Burnt Waffles
Cast:
Cure Whip, Usami Ichika - age 13
Cure Parfait, Kirahoshi Ciel - age 14
Julio, Kuroki Rio - age 14
July, 2017
"Ciel, you can't stay in there forever."
Rio speaks to a locked door above Ciel's shop. Ichika stands next to him.
"Watch me!" Ciel answers forcefully from within. "I don't deserve to be a patissiere if I can't even understand my own brother!"
"What? Ciel, that has nothing to do with this! When did you become so melodramatic?"
"I'm your twin! Maybe I'll start using that Noir app, too!"
Rio punches the door, then leads Ichika away. When they reach the kitchen downstairs, he slumps against a wall.
"Do you get it now? This is why I can't deal with her. Everything I'm proud of, she's better at. Everything I hate about myself, she's worse."
Ichika pats him on the shoulder. "It's alright. Everything's going to be fine. After all, you don't really hate each other."
"How could I hate her? She's my one and only twin sister, but we're too alike. All we do is hurt each other now."
"You could tell her how you feel."
"She won't listen. I wouldn't."
"You don't have to say it with words. You both want to make sweets, right? Why not make something for her?"
"I told you, I haven't got any talent. Nothing I make for her is going to be as good as what she can make herself."
"That's not what matters, Rio. As long as you put your true feelings into it, I know that she'll understand."
Ciel is alerted to her brother's return when her locked door clicks open. She quickly turns away to hide the fact that she has been crying.
"You picked the lock," she accuses him. "We agreed we weren't going to do that anymore."
"You haven't eaten. You still like waffles, right?"
Her first thought is to deny it, but at that moment her stomach rumbles loudly.
"I might... be a little hungry."
He approaches and thrusts a plate before her. The waffles are mostly black. The strawberries on top are mostly black. Even the cream somehow looks burnt.
She turns to look at him. "You're this angry at me?"
"No, I just suck. If you don't want to eat it, I'll understand."
"No way!" Ciel snatches the plate from his hand. "You made it for me, and I'm going to eat it! So there!"