It's a thousand and something words. So it's not insanely short. It's the first of these types of format- alternating tenses back and forth. :D

Warning and Disclaimer: Same, same. Nothing to say. -shrug-


Moment Six-

Cookies

Two chocolate chip cookies, onegai!


My stomach growls, predatorily; did I even eat breakfast or lunch today? I sigh heavily, flipping through my papers, my sketches. I have to get this finished- the newest styles has to be sent to the other sections quickly, in time for the winter fashion line. And the company's just starting to speed up after I opened the second line for autumn. I can't afford to waste any time.

I take a deep breath, calming my frantic heart- I've spent too much time dallying around with Hikaru. I rub my temple with a finger; not that I don't want his company, but…

"Kao-kun, Kao-kun!" He flings the glass doors open, and I shudder, as glass hit glass. He's on me in a flash, a gleeful smile decorating his face, his hands pressing onto the black desk.

He's just a bit distracting sometimes.

I put my pen to the side, organizing my papers in a messy pile to my left, despite myself, because whenever he's smiling like that, he wants something, "What is it, Hikaru?"

He gives me a thumbs-up, "I just saw something cool!"

I deadpan his smile, "…What is it?"

"Someone was drinking coffee and stuff! Where do you get it?" he shouts at me, my fingers plugging up my ears, my blank eyes opposing his sparkling happiness. He looks at me expectantly, like he wants me to do something about it.

"Oh. You mean the employees' lounge?" I blink, standing up from my desk, pacing towards the door, and he's… I turn back to look at him, "Hikaru, are you coming or not?"

He jerks his head away from my desk, as he smiles, nodding, before he tackles me from behind, "I want a cookie, Kao-kun!"

The bird seemed to fly freely, hopping along the branches outside, its brown wings beating the air. I sighed slightly, watching as the bird jumped from the tree and into the air, flying, floating in heaven- like I couldn't.

I heard a loud rap of the ruler, and I flinched, my hand burning, dropping my pencil to the floor.

"Kaoru-kun, you have to pay attention. Don't be distracted," she commanded sternly, and I, my hand sore, picked up the lead pencil, my knuckles burning a bright red, "Now, get back to work."

My hand ached even more, as it clenched the pencil tightly, writing in character after character, and I felt her presence leave me, as she closed the door sharply. It clicked, locked; I gulped, my eyes straying from my homework to the ominous oak door. Flustered, I whipped my eyes back to my problems- that if I couldn't finish them all in time, she would lock me in forever.

I did it, problem after problem, tackling each one with an increasing difficulty- until, I hardly knew what to do at all. I stared blankly at the paper, my brows furrowing, as I tried to decipher it, to see what it meant-

But a child's mind, only seven years old, couldn't have done it at all.

Most of the employees simply stare at us, as we made our way towards the café center of the building, Hikaru's smiling it all off, waving to the adults, who weakly wave back.

"Kao-kun," he chirps, pulling on my arm eagerly, "I want a cookie, I want a cookie!"

I roll my eyes slightly, as I look dead straight into the cash receiver, who seems startled- but even if you work somewhere your employer hardly goes to, you always know his face-

And there are two of them. Imagine their confusion.

I watch as he runs a hand along the glass display case, his finger lightly caressing the cold surface, his hazel eyes reflecting off the glass as he tries to choose-

"Hi-Hitachiin-san," she bows deeply, her brown eyes darting back and forth as if she doesn't know which one is the actual boss. I run a bored eye over Hikaru, as he finally pointed to a cookie he wanted-

Chocolate chip? I like that too.

"Two chocolate chip cookies, onegai!" he chirps, leaning over the counter, giving the young girl a childish grin. She smiled a bit more confidently back- and I wonder- does his smile really have that effect on people? She gives a package of the two cookies to him, as I nod to her- there was no need to pay at all. He takes out a hundred-yen coin from his pocket and shoves it into her face, smiling, "Doomo!"

Turning from the strange scene, I begin to walk out of the lounge, my hands in my pocket, my eyes staring at the black obsidian tiles. Hikaru can really be… so strange; he can act childish and immature, but he's… really, really nice, if you look at it properly.

"Hikaru, we need to get going," I turn around, when I notice that he's not following me, and I blink as I look down the halls. There's a mysterious wind, as the empty halls stare at me, shock hitting me with full force.

Kami, he didn't get lost, did he?!

Without hesitation, I run back to the lounge- they might mistaken him for me!- and I peek through the glass walls, the windows saying absolutely nothing- and I can't see if Hikaru's there. My hand removes itself from the cold glass, as I walk inside again, my frightened hazel eyes running over the crowd of business suits-

And I can't find him.

I almost felt like crying; obaasan was putting me through unneeded torture, forcing to do good in school, forcing me to do extra homework. She wanted me to inherit her company, a publishing incorporated, so she had me read and write essays every day.

She went too far- I was starving, thirsty, and she didn't open the door. I tried the knob once, but I couldn't open it- I was locked in.

I placed my head against the cool of my desk, my heartbeat weak. I felt faint- you couldn't starve children, you just couldn't. I sighed, my eyes fluttering shut, and then-

There was a rap against my window. I blinked, and looked up, to see the bird that was there before. I thought it was the same bird-

I stood from my desk, and walked towards the window, laying my head on the sill, watching the brown sparrow, look at me. I moved my eyes, admiring the softness of the feathers, when I noticed that its leg was caught on something-

Was that the reason why it couldn't fly?

It was a small bag, hooked onto the poor bird's talons. I opened the window quickly, bringing the bird inside, slowly examining the knot- it was tangled. I loosened the plastic bag from it, and immediately it opened its wings against me, and I watched dumbly as it flew away from me, yet again.

I fingered the bag- my eyes looking into the pouch to see what was actually inside-

Two small round chocolate chips laid in there.

And I needed just that.

I'm tired, exhausted. I ran the entire building over and over, lapping the company, asking everyone if they saw someone who looked just like me. And they would always say, "Well, I saw you run past about two minutes ago-" And I would get nowhere, because that was me.

I sigh, running a hand through my sweaty brown hair, jogging back to my work- I have to get back to my work sooner or later, I need it done in twenty minutes.

Pushing open the office doors, I almost trip on the many papers littered on the ground- and almost landing headfirst into the black marble floor. I right myself, my hand on the desk, as I glare at the offending pieces of trash on the ground. They are all Hikaru's doodling, random ones-

And I sigh again, keeping it in mind to clean up after I do my work and find Hikaru, as I turn to sit down at my chair.

It's odd that my papers are suddenly all in neat and tidy piles. I flip through the pages, trying to figure out where I left off, and then I notice something very… very… peculiar.

I'm done?

I stare wide-eyed at the sketches, all of them complete, enough to fulfill both winter lines. The latter sketches were detailed, slightly different from my crisp style, but it still has a sort of flair that I can't deny-

I look up trembling, trying to see if Hikaru was hiding from me or something, when I see-

-sitting on the side of my desk is the package of two chocolate chip cookies.