Classes went fairly okay for Amano Ichigo. They weren't too hard, nor were they a piece of cake. Ichigo was an okay student, she suspected as much. While she wouldn't fail like Kashino suspected, she also wouldn't be a perfect student like him. And that was enough for Ichigo, in all reality.

"Don't worry Ichigo, I can help you in French," Rumi promised her, "But seeing as you have a foundation in that language, as you took it in middle school, it shouldn't be that hard."

"Yes, and I am quite happy I took it over Spanish," Ichigo said, as the two walked to the cafeteria, "Or English. That language is… something, really."

"Eh…" Rumi's face contorted with displeasure at the mention of that language, "That one is hard. I just want to focus on food."

"I hope you don't mind that I invited Koshiro-senpai," Ichigo said cautiously.

Rumi's smile dropped as she looked at her roommate in utter horror, "Ichigo, have you lost your mind?! The Heiress is so full of herself! Why would you want to spend your lunch with her?"

"Rumi, she's just someone desperately in love. I saw her get cruelly rejected this morning," Ichigo huffed, "He shot her down so fast and people were making fun of her. I know you might not get along with her but when you understand her, she can become a good friend. She was so nice to me after I helped her, Rumi. Give her a chance."

The ginger haired girl couldn't say no to that; and besides, she never thought of the situation like that. All she knew was every school day felt like it was jell-o because of that girl's evil cackle, her cronies and basically her existence. Maybe she never delved into Miya's intentions. When Ichigo put it that way, she felt a tad bit guilty for never trying.

"Gosh… how many times are you going to make me feel guilty?" Rumi asked.

"Only enough times I feel like it," Ichigo said playfully.

"Fine, send her over," Rumi groaned in defeat.

"Yes! Thank you!" Ichigo cheered; the moment Miya entered the cafeteria, Ichigo waved her hand for her to join the two get lunches together.

Miya smiled when she spotted Ichigo and hurried over to the brunette. The three joined the line and got their lunches together.

"Hey, I'm sorry if I ever came across as arrogant before," Miya apologized to Rumi once they all sat down.

Rumi almost dropped her fork in surprise, but nonetheless nodded. Albeit she was shocked; she wasn't expecting Miya to have an attitude change over the course of a day.

"Y-Yeah, no problem," Rumi stuttered before shoving food in her mouth. Miya shot her a weird look before shrugging and diving into her own food.

"I think it will take time," Ichigo answered for Rumi's strange behavior.

"That is true," Miya sighed.

It was silent between the three of them and the brunette felt oddly suffocated. She had hoped the three of them could chatter about random things like how friends do. But it seems like Miya had built quite the reputation around school that won't be forgiven that easily.

The cafeteria became eerily quiet as a high school student strut into the cafeteria. Her hair was long and golden and her honey colored eyes scanned the room, as if looking for something… or someone.

Once her eyes settled on Ichigo, her steely gaze melted away into a glare, as if threatening the young brunette or challenging her to a duel of some sort. Then she walked to the lunch line to get her food.

"Well, she knows now," Rumi said, confused.

"Oh sure, how about the third one?" Ichigo asked, exasperated.

"I am pretty sure she knows you too," Miya said thoughtfully, "But don't be surprised if she hates you. She hates everyone. Almost like getting a participation trophy at a science fair."

"Now when you put it like that, makes me feel a little bit better," Ichigo sighed, "But still… Mari-senpai hates me and I never talked to her."

"It's not your fault," Rumi said, "Even though a lot of people do look up to her, lots of people dislike her for her haughtiness, arrogance, and pride. Also, they find it irritating how she needs to go to Henri-sensei for feedback on every little thing."

"So that doesn't sound like the 'independent' reputation she has around school," Ichigo argued.

"Probably not," Miya shrugged, "But who cares if she's a hypocrite? Sensei goes along with it because he recruited her as well."

"But I want to be known so much more than just another pupil who was recruited by him," Ichigo whispered, "I want to be known for who I am."

"I know you do," Miya said, placing a hand on top of Ichigo's, "And I will always have your back."

"Thanks," Ichigo smiled. A silence filled their table as the three girls hurriedly finished their lunches. The bell rang to signify that lunch was over.

"Good luck, Ichigo," Miya waved.

Ichigo waved back and hurried off with Rumi to their next class.

-x-

It was the last class of the day. Ichigo had been presented to the class as the 'new student' and Ameya-sensei made sure she introduced herself properly, although she knew two things made this introduction practically worthless:

Number one: no one just 'transfers in' without so much thought of an entrance exam. Number two: only students who switch over so abruptly are those elite pupils backed up by Henri-sensei.

They were murmuring around her, wondering what a plain girl like her could do so wonderfully that she could impress Henri Lucas and convince him to give her an admission to St. Marie's Academy.

"You will be in Group A," Ameya-sensei said, and when the girls screamed in outrage, she glared and yelled, "QUIET!"

The whole class flinched and Ichigo shuffled next to the three sweets princes that the teacher was pointing to. Two of them were nice, they were smiling at her kindly. But the third one had a glare that made you wish you were rather dead.

"You better not bring down my reputation, you pathetic amateur," Kashino snarled in her face.

But Ichigo wasn't Miya; she wouldn't cry in front of him because he insulted her. Her eyes narrowed in defiance and she whispered, "Your reputation? We'll see."

They were making something simple, called "Mille crepes."

Kashino snickered at the title; he was a total pro at making any kind of sweet. He was prepared for any kind of failure she would bring as she had nothing that seemed special about her. When he pried information from the teachers, they said she was an average girl in terms of academics. While her grades weren't bad in her previous schools, they weren't stellar.

So, if she's not a stellar person in academics, then her skills can't be any different, Kashino sneered mentally, Why am I stuck with a runt like her?

While the blonde was brooding in his thoughts, Ichigo decided to make two mille crepes. One would be for show: badly burnt, atrocious to the eye and tongue. Once he finishes making a fool of himself in front of the class by 'humiliating' her, she would pop out the second one which is that of high caliber. It would make him eat his words.

While Kashino was brooding, his sharp nose caught the wisp of something burning. 'True' to his thoughts, he found that Ichigo was doing 'horrible' at making a mille crepe.

Ameya sensei had to yank the fire extinguisher from the cabinet and spray it all over Ichigo's meager creation, smothering the inedible creation in a layer of toxic foam. Luckily, Ichigo hid her other one from sight and contact with the foam.

"AMANO WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!" Kashino yelled.

"I created a mille crepe," Ichigo shrugged.

"A mille crepe? That's not even edible!" Kashino yelled.

"Kashino-san! Be quiet! Amano-san is a beginner and let's be honest, many students have tried and failed before they have succeeded," Ameya-sensei yelled.

"I didn't have that hard of a time," Kashino grumbled, "Besides, it isn't difficult to follow instructions."

"Oh really?" Hanabusa snapped, "Then maybe you can follow dorm rules and not yell like a maniac at 2 in the morning and wake up everyone on our floor."

"That's because someone loves to just infuriate me and leave rose petals in the bath after they're done!" Kashino bit back.

"Okay don't bring personal life into this," Ameya-sensei snapped, irritated, "Try to be professional."

"Thank you for defending me, sensei," Ichigo said quietly, "But I made this mille crepe horribly on purpose."

"On purpose?" Ameya-sensei asked; the whole room gasped.

"Yes. As you can see, Kashino-kun was being rude and berating my skills without knowing me personally," Ichigo said, pointing at Kashino.

"You're an average student!" Kashino yelled in defense.

"Just because my grades aren't as pristine as yours doesn't mean my skills are below par, you arrogant moron!" Ichigo shouted, but then composed herself before she lost her temper. Taking a deep breath, she went on, "He was critiquing me without seeing my skills. Therefore, I decided to test him and make two mille crepes. The one you saw now was the one I made for show; it was to mock him and temporarily bolster his ego."

"And the second one?" Andou asked kindly.

"Right here," Ichigo wiped the foam off on her table with one hand and placed the plate on the clean table with the other one, "Take a bite, sensei."

Ameya sensei nodded and took out a fork and carefully tore off a bite of the mille crepe. She popped it in her mouth and after chewing carefully for ten seconds, she smiled bright.

"You certainly have talent. He knew what he was doing when he recruited you," Ameya-sensei smiled.

"He only knew my skills based on taste alone," Ichigo shook her head, "But I am also glad you like the taste of my pastries."

"Well, then his guess was a lucky one," Ameya-sensei said, writing down a couple of things on the board, "I will give you an A+ for your creation today, despite the fact you deliberately burnt one of your pastries."

"It was to prove a point. I didn't mean to cause you a scare, though," Ichigo apologized and bowed politely.

"Yes, well the students are my liability, so if you wish to make a point, maybe out of class time would be best next time," Ameya-sensei sighed deeply.

"Yes sensei, I will keep your words into consideration," Ichigo nodded in respect.

"Glad that you understand," Ameya-sensei nodded and said, "You will be in Group A if you wish."

"I will always trust your decision," Ichigo nodded, "Even though he may be difficult to work with."

Hanabusa stifled an amused laugh; something tells him he will like this girl for sure.

A smug smirk replaced Ichigo's innocent smile once the teacher turned around. Glancing over to the blonde boy next to her, she whispered, "Maybe next time you'll learn not to judge a book by its cover."

With that the bell rang and Ichigo had bolted out the door, not giving him enough time to answer back to her ambiguous statement.

-x-

"And that's what happened during my last period," Ichigo concluded.

Miya and Rumi were laughing so hard they were rolling around on the grass. Personally, Ichigo thought that Miya was taking this news a lot better than she expected her to. She at least thought Miya would be a little jealous. But Miya was fine with Ichigo being in Group A, as long as she didn't get close with Kashino.

Which will never happen in a thousand years, Ichigo thought in disgust to herself.

"Wow you showed him!" Rumi exclaimed teasingly.

"Haha… yeah I guess," Ichigo shrugged.

"You know, maybe we should make something together," Miya suggested.

"Sure! Maybe we can come up with ideas that we can make, you know to give to him!" Ichigo cheerfully said, forcing her to cheerfully say his name.

"Yeah that's a great idea! Do you know when we can meet up to do that?" Miya asked eagerly.

"Hmm… let's do it this weekend," Ichigo said after some thought.

Miya tilted her head to the side in confusion, asking, "Why do you say that?"

"Well, after my little stunt, Hanabusa-kun pulled me in the hallway. He said if I ever wanted to prank him by making some sweets that looked nice to the eye but repulsive in taste, I could come to the kitchen at times he won't be practicing tempering chocolate. I don't have any wish to get on his bad side because now he is my teammate. But we can use the information to our advantage as to when we can have the kitchen to ourselves. I know you love him, but we can't have him knowing you're making him a surprise? Kind of defeats the purpose," Ichigo explained.

"That's brilliant! Let's see it," Miya agreed.

The two girls looked at the schedule and agreed at Saturday night they would meet up and make a creation together.

"Saturday at 9 PM?" Ichigo asked.

"You have a deal," Miya nodded.

The two girls shook their hands and walked together with Rumi to their dorm.

TBC…

Okay, so I promised to reveal the character pairings I plan to do for the story so here they are (Not sure if I will have enough creativity to get to all of them…):

Henri/Ichigo (obviously)

Makoto/Miya

Satsuki/Lemon

Andou/Kana

Johnny/Natsume

Rumi/(her bf in canon?)

Mari/Rick