Me: Hi Everyone! I'm back! I TOLD YOU IT WOULD ONLY TAKE A FEW MINUTES! However, this one is pretty short. Like less than half the length of my usual chapters but this was just part of the last chapter that I cut so it wouldn't be too long. I'm also introducing another character today. He's one of my favorites and I think he's adorable!

Hanabusa: More adorable than me? Who?

Me: You two are in a tie I guess. But I'll tell you. *whispers*

Hanabusa: WHAT?! YOU PUT HIM IN THIS STORY?!

Me: Well... yeah.

Hanabusa: NO! UNNACCEPTABLE!

Me: I'm so very sorry. *sarcastic*

Hanabusa: I don't forgive you.

Me: I can't take him out. It's already been published.

Hanabusa: Then, give me a cute moment with Ichigo-chan.

Me: Sure.

Hanabusa: Make me end up with her too.

Me: Don't push it!

NOTE: I DO NOT SHIP ANY PAIRING IN PARTICULAR, I TREAT ALMOST EVERY PAIRING EQUALLY. I'M NOT MAKING ICHIGO FALL IN LOVE WITH KASHINO! (maybe yes, maybe not)
I do not own Yumeiro Patissiere.

~ Chapter 4 ~

In a Japanese Airport...

An Italian boy with long blue hair and matching blue eyes came out of the airport. He called a taxi on his phone and soon some girls were crowding around him. Now I understand why people call him a play boy.

"So, where are you from, Rick-kun?"One girl asked, clinging on to Rick's arm. Rick brushed his bangs with his fingers. "From Italy, dear." He pushed the girl off his arm. "And, do you mind? I don't like you clinging to me like that."

That's weird. How can Rick resist a girl?

The girl let him go at once. "O-Oh. N-Not at all." She looked around and blandly looked at her watch. "I got to go..." She thought of an excuse. "...Go file my nails." She waved bye and ran off. The other girls left as well, one by one. Rick sighed in relief. "Glad that's over. I only have one girl in my eyes right now." He took out a fraise des bois he bought earlier from his bag. "What a cute strawberry."

He heard a taxi horn. He sat at the back. "Ciao!" He greeted the driver.

The driver looked behind him, blinded by the stars surrounding the Italian boy. "C-Ciao... Where to Sir?"

Rick put his legs up and rested them on the passenger's chair in front of him. "No sirs. Just call me Rick." The driver shrugged. "Fine. Where to... Rick?"

Rick smiled at the strawberry in his hand and answered,- "To the hotel closest to St. Marie Academy, please." – before eating it in one bite.

He offered some to the driver, who quickly declined.

"Too bad." He said. "Well, okay then." He ate the strawberry and took out another one. "More for me..."

The next day...

The Sweets Princes started training as early as possible (It was 4:00 am). After they found out that Ichigo agreed to the Chairman because the school may get shut down, they knew they only had one choice:

They had to win the competition themselves.

They were comfortable with knowing if one of them will win a date with Ichigo. At least then they'd know that she was with a person they could trust.

They had to keep it a secret though. Ichigo should not learn about their plan until the day of the competition itself.

The Chairman was thinking the same thing. He announced that the first round would be kept a secret until the further notice.

"That damn Chairman." Kashino complained. "Why did he have to keep it a secret? How are we supposed to prepare?"

He kept walking around in circles until everyone was getting dizzy just looking at him. Hanabusa, who was unexpectedly calm, laughed and told him, "Where would be the fun it that?"

Kashino clenched his fists. "I'm not joking you Mirror Addicted Maniac!" ((A/N: Boom! He said it!))

Hanabusa's right eye twitched. Andou spoke up before things got any worse. "Calm down you guys. We have to focus alright." The two boys went "Hmph" then turned away from each other. "G-Good." Andou laughed.

7:30 AM (an hour before class starts)

Ichigo felt energetic and happy again. Her cold was gone! Once she reached the classroom though, she wished that her cold never left. She saw her three friends, talking to each other as usual. Well, in her perspective. She didn't know that they were talking about her.

She shied away from them and hid under the desk. When Rumi got to her seat and saw the girl, she sighed. "Ichigo-chan?" She tapped her on the shoulder, surprising Ichigo causing her to jump and hit her head on the desk. Bonk! The Sweets Princes looked her way. Ichigo quickly hid under the desk again and the she rubbed her head. "Ah Rumi-chan." She whispered to her friend. "Good Morning."

"Good Morning."

Ichigo tilted her head. That didn't sound like Rumi-chan to her. And putting that aside, that came from behind her. That's where she looked. She almost hit her head again when she saw a certain green haired boy smiling at her.

Before they could say anything Ameya-sensei came in to start class.

Lesson: Making Flowers out of sweets

"You can make any kind of flower you want. Whether it's a rose or a daisy as long as it's not too fragile and is made right. I recommend using chocolate, or marzipan for this but you can make a flower from anything you like. If you're feeling creative, you can carve some fruit or even use gelatine. You can even make a flower arrangement if you'd like..."

Once she was done explaining, everyone began to work. The A Group was being unusually quiet again. But nonetheless, they were all in top shape. Kashino was making chocolate art (of course), Hanabusa was moulding candy roses and Andou was making ... red bean paste? Well, he has his own style so let's leave him like that.

Ichigo decided to make a flower arrangement out of fruits and cake balls (like smidgets donuts but only smaller). She would cut the strawberries into petal like shapes and place small cake balls in the middle. She put a stick through them and arranged them in a small clean vase. She placed some flowers cut from pineapple and melon balls between them and rows of raspberries and blueberries on sticks. As a special touch, she sprinkled powdered sugar, making the fruit glisten in the light.

"Done!" She cheered. Ameya-sensei smiled at the girl. She admitted that she missed the girl when she was in Paris. She felt a hint of loneliness as she saw how much the girl has improved. Last time she saw her, she couldn't even dice a watermelon nicely. (It would've looked like a 60-sided dice rather than a 6-sided dice) She took a strawberry flower and took a bite. She raised her clipboard and said, "Very good Amano-san. You get an A+." Ichigo raised her hands in the arm, cheering.

Ichigo immediately took five flowers and quickly bit on one. She touched her cheek in glee. "Delicious..." She whispered, her mouth watering.

As she was about to bite into the fifth one, a hand appeared in front of her.

A hand holding a candy rose. She left the hand there, waiting. She looked up and saw the Rose Na— I mean – Hanabusa smiling shyly at her. She stood there with no reaction at all. She didn't know how to react, instead, another way of showing herself panicking, she turned around. Once she did, two more flowers were put out in front of her. One chocolate sunflower and one mochi decorated with candy cherry blossoms. One blonde and one black-head respectively were rubbing the back of their heads.

"Huh?" She went, definitely not understanding the situation. "What are you guys doing?"

The three boys almost tripped. Kashino stomped on the floor with his right foot.

"Idiot! Can't you see that we're handing you our flowers?!"He realized what he did was inappropriate so he took a deep breath and exhaled. He slowly stopped his fist from shaking and used it to cover his mouth as he coughed. He looked away as he extended his arm to hand the confused brunette the chocolate sunflower.

"I-I..." He paused, he felt his chest pounding He looked at the girl. He blushed. Ichigo's eyes were shinier than usual, and they way she tilted her head made her look even cuter. (Let's just say it's a mirage? Or maybe a hallucination?) He closed his eyes and bowed to her, the other two boys did as well.

They apologized all at the same time.

"I'm sorry Amano-san." (Andou)

"I'm very sorry Ichigo-chan!" (Hanabusa)

"S...Sorry.. Amano." (Kashino)

The boys straightened their backs again. They simultaneously handed the three flowers. Ichigo grabbed all three of them.

They look really yummy. That was what she was thinking when she received them. She shook her head. It wasn't the time to be thinking of food. "Don't worry guys. I forgive you! And by the way... heehee" She laughed shyly and apologized as well. "...S-Sorry guys!"

The boys smiled. "What are you saying sorry for you idiot?" Kashino playfully hit the girl's head. Ichigo pushed his hand away. "Hey! You just apologized! And now you're bullying me again." She complained.

"Yeah, yeah." Kashino breathed out as he put his hands in the arm as a sign of childish surrender. "I'm sorry." Ichigo laughed. "You're so cute Kashino!" She quickly covered her mouth. Why did I say that?! It almost seemed like it came out naturally.

Kashino flustered and her covered his face with his right arm. "M-Moron! W-What are you s-saying?!" I'm not sure if he was embarrassed from being called cute since cute usually meant "small" or if he's embarrassed that Ichigo was the one who said it or maybe even both.

Hanabusa, who was watching from behind, was overflowing with envy, so he grabbed his candy rose and bit it on one side. He held Ichigo's face. "Come here, Ichigo-chan." He guided her mouth so – "Catch." – she could bite the other side.

An indirect kiss?!

Well no, not really.

Ichigo and I didn't have the same opinions of that however, so she turned immediately red and she backed up. She tripped backward and fell into Andou's arms, making him give her an accidental , but still enjoyable, hug. Ichigo's face started to steam. Andou released her from her the "hug" and said sorry.

Rumi giggled as she watched. "I guess they're back to normal. Isn't that right, Kana-chan?" She turned to Kana, who had a slightly sad expression on her face. "What's wrong Kana-chan? Jealous?" Rumi laughed. Kana turned even redder than Ichigo was. "O-Of course not Rumi-chan!" She lied. At least Ichigo-chan's happy. She thought.

The class was becoming lively again. The classmates exchanged stories and Ameya-sensei, feeling a little loose today, let them have their fun. The class finished the flowers rather early, so they begged Ichigo to tell them how to make the Sourire de l'Ange. Ichigo was about to decline (she was afraid she might make a clumsy mistake again) when they heard someone knock on the classroom door. Ichigo took the opportunity and openly volunteered to open the door.

She slowly opened the door and greeted with a cheery, "Good Morning! How may help y— EH?!"

She was pulled out of the room then the door closed. The Sweets Princes ran to the door and when they opened it, they saw an annoying blue-haired Italian hugging and kissing (on the cheek only!) our surprised blushing brunette.

"R-Rick?!" The four shouted in unison.

Rick smiled and winked. "Ciao, everyone!" He gave the boys a two-finger salute. He put Ichigo in front of him, not letting go. "Did you miss me?"

END of CHAPTER

Me: I did!

Rick: Hey Berry. Thanks for putting me in your story.

Me: Sure! It was my pleasure!

Rick: Can I get more scenes in the next chapter?

Me: Yeah, the other contestants will be introduced in the next chapter and the contest will start there too.

See you in the next chapter! R & R!