A/N: Sorry for late update! Uni getting tougher! Anywho... enjoy this chapter and happy Halloween!
"Hey can I talk to you?" Kashino said to Ichigo one day when they were working.
The brunette rolled her eyes and paused in her icing work to turn and face him. A frown had etched its way onto her face as she bit out, "If you are going to call me one more insult, then forget it."
"No, I have something else to say," Kashino blushed at the mention of that humiliating incident.
That caused her to come to a start and her brown eyes peered distastefully at Kashino and said cautiously, "Depends on what you want to talk about."
"It's about Miya," Kashino replied.
"What about her?" Ichigo asked cautiously.
"She's changed lately," Kashino said, going back to his work to tempering with chocolate.
Plucking her bowl of strawberries and washing them in a skink, Ichigo said, "Well use your detective skills. Why would she try another approach to getting your attention?"
"Because she is a fangirl?" Kashino guessed.
"You know, you may have stellar grades but your emotional IQ is at an all-time low," Ichigo snorted. She switched the tap off and pulled out a chopping board as well as a knife to chop the strawberries.
Kashino raised an eyebrow at her sarcasm but didn't say anything, in case if she wanted to continue on her statement and elaborate on her insult at his expense.
"Do you know why she would try so hard to get your attention?" Ichigo asked again, "Don't even talk about socioeconomic status and all that crap. She could care less about your money."
"Then why else would she want to be with me?" Kashino asked.
Ichigo shrugged and said, "To be honest, I wondered the same thing too. You are such a cold-hearted, arrogant, rude, selfish jerk who has a superiority complex over others."
The blunt, harsh comment made him scowl. But he kept his mouth shut, in fear that she could just decide not to help him because she got offended.
"When was the first time you met?" Ichigo suddenly asked.
"What?" Kashino asked, confused.
"I said, when was the first time you met her?" Ichigo repeated her question.
"How does this help answer my question?" Kashino asked.
"Just do it, you dimwit," Ichigo whipped a spatula out of a drawer and held it in front of his face suddenly.
Kashino flinched at the sudden aggression but nonetheless complied and said, "I met her at a party. I think it was her family hosting it. She had a booth of sweets she made and she was coercing people to buy from it."
"Okay, and what happened?" Ichigo lowered her spatula.
He scratched his head and said, "Well, she looked at me and told me I could have a free sweet. I really wasn't in the mood for food or socialize but I knew I couldn't say no because she looked like she would cause some kind of drama if I said no."
"What did you do?" Ichigo asked.
"I tasted it. It was horrid. Some parts were uncooked, some parts were burnt. All in all, it wasn't really edible, or safe to eat. But this time I didn't hold back on my tongue because I felt like false praises won't help her succeed," Kashino explained, "So I told her my honest opinion and she ran up the stairs crying to her room."
"And did she give up on you?" Ichigo asked.
"No. If anything she vowed to me to improve on her skills so she could impress me," Kashino's eyes widened once he said the last sentence.
Ichigo smiled a little as she said, "Bingo."
A couple of moments were quiet between the two before Ameya-sensei came to taste Group A's work. She gave them all A+ and Ichigo began to wash and dry the dishes. Right before they left, Kashino asked, "But why would she try and try and try after all this time? Wouldn't she give up?"
"She thinks you are different. It isn't the money that drew her to you, it was your honesty and hard work. Therefore, she deemed it necessary to work hard to gain your affections. That's why she was willing to embarrass herself over and over again if it meant you noticed her," Ichigo explained, secretly smirking at Kashino's blushing face.
"Here is her phone number," Ichigo input Miya's phone number into Kashino's cell phone and said, "Quit being a wuss and text her or call her. Straighten this all out. Because that girl's a gem and you are lucky to have snagged a person like her."
With that she left him behind in the now empty classroom. The moment she left the classroom, Ichigo whipped out her cell phone and texted Miya, you owe me one. Consider me a matchmaker.
Ichigo was walking down the hallway that would lead to the exit doors when a voice called out, "Amano."
The said brunette turned around, obviously miffed that someone was being an obstacle between her and her after-school nap. Her hand resting on the door knob and her feet bouncing on her toes, Ichigo looked like in any given moment she could break out into a run.
Behind her was Tennouji Mari. And she looked pissed off for some reason. Her honey eyes were cold and hateful, her stance was defensive with her hands crossed over her chest and her foot tapping the tiled floor as if she were expecting Ichigo to say, do or give her something.
"What do you need?" Ichigo asked.
"Come with me," Mari said and turned around, walking down the hallway in the opposite direction.
Ichigo almost felt like leaving the building and abandoning her due to her haughty behavior. But she had some kind of feeling that if she did such a bold move, Mari would not let her live it down. Something about her 'popular' or 'queen' vibe gave her some kind of dread that Mari would make Ichigo's school life a living hell. And it won't be hard when students know she is a recruit from Henri and in Group A.
Mari stopped abruptly at a door and opened it. Ichigo wondered sarcastically if this was a secret torture room where she will be strangulated to death. Instead, the room was nothing but glass cases filled with trophies. And upon closer inspection, it had Mari's names on all of them.
"Fantastic, isn't it?" Mari smirked at her inspection of the accomplishments, "Yes, I won all of this."
Ichigo peered at the walls and saw that they were newspaper clippings, pages from magazines and advertisements that Mari made appearances in.
"I got so many endorsements and recognition," Mari said proudly, "All because of sensei."
Ichigo shrugged and immediately felt bored; she was increasingly getting annoyed that her walk to her dorm room got cut short. Deciding enough was enough, she made her way to the door, intending to leave.
"Aren't you going to praise me?" Mari asked, offended that Ichigo wasn't bowing at her feet.
The young girl turned around and said, "You are too dependent. Always going on and on about, 'Sensei this, and sensei that'. Don't you have any character of your own? Are you not able to function on your own?"
"H-How dare you! Have you forgotten that he is the reason we are able to come here?!" Mari sputtered in anger.
"It is due to his generosity that I am able to attend this prestigious academy. However, that being said, I do not require his approval all the time, if at all. I have enough of a judgement to rely upon myself for improvement. You are so dependent you can't function without someone else's input, that someone being sensei. Always needing help from him, always seeking validation from others through praises. You have no sense of self and that's holding you back from being the best that you can be. To be honest your accomplishments do not impress me because of the nature of your character," Ichigo said, "Good day."
With that, she left the room and left Mari to steam quietly and mull over Ichigo's words with hatred.
-x-
"ICHIGO!" Miya's voice yelled through her phone the moment she picked up the call after finishing her homework
"Miya, please refrain from yelling right now. You might blast off my ear," Ichigo said in annoyance.
Miya paid no heed to her warning and continued to blabber as she said, "He texted me! Oh my god whatever you said to him must've been magic because he texted me and I have his number after God knows how many years-"
"What'd he say?" Ichigo said in interest, choosing to step outside of the dorm so Rumi could have some peace and quiet for studying.
"He said he'd like to meet up with me to hang out! Ichigo I can't breathe! OMG OMG OMG!" Miya squealed.
"Calm down," Ichigo said, "When are you two meeting up?"
"This Sunday! At 10 AM!" Miya shouted.
Ichigo nodded and said, "And where is this date going to be?"
"At an ice cream parlor!" Miya said excitedly.
"I might need to help you choose something to wear. Want me to head over to your room down the hall?" Ichigo offered.
"Yes please!" Miya sung.
It took the girls a couple of hours, but they agreed on a simple sundress, cute black ankle boots, and a denim jacket.
"Just to make sure I will come with you and stay with you until he comes to pick you up, ok?" Ichigo asked.
"That's fine! Yeah, I am so nervous about being bailed on," Miya agreed nervously.
That is exactly why I am suggesting this, Ichigo thought bitterly but decided not to mention this. Instead, she said, "Nonsense! I just want to provide some support, like how friends do! I mean, I did work my magic on him so I think it is safe to say I am good luck."
"How did you convince him?" Miya asked curiously.
"I did clarify with him why you really love him," Ichigo said, "And I told him he doesn't deserve you. But if you love him then I guess I could approve."
Miya's eyes watered as she wrapped her arms around Ichigo and pulled her into a hug. "That's the nicest thing anyone said about me with such sincerity!" Miya wailed.
Ichigo patted her arm awkwardly but let her hold her in a hug. If hugging Ichigo helped calm Miya down, then so be it. Later on, Ichigo went to her dorm after a couple of hours. Somehow hanging out with Miya made her happy, and Ichigo wondered why Miya was so well hated.
-x-
Sunday came quicker than expected, probably because Ichigo was NOT looking forward to seeing Kashino on a weekend, the couple of days that she should have to herself. But for Miya, it was the slowest, most agonizing days of her life.
At seven in the morning the girls started getting ready. Ichigo wore a simple white t-shirt, skin-tight jogging pants, and a blue jacket. It was Miya who needed the most time to get ready, with styling her hair, doing her makeup and nails before putting on her outfit.
"Can we skip?" Maya said all of a sudden the moment the two headed out the door.
"And to think you would be worried about being bailed, I think it is him who should be worried!" Ichigo scolded her, "No you may not skip. Not after waking up at 7 in the morning and helping you get ready."
"You're right," Miya said nervously, "It's just…"
"It's just what? You look fine, you are so sure you look ugly," Ichigo said.
"No, it's my first date," Miya blurted out.
Ichigo stopped walking and looked at Miya's embarrassed face. Her irritation melted away at that simple sentence. This was a big step for Miya, a date with her crush. And mind you, this was her crush she had been pining for many years, when it was only 3 years ago she decided to try to earn his affections.
"You will be fine. Now, I don't think spying on you will guarantee this date will run smoothly, but you can text me and I will always answer. If you need to ditch the date, just tell him you are texting me about an assignment we have. Use a fruit name as your one word text and I will call you with a fake emergency," Ichigo promised.
"Ok. How about strawberry? Because that's your favorite fruit?" Miya asked.
Ichigo thought about it and said, "Fair, I guess you have a point. Now let's make sure you get to your date on time."
After Ichigo made sure that Miya and Kashino were well on their date to the ice cream parlor, she decided to walk back to her dorm. She decided that maybe she could get some practice done. Maybe she could try to make Natsume a birthday cake from one of the designs she sketched. She was coming next weekend anyways. Practicing how to make the cake will do her some good before her sister comes.
As she walked over to the kitchen, a voice called her name.
"Ichigo-chan!" A voice excitedly called out.
"Hanabusa-kun, what is it?" Ichigo asked.
"I thought maybe we could make some sweets together!" Hanabusa suggested.
"That sounds like a great idea. Maybe we can combine our skills to make a couple of recipes of our own?" Ichigo suggested.
"That sounds great! Come on let's go!" He excitedly said.
He has the excitement of a 5-year-old, Ichigo thought warily as she allowed herself to be dragged to the kitchen.
Of course, on the way to the kitchen they passed Henri-sensei. The moment they locked eyes and Henri saw Hanabusa's hand locked around her wrist, his cerulean eyes narrowed. And Ichigo knew she was in for another wave of drama.
TBC…