Hunny bounced around the kitchen gathering the ingredients Linda said she needed. After crying the entire trip to his house and taking a half an hour to clean herself up in the guest bathroom she had come out with a smile and asked where the kitchen was. Hunny was beside himself with excitement.
"Linda-kun, what is shortening? Is it this?" He asked holding up a container of white goop.
"Yes. That will work." She answered quickly.
He brought her the container and hopped up on the counter so he could watch her work. She was meticulous in her skill and he was fascinated that she could make cookies without a recipe or a measuring apparatus save a common spoon. Every now and then he would stick his finger into the batter and take a bite to which she would pretend to glower at him and then crack a smile.
"Do you want to help?" She asked as she stuck a spoon into the concoction and got ready to make the balls.
"Of course." Hunny turned so he could scoop up the batter and place it on the cookie sheet. Occasionally she would adjust the amount, but for the most part he completed the task without help. After he finished he licked the spoon clean while she put the cookie sheet in the stove.
"I should thank you Mitsukuni." She said as she turned on her senior. "And I should apologize for treating you like a child when it's clear you are not."
Hunny knew this was coming. No matter how he acted there was always a time when his friends, the ones he was close with, tried to speak to him differently in private than in school.
"You don't have to apologize Linda-kun. I am just being me and while I may be 18, that does not mean that I cannot be like Peter Pan." He stated matter-of-factly.
"I know you are just being yourself and I appreciate that because you remind me of someone I was once very close with. I am sure you are every bit as innocent as you come across, but you can still have adult thoughts and be innocent at the same time. I don't want to come across as degrading you, especially when I've been treating you like you are six rather than three times that age."
"Do you want to know why I am me?" Hunny asked with a cocked head.
Linda nodded and waited for the answer.
"It's because there is no rule that states someone my age has to act like an adult. That's just what people think because it's been passed down from generation to generation. People should do what makes them happy and things that make me happy are cake and Usa-chan. If I can't be happy with who I am inside then I can't be happy pretending not to be who I am."
The girl nodded at the boy and gave a slight smile.
"Hunny, if you are happy with who you are then nothing else in the world matters."
The senior in school squealed and wrapped his arms around Linda. "That's the first time you called me by my nickname."
She nodded her head. "I guess it is, isn't it? Is that why you insist on calling me Linda-kun?"
"No, I call you Linda-kun because I didn't think you'd appreciate me calling you Linda-chan and I didn't know if you wanted me to call you Kasanoda-san."
Linda contemplated the comment for a moment then nodded her head. "If you want I will let you call me Natalia. Someone very special to me used to call me that."
Hunny smiled. "You can keep calling me Mitsukuni, I don't mind."
Linda was at a loss for words, which didn't happen very often, and once again she was saved by the bell. The thick atmosphere dissipated and she took the cookies from the oven.
"Those look good!" Hunny said excitedly. He watched Linda take the cookies from the tray and set them on the counter. He reached for one only to have her push his hand away.
"These are hot Mitsukuni, remember what happened last time?"
"Yes," He answered slyly. "But I like it when you watch out for me. I don't need it, but I like it."
She giggled at that and handed him a cookie. "Don't start crying when it burns the inside of your mouth." She grinned.