Kyouhei and Sunako were back to walking on the snow-covered streets of Sapporo. Kyouhei had run out of ideas. He didn't even know what people were supposed to do on a date. The choice of the arcades had been more of a lucky guess than a well-thought idea. In a way, he had wanted to check if the thirteen-year-old Sunako liked the same things as her two years older self. He was so happy and relieved when he had discovered it was the case. Playing video games was their easiest way of communicating. Why did this guy have to show up? From what Kyouhei could gather, he was really nothing special. He was not even popular. Yeah, he had one or two friends, so what? He didn't even look at her.

The handsome young man stole a glance at Sunako. She was about one foot away from him and seemed fidgety. Kyouhei knew her enough to see she was bored to death and that it was only a matter of time before she said 'I'm going home.'

But for once, he was wrong. As a matter of fact, Sunako was trying to say something, but the words wouldn't come out of her mouth. Kyouhei was too afraid to hear her say she was done to notice her hesitation.

She breathed deeply and was about to begin her sentence when she bumped into a tall woman who was looking ahead and did not pay attention to her. Kyouhei had been surprised that Sunako was willing to speak to him and was looking at her eagerly. However, the sound of something dropped on the ground attracted his attention and he noticed a purse a few meters behind the tall lady.

He called out to her and picked up the purse only to regret his kindness one minute later. Obviously, she had dropped it – and had bumped into Sunako – on purpose, so as to have a chance to talk to him. She asked him if he was single and suggested a drink at her place. When he told her he was thirteen (she was about thirty years old), she didn't seem to mind and said love wasn't about age. Gosh, how could he still be so naïve after all the situations he had experienced? Women would lose their purse so often around him. Maybe he was too used to Sunako's indifference, which wasn't so bad after all. He managed to free himself from the woman's grasp with much difficulty but without being too rude and looked for Sunako, who hadn't even watched the scene and was already fifty feet away from him. He caught up to her in a few strides, and they walked in silence. He waited for her to talk again, but she didn't. As they were getting near a lit pastry shop, Sunako stared at it with her eyes wide open.

'What is it?' Kyouhei asked.

She ignored him and ran towards the shop. Kyouhei followed her closely after having taken a look at the sign that read "Tea-time break".

When he passed through the front door, he was amazed at the brightness and the cuteness of the place. All the furniture was made of wood: the tables, the chairs, the main counter. He felt like he was in some sort of inhabited cabin lost in the deepest and darkest area of a forest. A nice fire had been lit in a coal-made mantelpiece and warmed up the room. It instantly soothed Kyouhei.

He was standing in the main room of the shop. In front of him, there were a dozen of round tables for two to four customers, which had been elegantly decorated with light pink tablecloth and ivory-coloured napkins. Three leather bench seats coloured with the same light pink had been place against the wall, on the right corner of the room.

On the opposite side stood the counter. The cash register was on its left side. The display case had been emptied and was now sparkling clean, waiting to be filled with delicious pastries.

'Cosy,' Kyouhei thought. Even though the atmosphere was too girly for him, he felt calm and at ease in the shop. And he could well imagine Sunako feeling the same. They had a similar sensitivity for that kind of things.

His friend's voice brought his attention to the back door that most probably led to the kitchen.

'Oba-san,' he heard Sunako exclaim, 'How can you still be working at this time of the day ? You should be resting!'

Quietly, almost shyly, as though he was afraid of interrupting an intimate moment, he pushed the door and slowly entered the room. An old European lady was standing at a work surface, her hands and apron covered with flour and her face turned to Sunako, who stood close to her.

'Don't you bother yourself with that young lady! It's your day off, you're the one who shouldn't be here. Oh,' she exclaimed, 'and you're on a date, at that? I understand why your mother insisted on the importance of me not calling you for work. Who are you young man?"

Kyouhei smiled. He was not familiar with this aristocratic way of talking, but it fitted the old lady's character quite well. There was something about her that conveyed a strong feeling of warmth. Whether it emanated from her round face, her grey hair or her soft skin, Kyouhei wasn't sure. It was however difficult not to notice her intense gaze and imposing attitude, proofs of a strong character. She was very small and thin and for a woman who looked about 80 years of age, she was surprisingly energetic. He decided that being more formal in his way of talking wouldn't be inappropriate.

'Good evening, Madam. I am Takano Kyouhei. I am Sunako's friend. Nice to meet you. Are you the owner of this lovely shop?'

The lady's eyes suddenly filled with malice and a smile illuminated her beautifully wrinkled face.

'Sunako?' she echoed, amused by the absence of honorifics. 'Yes, I own this shop. My name is Elizabeth, and I am English. I've been working with my husband, who was Japanese, for forty-two years, until he passed away six years ago. I've been managing the place since then. I'm so fortunate to have Sunako help me. She's a good girl,' she added, winking at Kyouhei.

Kyouhei smiled knowingly back at her. The old lady feigned a yawn, even though the young man could see she wasn't that tired.

'I think I'm gonna get some sleep. I've been working non-stop for twelve hours. Sunako-chan, would you mind taking over? All you have to do is bake the scones and fill the display case. Pour your friend some tea and give him a piece of that carrot cake I baked in the morning. Have a good night, you two.'

Kyouhei watched the old lady leave the room using a back door that he hadn't noticed before.

'Where is she headed?' he asked.

Sunako looked at him. As one would expect, she seemed to have forgotten about his existence. She hesitated, but answered anyway.

'Her home. She lives here obviously. The bedrooms and the bathroom are on the upper floor.'

'Mmm.'

Kyouhei sat down on one of the chairs surrounding the table at the center of the room and turned to Sunako. She was already at work. She had put an apron on and was now kneading the dough for the scones. For a second, the young man hoped for his friend to talk to him, but she didn't.

'Hey, can I have a cup of tea?'

Sunako didn't answer. She didn't even glance at him. Kyouhei knew her enough not to be surprised, yet, he was annoyed.

'Oi, we're still on a date remember?' he said impatiently.

'Can't you see the date is over? I'm working!'

Kyouhei could hear that she was irritated. He smirked at her.

'So what? Did you forget why you went on this date with me? If I leave now, I'll consider the date never happened. Even more, I'll consider you stood me up. You wouldn't mind me talking to your friends right?'

Sunako was furious, but couldn't say a thing. They were indeed here because he had helped her hide her weird habits from her friends, and she was indebted to him. Kyouhei was satisfied, even though he felt ashamed of himself. The threat was sly and low even from someone like him. He felt the need to draw Sunako's attention away from his whole manipulation. Stubborn as she was, she could easily miss the fact he genuinely liked her and didn't mean to hurt or disturb her in any way.

'Why don't you show them who you really are? I'm sure they would understand!'

'Hmpfff, even if I told you why, you wouldn't understand. You belong to the beautiful. You get everything you want without having to take care of anything yourself.'

'Yeah right. That's why I'm living at your aunt's. That's because I'm so lucky to have a pretty face that my mother couldn't even stand to look at me and kicked me out.'

He was right, and Sunako knew that too. When it came to parents, he definitely wasn't luckier than she was. Sunako was turned to the work surface, but he could see her hands had stopped moving. She stood there, motionless. They remained silent for a few seconds, then she uttered in a low voice, almost shyly :

'About earlier, thanks.'

Kyouhei smiled. That's what she had meant to say then.

'No big deal, but if you're that grateful, you could talk a bit about yourself. You can trust me, even if you don't believe me when I say that,' he added softly. 'I mean no harm, I swear.'

She looked at him for the first time, as though she was trying to make out the truth from the lies, then turned back to the work surface and started kneading the dough again.

'My parents too used to tell me that I should remain myself. 'You're great as you are, you shouldn't worry. People will end up accepting you.' I have always had these weird habits, as people call them. I loved scary movies, gothic stuff, dangerous weapons. I always admired my mother for being pretty and strong, and wanted to be like her. I wanted her to be proud of me. So when I was elementary school, even though I was isolated from the rest of the children, I tried my best to remain true to myself, to be like my mother. But I knew other parents were criticizing her for the way she raised me. 'Look at this woman, she's so young, and she already has an 8 year-old girl. No wonder the child is so strange. '

'And that's why you decided to hide your tastes.'

Sunako turned to him again as if surprised that someone was listening. For some reasons, the question of this beautiful guy felt legitimate.

'When I entered middle school, I promised myself no one would know of my weird habits. I would be a normal girl who would love to dress up when on weekends, and be pretty and like boys. And I realized it wasn't that bad,' she added firmly.

'You mean you fooled yourself into believing that,' Kyouhei whispered.

But Sunako had already gone back to work and couldn't hear him.

'What did your parents say about it?'

The young girl looked at him, suspicious. Why did he want to know so much about her? She had never told anyone about all this and didn't like the feeling of being exposed, all the more so to a guy she didn't even know. What was buzzing her was that she couldn't spot any malevolence in his gaze. He seemed to be genuinely interested. Sunako felt like she wanted to confide her feelings, as though he was a kind of shrink. He had helped her redecorate her room after all, maybe he could understand her situation a bit.

'They were confused at first, but they concluded that it was due to teenage years and that, as long as I was happy, they wouldn't say a thing. I think that what disturbed my mother the most was that I resembled my aunt,' Sunako chuckled. 'My mother never understood her sophisticated manners and didn't want me to forget myself.'

'Mmm, she seems to be a good woman.'

'She is!' Sunako instantly replied, as though she was afraid someone would think badly of her mother.

'So all of this is to protect your mother right?'

'I don't know. I suppose it's just easier that way. Now I said much, don't ask anything anymore.'

Kyouhei found it already amazing that she had revealed so much about herself. Unfortunately for her, Kyouhei had something else to ask. He hadn't forgotten why he had travelled back in time and still meant to prevent her from having a broken heart.

'But this guy. You seem to really like him. But from my point of view he's not that great. What's cool about him?'

Sunako didn't answer. She kept working and tried to ignore him. However, he wouldn't leave her alone.

'Seriously Sunako, why this guy? I can't get why you like him. Back at the arcade you looked as if a lightning had stroke you down.'

'Come on, I'm not gonna leave you alone. He doesn't seem like your type seriously. Why would you fancy that type of guy?'

Finally, she raised her head and looked at Kyouhei straight in the eyes with such an irritated look that he felt goosebumps climbing along his spine.

'Because he will be the one to decide if I can become a normal teenage girl.'