Chapter Seven:

Mitsukuni was seated in the back of a small black town car. He would have brought one of the limos, but Akira had texted him asking that he pick her up in a smaller car. The Bentley was the smallest family car they owned, so he had asked his normal driver to take it to Akira's university.

He watched impatiently from the car. He wanted so much for Akira to show up so that they could have some lunch at his house. He was going to cook for her and then they were going to eat the cake that Haruhi had helped him bake. Mitsukuni was only hoping that he would be able to do what he had set out to do.

Mitsukuni's face lit up when he saw the brunette walking away from the college campus. She wore a pair of ripped boot cut jeans and a knee length duffle coat. She had a tan pageboy hat on and a weighted down messenger bag hung off her shoulder. She held the bags strap tightly as she looked around.

Akira spotted the Bentley and quickly jogged over while other students from the university started to point and talk behind their hands. Mitsukuni hopped out and let Akira slip in. Mitsukuni slid into the seat next to her and closed the door just as his driver pulled away from the curb.

"Hi, Akira!" he greeted happily. "How were your classes?"

"Math was kind of dry, but I can't complain too much. I learn a lot in the class which is important. And I need it to be a teacher. Even if I want to teach history." Akira answered as she stared at her hands in her lap. She couldn't stop the warm feeling on her cheeks from spreading to her whole face. "Abnormal Psychology was super interesting though. For some reason, we ventured into the topic of serial murders. It's kind of grim, and I don't really like to think about it too much, but a part of abnormal psychology is what makes someone do such horrible things."

"At least you're learning a lot about the fields of Psychology. You'll know how people act, and that can help if you want to work around all sorts of different people," Hani said brightly. He slid closer to Akira.

Akira gave an unenthusiastic shrug. She smiled slightly and looked at her companion. "What about you? How were your classes Mitsukuni-kun?"

"I had a literature class and French today," Mitsukuni stated as he bounced cheerfully in his seat. "We're looking at literature from the Romantic Period."

"That's a lot of English works, isn't it?" Akira questioned.

"The Romantic Period is mostly a lot of English, French, and German literature, yes," Mitsukuni nodded. "But Japan wasn't really a part of that trend of time. So the characteristics in Japanese texts wouldn't mirror the English, French, and German works of the same time. We're studying the European works because they're important for understanding the way of life during that period. At least that's what the professor says. There were a lot of monumental works that came from English authors in the Romantic period. Like Frankenstein."

"I guess," Akira said quietly. She liked to read a lot, but for the most part, she just read the more current works. She preferred the simple, clichéd romance that you could find on the shelf at a grocery store. There was nothing complicated about a small romance. Same formula, different characters.

"I'm so happy I get to have lunch with you, Akira-Chan," Mitsukuni giggled. He turned in his seat to make sure that he could properly see Akira.

"Me, too," she answered. She looked at him for only a moment before she looked at her hands again. The deep blush had returned and she couldn't look at him without feeling just the slightest bit embarrassed.

0o0o0o0

Mitsukuni hopped around the kitchen of his family home. He hummed a simple tune and grabbed a pan for the chicken he was about to prepare.

"Mitsukuni-kun," Akira spoke from the edge of the kitchen. "Can I help?"

Mitsukuni looked at her. "I want to make Akira-Chan lunch. You can just relax," he said with an air of determination.

"But if I sit out in the living room, I can't talk to you," Akira pointed out. "I feel lonely in there."

Akira's words froze Mitsukuni to the spot. His eyes grew larger as he stared at Akira's downcast expression. He quickly moved over to her side when he finally managed to move his feet. He took her hand in his. "I didn't mean to make you feel lonely," he said sincerely.

"I know," Akira smiled. She bit her lip, looking at their hands. "I just want to help you cook. I know I run a bakery, but I'm quite the cook as well."

"Really?"

"Kimi and I cook all the time," Akira nodded enthusiastically. "My mom, too. Before she passed, that is. It's a great activity for two people." She walked over to examine the Haninozuka spice rack. They had a lot more than Akira's family. She expected that it accommodated several world cuisines. She picked up cumin and sniffed it.

"Okay," Mitsukuni said an octave lower than a scream. "I'm going to make a chicken dish. Do you want to make the rice pilaf to go with it?"

"Can I make it from scratch?" Akira asked as she moved over to the sink to wash her hands. "I know that it comes in a box, but it like to make it on my own."

"Yes," Mitsukuni chirped. He watched Akira as she closed her eyes. She looked so peaceful, and it made his heart flutter slightly.

Akira stood at the sink and let the warm water fall over her hands. It was a feeling she enjoyed, even if the constant washing dried out her hands. She turned off the water after a minute and attempted to shake her hands dry before she grabbed a paper towel.

Mitsukuni frowned when he was stuck with a sudden thought. Akira didn't really talk about her mom all that much. He knew that she had grown up without a father, so he reasoned that Akira and her mother had to be close.

Akira found a container of rice and started grabbing all the ingredients that were hidden in the kitchen. Most of the drawers were labeled for the family when the cook wasn't around. She looked back at Mitsukuni and found him staring at her. She laughed nervously and blew her bangs out of her face. "What's up?" She smiled at him and tilted her head to the side.

"Can you tell me about your mom?" Mitsukuni asked. He looked at the ground and wondered if he had crossed some boundary.

Akira's features softened as a small look of remembrance crossed her face. "She was a hard worker," she said. "She was always trying to make things better for us. I think she just wanted to prove to herself that she didn't need a second person in the house to help out with raising me. She had a job, she cooked, and she always put my needs before hers."

"What did she do?" Mitsukuni continued when he realized that Akira didn't mind talking about her mom.

"She worked at Rae-Chan's family restaurant as a waitress and after the lunch and early dinner hours, she did their bookkeeping," Akira answered. Suddenly she looked sad. "Then she got sick and we moved in with Kimi. Kimi was a cake designer and she did sugar sculptures too. She was really good, won competitions, and got paid good money to do these masterpieces for parties, but she cut back the number of orders she took when we moved in with her. She paid for mom's hospital bills with the money she made doing her sculptures. The doctor's gave my mom six months to live, and she only made it six weeks. Cancer can do that when it gets too advanced, I guess." Akira leaned against the counter and messed with the hem of her shirt.

"I'm sorry," Mitsukuni whispered.

"I miss her, but I know that I couldn't change what happened to her. We went to the best cancer treatment place in Japan, and they couldn't help," Akira said. She blinked back some small tears. "Before she died, she told me and Kimi to open the cupcake store and live the dream that the three of us had. We came up with it when I was really little. Kimi only had a nice kitchen she operated out of. So we saved up the money to buy the store and we dedicated it to my mom."

"And then you met me!" Mitsukuni giggled hoping she would smile.

"Yes, I did," Akira grinned.

Mitsukuni bit his lip before he asked another question. "What about your dad?"

"He was some visiting American," Akira said in a detached tone. It was almost as if she was trying to hide the feelings she had about the father that had abandoned her mom. "He met my mom at the restaurant during a three month study abroad program. Towards the end of his stay, Mom told him that she was pregnant, and he told her that he wasn't ready to be a dad. Then he was gone."

"Do you think about him?" Mitsukuni's eyebrows knitted together as he wondered what kind of person could just walk away.

"I don't really like to talk about it all that much," Akira said as she pulled Chicken stock from the fridge. "I think about him when my birthday comes around or when I see kids playing with their own dad's at the park. I don't let it get to me too much, though. He's the one that's missing out. As long as I see it like that, I can move on."

Mitsukuni walked over and hugged Akira close. He squeezed her tightly and waited for her to wrap her arms around him. "I'm sorry," he said.

"You don't need to apologize for him," Akira shook his head. "Rae and Sora know about it, and you're my friend too. It's about time I told you."

"You're right," Mitsukuni told her with a big grin. "He's the one missing out on what a great person you are. You make the best cupcakes in the world." He stepped back and looked at Akira. He could see her watery eyes.

"Thank you," Akira said and she choked back her feelings.

"Why are you crying?"

"I don't know," Akira laughed. She wiped her eyes with the palms of her hands only to realize that she would have to wash them again. "You're so sweet and kind. Most of the people I know are always in a rush. I don't get to talk about things with them. You take the time to talk to people. It's something that I've missed since Sora and Rae got jobs at the law firm."

"I care about my friends," Mitsukuni said casually. "I want to know about them. I want to know what's going on. I care about you, too." He stepped forward and kissed Akira lightly on the lips. "I like Akira-chan a lot, and I don't want to see her cry."

Akira blinked and stared at the short boy-like man in front of her. She let Mitsukuni take her hand and lead her back to the sink. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I like you too," she said finally speaking the words that she had been feeling.

"Let's make lunch!" Mitsukuni cheered, turning on the water to wash their hands. "Then we'll eat cake."