Finally! I updated! Ever since summer started, lots of things have been going on! Including me getting a job! (GASP!)
Okay! Lucky chapter number 7!!
BBA School University Economics/Culinary Class:
"Remember; don't mix it too hard when preparing a meringue cake. Blend the egg yolks and sugar slowly until you have a creamy texture. Then add all-purpose flour. Make sure it doesn't get too sticky. Mix it lightly three or four times. Until all the flour is assimilated. Vanilla comes next…" Rei continued on to teach his class. All the girls were paying extra close attention; none of them wanted to look bad in front of the all-talented Rei Kon! But they were happy to and smiling whenever Rei teaches them!
"Tada! And there you have it!" Rei showed everyone his cake. A white creamy looking cake with a braided design going around the cake, flowers made of cream with strawberries to decorate the top of the cake in two circles; cream on the outside circle and strawberries in the inner circle.
"WOOWW!"
"WOO-HOO!"
"Rei-Kun is a brilliant teacher!"
"His technique is divine!"
All the girls were excited and happy enough to cry when their cakes turned out better than they expected!
Then the bell rang.
"Oh, I guess that's all for today. Good work, everyone! See you tomorrow!" said Rei and smiled sweetly causing a couple of girls to faint from that irresistible feline, cute, smile.
"THANK YOUUUUUUU!!!!" The girls squealed.
Rei quickly gathered his stuff and left the room, keeping the smile on his face.
"Rei-San is so adorable!"
"I can't believe we're so lucky to have him teach our class!"
"I didn't even think it would come true!"
"I believe it was Maxie-Chan that convinced Rei-San to do it!"
"Whether it's Max-Kun, Kai-Sama, or Rei-San, they're all gorgeous! It should be a felony!"
A group of them sighed at once.
"I love Rei-San's cat-like features! I imagine a kitty every time I see him!"
"I love Kai-Sama's lone wolf attitude! It's so cool!"
"I love Max-Kun's childish cuteness! It's irresistible!"
"EEEEEEEKKKK!!!"
"I worked hard on this cake. Kai and Max would love this after their meeting!" Rei thought with a bright smile on his face as he happily carried his cake around the University, heading out. Suddenly, someone appeared around the corner and bumped right into Rei. The cake went flying out of his hands. Rei quickly grabbed the cake plate and flung his body towards the flying cake and caught it before it hits the ground. Rei let's out a sigh of relief. He turned to the person he ran into,
"I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" Rei asked the person. It was a girl in the school's uniform, meaning she's not in the University. She had light tan-vanilla colored hair with a very dark skin tone.
Rei's eyes widened when he saw tears coming from the girl's eyes.
"I-I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?!" Rei crawled over to her, worried.
The girl tried to stop her tears,
"I…I'm okay…"
"Y-you sure?"
"Please…D-don't worry about it…" she said getting into a stand and running off with her hands to face, crying.
"Ah! Wait!" Rei stood up calling out to her but she already turned the corner and who knows where she'll be. Rei then noticed a bent wrapped box next to him. Rei knelt down for a better look,
"What's this?"
He opened the box to see a perfectly formed apple pie.
"An apple pie?" Rei blinked a couple of times.
Max's grin was bigger than ever! He couldn't hold it in any longer!
"REI! This is the best cake you ever made! It's delicious!! It's heaven on earth!"
"I'm not that great!" said Rei serving tea. Rei noticed Kai eating rather fast for once…
"Whoever Rei marries better be prepared! Because I highly doubt he can be out-cooked!" said Max making Rei blush harder than the last time he turned red.
"M-Marriage?! Max! I'm in Junior high! Why would you even mention marriage?!"
"Oh yeah! You have a boyfriend! Wait; does Takao even know how to cook at all?" Max asked with a curious face on. Rei turned even redder,
"I'llgetsomemoretea!" said Rei and quickly left their snack table in a rush.
"Wow, looks like Rei's gotten a bit nutty," said Max watching Rei not knowing what he's doing for once.
"…" Kai just silently drank his tea.
"I think spring has sprung on Rei!"
"…"
"Just like the way it did for you!"
Kai started choking on his drink.
"How is Kaida-Chan?" Max asked teasingly as Kai coughs.
"I heard you attended Kaida's beybattle a couple of days ago! Is it true you brought her a rose? Or maybe even two?" Max asked with a grin.
"(Cough)H-How (cough)-"
"How did I know, why, it was my dear friend Taka of course! Who else?" Max replied happily. Rei tripped and dropped his tray when he heard that name.
"Whoa, Rei you okay?" Max asked when he heard the crash and saw Rei on the floor.
"I-I'm fine!" Rei stuttered.
"By the way, what's in that box?" Max asked pointing at the box that Rei brought in, "Because if it's cake, I'm sure Kai would love some more!"
Kai gave Max a death glare making Max laugh nervously.
"Oh! That's right! Max!" Rei grabbed a hold of Max.
"Wh-what? If you don't want to share cake with us, we won't get mad!! At least I won't!"
"Oh, sorry, it's not that. I just wanted to ask you something," said Rei.
"Um okay, what is it?" Max asked,
"I have a question…about girls."
Kai and Max gave Rei a strange look.
"What?" Rei asked,
"…Why would you ask about females? If you have a boyfriend?" Kai asked raising a brow.
"Ah! You're cheating on Takao aren't you?!" Max exclaimed,
"Huh? NO!!!" Rei shouted in anger.
BBA Cafe:
A certain dark-skinned girl carrying her books stared at the beautifully made sweets on displayed.
"Monica-Chan!" Rei called out. The girl turned and lightly gasped to see the Chinese boy again.
"It's you…"
"I'm sorry to bother you, but perhaps you would like to join me for a treat?"
The two sat down at a table to eat some sweets.
"How did you know my name?" Monica asked,
"I asked Max Mizuhara. I told him the most detailed description as I could and he told me who you most likely were. I'm glad he was right!" said Rei with a smile.
"Max-Kun? I heard he's pretty brilliant," said Monica,
"Well, you could say that," said Rei with a sweatdrop, "Oh! Here!" Rei pulled up the box he brought with him and opened it up,
"It's an apple pie. When we bumped into each other, you were carrying a ruined one so I baked another one for you! I hope you like it!" said Rei with a smile.
"Um, that's okay. I don't really need the pie any longer…" said Monica in a sad voice.
"Monica-Chan…"
"But we can both eat it now if you like!"
"Huh?"
"It would be an honor to taste your cooking Rei-San! You're the most famous chef in entire BBA School! Your fans would kill for a chance like this!" said Monica.
"Well my cooking isn't that great!"
"Don't be so modest, Rei-San! My big brother even says so!"
"Big brother?" Rei repeated.
"Yes, my brother, Moses."
"Moses…oh! Crusher!" Rei remembered. Crusher's real name is Moses. A very talented blader.
"Rei-San, you really are cute you know that?" said Monica with a smile. Rei blushed,
"Oh, uh…well, I've been told that…a lot…"
"You're also very sweet, that's the secret to your popularity. I'm not…that cute or that great. I'm just not good to anyone…" said Monica and looked down.
"Monica-Chan! Don't say that!"
"I'm thrilled to eat your pie though!" said Monica, quickly changing the subject. Monica took a bite of the pie and a smile spreads across her face,
"It's delicious! When you get married, that's going to be one lucky wife! She'll be eating food like this everyday! I'm actually jealous just thinking about it!" said Monica as she continues to eat more not noticing that Rei's is about to boil over from the temperature rising in his body.
"Wife…Marriage…Takao…" Rei lost it as fell half unconscious and fell off his chair.
"Rei-San!"
After Rei cooled down a bit, he felt much better.
"I'm surprise I didn't get a bloody nose…"
"Are you alright, Rei-San?" Monica asked with concern seeing Rei still a bit wobbling on his seat.
"Y-Yeah…I'm fine!" said Rei with a smile.
"Rei-San…may I, um, ask you something personal?" Monica asked,
"Personal? How much? Well you can ask me, but whether I answer or not depends," said Rei.
"Well…those rumors going around about you having a boyfriend…is that true?"
Rei now wished he fell unconscious and sent to the Nurse's office…
"B-Because if it is! It's okay! My brother says it doesn't matter whether someone's homosexual or heterosexual. It matters who that person is on the inside…Rei-San, if you truly loved someone, would you think about what's best for them?" Monica asked with sad eyes.
"Well…yes. Uh, I mean, yes, to your question! You don't want to be selfish, so you really should think about what they need and what they want," Rei explained.
"I see…"
"So? Was it her, Rei?" Max asked when Rei came back, looking depressed that only Kai noticed. Rei sighed,
"Yes…please accept this token of my gratitude…" said Rei and dropped a cake on a plate.
"Wow! An apple upside-down cake!" said Max excitedly with sparkly eyes.
"Not so fast. You haven't even finished one-tenth of today's paperwork…" said Kai holding Max back.
"But…KAAAIIII!"
"No 'buts!' Now get to work!" Kai ordered.
"But…CAAAAAKKE!" Max pleaded,
"Max…"
Max whimpered as he went to his desk.
"…So Rei, did something happen?" Kai asked,
"Huh? Oh…Kai, if a girl looks sad, there's usually a reason for it right?" Rei asked and Kai gave Rei another weird look.
"Are you sure you're not bi? (Because it'll be perfectly okay with me if you are because then you won't be with that dobe)," asked Kai and Rei grew an anime vein.
"For cry out loud! I'm just trying to help someone here! And besides, isn't that what the BBA School Detectives are supposed to do? Help females in distress?" Rei pointed out.
"That's absolutely right Rei! Why didn't you just say so from the beginning?" Max asked and Rei sweatdrops,
"Max! Get back to work!" Kai shouted,
"Seriously Rei, if you just said you earlier, I wouldn't of have told Takao you were asking about girls," said Max and then realized what he just did.
"Oh…I guess I shouldn't have done that…"
"YOU WHAAAAAT?!?!"
Rei was rolling some dough and sighed…again.
"Hello, Rei. Making something again?" Garland asked and Rei looked up to see him.
"Oh! Hello Garland! Yeah, I guess I am. But a lot has been on my mind and I keep messing things up!" said Rei pointing at his failed food in the garbage can where it's already piled to the top.
"Oh…" said Garland with a sweatdrop, "I was just stopping by to say hi before I go to another meeting, but I may I asked what's wrong?" Garland asked,
"I don't know…" Rei sighed and then looked around to make sure no one else was in the room or by the door.
"Okay, well, first off I met this girl that's been pretty sad and I don't know how to help her. And as you know, I don't exactly have many experiences knowing how a girl feels. Plus, Max just had to say something to Takao and Takao took it completely the wrong way and now he won't talk to me!" Rei took in a deep breath after he let that all out.
"Oh, I see. Well that would explain why Brooklyn is speaking with Takao…" said Garland putting a hand on his chin. A chill ran down Rei's spine,
"WHAT?!" Rei exclaimed in anger.
"Don't worry, I'll speak with Brooklyn to speak to Takao and everything should be cleared up," said Garland calmly.
"…Garland…you know I could never trust Brooklyn because of one simple fact right?" Rei asked giving him a glare. Garland sighed,
"Look Rei, don't get so worked up over this. Brooklyn's harmless…"
"He's the one that told you that Takao and I are together in the first place. Which was supposed to be a secret!"
"Even so, Brooklyn wouldn't do anything," Garland reassured.
"Hn…he better!"
As students began filing into the room, so did someone extra.
"Hey Garland! I've been looking everywhere for you!" said Moses walking up to him and Rei.
"Oh, sorry, I was just stopping by to see Rei," said Garland,
"Oh, Rei! I didn't know you taught class!" said Moses,
"Yeah, I do. I haven't seen you since our beybattle, how are things?" Rei asked with a smile,
"Pretty well. But…my sister has been pretty down in the dumps lately, and I'm not sure what to do…" said Moses, worried.
"Oh? What's wrong with her?" Garland asked with concern.
"Excuse me! Rei-Kun! What are we making today?" a student asked.
"Oh! We're making apple pie!" Rei replied cheerfully.
"YEEEEK!"
"Oh! Garland-San! We heard you like apple pie! I'll make you some!"
"Me too!"
"Oh, no need, ladies," said Garland and his grew sad for a moment,
"Garland…?"
"Huh? Oh! It's nothing Rei, it's time for class as well as my meeting. So you around," said Garland and walked out of the classroom followed by Moses.
After school, Rei found Moses again and the two went for a walk.
"Tell me about your sister," said Rei,
"Well, Monica…her body isn't as strong as a normal person's. And it's hard, whenever I see her in a hospital bed. Now that she's walking around on her own, I can get worried about her but I'm happy for her because she's happy. But recently, she's always got a sad look on. And no matter what I do, she won't tell me what's wrong," Moses explained,
"Hmm…she looks up to you, doesn't she?" Rei asked,
"Well, I guess so. I even take her to my beybattles which I often do when I beybattle my friends such as Garland. She's always happy to go with me too. But recently, she even lost interest in that!" said Moses.
"Strange…"
"Hmm…Strange…" said Max when Rei told Max everything he could.
"I talked with one of Monica-Chan's friends. She said that Monica-Chan's been baking apple pies about 2 months ago. Trying her best to perfect it," said Max,
"Rei ran into her recently and she had an apple pie with her but now she doesn't want to make them anymore. I have a feeling, the apple pie was made for someone," said Kai leaning against the wall.
"Made for someone? You mean like those cookies that Kaida-Chan made for you?" Max asked and Kai lowered his head even more to hide the deep shade of red.
"Were they good?" Max asked with a smile,
"Max…" Kai growled threatening in anger.
"Made for someone? Like her older brother?" Rei guessed,
"Why would she make pie for her older brother and get upset?" Kai asked,
"Oh right…well who else would she make it for?" Rei asked,
"You said you ran into her after your culinary class right? Well your class is at the university. Why would she even be there in the first place? Unless-"
"Unless she wanted to give that pie to someone at the university!" Max finished for Kai.
"Except we don't know anyone that works at the university…" Rei pointed out.
"Who said it had to be someone that works there? It could be someone that's there for that time. Like you teaching culinary there for an extra class," Kai pointed out.
"Well that doesn't really narrow anything down…" said Max and sighed.
"And I highly doubt Monica-Chan will even tell us who she wants to give the pie to if she won't even tell her brother…" said Rei and sighed as well.
"Hey! I know!" Max pointed his finger in the air to show he's got an idea,
"Since we're trying to understand the mind of a female…" Max turned to Kai, "Let's ask a female!"
Kai and Rei blinked in confusion.
"Huh? You need my help in your detective work?" Kaida asked when they found her eating ice cream with Takao in the park on the swings.
"Yes! Would you please Kaida? You see, we don't quite understand how women think…" said Max.
"Well…tell me what the problem is," said Kaida and licked her vanilla ice cream. While Max repeated the story over, Rei was trying to explain the misunderstanding to Takao who was giving Rei the cold shoulder. Kai was standing between Takao and Kaida for his own reasons.
"I see…Well let's see. If I wanted to give Kai something, I myself would give it to him when there's no one around to see it," said Kaida,
"Why?" Max asked raising a brow,
"Because Kai said so, he likes his privacy," Kaida replied only to receive a light glare from Kai.
"Okay…"
"Or maybe Monica-Chan wants to confess to someone with the gift. Then of course she wants it to be private," Kaida added.
"Or maybe she just wants forgiveness from someone!" said Takao still ignoring Rei though what he said was aimed at Rei.
"Or that, that sounds right too," said Kaida.
"One thing concerns me though…" Kai started,
"What is it?" Max asked,
"I don't believe anyone but Rei actually goes to the university at that time. Which means, whoever this girl wanted to give the pie to, is either in High School or older. Now why would a Junior High girl give something like that to someone in High School or university?"
"Well if that's true, wouldn't those students be a tad too old for her if it was a lover?" Kaida pointed out,
"So…it was for her brother?" Max asked,
"OK, this is getting us no where!" said Kai getting frustrated,
"Tell me about it…Please Takao! Believe me!" Rei was still having problems to get Takao to listen to him.
"I wonder why Monica-Chan was upset when she bumped into Rei. Did the person reject her or something? Or, does the person dislike apple pie? You said the pie wasn't touched right?" Kaida asked. Rei then realized something,
"Dislike apple pie?" Rei repeated,
"Who would dislike apple pie!?" Max exclaimed, "Its pie! Who does not like pie?!"
Kaida raised her hand. Max sweatdrops,
"Wait…you can't be serious…"
"Dislike pie…? I was talking with Garland earlier. One of my students asked what we were making and I answered 'apple pies' and then some of them offered to make some for Garland who turned down the offer. Not only that, he seemed pretty gloomy when that happened," said Rei.
"So…apple pies are bad luck?" Max asked tilting his head.
Everyone sweatdrops.
"You're too innocent for your own good, Max," said Takao.
"But that's weird…" Kaida started to say,
"What's weird?" Kai asked,
"I was talking to Hiromi-Chan not too long ago. I was getting help from her to bake those cookies for Kai…"
"Oh, how nice of you, Kaida. Why can't you be more like her, Kai?" Takao asked and Kai was really tempted to hit him.
"And it was during the high school's home economics class and in that classroom. Some of Garland's fan girls asked him what his favorite dessert was and he answered…apple pie."
Everyone had a clear question mark above their heads.
"This is so confusing!" Takao exclaimed,
"Hey, you're not the one doing the detective work!" Kai bit back.
"Arg! Why do you always give me hard time?!" Takao shouted at Kai.
"Because it's fun…"
Takao grew a large anime vein and was about to strangle Kai but Rei held him back.
"T-Takao! Calm down!" That's when Rei saw her. He saw Monica walking around the corner of the High School. Rei released Takao without a second thought and followed Monica.
"What the? Rei?" Rei didn't hear the others and kept going.
Monica was standing next to a tree looking up at one of the windows.
"Monica-Chan!" Rei called,
"Rei-San!"
"Monica-Chan, about the apple pie…"
"My apple pie? Rei-San…you are a talented chef. You can make anything whether it's cooking or baking. I envy you, no, I envy your lover. I tried my best to master my abilities to make apple pie. But I failed miserably…"
"Monica-Chan…Please, tell me about your problems. After all, I'm part of the BBA School Detectives, we help women in distress. Please let us help you, Monica-Chan. Your brother is very worried about you," said Rei with his warm smile.
"Onii-San? Oh…" Monica looks back up towards the window. "My dear brother is very kind to me. I really look up to him. He's a very loving brother. He would take me to his beyblattle matches and I would cheer for him. I met his friends, who are all very kind and very nice to me. But when I met Garland-Sempai…" Monica's voice trailed off.
"Garland?"
"He's got something to do with this?"
Rei looked up towards the window as well and he realized that was the window for the High School Division Class Board's office.
"Garland-Sempai…both my brother and I respect him a lot. He's very skilled and talented. He's got pride and honor. I couldn't help it…I just couldn't help…"
Rei looked down and sighed,
"You just couldn't help falling in love with him…" Rei finished for her.
"Rei-San…"
Rei lifted his head again,
"I know exactly how you feel…"
"Rei-San…no, how can you? You see…when I thought I was good enough I finally confronted him with the pie. But…he also had one with him. He asked me to join him…" Monica's eyes started to get teary.
"It was so good! Compared to mine, mine was nothing! I could never give him my standard pie! I could never out cook someone with far more skills than I…"
Rei shook his head,
"That's not true…"
Rei reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag.
"Here, try this…" Rei pulled out a small cookie and gave it to Monica who took a bite but she immediately spat it out.
"Not that good, right?" Rei asked trying not to laugh,
"I-I'm afraid not…" said Monica trying not to look disgusted with it.
"My friend made this for her lover. This is what she made before I told her to get some help. She's not very good at cooking or baking so that's what she did. But when I told her boyfriend about this, he got upset. Saying he'll eat anything she made for him because he's not eating it for the taste, he eats her food to feel her love. He even proved it to me by eating one of the cookies and his face didn't even have the slightest look of disgust on it."
"Really?" Monica asked.
"Yes. The intension of a chef is to make something delicious for someone they care about, as I do all the time. Skills, ingredients, are of course important. But how much of your heart you put into it is what's really important. I speak from experience. My own love accidentally mistook the sugar with salt and I was served salt-tasting cake."
"What?! Were you okay, Rei-San?!" Monica asked with concern.
"I was perfectly fine. It really didn't taste that bad to me," said Rei with a smile, "Because I felt all the emotions were put into that cake. I guess that blocked the horrible taste. Come on, Monica-Chan, let's make another apple pie. One filled with your affection. It's always a shame when well-prepared food goes uneaten. So if you don't tell him how you feel, that will be a shame as well," said Rei and took Monica to a kitchen to start preparing that special dessert.
Everyone saw what happened when they followed Rei and hit behind some trees.
Max and Takao were holding each other, crying.
"That was filled with such deep words," said Max,
"Rei-Rei…" Takao cried.
"…I'm so sorry Kai. I know my first batch of cookies were terrible! That's why I followed Rei's advice to get some help," said Kaida looking down.
"They tasted fine to me…don't worry about it," said Kai leaning against the tree. Kaida smiled,
"Thank you…"
"Oh, by the way, Dobe. What kind of idiot mistakes salt for sugar?" Kai asked looking at Takao who snapped out of his emotional moment,
"SHUT UP!"
Monica walked into the office where luckily, only Garland was by himself.
"Garland-Sempai…I-I know I'm not as talented or as skilled as you are. And I know this pie I made, can't compete with ones you can make. But I worked hard on this anyway. Because…because I love you!"
Garland blinked in surprise and stood up,
"Monica-Chan…"
"I've always wanted to tell you. I've always respected you. And when I tasted your pie, I broke down, wanting to give up. But then, I met Rei-San, and he taught me so much! I finally had the courage to express my feelings!" said Monica and smiled warmly for the first time in a long time.
"Rei, this pie tastes rather…unique," said Max with an unusual face expression on,
"This was made by Monica-Chan. I tried to give her some tips but this…sadly, is the best she could do," said Rei with a sweatdrop. They were all in the kitchen tasting some leftover foods. Kaida and Kai tried to not to make disgusted faces but they both couldn't help it.
"This is why I don't like pies…" Kaida groaned clutching her stomach.
"H-Hey, it's not that bad," said Max,
"Yeah, but she dislikes pies making this one two times as worse than it is for her," said Takao with one of his arms around Rei's.
"Do you want to go to the Nurse's office, Kaida?" Rei asked,
"Kai should take her!" said Max cheerfully. Kai glared at Max for that comment.
"So…even if I made the worst cake on the planet, would you still eat it?" Takao asked Rei,
"As long as you poured your heart into it, then yes!" Rei replied. Takao's eyes sparkled,
"You're the best, Rei-Rei!"
"Can I call you nicknames, Kai?" Kaida asked with sparkly eyes as well.
"No!"
Kaida felt gloomy and went to the corner of the room to sulk. Max immediately slaps Kai across his head for once.
"That's a big no-no, Kai! Never make a girl upset and most certainly do not make her cry!" Max scolded, "Now you go apologize to her right now!"
"Wow, I guess this is what girls would say their Prince Charming would be like?" Takao guessed and Rei shrugged.
"Who would've thought that a pie could cause such problems?" Rei thought and was glad that this case is now over.
Case Closed!
Notes:
-Crusher's original Japanese name is Moses.
-I don't know how old Monica is since she spent the whole season in the hospital bed. But just to make the story work, I assumed she's around G-Revolution's ages.
-Garland/Monica. Something Sora-Chii and I thought of. The couple could work considering Monica's older brother is on the same team with Garland. Garland is the most respected on the team and we know how close Monica is to Moses. So the couple is a possibility. I could've used someone else but Monica wasn't paired with anyone from what I've seen except Tala/Yuri. I looked here too, she's only been paired with Tala since the last time I searched.
-Rei's a chef, that's why (in this chapter) he played a big role again. The last time he did was because the damsel in distress was Salima whom is one of the girls paired with Rei (other being Mao obviously) by fans(okay, Takao Aoki had him paired with Mao but there's NO WAY I'm going to be accepting that!). So it made more sense. Other than this, Rei shouldn't be getting any more big roles since he's got his own story with Takao in "Neko-Jin of Many Faces" plus "20 Faces, 20 Masks, but Only One Heart."
-Takao made that salt-tasting cake and served it to Rei in "Neko-Jin of Many Faces"
-Why doesn't Rei trust Brooklyn? Answer is in "Neko-Jin of Many Faces."
Next:
The detectives found…a stocking. Now they're trying to figure out who it belongs to and when they do, it seems to be the most obvious answer when this becomes their shortest case ever…
Then, Max disappears! Now Rei and Kai are running around the campus with Takao and Kaida (a.k.a., their lovers) looking at the clues that Max left behind for them. Just what is Max doing this time instead of those paperwork?!
P.S.-I'm still taking request and/or ideas for the girls I listed at the end of last chapter! Please I need some help!
