Chapter Nine: Fever
Ichigo returned to her room, holding the box containing 'Hikari'.
"Ichigo!" greeted Rumi, "There you are! I was meant to tell you the Salon de Marie was closed today but… I kind of forgot, sorry."
"It's OK," replied Ichigo cheerfully, putting the cake box on her desk.
"Eh? What's that?" asked Orchard, flying over.
"Someone gave this to Ichigo," said Vanilla, smiling devilishly and winking knowingly at Rumi over Ichigo's head. Rumi mouth formed an 'o' shape and smiled knowingly back, laughing silently.
As Ichigo lifted the lid, she blushed and cried at Vanilla, "It's not what you're implying! It was a gift of thanks if you remember correctly!"
"Hm…" said Orchard, smiling at the chocolate cake inside, "Such great chocolate work and perfect presentation… It probably tastes brilliant as well. This is the work of Kashino Makoto, is it not?"
"Yep!" said Vanilla happily, "Except a wing is missing but it looked wonderful. And also, Ichigo, you have to study!" scolded Vanilla.
"Oh yeah, that exam tomorrow," said Rumi, speaking to Ichigo, "When you ran off to the Salon de Marie after class, Lemon, Johnny and I talked about what we would do for the exam. The theme is 'Colour' and we've decided to make a simple pale white sponge cake as the base with icing to look like clouds."
"White?" said Ichigo, scratching her head, "It doesn't seem… very colourful."
"That's not the point!" said Rumi excitedly, showing more designs from her sketchbook, "Inside the cake, we're going to have layers of marzipan in rainbow colours. So when you cut open the cake, instant colour! Like a rainbow bursting out from white clouds. Great idea, right?"
"It's wonderful!" encouraged Ichigo, "It sounds simple and easy to do in a reasonable amount of time."
"Yeah!" nodded Rumi, "We figured you and Lemon could work on the cake and Johnny and I could work with the rainbow marzipan. Whoever's free can make the icing, we decided. What do you think?"
"Yeah, I don't mind," Ichigo replied, "Has Lemon-chan come up with a cake base yet?"
"No," replied Rumi, "We were kind of hoping you'd come up with something."
"OK," nodded Ichigo, "Tell Lemon-chan I'll definitely have something prepared for tomorrow."
"We would probably finish with a couple minutes to spare if we all do our roles perfectly and everything. I'll tell her, don't worry."
"Good," smiled Ichigo, "I'm going to study for a while and then go down to the cooking room to practice so I don't mess up."
"I believe you won't but do whatever you want, I suppose," shrugged Rumi, lying down on her stomach on her bed, studying notes on marzipan.
"Well then, I'm going," said Ichigo, going outside.
"Bye!" said Orchard and Rumi.
Quickly walking to the cooking room, Ichigo changed out of her uniform and entered the room. It was empty. Kashino had not yet come down to practice.
"You'd think you made so many cakes so far, you wouldn't have to practice anymore," said Vanilla.
"You always have to practice," said Ichigo, cracking an egg and spilling the contents into a large bowl, "Every single day, I'm grateful for everything I've learnt and to everyone who has taught me those things, Grandma, the Sweet Princes, Ameya-sensei, Henri-sensei and you, Vanilla. So every day I have to hone my skills to make those people proud of me."
Vanilla let out a surprised sound and then grinned, looking mischievously, "Or perhaps you're only here because you don't want to study from a book?"
"!" said Ichigo, she found out!
"V-Vanilla!" said Ichigo, grabbing for her Sweet Spirit but she darted out of reach. Then she sighed and went back to her work, "I do enjoy actually making sweets rather than reading about them, but I did mean everything I said, too."
Suddenly, Ichigo caught movement in the corner of her eye and instinctively turned, "Who is it?"
After a few seconds, there was still no sound or reply. Ichigo walked towards one of the windows and opened it, looking around. She didn't see anyone. Brushing it off, she turned back around and continued working.
"Did you see anyone?"
"No," replied Ichigo, "Well, it was probably nothing. I have to stay here until I finish this."
Vanilla smiled. Outside, the sun begun to disappear and it began to turn dark, "OK, Ichigo, but don't stay too long."
"I won't," replied Ichigo.
Soon, a couple of cakes later, Ichigo tasted the cake she made, perfect!
It was finally just the right softness she wanted and moist and the kind that melted in your mouth the second it was in there.
Finally, I did it… thought Ichigo, looking at her sponge cake, exactly like Kashino's, except pure white.
Smiling, she quietly began washing her utensils and plates and bowls she'd used. It was much later then she intended to stay but she knew if she didn't perfect her ideal cake, it'd bug her all night. Vanilla snoozed on the bench top, snoring quite loudly too.
Ichigo smiled at her Spirit and got a small tea-towel, using it as a blanket for Vanilla.
Then, slumping against the table, Ichigo finally realised how tired she was. Her eyes were already beginning to feel tired and her hands ached after mixing, pouring, measuring and generally working so long.
It was… worth it though, thought Ichigo, slowly drifting off to sleep.
"Finished practising?" asked Chocolat, as Kashino changed back into his ordinary clothes, neatly folding his cooking clothes.
"Yeah," said Kashino.
"You seemed happier after hearing Ichigo," noted Chocolat.
"U-Urusai!" said Kashino, his good mood gone, replaced by embarrassment.
Flashback
Kashino was about to go into the cooking room when he noticed someone else was there. After a couple of seconds, he realised it was Ichigo. Immediately, a blush nearly covered his face and he struggled to compose himself enough to be able to face her. Instead, he leaned against the wall beside the door, breathing in and out slowly. Though he was able to clearly hear the conversation.
"You always have to practice," said Ichigo, "Every single day, I'm grateful for everything I've learnt and to everyone who has taught me those things, Grandma, the Sweet Princes…"
Kashino unintentionally made a surprised sound while calming himself as Ichigo continued speaking, thankfully not noticing.
"…Ameya-sensei, Henri-sensei and you, Vanilla. So every day I have to hone my skills to make those people proud of me."
Kashino smiled and stood up properly instead of leaning against the wall. He walked towards the door leading to the other cooking room.
"Kashino?" said Chocolat.
"We can't disturb them when they're practising, right?" said Kashino, still smiling as he went to practise in the other room instead.
End Flashback
"Anyway, I should head back to the dorm," said Kashino, clearing his throat and turning around. Chocolat snickered.
As they walked out of the building, Kashino shivered. It was sure cold tonight. Then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye, "Why's that window open?"
"Is that the room Ichigo's in?" said Chocolat, genuinely concerned.
Kashino quietly went to the window and looked inside. It was empty so he went inside.
"Be careful, Kashino," said Chocolat quietly, flying in after him, "Anyone could be here."
"And if something happens, I need you to fly away and warn somebody, got that?" whispered Kashino. Chocolat looked ready to protest but then nodded once.
He silently walked around the table and nearly gave a yelp of surprise as he nearly stepped on Ichigo, unconscious there.
"Amano! Oi!" said Kashino, forgetting he was supposed to be quiet. He was panicking as he shook her gently, "Wake up, Amano!"
"Hm…?" said Ichigo sleepily, waking up. Kashino let out a sigh of relief.
"Kashino?" said Ichigo, smiling slightly, "Ohayo…"
Yep, definitely Ichigo, thought Kashino, before glaring at her, "Don't 'ohayo' me, besides, it's not even morning yet! Did something happen? Why was the window open?"
Ichigo's eyes suddenly darted right open and started backing away, only she was already against the table so she couldn't really move anywhere, "K-Kashino?"
"Yes, you've said that already," said Kashino, "What happened?"
"I left the window open," said Ichigo more to herself than actually speaking to him, "Oh," she spoke to him again, "I saw something or someone and I looked out the window but I couldn't see anyone. Then I made some cakes and got exhausted a fell asleep."
"Geez!" said Kashino after falling down anime-style, "Here I was thinking some person came in and hurt you or something! Do you know how worried I was?"
"E-Eh?" said Ichigo, turning a bright red.
"I-I mean… That's… Is that your cake?" said Kashino, quickly changing the subject and standing up, looking at the snow-white sponge cake.
"Y-Yeah…" said Ichigo before she sneezed and shivered slightly, "I still feel tired…"
Kashino turned around and looked at her. She held her arms and looked tired, shivering. He eyed the open window, the fact that she was sleeping and the freezing temperature outside before widening his eyes.
"How long have you been asleep?" asked Kashino, looking at her again.
"Um, I don't know… A little over an hour…?" said Ichigo, glancing at the clock.
"Well then, it's no big surprise what's wrong with you, sleeping without so much as a blanket with an open window blowing cold air in! And it's freezing tonight, too." He stepped toward her and placed a hand on her head, nearly flinching away.
"You're burning," said Kashino, lifting his hand away, "You've got a fever."
"But… that exam tomorrow… I have to be there to help them!" said Ichigo.
Kashino was surprised even though he did half-expect her to say that. It was very Ichigo-like to always constantly worry about others even when she herself could barely stand up by herself.
"The best thing you can do right now is rest and hope the fever goes away tomorrow," said Kashino, although I highly doubt it will, "But if you're still sick tomorrow, it won't do you or your team much good if you're participating in the exam. As you are, with your added clumsiness, you'd either drop the cake, faint or generally end up hurting yourself and extending the period of time you won't be able to make sweets."
"But then we have to go to Tennouji-san's shop and I can't expect you, Johnny and Lemon to run the shop by yourselves!"
"We'll be fine and you'll be fine by the time we fly out to New York, don't worry. You'll just be sick tomorrow. Now go back to your dorm and go to sleep."
"OK," nodded Ichigo, going out, "Arigato na, Kashino."
"Amano," said Kashino.
"Yeah— ah!" said Ichigo, automatically catching the thing flying at her face. It was a jacket.
"Don't get any more sick then you already are," said Kashino.
Ichigo seemed surprised but then she smiled sweetly, "Thank you, Kashino."
He just looked away and stayed silent but Ichigo could tell he wasn't angry. She smiled as she walked back into her room, slipping her arms into the jacket. It was warm and also smelt like chocolate somehow.
"Ah… now I'm hungry and sick…" said Ichigo, arriving back at her dorm, shivering violently and feeling hollow in her stomach. But she went straight to bed and fell asleep quickly.
The next morning…
Ichigo opened her eyes and sat up quickly with high expectations. But the overwhelming tiredness and coldness despite being in her warm bed let her down. I'm still sick… thought Ichigo, miserable. She lay back down, her face clearly depressed.
"Don't feel too bad, Ichigo," said Rumi, once she found out Ichigo was sick. She placed a damp cloth on Ichigo's head and placed a cold glass of water next to her bed in case she was thirsty, "We'll be all right. You just focus on getting better. Then you can have as many New York sweets as you want." She smiled reassuringly and got up since she was kneeling next to the bed, "Anyway, now I have to get to the cooking room. Get well soon, OK?"
"Yeah," said Ichigo, smiling slightly, "Good luck."
"Take care of her well, Vanilla," said Orchard gently.
"Hai," said Vanilla.
With that, Rumi and Orchard both left.
As soon as Ichigo couldn't hear any footsteps, she sat up and tried to force her body to become healthy again.
"Ichigo, it won't do you much good to try and force it," lectured Vanilla, as if reading her mind. She flew around and tried to force Ichigo to lie back down again.
"Even so, I can't just sit here and do nothing," said Ichigo, "Lemon-chan won't be able to handle doing everything by herself in the limited time. We planned the time schedule around the four of us so it won't work with just three people. Besides, I haven't told Lemon-chan about the cake yet. She won't have any idea what to do."
"Yamagishi is a great patissiere. I'm sure she'll think of something."
"Demo… what if she doesn't and they fail the exam because of me?"
"Since when did you start thinking so negatively?" said Vanilla, "Don't worry, Ichigo!"
"You're right," said Ichigo, smiling, lying back down, "I think I'll just sleep for a while, OK? Could you go to Johnny and Lemon-chan as well and wish them luck for me?"
"OK!" said Vanilla eagerly, happy Ichigo was listening to her advice. She flew off and Ichigo waited about fifteen seconds before she hopped up and began walking out of the room. Her body protested but she wouldn't stop. Sorry, Vanilla… but I can't let something possibly happen because of me. Even as her body became tired quickly and she wanted nothing more than to go back to bed, she protested against the signs and quickly entered one of the cooking rooms, moving quickly to get out the equipment in time before the time on the test expired. It would have started already so Ichigo had to do everything quickly yet precisely to make it in time.
She added eggs and flour but her vision trembled and blurred. Ichigo paused for a second and rubbed her eyes, trying to clear her eyes of the blurry vision. Panting deeply, she tried to measure accurately but she felt as if she'd just run a whole marathon with the tiredness her body felt. She was also beginning to tremble a bit since the kitchen wasn't the warmest place to be in the early morning.
Come on… thought Ichigo, slapping her face gently to wake her up. She began focussing again but she knew it wouldn't last long so she began to do everything quickly.
"Yosh… I'm nearly done," smiled Ichigo as she began pouring the mixture into a baking pan and putting it in the oven. She turned it on the right temperature and set the time. Then she went and started to clean up the materials and tools. Suddenly, the tiredness snapped back to her like a rubber band. She let out a small sound of surprise and pressed her hand to her head. She was burning and even she could feel it.
I am making it worse… thought Ichigo but stubbornly kept scrubbing at the dishes and utensils, "Nearly… I just have to wait for the cake to bake… Then it'll be… fine…"
Barely keeping awake, Ichigo quietly put away the dishes and then walked to examine the cake, I hope… it didn't explode… or… something… She panted and leaned onto the table for support, S-Sleepy…
Then her mind went black as she collapsed on the floor.
Kashino reached towards the cup to pour the water inside. He was making some sweets in class and needed some water. Before he touched it though, it cracked.
"!" Kashino was surprised as the cup suddenly had a small crack in the side. He frowned, that isn't a good sign…
Though he wasn't the superstitious type, Kashino did think the crack meant something.
"Kashino, is something the matter?" asked the teacher, stopping at his bench when he saw him staring at his cup for no reason.
"No, nothing," said Kashino, shaking his head. He was being ridiculous. There was nothing that could possibly be that bad.
"Ichigo, I'm back!" sang Vanilla as she flew back into the room, "Eh?" She looked around the empty room and then to the messy bed and the damp cloth carelessly thrown on the cover.
"Hm…" thought Vanilla, "Besides, I haven't told Lemon-chan about the cake yet… She won't have any idea what to do…"
"She wouldn't…" said Vanilla, flying out towards the cooking rooms, "I have to tell Johnny, Lemon and Rumi!"
As Vanilla went into the room, the three and their Sweet Spirits immediately glanced up.
"Vanilla," said Lemon quietly when the Spirit came closer, "What are you doing here? Did Ichigo want to say something else?"
"No, she's gone!" said Vanilla.
"Ichigo-chwan's gone?" said Mint, obviously concerned. Johnny and Rumi looked up from their jobs, "Nani?" they both cried.
"I- I have a feeling where she might be and what she might be doing," said Vanilla sheepishly.
"Well, what are you doing here then?" said Johnny, "Get there right away and tell her to get back to bed!"
"Yeah!" said Vanilla, flying off. She entered the other cooking rooms until she finally found one empty one, "She's here!" she said, flying in. Sure enough, a cake was baking in the oven and there were still some ingredients such as a flour packet and butter container on the bench top.
"Ichigo?" called Vanilla quietly, flying around. Then she spotted her collapsed next to the bench, "Ichigo!" She flew to her side and shook her, "Ichigo! Ichigo, wake up!" She sighed and flew quickly to the adjoining room. In it, she looked around and found Chocolat flying above a certain blonde's head.
Thank goodness, thought Vanilla, flying over and called, "Chocolat!"
"Vanilla? What are you doing here?" demanded the Sweet Spirit, "Aren't you supposed to be taking care of that girl? God knows what she'd do unsupervised for one second…"
"'That girl'," said Vanilla, "Is collapsed in the kitchen joined to this one and she won't wake up!"
"Nani?" said Kashino, immediately snapped out of what he was doing, "Amano is—?"
Vanilla only gave one stiff nod, looking down guiltily.
Kashino glared frustrated before finally bolting towards the door towards the other kitchen.
"Kashino!" yelled the teacher as the other students turned to stare.
"Please excuse me! I'll be back!" shouted Kashino, dashing into the adjoining kitchen and kneeling next to the sleeping figure, "Amano! Oi, wake up!" He looked at Vanilla, "What happened?"
"I don't know, I wasn't here!" said Vanilla.
"Why would you leave her by herself?" demanded Chocolat who'd flew after them.
"Don't start blaming people!" said Kashino, "We have to make sure she's all right first."
"I guess…" said Chocolat.
"In any case, we'll take her to the infirmary," said Kashino, "I don't know whether she's just fainted or hit her head or something." He lightly felt her head. There didn't seem to be any major bump except for a bruise on the side of her head.
"OK, let's go," said Kashino, lifting her up, bridal style and running out.
"Yeah!" said the two Sweet Spirits, flying after him.
Kashino burst into the infirmary as if Ichigo were dying, "Sensei! Amano, Amano is—"
"Kashino?" cried the infirmary nurse. She stood up quickly and directed Kashino to put Ichigo in bed. She pressed her fingers to Ichigo's wrist and studied the steady rise and fall of her chest. She lightly probed along Ichigo's skull and looked up at Kashino, "There seems to be no major physical damage. She may have a bruise later but that seems to be the worst thing that'll happen to her. Her breathing is regular, her pulse is even and there's nothing more I can say."
"Will she wake up soon?" questioned Kashino, though he seemed relieved at the news.
"That depends on the person. It varies but she shouldn't sleep for very long."
"…" Kashino was hesitant before he finally asked the question, "Can I stay here?"
The nurse seemed surprised but she nodded, "All right. I'll write a note for your teacher. Just don't disturb her and make sure to let me know when she wakes up, all right?"
"Hai," nodded Kashino.
Later that night and into next morning…
Ichigo blinked once sleepily and then opened her eyes. She was aware of a dull throb in the side of her head. It was only very mild though so she didn't pay much attention to it. Instead she looked at her surroundings. It seemed to be in the infirmary of St Marie, she remembered. Looking around the room, she saw a blonde head resting on the side of her bed.
Kashino Makoto, she thought, and the Sweets Spirit is Chocolat. Mine is Vanilla.
When the pain in her head slowly went away, Ichigo sat up and the slight movement rustled the bed sheet slightly. Kashino blinked sleepily and then, seeing her face, he quickly sat up, "Amano!"
"Yeah?" she said, not sure what he was looking so alarmed about. It wasn't like something major had happened to her.
"Sensei!" called Kashino, "Amano's awake!"
The nurse came bustling in with a clipboard and pen which she fetched from behind her ear. She wore the normal white uniform and looked exactly as she did when Ichigo had fallen down the stairs and Kashino brought her in. The nurse dragged over her chair and sat down beside the bed. Then she started asking questions and writing and checking things off on her clipboard.
"How are you feeling?" she asked the most obvious question first.
"Fine," answered Ichigo, "I mean, my head kind of hurts but nothing too bad."
The nurse nodded, "Do you remember what happened to you?"
"Well, I fainted in the cooking room after attempting to bake a cake for an exam."
"Good," said the nurse approvingly, "Well, there seems to be no huge damage on you, except for a bit of a bump on the head. You should be fine to continue cooking but don't hesitate to come back if you have any more troubles later on."
"Right," nodded Ichigo. Suddenly, Rumi, Johnny and Lemon with their Spirits opened the door and rushed in, a nervous babble of 'is Ichigo/chan OK?"
"I'm fine," said Ichigo.
"There is nothing wrong," said the nurse when everyone looked at her for confirmation.
"Great!" smiled Lemon, "Now we can continue to enjoy making sweets together, Ichigo sempai!"
"Why?" said Ichigo.
"Why? Because that's what patissieres and patissiers do, we make sweets," said Johnny, laughing but there was an edge to it.
"I don't mean that," said Ichigo, "What's with the 'enjoy' bit? You don't have to enjoy making sweets, as long as they end up done well. No matter what."
"!" every single person was shocked by this. Even the nurse had heard enough about Ichigo to know she enjoyed making sweets more than anyone.
"NANI?" everyone shouted.
Sorry for the late update! I had been busy writing chapters for other stories too, but I tried to write this chapter well without rushing it too quickly.
Tell me what you think!