Sincerity to the Cherry Blossom 3
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Nothing's mine.
AN: This chapter includes some of the CCS characters this time. Here goes…
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Kinomoto Sakura wasn't sure how to react when she let her tiny arm be dragged off by her best friend Daidouji Tomoyo into the local cafe 'Chez Nori.' This was the place almost every single person in Tomoeda enjoyed coming to after a long day's work at a job or an everlastingly boring day at school. It was voted as one of the highly recommended places to eat and relax locally. And people thought the surface was very sufficient.
The staff was friendly and rarely did they ever get complaints from any customer coming in to order food. Secondly the staff had a varied age range from 17-30. This was what made Chez Nori individual, compared to normal busy fast food companies like McDonalds. Most of the staff also went to the local school in Tomoeda. That even included Tsukishiro Yukito, the best friend of Sakura's older brother Touya.
"Wow check it out. It isn't normally this busy on a Monday," Tomoyo said.
"Yeah, I know. I wonder what's going on," Sakura replied, "Oh I think Yukito is working today." She felt her round cheeks colour into a bright pink when she spotted Yukito talking to a colleague behind the counter while she stood at the back of the queue. She always loved seeing his bright, innocent smile. It just made her day so much happier. Before finding out about Yue's presence, it was hard for him to act as normal as usual while suffering unexplainable black outs and unusual tiredness at school. Sakura couldn't easily explain who he really was face to face and she didn't want to cause a lot of suspicion around Touya either.
The front customers immediately buzzed away and Sakura and Tomoyo approached the counter to take their order. To their surprise and joy, Yukito came to the counter and greeted them.
"Hiya, Sakura. Hey Tomoyo. What can I get you both?" He waved his hand to say hello.
Sakura flashed a shy smile at him, "I'm not that hungry so I'll just have a large strawberry milkshake to share with Tomoyo."
"Why not try the new cherry cream cake too? Everyone said it's really nice," Yukito suggested, "You don't have to pay a lot, it's okay." So that was why the queues were extensively long today. The customers must have heard about the promotion of delicious cherry cream cake and wanted to try it for themselves. It seemed that this dish proved to be very popular indeed. Well if it really was yummy then it would most likely impress Kero-chan's taste buds too.
Sakura could see Kero-chan drool at the sight of white cream and red cherries decorated on top. It could probably be enough as his lunch and dinner for someone who had a big appetite.
"OK, we'll also have one cherry cream cake for each of us please," She ordered.
"One large strawberry milkshake and two cherry cream cakes coming up." Yukito took the tiny coins on the counter and dropped them into the cashier till before turning his back to begin making the ordered foods. Lots of children's voices boomed against the walls, all begging for more of this new dessert and repeatedly saying how wonderful it tasted.
"Hey Sakura."
A familiarly deep voice jumped behind her and Tomoyo.
"Touya? I…I didn't know you worked here," Sakura squealed in shock when she saw her brother appear closely nearby. Like Yukito, he was wearing the Chez Nori uniform, which consisted of a grey cap, green shirt and navy trousers. Out of the house, Sakura often saw her brother working in the shops or anywhere else public. He actively worked and earned his money to help their father out. And it was all worth it since their mother, Nadesico died long ago. Fujitaka was truly proud of the discipline his children had given around the house.
"Sakura, my last jobs were only temporary contracts. They're not the same as Dad's job. I started here last week," Touya explained briefly then grimaced a little when he saw his sister's face look at him strangely, "Ah don't worry about it. You'll see what I mean once you get to my age. Hey Yukito, do you need a hand?"
"Nah I'm okay," Yukito replied as he finished squeezing the milkshake pump into the king sized cup. He placed a straw into the lid and passed it gently towards Sakura, whose face popped out from the bottom of the counter.
"What are you eating, monster?" Touya asked jokingly as he looked at his sister and a quietly laughing Tomoyo. Sakura growled at the usual insult from her older brother but dismissed herself from releasing a loud groan at him and told him the order she gave to Yukito. "Just like everyone else, huh? Before they were too full to try any dessert after eating their fries and burgers and now they really like this new food."
"Touya, didn't you know? Oh I forgot you only arrived here five minutes and missed the introduction of the new chefs," Yukito summarised when he came back to the front with two plates of sliced cherry cream cake. "Here you are. Two cherry cream cakes."
"Thanks," Sakura and Tomoyo said together and took their food away.
"How many people cooked this?" Touya asked curiously, referring to the bright red dessert in his sister's hands. He looked down at Sakura and Tomoyo to hear them licking their tongues and saying 'Yummy' in their throats. The entire café was saying the same thing as a matter of fact. Whoever cooked this must have one heck of talent in making cakes. Yukito mentioned that only one person made every cake in the kitchen. That couldn't be true. How could one person actually make all this in one day? Touya frowned.
"Oh don't get the wrong idea. What I meant was that the main chef decided on the same recipe and taught everyone inside how to do it. She is a really good chef," Yukito said further.
"Who is 'she'?" Touya urged. He had already seen some new faces when he came in today but couldn't tell who this main chef was from first glance around the café.
"That's her." Yukito pointed to the new figure serving a mother and daughter two counters away from where he and Touya stood. Her brown ponytail flung freely underneath the thin grey cap while she smiled at the customer and told them to enjoy their cakes. Touya saw her grin happily after the mother and daughter left the counter. Was this the super cook? He lowered the intensity of his stare when she turned to see the two boys and moved over to see them. Touya could see she was only a head shorter than Yukito.
"Makoto, this is my best friend Kinomoto Touya. "Yukito gestured to his tall, ebony haired friend. "Touya this is Kino Makoto. She's one of twenty students who study at Juuban High. They're doing a special training course here for a week."
The slim brunette haired girl scratched the back of her head embarrassingly, "My friends said I should think up a good recipe and I suddenly came up with the cherry cream cake. Simple and boring but it seems that people like it. Talk about surprises." She picked up a tiny saucer with a cake slice and offered it to Touya. "Here, you can try one."
Touya couldn't help a sensation of utmost surprise flip inside as he observed the eager-looking expression on the new girl's face when she passed him the saucer of cake. It did look very tempting to eat. Maybe this was what attracted the younger customers to try it out. Because of the rich red cherries and purely white surface. Makoto's growing smile made him more tempted to try the food and he reached for the cake to taste it in a small nibble. Oh…it wasn't so bad. Actually Touya liked it. The top layer of his tongue happily tasted the creamy middle part.
"Hmm…this is quite good," He mumbled through a mouthful, "Wow, is there any more?" In a minute he had finished the cake slice and held an empty saucer keenly.
"See, told you he would like it. Everyone said your cake was good," Yukito whispered to Makoto who prevented a shy chortle escape her lips. A feminine voice called Touya's name softly and Makoto, Touya and Yukito turned around. Makoto saw the two friends face downward at the person, guessing whoever it was had a very miniature height than hers. The first thought that came to Makoto's mind was 'That girl looks so sweet.' If she hadn't heard incorrectly, Makoto heard the girl say big brother to Touya. Oh she was his sister, was she?
They didn't look alike as much. This sweet little girl had brown hair and such large emerald eyes. Almost the same green as Makoto's own eyes. A cute grin smothered nicely with the rest of her sweet appearance. She didn't have the same jet-black hair or dark brown irises as her brother did.
"Sakura, you don't have to make dinner when you get back. I'll make my own food, ok?" Touya said to her.
"If you say so," Sakura replied, "See you Yukito." Waving to Yukito, she skipped out of Chez Nori with her other tiny friend whose long ebony hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. This time Makoto could feel herself laugh as she saw the two girls leave, pondering on how Touya's sister was able to keep a bright smile on her round-shaped face. Was she popular at school for always being cheery? It wouldn't surprise Makoto. From seeing the back of Sakura's head, Makoto felt a sudden punching feeling from the back of her head.
Her brain had had an interesting thought. That usually happened when she was in thinking mode. Or did that always happen to humans' cerebrals? The shape of Sakura's head looked oddly familiar. And Makoto's memories cast back to her previous dream in Juuban. Oh goodness, it couldn't be Sakura, could it? The girl she saw in Tomoeda Park had Sakura's hairstyle and same height. Though somehow Makoto couldn't picture Kinomoto Sakura in bright coloured costumes like she envisioned in the dream. It wouldn't suit a cute girl like her.
This is my second day here. I'll have to see everything and everyone before I make assumptions Makoto thought decidedly.
"Hey, are you okay?" Touya's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. She shook her head thoroughly to pay attention back to the present moment. She had indulged her mind deeply for a few minutes that she didn't notice Touya and Yukito chewing away on her cherry cake. She was glad she didn't put too much sugar into the mixture. Otherwise parents would be coming over and complaining about their children losing nearly all their teeth in less than a month from overeating on the cake.
"Makoto, do you cook for a living? Not even my dad could compete at this cooking level," Touya said amazingly.
"Oh uh I learnt cooking by myself," She admitted, "No-one taught me anything. Everything I learnt came from books most of the time."
"What about your parents? Didn't they teach you how to cook?" Yukito added. Her eyes enlarged at what he mentioned and she sighed quietly, lowering her head sadly.
"Oh my parents died when I was young. Plane accident." She turned away and tapped her heel on the floor depressively. Yukito and Touya uncomfortably looked at each other then back at Makoto. They knew they hit a rather personal spot in her accidentally.
"Sorry I didn't realise you…gosh forget I asked in the first place, Makoto." Yukito's apologetic gaze lightened with a gentle smile, "Anyway since you've done so much work on your first day, you can go home now, if you like. Touya and I can take care of things."
"Oh okay then. Besides I have to get ready for tomorrow." Makoto winked and went to the cloakroom to grab her jacket and bag.
"Tomorrow?" Touya asked, he and Yukito following her.
"We'll be temporarily studying at your school throughout our week of training. It's the best way to keep up with our work. My teachers said your syllabus is the same as ours. It shouldn't be a problem for us," She accounted confidently, slowly walking away from them. "I might see you around the school tomorrow, huh?"
"Oh yeah sure. We'll see you tomorrow then, Makoto," Touya called after her while her slim figure began to shrink at the front doors of Chez Nori.
"Nice talking to you," Yukito said afterwards. Makoto still had her back turned as she lifted a happy thumbs-up gesture to them before leaving through the two double doors. "She is friendly, isn't she?" He expected Touya to say something in agreement but instead got a low 'hmm' as a response. His best friend stared erectly to the stationary doors that the new girl had walked through. Usually when Touya looked like that, Yukito guessed he had something on his mind. Something that included curiosity.
He even gave Yukito the same look before meeting Yue in person, which used to puzzle Yukito each time. What was on his mind?
"Touya, what's wrong?" His best friend questioned worriedly. Dark auburn orbs turned to Yukito, still with the same emotionless gaze.
"It's nothing," Touya spoke normally again. Oh but there was something wrong. Although Touya no longer had his spiritual powers, which were given to Yue, becoming suspicious was something he always had inside of him and wasn't considered supernatural. He saw the way Makoto stared at his sister. As if she recognised her somewhere. What if she was from another world and wanted to hurt Sakura? Touya thought his sister would be safe from now on.
Though it looked like that wasn't going to happen. So what if this Kino Makoto was nice. He didn't want to see somebody else try to go near his younger sister to hurt her at all. Makoto's look made him think she was very different from everyone else. As though she had abilities people didn't possess. Wouldn't it count the superb talent in cooking? Wasn't that part of her magic to attract vulnerable people? I'll keep an eye on her at school Touya suggested I'll see who she *really* is.
TBC.