Amu: So what does Ikuto have planned?
Hime: You'll see. I own nothing!
"Incredible" muttered Cheiko.
She watched as Team Ichigo sell their Da Vinci Code gelato.
"How the hell did they come up with something like that?"
"Credit should go to me" a familiar, husky voice answered her.
Cheiko turned to see Ikuto smirking at her.
"You? YOU came up with something as creative as that?" she asked him in disbelief.
Ikuto's smirk grew wider in response, "Looks can be deceiving princess."
Cheiko rolled her eyes, "Oh go flirt with Amu you stupid romantic."
"Can't, Lulu's got her."
"So what are you doing tomorrow?" Lulu asks.
"I have some sort of party to attend at the Academy. A good luck party or something like that."
"Aww…" Lulu pouts.
"Sorry…" Amu apologizes.
"Then can I throw a sleepover party tomorrow night? Your friends can come! And whoever else you want to invite."
Amu froze and turned to her friend, "Seriously?"
"Sure, why not?"
Amu frowned, "I'll guess it won't hurt, I mean we are leaving Paris soon for the next round so I guess it won't hurt to have some fun before then.."
"Perfect! The party is gonna be awesome!" says Lulu, ecstatic.
Amu smiles at her blonde friend before going back to her piping.
Natsuki grinned, "I'm glad that you liked sempai's gelato."
"Yeah, good thing we tried it."
Katsuo smiles then, causing Natsuki to blush prettily.
Seeing her blush, Katsuo blushes slightly as well and begins rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "Look Natsuki, I really like you and I was wondering if you, you know whenever you're free we could go on a date or something…"
Natsuki blinks her eyes for a minute, not believing what she was hearing.
"So wait, you don't mind the age difference?"
"It's not that much of an age difference. Besides, I highly doubt I'd grow to like any other girl besides you anyway."
Natsuki's eyes widens before blushing furiously.
"So…is it a yes or a no?" he asks.
Natsuki nods, still too shy to speak.
God, Katsuo…I act like such a fool around you…
Katsuo smirks and leans forward but stops when he feels a set of eyes burning into him and turns to see his sister glaring at him.
"Cheiko"
Natsuki turns wildly and she looked petrified, "C-cheiko! I-!"
Cheiko raises a hand to stop which makes Natsuki shut up and Cheiko turns her attention back to her brother.
"If you ever hurt her, I swear you can forget about sleeping soundly at night again you hear me?"
"Crystal clear" Katsuo nodded, not really intimidated. Cheiko was still his younger sister after all.
Cheiko nods and went back to her work station, leaving the two lovebirds alone.
Natsuki looked dazed, "So that means that Cheiko-"
"She approves" Katsuo finishes, grinning like an idiot.
Maybe there is hope for you and me yet imoutou…
Later that night
"Team Koshiro vs Team Simon: 371 vs 334. Victor: Team Koshiro."
Miya smirks whilst her teammembers whooped.
"Team Ichigo vs Team Ricardo: 360 vs 359. Victor: Team Ichigo."
Ichigo jumped for joy before Satsuki grabs her by the waist and kisses her passionately, proving a point to his blue-haired opponent. Ricardo sighs in defeat and mumbles something in Italian.
"Team Angela vs Team Amu: 350 vs 661. Victor: Team Amu."
Team Amu holds on to each other and jumps for joy, ecstatic over the results.
"OMG!"
"WOAH!"
"661! That's insane!"
Kashino paled.
That was almost twice the amount we sold!
"Team Gomez vs Team Francois: 341 vs 661. Victor: Team Francois."
Andou was shocked!
The same as Team Amu! They scored just as high!
Almost immediately, the Cake Grand Prix felt participants felt an unsettling tension in the air. They turned to see that it Team Amu and Team Francois having a glare face-off.
Oh boy…
"Hey Nat-chan, do you know how Ikuto-san and Cheiko's nii-san know each other?" Megumi asked curious, she never got around to asking the two men about it.
"Oh that, they go to the same cafe" Natsuki answered simply.
Amu was surprised, she always thought Ikuto didn't like public places considering the fact he enjoyed alleys. She couldn't imagine him at a cafe.
"Do you know the cafe Natsuki?" Cheiko asked.
"It's called Cafe Craft. It's-"
"Just around the corner from Tuck Shop" Cheiko finished for her.
"So you've been there?" Megumi asked.
"It's a nice place, very chic" Cheiko admitted.
"Hmm..." Amu still couldn't warp her head around the idea of Ikuto in a cafe.
It just seemed really unlike him.
She was starting to wonder just how much did she really know about Ikuto...
"Amano Ichigo!"
Team Ichigo frowned, why did she call Ichigo and not Kashino like she usually does?
Kashino frowned, "Koshiro-sempai?"
"Hi Makoto-kun. So Amano Ichigo would you like to go shopping with me? If you prefer, we could have dinner first. The rest of Team Ichigo is welcome."
Team Ichigo looked at Miya in surprise, considering she would usually ask just Kashino.
"What's your game sempai?" Kashino asked immediately.
Miya laughed, "I just want dinner is all! My teammates have other things to do and I want to eat out. I don't like eating alone."
"Isn't your sister living with you?" Andou asked, confused.
"Oh no, she is staying with Team Amu. Easier that way, you know, more convenient."
Her kouhai nodded in understanding.
"So?"
"We're kind of tired…" Ichigo admitted.
"Why didn't you ask your sister?" Satsuki asked her.
Miya shook her head, "They already left and besides I've already gone out to dinner with her three times already since she came. Please Team Ichigo? Please?"
The team hesitated, unsure until Miya finally relented.
"I'll pay for dinner."
"I'm in!" exclaimed Ichigo, there was no way she was missing free food.
Miya beamed, "Yay! I have a cute kouhai confirmed to have dinner with! Boys?"
The guys shook their heads, declining the offer.
"Suit yourselves." Taking Ichigo's hand in hers, Miya led her kouhai out. "Come on Ichigo! It's a girl's night tonight!"
The next day
It was afternoon and the Paris branch was holding a good luck high tea party for the winners. The theme was retro so many of the girls could be seen wearing retro-style dresses whilst the boys dressed neatly in their carefully ironed trousers and shirts. Some of the classier or wealthier ones wore suits instead, obviously an attempt to impress the girls at the party.
The boys of Team Ichigo actually were already there, looking smart in their outfits. They were at the fountain where they were supposed to wait for Ichigo to arrive. Ichigo had apparently stayed over at the Koshiro Villa keeping their sempai company so they haven't seen the brunette since the Food Wagon round.
"Ugh, it's too hot to wear long sleeves" complains Kashino.
Kashino wore a long sleeved light yellow dress shirt, light brown trousers and black dress shoes.
"Well, it was cold this morning" says Chocolat.
"You should have taken Andou's advice Kashino!" pips up Caramel.
Andou smiled, he was smart and wore a light green short sleeved dress shirt, dark navy pants with a matching coloured jacket tied around his waist and dark brown dress shoes were worn on his feet.
Kashino grumbled something under his breath and Hanabusa could relate to Kashino's distress; when he was younger, his mother always told him to wear long sleeved shirts so he had already gotten used to wearing long sleeved clothing under hot weather. Too bad Kashino wasn't.
Hanabusa wore a long sleeved white dress shirt, dark blue pants and black dress shoes. The green haired lad looked at his silver watch then, checking the time; the watch glittered under the sunlight as he did so.
Where is Ichigo-chan?
"Minna!"
Speak of the angel
Hanabusa looked up and felt tongue-tied.
Ichigo looked absolutely adorable!
Cafe: NO! HOW COULD YOU END THERE?!
Chocolat: Because she can
Vanilla: It adds suspense!
Caramel: Please review!