumbfounded and speechless for a moment. His mouth was a little slack, and he looked from Mink to the cake and back again, his expression very confused. "Is this…a cake?" he asked after a short pause.

Mink hesitated, suddenly feeling very vulnerable. "Yeah…It's a cake," he confirmed, trying to hide the shyness from his voice. He doesn't like the cake! This was a stupid idea! Why did I make this? It's terrible!

Without warning, Sei burst into laughter. He stopped walking for a second, overcome with his laughter. He was practically doubled over with tears in his eyes. Mink stopped walking at the same time, standing still and holding the cake, unsure of what to say.

"It just says SOR DETEN!" Sei exclaimed in between laughing. "What is that, Mink? It sounds like some kind of meme! Thank you! I love it!" He was shaking his head and wiping the tears from his eyes, still unable to bring a halt to his laughter.

Mink joined in with the laughter, feeling very relieved that Sei didn't hate his cake. "Well, it was supposed to say SORRY 4 DETENTION but my Dad ate half the cake last night," he explained. "Also, I'm not sure you should actually eat it," he added. "I messed it up pretty bad. It's probably not safe to consume. You might die."

Now it was Sei's turn to slap Mink's shoulder in amusement. Was that a thing he'd picked up from Mink? Interesting. "Don't worry about it," he assured Mink. "I'm sure it'll be just fine." He took the container from Mink and placed the cake carefully into his own bag, still giggling to himself. "I'll try it after school when I get home. We should probably get to class now." He was right. They'd already delayed for a couple of minutes and they were at risk of being late now. They picked up their pace and made it to class just as the bell was ringing.

Throughout the class, although he was writing notes the same as always, the atmosphere around Sei seemed a little less focussed than usual. Mink could hear him giggling under his breath every now and then, probably getting distracted thinking about that godforsaken cake. Now that Mink thought about it, he thought today was the first time he'd heard Sei laugh like that, possibly even the first time he'd heard the boy laugh at all. He kept replaying it in his mind, unable to stop himself from thinking about how Sei's laughter sounded like music. He was adorable and his smile really could light up a room.

Mink thought more about the picnic on the weekend. Biology class was always his time for daydreaming after all. Would it be weird to invite Sei though? That was the question. He could pack up the red and white picnic blanket and make a nice lunch for them. He could even ask Sei to bake bread or something to bring along. They could probably find a nice shady spot somewhere and cloud watch together. But…would it be weird? Mink kept asking himself the same question over and over, like a broken record, until the bell for the end of class rang and brought him back to reality.

"Thanks again for the cake," Sei said as they were packing up their belongings to leave. "I can't wait to go home and try it." Mink held himself back from repeating his warning. Maybe the cake wouldn't be so bad after all. The next class they had, the last class of the day, was Maths, which meant they'd be able to walk together once again. Sei must have been following a similar train of thought because he said, "I can already tell Thursday is going to be my favourite day of the week because I've gotten to spend so much time talking to you today."

Inside his chest, Mink felt his heart beating fast, slamming against his ribcage. This was so unfair. Why did he have to be afflicted with something like this? He'd been doing such a good job being in control of his emotions all day, and now Sei went and did something like this to him. He could feel himself blushing again, and he had no way to hide it. Clearing his throat and trying to ignore his dry mouth, he simply replied, "You're welcome." He could barely speak and it was a challenge just to get that out.

On the walk to Maths, Mink remained silent and let Sei do all the talking. He didn't mind listening to Sei talking about a new cookbook he was excited to pre-order next month. He didn't pay exact attention to what Sei was saying, but it wasn't like he was going to be asked any questions or be tested on it. He just let Sei's sweet voice play in the back of his mind while he tried to reorganise his thoughts and regain control of himself.

He knew he had a crush on Sei, so what? He'd known for a couple of days. That didn't change anything now, did it? Except that… Sei was being so nice to him and complimenting him a lot, and genuinely seemed to enjoy spending time with him and talking to him. All of that just served to encourage Mink's little crush. But he had to reign himself in right now. He had to stay grounded and remind himself that nothing was expected to come from this. He knew it was one-sided from the very beginning and he had to remind himself not to get his hopes up, at all costs.

"I'll see you tomorrow, right, Mink?" Sei asked, interrupting his thoughts. Mink nodded in goodbye and they split off into their different Maths classrooms.

Tomorrow… I'll ask him if he's busy on the weekend tomorrow. Depending on how he answers, I'll invite him on a picnic. Just as friends. I'm completely happy to just be friends. At least I have a friend now, anyway. But… if he ever did show any signs of reciprocating… Maybe… No, I can't think like that. It doesn't matter. Better to have him in my life as a friend than not at all. I'm sure I'll get over these feelings eventually.

Maths class passed by without any excitement, and Mink walked home without running into anyone at the bus stop. When he got home, the first thing he did was go upstairs to check if his father was home so he could finally confront him about the stolen cake and cookies. But unfortunately, his father was still out. So he went to his room, grabbed his herb book from the shelf, and collapsed backwards onto his bed, planning on reading until it was time to cook dinner.