sorry I'm so late. I've been sick lately and couldn't write. Or even drink anything.
Keiichiro was bustling around the kitchen, as happy as you'd ever see a man. He was free. He was redeemed. His precious Zakuro had forgiven him!
all through the day, Minto, Ichigo, Purin, and Retasu mused at Keiichiro's strange behaviour. "It must be allergy season for Keiichiro," said Minto.
"You're sure?" asked Retasu worriedly. It wouldn't do to have Keiichiro sneezing all over the food he made. He could put them out of business! "Maybe he's just in a good mood."
"Keiichiro is always in a good mood, na no da!" said Purin. The girls had to admit she had a point.
"well, how should I know!?"demanded Minto. "I haven't met many gay chefs like Keiichiro."
These words happened to reach Zakuro, who was getting a drink from her water bottle and ignoring two customers who had been trying to get their bill for the past twelve minutes. as soon as the words reached her, Zakuro choked on a sip of water.
Keiichiro was Gay!?!?! But He couldn't be! Zakuro LOVED him, for petes sake!
"Maybe he's in love with Ryou!" chirped Purin. These words also reached Zakuro, who nearly dropped her water bottle while trying to muffle her chokes. KEIICHIRO LOVED RYOU!?!?!
"Now, Purin," said Retasu, too quietly to hear. "That's not nice. Besides, I think he likes Zakuro." At this point, all the girls turned to stare at Zakuro's turned back.
Zakuro, meanwhile, was trying to catch her breath. Of course he was gay. How could she have not realized it?! The signs were all there, but she had chosen to ignore them. And this was her payback. Keiichiro was gay. Heck, he'd probably gotten gayer just because she'd ignored his gayness.
At that moment, Ryou chose to appear. "Hey, Zakuro," he said. "How's everything going here?"
Zakuro couldn't think of an appropriate response. On the one hand, she should be happy for Keiichiro. On the other hand, there was her heart, which hurt like heck. Well, you know what they say. Follow your heart.
calmly, she opened her mouth. "Jerk!" snapped Zakuro, stalking off and leaving behind a completely clueless Ryou staring after her in shock. "It was just a question...," he muttered, wandering off and away from the customers who were STILL waiting for their bill so they could get out of there.
Zakuro didn't know where she was going. She just stalked towards the kitchen. as she passed by, she heard Keiichiro humming the song, 'if we're gay.' HOW COULD SHE HAVE MISSED IT!?
once again, the western style doors to the kitchen opened up. "Geez, Keiichiro," said Ryou. "The world must be coming to an end out there. I asked Zakuro how it was going, and she called me a jerk! I thought she was gonna slap me! Man, she was ticked about something. And why are you humming, 'if we're gay'?"
Keiichiro turned around, hurt. "It's not 'If we're gay' it's 'everybody's fool', a song I heard Zakuro listening to the other day. And Is Zakuro sick?" he asked.
Ryou just shrugged. "No clue. But just to warn you, she's on the warpath. You know, since I thought you'd try to talk to her," he said.
"Wh-what makes you think that?" asked Keiichiro, blushing.
"Well, You're in love with her, aren't you?" asked Ryou. Keiichiro turned every color in the rainbow.
"Is it that obvious?" he asked, hanging his head.
"Oh yeah," said Ryou. "Very. Look, if you like her, give her chocolates or something. Girls like chocolate. That and ice cream."
Keiichiro had a brilliant Idea. "I know!" he cried. "I'll bake chocolate cookies and ask her to taste them! It's perfect!"
and so a heart was broken and a plan was hatched.