Disclaimer: I am not Akamatsu Ken, therefore I do not own LH or characters. I do, however, own Ken and Sakura. :-P

A/N: This is just a bonus (and sort of pointless)chapter to lighten the mood from the previous chapter.
Updates will be less frequent for the next six weeks due to the fact that I have gotten myself a job...

"Onii-san! Onii-san! Wake up!"

Ken lazily woke up and sat upright on his futon. He rubbed his eyes and made a sort of groaning that said 'I'm really tired, what is it?'. He slowly drooped back onto his futon.

"Onii-san! Today is my birthday! Let's go out. I want to go out! Wake up, onii-san!"

Sakura tugged onto her older brother until he responded. Ken slowly got out of bed and headed to the bathroom to go through his morning rituals while Sakura was by his side singing the happy birthday song to herself. They arrived to the kitchen, and Ken started preparing breakfast.

"So does Sak-kun want a birthday cake this year?" asked Ken.

In all the years that Ken had lived back home, he was never able to get Sakura a birthday cake due to their mother. Whenever Kensuke tried to do something nice for his little sister, their mother would interfere and crash the party. This year, however, Ken is going to make sure that Sakura have a happy birthday.

"Mm… yeah! But does onii-san even know how to bake?"

"Well… I've tried but not exactly. I saved up some money so I can buy you a cake and a present. You get to pick it out when we go to the bakery later. You would like that, wouldn't you?"

Sakura nodded furiously, then she gave it a second thought, and shook her head furiously. Ken gave her a questioning look.

"Sak-kun wants onii-san to bake the cake with Maehara-san. Maehara-san knows how to bake a cake" stated Sak-kun.

Ken gave a little smile and stopped what he was doing, which was dicing some greens. He kneeled down to Sakura, and spoke in a brotherly, soft voice.

"Are you sure about that?"

Sakura nodded frantically, while a grin appeared on her face.

"Okay" Ken resumes his cooking. "But don't complain if the cake isn't good"

"It will be good. I know it…"

"Oh? And why's that?"

"Because Maehara-san is helping you. Maehara-san can cook anything…"

Ken gives a light chuckle and occasionally answers some questions that Sakura asks such as 'what's that' and 'why do you have to do that?'. Just as Ken was finished cooking and started setting the table, Shinobu comes in.

"I-I'm so sorry Ken-kun! I must have overslept today. I hadn't realized it. Oh, let me help you. How can—"

"It's okay Shinobu-chan."

"Maehara-san! Maehara-san! My brother wants to ask you something"

Ken gives his sister a playful glare and she smiles back at him. Shinobu watch the two in confusion.

"What is it Ken-kun?"

"Oh, I never learned how to bake a cake… and I was wondering... if you could teach me…"

"Of course I could, but why do you want to learn how to bake a cake?"

"Well… you see… its Sakura's idea. She doesn't want me going out to buy her one. She wanted me to bake her one… for her birthday… which is today…"

"Oh... wait, Sakura's birthday is today?"

Sakura nods. "Yes! I'm turning seven. I'm going to be a big girl soon and be as smart as onii-san"

"Oh dear, I haven't prepared a present for you Sakura-chan…"

"It's okay. I never had presents before anyway. I don't care for presents. I want a cake. Please Maehara-san! Will you help onii-san make me a cake? I really really really want a cake…"

"Okay, I will" smiled Shinobu.

The rest of the Hinata residents filled the room as breakfast was served. Naru snuck occasional glances over at Ken, and he returned them with a light smirk. After what happened in the studying session last week, Naru has temporarily stopped her schemes. Not only that, Dark Ken left an indelible impression on her. She could not forget those cold steely eyes and the tone of his voice when he spoke to her. After breakfast, Shinobu insisted that she wash the dishes since she missed out on the cooking. Ken didn't refuse, and he left the inn with Sakura skipping by his side.

"So what does Sak-kun want for her birthday?"

"Cake…"

"What else? Oh right, I really should get you a new school uniform. Your old one is worn out. Would you like that, Sak-kun?"

"Yes"

They left to the busy streets of the Hinata Province. They walked through several streets, and are just browsing in and out of certain stores. Sakura has already gotten her new uniform. On their way back to the Hinata Inn, she was glued to a toy shop window. Ken followed her gaze to find a light brown teddy bear. It held out its arms ready to give hugs, and small bow around its neck. Ken carried Sakura into the store (basically because she wouldn't move from the store window) and bought her the teddy bear. Sakura hugged it all the way back to the inn.

"Thank you onii-san!" Sakura said for the hundredth time since he bought it.

It was now sometime around lunch and Ken headed towards the kitchen to start on lunch. However, he already found Shinobu inside, already finished cooking. She was currently washing some pots that she used to cook the food. Without needing to be asked, he and Sakura left the kitchen and went to inform the others that lunch is ready. The last person they have to tell now is Naru. They arrived at the door, and Sakura slipped into the room. After about 3 seconds, Ken slides the door open, and watch as Sakura runs back out. Ken only said 'Lunchtime, Narusegawa-san' to her and then turned to leave towards the dining room. As the seats began filling, they realized that Sakura was holding onto a little teddy bear.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, where'd you get that?" asked Kitsune.

"Onii-san bought it for me…" replied Sakura.

"Is today a special occasion?" inquired Keitaro.

"It's my birthday. I'm turning seven"

"Yay! A birthday party with lots of food… yum…" stated Su.

"Uhm… sorry to disappoint everyone but we won't be having a party" replied Ken.

"Aww… why not?"

"Because well… there really is no need for one."

"Ok… no party" stated Kitsune.

Knowing Kitsune, she's probably brewing something in her head about how to start a party by now. Ken, however, was unaware of this and smiles as Kitsune makes her statement. After lunch, Ken does the dishes, and Shinobu stayed to help with the drying. Sakura was there too, sticking to her brother all day like glue. After they finished the dishes, Ken suggested that they get started on making the cake. Shinobu agrees and she takes out some ingredients.

"Would Sak-kun like to help?"

Sakura nods and she watches as the older two started measuring out the ingredients. Sakura helped Shinobu mix the ingredients, while Ken started to cut some fresh fruit. When the cake was baking in the oven, they made the icing. The oven made a sort of 'ding' sound and that told the three that the cake was done. They took icing and started layering it over the cake. Then they decorated it with cuts of strawberries, cherries, and kiwi and designed a sakura flower in the middle. Shinobu completed it by adding a last touch. Letters spelling out 'Happy Birthday Sakura' in red letters to compliment the pink icing. They admired their masterpiece after all their hard work. A circular fruit cake with pink icing. When they were done, the two girls looked a mess with flour on their faces. Ken gave a little chuckle as he wiped the flour away from Sakura's cheeks.

"You have flour on your face too Shinobu-chan…" informed Ken as he wiped the flour off her face as well.

Ken felt heat on his hands as he wiped away the flour from Shinobu's face. It is normal, considering the girl was blushing profusely as their skin made contact. Sakura gave a puzzling look as she saw Shinobu turning into a human heater. Ken gave a light smile and spoke as he removed his hand.

"You know you look cute when you do that, right?"

"D-Do what?"

"Not telling. Come on, let's round the others to eat this…"

"W-Why d-don't we j-just leave i-it until d-dinner?"

"Okay, sure." He turns his attention over to Sakura. "Can you wait that long, Sak-kun?"

"Uh huh. I'm a big girl. I can wait."

Ken looks at the time and found that they were working on this cake for two whole hours. Ken puts away the cake and Sakura grabs her teddy bear. They leave the kitchen and walked out to find all the residents out in the living room, apparently setting up for a party.

"Oh, look. The birthday girl has decided to arrive" said Kitsune.

"Konno-san… I thought you promised not to have a party…" grumbled Ken.

"I didn't promise anything. Besides, how do you expect a kid to get older and not throw her a party?"

"Fine… fine... but just so you don't go ordering a cake, we've already baked one."

"Hmm… too late. Keitaro went out to buy a cake"

"Yay! Two cakes!" chimed Sakura. "Urashima-san is bringing another cake home!"

Ken gave a slight chuckle at the word 'home'. He's glad that there is actually a place in this world that Sakura would actually consider home. They lived in a house all their life, but it wasn't a home… it was hell. Keitaro enters the inn, along with a brown-haired woman who is holding a… watermelon?

"Urashima! What took you so long?" asked Motoko.

"Ahh, sorry Motoko-chan. The bakery ran out of cakes, so I had to wait for them to bake one. And on my way back, I bumped into Mutsumi-chan, and invited her along" explained the manager.

"Hi all. My, what a great party…" commented Mutsumi.

"The party didn't even start yet…" mumbled Naru.

Ken gave her a glare, and she kept the rest of her comments to herself. He gave Mutsumi-chan a warm smile, and offered to shake her hand.

"Hello, I'm Zumaki Kensuke, and this is my sister, Zumaki Sakura. This is a party for her"

"Oh, hello there. I'm Mutsumi Otohime. I brought the birthday girl a present."

She handed the watermelon to Sakura, who dropped it because of its weight. Ken shook her hand and then picked up the watermelon and thanked Mutsumi. He went back into the kitchen and cut up the watermelon for everybody. After they ate the watermelon and chatted for a bit, Ken went back in and brought out the cake that they made. They all sang 'Happy Birthday' to Sakura, and she blew out the candles after making a wish. Ken helped Sakura cut the cake up. First, he cut a circle in the middle where there was a little Sakura flower and then he cut the sides out, leaving the middle piece for Sakura.

"This is one good cake. Can I have more?" asked Su.

"There is no more, but we can feast on the cake Urashima-san bought" replied Ken.

Ken walked over to bring the other cake to the table. He took the chocolate cake out of its box and placed it in the center, where the first cake was already devoured. Everyone ate seconds, and enjoyed each other's company.

"Ken-kun…" started Shinobu.

"Oh my, Shinobu. I forgot to congratulate you on having such a wonderful boyfriend" said Mutsumi.

Shinobu blushed to a crimson shade. "I-I d-don't h-have a-a b-boyfriend…"

"Oh? I'm so sorry. I thought Ken and you are an item…"

"Yes… I did too…" stated Motoko.

"It's a shame… you two make a great couple…" replied Keitaro.

"Sempai…" Shinobu whispered.

"Aww… if Shinobu gets a boyfriend, then she won't play with me anymore. Now I'm jealous of Ken-san!" thought Su out loud.

"Heh, don't worry Su. Shinobu and I are not going out, so you don't have to worry about that…" informed Ken.

For the rest of the night, the topic of their conversation went from Shinobu and Ken to Mutsumi and Keitaro to Keitaro's dream girl to Mutsumi's dream boy to Keitaro being the Hinata Inn manager. Very soon, Ken put Sakura to sleep, as it was getting fairly late for the young girl. After he did just that, he returned to the living room to clean up after the party, but he found that the real party had just begun. It turns out that Kitsune was being Kitsune, planned out a light party for Sakura, and then decided to get crashed in the after-party. Everyone had some sake, and Ken decided to stay away from it. He didn't want to get drunk. Besides, someone has to clean up after them. Ken decided to just let them drink while he cleaned up. After a while, Shinobu stumbled over to Ken's side, and he found that she want pretty much drunk.

"Ken… Naru said –hic- that –hic- you are –hic- evil… -hic- are you? –hic-"

"Shinobu-chan… you're drunk…"

"No –hic- I'm not… I only drank –hic- some punch…"

Ken walked over to the bowl of punch and poured himself a sip. It was tampered with… with alcohol. Good thing he decided to stay away from the drinks. He reached out for Shinobu and carried her to back her room. He laid her gently onto her mattress and placed a damp towel on her forehead. Then, he headed out the door to see how the others were doing. He found Kitsune asleep on the couch, Keitaro sleeping on the table, and the rest were on the floor. The only one conscious was Motoko, and she wasn't even drunk.

Everyone, except Motoko, woke up the next morning with a very bad hangover. Strangely enough, they all found painkillers right next to them, and they took them. Then, they all smelled the fresh aroma of breakfast.

"Oy, Shinobu, what's for br— Oh, hey Ken-san… where's Shinobu?" asked Su.

"Oh, she's in her room. Can you tell everyone to come to breakfast?"

"Sure thing"

Ken set up the food in the living room and proceeded to wake Sakura up. By the time they entered the dining room, everyone was already eating. They all exchanged greetings to the little girl whose birthday was yesterday, and had fun talking about the party they had, leaving things out about the after-party. Ken and Shinobu cleared the table and were now in the kitchen, washing the dishes.

"T-Thank you, Ken-kun…"

"Hmm? For what?"

"For… carrying me to my room yesterday. I don't remember what happened, but Motoko told me that you took care of me at my drunken state…"

"Oh, it's ok. Though, I never regarded you of the type who drinks…"

Shinobu blushed. "I-I didn't know… I thought it was just punch…"

"It's okay, I know."

"U-Uhm… K-Ken-kun?"

"Hmm?"

"Remember a long time ago, we had a conversation on the roof?"

"Yeah?"

"Well… I-I'd like t-to do t-that again… t-tonight…"

"Sure… anytime you like…"

"M-Midnight?"

"Sure"

So the day passed by with Shinobu waiting anxiously for midnight to arrive. Ken, on the other hand, was having trouble getting Sakura to fall asleep. He tried various methods, and finally got her to sleep after singing her a lullaby and reading her a story. It was about ten minutes after midnight, but Shinobu was still there. The stars were out again, sparkling as if there was no tomorrow. The cool summer breeze wrapped itself around Ken occasionally, and the wonderful color of the night, blue and black…

"So Shinobu-chan… what is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Your plans… for the future…"

"My plans? I really don't have much. Just go through college, get a job, and give Sakura the best. You know… the usual thing a parent is supposed to do for their kid."

"How are you going to get through college? The tuition, taking care of Sakura and all?"

"Well… I've been applying for financial aid, loans, and scholarships. As for taking care of Sakura, I'll still be able to do that. I'll take morning classes, you know, while she's in school. Then I can pick her up afterwards. However, I was kind of hoping that you do me a favor."

"What's that?"

"Not everything's going to go my way, so if it doesn't and I won't be able to be there for Sakura, I was kind of hoping you could… well… help out…"

"Of course, Sakura-chan is a very sweet little girl…"

"Thanks… how bout your future?"

"M-Me? I never thought much of it…"

"Hmm… I meant what I said… you'd do well in a restaurant or something…"

"…"

"Well… for one, you are very good at cooking and cooking for the residents is good practice for you. For two, you really seem to enjoy cooking a lot. You could kill two birds with one stone. Doing something you like and making money for it… that is… if you choose that career"

"That's true… I do like to cook but what about Tokyo U?"

"What about Tokyo U?"

"…"

"I know Tokyo U is very prestigious and it would make your parents proud if you go, but don't you think your parents will be equally proud if you are successful no matter what you do?"

"Maybe… I don't know…"

"I don't know what it's like to want to make your parents proud so if the only way to make them proud is going to Tokyo U, I would screw it, and go elsewhere to do what I want for my dreams…"

"But that's the problem… I don't know what I want to do…"

"Ah… it's okay… after all, you have one year to consider what college you will go to…"

"It's two… I'm going to be a junior…"

"Oh? And the whole time I thought you already passed that grade level…"

"Well… I just turned sixteen when you came live with us…"

"Oh… I see…"

The two stayed on the rooftop to talk about their plans in life. When the stars stopped sparkling and the night turned dark, they decided to go back to bed. Each person went back to bed with something new to think about. Shinobu put into consideration of what college to go to while Ken thought about how to go through the rest of his life in general. After all, he is a sixteen year old who is going to college, so obviously, there will be some obstacles.

NEXT CHAPTER: School starts for our residents... and things happen... but what sort of things?

Thanks for reading and now... please reviewww! If you find any grammatical errors, please tell me because I hate it when I have grammatical errors in my stories... 5+ reviews equals new chapter :-)