A/N:- Well, I was supposed to almost finish the Summer camp arc in this chapter, but then Kyoko-chan decided in all her divine glory that she wanted this chapter to show off her awesomeness, and yup. I backed down before her awesomeness.

Well, it's not my fault she's too sunny for me to handle~

...Ahem. Enough with the bad puns. On a serious note, I apologize for the late update as well as this short update. treat it as an appetizer, will you? the main course will be much, much intense, i assure you! And as soon as we complete the Summer camp arc we'll head right into the mess with the source of all of Kyo-chan's angst as well as the mess with Hibari Family~

(IMPORTANT) There's another thing I'd like to bring to attention today. If you want to translate any of my works into another language on another site, at least first ask me -the author- before you do so. You can't just take someone else's work and put it on another site in a different language without informing the Original Author. And if you can't get through the original author, then the least you could do is to mention the original author and their original story on the translated words. Otherwise, your unapproved translation of an original work would be nothing less than plagiarism.

I would keep mum about this incident just this once, for that person and I have come to an agreement. I hope they keep their end of the bargain, as I have done with mine. Thanks again Reader-chan (I wouldn't want anyone go blaming them for anything which is why I'm not writing their FFN ID name) for giving me a heads up about it! I truly appreciate your support and thank you so much for bringing this issue to my attention!

Alright, now that I've said everything I want you to know... Enjoy~

Elysian

(adj.) Beautiful or creative; divinely inspired; peaceful and perfect

~O~

Haru woke up the next morning feeling oddly tired. She remembered yesterday's events of how she lost against Ami-chan, as well as how she had broken down and worried her friends with her sudden crying. Remembering the latter part of yesterday's events made her feel ashamed enough to let the ground swallow her because, gods! She actually broke down crying before her new friends?! Really? And for such a silly reason too! They must be thinking she was weird or something, to actually cry over losing against a better opponent in a competition.

And well…. they would be right to an extent, wouldn't they? She did break down crying because she lost against Ami-chan, hadn't she? She really was so stupid… to actually cry over the fact that Ami-chan's design was better than her. Besides, it was obvious from the very start that Ami-chan would win because well…it's Ami-chan! She's perfect in everything she does! How can Haru –who's only talent was in the area of sewing and designing- compare to her? Of course, against someone like her, Haru's creation wasn't even worth comparing. And to cry over the sight of a dumb stuffed toy being thrown like a trash, how stupid! What was there to cry about at that? Just because she wanted those stuffed toys for her friends, and that the Psyduck resembled her to some extent –if only because her new friends called her 'Psyduck-chan'- didn't mean she had to cry like that just because someone else was manhandling their toys. Silly Haru, what was there to be hurt about? The toy was the toy, and Haru was Haru! She wasn't like the stuffed toy that Satsuki-chan said was "worthless"! There was no reason to cry over that!

(…..So why did she still feel hurt over yesterday's events? Why did she still feel something inside her squeeze painfully the moment she remembered Satsuki-chan's words from yesterday about the stuffed toy? Why did Ami-chan's careless regard for something that Haru had tried her best to gain, as well as Satsuki-chan's blatant disregard of the only thing that she felt resembled herself, pained her to this extent? Why did she feel ashamed of facing her friends -would they even want to be her friends now, after she had cried like a toddler over such a stupid thing?- because the one thing that Haru could do better wasn't enough to win one silly competition? WhywhywhywhywhywHYWHY-?!)

Wiping the tears that had slid down her cheeks, she hid her face behind her palms and wondered if she should just pull the blanket over her head and wake up only when she felt brave enough to face everyone. The others won't mind if she 'slept' in for a while, right?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door of their room opening slightly, and soft footsteps approached her bed.

"Haru-chan," Kyoko's soft voice made her relax her tensed shoulders. "Get ready quickly, okay? The others are waiting."

Haru peeked through her fingers and asked hesitantly, "Can I not go?"

"But-" Kyoko frowned and tried to protest, but Haru's pleas made her falter.

"Please, Kyoko-chan?"

Kyoko stared at her with unreadable eyes for a while, and then she sighed. "Fine," She grumbled under her breath, sounding a bit dejected by Haru's refusal. "Rest here for a while, then. I'll bring you your breakfast." She then perked up as she remembered something, and insisted, "But do come out at lunch, 'kay? It's gonna be really interesting!"

"What? I don't-"

"Okay then, that's a promise!" Kyoko chirped happily as she cut off Haru's arguments and took off.

"Wait, Kyoko-chan-"

*slam!*

Haru stared flabbergasted at the now closed door that Kyoko had just exited from, and thought about Kyoko's words that she had said before she had left.

"Why do I have a feeling the rest of them are up to no good?" She mumbled under her breath, and for some reason felt trepidation –and a little bit of excitement- for the upcoming afternoon.

Just what sort of mischief were the others up to now?

The others –with the exception of Kyoya- turned towards Kyoko as soon as she entered the cafeteria. Tsuna glanced behind her and asked with a knowing glint in his eyes, "She didn't come, did she?"

Kyoko shook her head disappointedly.

"Oh well, that was to be expected." Nagi said with a shrug as she took a sip of her orange juice.

"So….. now what?" Takeshi asked.

"I don't know about you guys, but I am busy with something." Kyoko chirped.

"Ah…. I forgot about that." Takeshi admitted with a chuckle.

"See you later everyone!" Kyoko waved them goodbye and started walking away.

"Give 'em hell, Kyoko-chan!" Tsuna called out to her.

Kyoko paused her footsteps, and then turned towards them with a smile -however, with her bangs shading her eyes her smile seemed more demonic than one of an innocent angel. "With pleasure." She purred dangerously as she lifted her head slightly, and the bangs shadowing her eyes shifted, giving way to the golden flames glittering in her eyes like some divine light.

She then went on her way, leaving behind four speechless pre-teens.

"A-Ah, Orange-san, I sort of feel pity for our foes." Nagi muttered in pity.

Tsuna quirked his brow and asked knowingly, "Do you really now?"

Her previous pitying expression was immediately wiped from her face and she smirked wicked, "Pfft- Of course now."

Kyoya snorted. "Enough. Let's get going. We have work to do."

"That we do." Takeshi agreed, and with a final glance towards each other, the four of them parted ways.

"Are you all ready?" Hayama-sensei asked the adorable little girls, who all answered in a chorus of "Yes",making him almost smile at the cuteness overload. He however, resisted the urge to coo at them and continued on with an expressionless face, "Alright, I want you all to make a dish of your own choice. You can work in pairs if you want. You have two hours to cook a dish, garnish it and present it before the time limit is up. And the magic ingredient is-" he dramatically said and watched in amusement the little girls lean a bit forward. "Egg!" He exclaimed, and watched the girls huff in disappointment. How cute~ "Now that you know the rules, what are you waiting for? Grab your teammate, gather your ingredients and start cooking! Let's see who wins the Cooking Competition today!"

The girls cheered and quickly scurried off to partner with their friends and gather ingredients. He watched as all the girls picked a partner and went towards the back to grab the ingredients. He glanced at the ingredients they picked up, and he guessed most of them were making desserts, especially simple desserts like pancakes, custard, egg tarts etc. He didn't really expect them to make any fancy dishes. After all, they were little girls. As long as they even present him with a perfect pancake -or even a boiled egg- he'd still give them full marks. Just the fact that these little girls were doing their best to cook something with all their love and passion was enough to move him.

He walked around the kitchen-slash-classroom along with his Teaching assistants' to inspect the ongoing preparation by the girls' duos -and sometimes couldn't resist correcting their mistakes while he did his inspection. He passed by Ami and Satsuki duo, and couldn't help but be impressed by the prep they were readying. He spied one of the ingredients as ready-made shortcrust pastry -so maybe they're making some sort of pizza or quiche? He couldn't be sure. He watched over them as Ami-chan used the oven expertly and instructed Satsuki-chan on whisking eggs, milk and cream without making much mess. Feeling that he wasn't needed much there -which was to be expected, since Ami-chan was a perfect little darling who knew what she was doing in the kitchen- and moved on. He nodded in satisfaction and moved on. He walked past Kyoko-chan used a stove all alone-

-Wait, alone?

He backpedalled and watched bewildered as Kyoko-chan put kale in the now boiling water inside the saucepan with no sight of her partner.

"Kyoko-chan, are you participating all alone? You didn't partner up with anyone in the class?" hayama-Sensei asked, bewildered.

Kyoko turned the heat of the mini-stove to the lowest and turned towards her Sensei and shook her head. "No sensei, I'm participating by myself today."

"Why?" he asked in concern. "Do you not get along with the other girls in your class?" That wasn't true, since he had seen with his very own eyes that Kyoko was a little sweetheart who got along with everyone in the class. So, why didn't she partner up with anyone?

"It's not that, Sensei." She shook her head. "There's something I need to do, and I have to do it alone."

"Are you sure?" He asked worriedly.

"I'll be fine, sensei." Kyoko said reassuringly to him. "Look, I think the others need your help." She kindly pointed him towards a few girls who desperately needed his help, and after asking her to call him if she needed his help, he moved on to the next pair.

Kyoko glanced back at the Ami-Satsuki pair working on their dish and narrowed her eyes. "I won't let you win this time." She vowed. "After all, I have a point to prove, a partner to avenge, and a friendship bond to save."

"There's no way I'm going to let you maintain your win streak, Ami Matsukaze." Kyoko quietly muttered as she picked the eggs one by one and separated the yolk into a bowl, not noticing her hands glowing with divine light that was absorbed by the eggs -the yolk of which she was separating- in her hands.

"Alright, girls!" Hayama-Sensei clapped his hand to grab his pupils' attention. "Time's up! Come up with your dishes!"

The girls tidied up their spaces, and one-by-one came up with their dishes. As he had noticed earlier, most of the girls had made desserts. Pancakes, pies, egg-tarts, so many kinds of desserts! While most of them weren't that delicious -one was even charred black, seriously, was that supposed to be a souffle?!- he had to applaud their efforts. He never knew teaching little kids could be so satisfying. Maybe Nayuki and Suzuki had the right idea when they had grabbed him from his job as a First Class chef and forced him to act as a Teacher for a bunch of kids.

He criticised another pair of girls for not whisking the mixture properly in the chocolate pudding -and there's a thing called too much chocolate, they should remember that- and after praising them for their effort -and the fact that they followed recipe to the best of their ability he then sent them off.

"Next, Code number 14!" he called out to the next pair, as he put in the scores of the previous pair of girls in a notepad.

A tray was placed before him, and when the girl before him cleared her throat, he glanced up. He couldn't help but smile at Satsuki-chan's nervous visage, as well as Ami's confident posture. The precocious girl gestured to the tray and said, "Sensei, we tried making Cherry Tomato Quiche. We hope you like it. Bon appetit."

"Ah, it truly looks delicious, Ami-chan." Hayama-Sensei couldn't help but smile when he saw the cute little cherry tomatoes scattered around the cheesy spread on top of the crust. It truly looked appetizing. He picked up a slice and noticed how it had been cut perfectly so as not unbalance the cheesy spread on the other slices. He bit into the warm quiche slice and was taken aback by the taste. It was delicious. It wasn't something he expected to be cooked by a little girl's hands.

The balance between the flavor of the cherry tomatoes and the cheese was well maintained. The extra herbs mixed into it only brought out the flavour more. However, the thing which bound the whole dish together was-

"The batter. Of course, it's the taste of milk, cream and egg yolk, perfectly balanced with salt and pepper." He muttered, amazed. He stared at Ami-chan and spoke in amazement, "Amazing. Truly delicious. It's a dish worth winning, Ami-chan, Satsuki-chan." he praised them.

Satsuki squealed in happiness and hugged Ami-chan, who just shrugged casually as if she wasn't affected by the high praises of her teacher. "Thank you Sensei."

The other participants murmured and almost everyone agreed that none of their dishes received that much praise, and hence, they might not be Ami and Satsuki's dish's competition.

"She'll win today." A girl muttered.

"Definitely." Her friend agreed.

"Excuse me!" A cheerful voice chirped and everyone turned towards Kyoko as she walked forward smilingly with a tray in her hands. "You didn't call my code number, sensei, so I thought you forgot about my dish!" Kyoko chirped.

"Ah, I apologize Kyoko-chan. I forgot all about you. Ami-chan and Satsuki-chan's dish was that delicious." Hayama-Sensei chuckled good naturedly as he apologised.

"It's fine, sensei." Kyoko forgave him easily..

"What's the point? It's not like her dish would be anywhere near Ami-chan and Satsuki-chan's dish's taste." Someone in the crowd whispered, and the others agreed with them.

Kyoko didn't mind the hushed whispers and presented her dish to the teacher. hayama-Sensei curiously looked at it, and raised in brow in surprise.

"This is-"

"Yup! It's a Quiche! Just like the one Ami-chan and Satsuki-chan presented earlier!" kyoko agreed cheerily.

"What?" Satsuki asked in annoyance while Ami just narrowed her eyes at Kyoko. But after a glance at her dish she patted Satsuki's arm assuringly.

At Kyoko's words, whispers immediately broke out from the crowd of little girls.

"You're kidding right?"

"That 's a Quiche?! I thought she's presenting a burnt pizza to Sensei."

"Compared to the earlier Cheery Tomato Quiche, it doesn't even look appetising."

"If she wanted to compete with Ami and Satsuki-chan, at least she should've chosen a better -and easier- quiche to cook. What is with that unappetising thing over there?"

"Well, you wouldn't know if it's appetising or not until you try it, right?" Kyoko said a bit too loudly and implored her teacher with big, doe-like eyes, pleading him to at least taste it.

Hayama-Sensei melted under her cute gaze and spoke. "She's right. I guess there's one way to find out~" saying this, he picked up a slice of the still warm quiche and bit into it. The cheese seemed to melted into his mouth, making his tongue taste amazing combination of flavors. He actually couldn't believe Kyoko would bring out the best flavors of those vegetables. And the most important thing that actually bound the flavors together without overwhelming the whole dish were eggs.

Ami-chan, Satsuki-chan and Kyoko made the same kind of dish with the same type of ingredients -especially eggs- that were offered to everyone. However, for some reason it seemed as if the ingredients Kyoko-chan used were of higher level -fresher and much more nutrient- than the ones the others used. How was that possible?

His eyes widened and he spoke as soon as he swallowed, "This is-"

At Lunchtime, the four of them surrounded Kyoko. Takeshi asked eagerly, "Did you win?!"

Kyoko smiled brightly at them and asked mischievously, "What do you think?"

Nagi and Takeshi exchanged a look and shook their heads, admitting defeat. Kyoya didn't deem er worthy of his answer, which left Tsuna. He stared at Kyoko with warm amber eyes, and wondered out loud, "You won, didn't you?"

"Yup!" Kyoko beamed and then opened the wide-sized bento box in which she had put the spare Quiche she had made for her friends. "I left one for you too."

The four of them peered into the bento box and scrunched their noses at the sight before them.

"...You made this in the competition and won?" Kyoya asked sceptically.

"Was the teacher blind?" Nagi asked incredulously.

"Come on guys, I'm sure it doesn't taste as bad as it looks." Tsuna protested on Kyoko's behalf, but the uneasy look on his face made it obvious that he too was unsure about this dish.

Takeshi poked the tart with a chopstick and asked, "Well, the yellowish spread must be cheese, but what is that burnt pink holes scattered all over it? Some sort of decoration gone wrong?"

Kyoko just smiled mysteriously and said, "Just try it once." she coaxed them. "I promise you won't regret it."

Seeing the wary looked everyone shared, Kyoko challenged them mockingly "Oh, are you all scared? I didn't know you were all scaredy cats, herbivores." She used Hibari-sempai's catchphrase to incite them, and true to her thoughts, it did make the others step up for the challenge. Or well, Hibari-sempai did.

Kyoya bristled like an angry cat at her mocking words and immediately grabbed a slice and put it in his mouth. He chewed it slowly and a while later his eyes widened as the delicious taste conquered his tongue. He narrowed his eyes in pleasure and sighed in bliss.

Seeing their most reluctant member's over the top reaction made the others flabbergasted. "What. the. Hell." Nagi muttered disbelievingly.

Tsuna stared at the blissful expression on Kyoya's face, and then back at the slice of quiche lying innocently in the bento box. He grabbed onto a slice and bit into it, and immediately went to la-la land. Nagi and Takeshi shared a curious look and followed his example as they took their own slices and had the same reactions as their friends.

"It's delicious~" Tsuna moaned.

"So, so delicious!" Takeshi agreed wholeheartedly.

"What quiche is this?" Nagi asked in delight.

"It's a Beetroot, Kale and Goat's Cheese Quiche." Kyoko answered and watched their reactions in amusement.

"Beetroot?!" Nagi choked on her tart slice.

"Kale?!" Tsuna gagged and immediately handed his slice to takeshi, who wolfed it down with ease.

"Come on guys, that's a bit too much." Takeshi said with a grin. "It was so tasty~"

"You're lying, right?" Nagi asked. "There's no way you actually made such a delicious dish from Beetroot and Kale."

"It's all true~" Kyoko said cheerily.

Nagi staggered back and said dramatically, "That can't be."

Tsuna slammed his face into the wooden table and muttered, "Sanity is truly dead."

Takeshi couldn't help but laughed at his friends' extreme reactions. "Hahaha, you guys are so funny!"

Kyoya ignored the dramatic moans of his chibi-Sky and baby mist and stared expectantly at the bento box where the last slice still remained. Noticing his gaze, Kyoko quickly shut the lid and pulled the bento box towards her, as if afraid the older Hibari would snatch it from her hands. "It's for Haru-chan, Hibari-sempai." She informed him, and he reluctantly put his gaze away from it. He then patted her head -as if she were a pet- for a job well done, and then walked past her, not noticing how Kyoko visibly brightened at his subtle praise.

"Hey, Hibari-sempai has the right idea!" Takeshi exclaimed when he noticed their interaction. "We should congratulate Kyoko-chan for her win!"

"Come on you two!" he ushered Nagi and Tsuna to join in with his cheering, to which they did so indulgently after rolling their eyes.

"Alright!" Nagi said as she clapped her hands to gather the boys attention. "Three cheers for our resident Divine Cook! Hip, Hip-"
"Hurrah!"

As they did the three cheers for Kyoko, the younger Sasagawa couldn't help but giggle at their antics.

"Well, not that I don't appreciate it," Kyoko spoke a when they were finally done with their cheers. "But don't you think you're forgetting something?"

The three of them shared a look. "What?" Takeshi asked, puzzled. While Nagi and Tsuna seemed to realize what she meant.

Kyoko stood up from the chair she was sitting in and spoke with a steely look in her eyes, "i mean, I've done what you've told me to do." She stared at them in the eyes and said seriously, "I've made it clear to Ami-chan and Satsuki-chan that I-no, we're opposing them. And we'll win against them in the team competition and win the first prize."

"So don't make my and Haru-chan's efforts go to waste."

The three of them returned her serious look and vowed in unison, "Never."

When the sun shines bright, no one expects that the weather would change by the drop of a hat at the next moment.

Well...What can I say?

The weather can be so unpredictable these days~