A/N: WARNING: Before reading this, get yourself either something chocolate or something sweet to eat. Thank-you.

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It's been about five days since the challenge brought forth. Worry came over Kaname as she pondered on the upcoming task. For the past few days, she had been locking herself away in the kitchen to get some practice in for the first event. She had always hated cooking. The very idea felt too feminine for her, not to mention it made her feel like a repressed woman, something she's been trying to overcome. Of course, she wasn't at all very good at it. Some of her creations she tried to baked for practice would either have the wrong flavor (too sweet or two salty, or just not enough of something) or weren't properly cooked (they were left in the oven too long or not long enough). Slowly, her baking improved, but she fear it wouldn't be enough for the upcoming match.

As she was looking in a cookbook for a simple but effective recipe, she heard noise coming from the door way. She shot her head up and found Momomi standing there in her nightdress. "How do you know I was here?"

The brunette sighed, "Even though we might not be speaking to each other, I still pay attention to your activities because I care about you. As for how I know, it was Shion, who had informed me of this little duel between you and Hanazono-sama."

"So why are you here?"

"To talk you out of this foolish behavior," she said as she walked over to Kaname, who once again became fascinated with her cookbook. "You know even if you win this thing, she'll never choose you."

The other Spica girl looked at the brunette, "I'm aware of that and I don't care. With this competition, Nagisa will see that Shizuma at least cares for her. If she chooses Shizuma over me it's not that big of a deal."

"Bull!" exclaimed Momomi, "You're only getting yourself hurt."

"Why would you care?"

"I told you already that I care for you, Kaname, even if you broke my heart. Besides, we were friends before we were lovers after all. Somehow I don't want to lose it and I'll admit, I'm rather lonely without you."

"What about Shion-san?"

"Ah, she's good company," replied the brunette, "But she's not you. In any case, since I can't talk you out of going through with this stupid duel, I guess I'll have to help you."

Kaname studied her ex-lover for a moment, "Why would you?"

"Simply put, it would put me back in your good graces, and it's a chance to pull a win against the great Etoile."

"Ah, I appreciate your willingness, but I still don't want you back as my lover."

The brunette put her hands up, "I wasn't suggesting that because I know it would be fruitless to even ask. After all, I've seen the way you look at Aoi-san. In all the time I've known you, you have never looked at me like that. Being friends with you would be more than enough." She glanced down at the page the cookbook was opened up to, "So do you have a plan to win this thing?"

"Yes, I plan on doing my best."

Momomi looked at Kaname's face for a moment in disbelief, "What you're not going to cheat?"

The taller girl shook her head, "It would dishonest Aoi's name."

A sigh escaped from the brunette, "Okay, no cheating, maybe playing by the judge's desires."

Kaname looked at Momomi questionably, "Did Shion inform you about what else the duel involved?"

"Of course," she paused to think. "Since you're from Spica and had a hand into convincing Amane to participate into the Etoile competition, she's probably in your pocket. You know I still don't understand how you managed to convince the Prince when Shion had failed time and time again."

"I told her off and gave her a reason why she should enter."

"What reason did you give?"

"That she shouldn't do it just for herself, but those around her, especially Hikari."

"You played the Hikari card and it worked?"

The other girl nodded. "People do the craziest things when they're in love."

Momomi placed a hand on Kaname's shoulders and smiled, "Yourself included."

The blunette said nothing.

Taking her hand away, Momomi changed the subject, "It's strange though. Shion had played the Hikari card so many times, but it never worked out. You must have played it better than our dear president. I have to admit, our president does try her best to be manipulative. It's quite an endearing quality actually."

Kaname smiled, "I wouldn't be working under her if it wasn't."

"Exactly," agreed Momomi. She once again looked down at the cookbook, "Rojuko-san would most likely vote for Shizuma out of loyality. However, Chikaru would be the target you want to focus the most on. You should make her something that she would like."

Kaname shrugged, "I was going for something Aoi would like. She's very fond of cookies; she told me once how she made thank-you cookies for Shizuma. As I recall, she told me also, it was Chikaru who had taught her how to make them."

"That's a good start," declared Momomi. "Now if you want I could sabotage Shizuma's oven."

"Momomi, no cheating, but maybe you can help me become better at baking, I wouldn't mind the help."

The brunette smiled.

During the next few days before the first event, Momomi had helped Kaname with baking practice. The brunette had improved greatly in her baking skills. Before the whole duel thing, Kaname had taken a few required cooking classes, but she was never really good at it. Now she felt more prepared as the day of the first competition arrived.

When it did arrived, the kitchen at Lilum stood ready. It was agreed to hold the competition on neutral ground for the first two events thus the appointment of Lilum. Inside the kitchen, a small group of people gathered. It consisted of Shion, Shizuma, Chikaru, Miyuki, Momomi, Kaname, Tamao, and Nagisa, plus a few others who wanted to watch. Just like Kaname's duel with Amane, the word had spread around about the duel between the soon to be ex-Etoile and her. The Spica girl had no wish for it to spread around as it did because she knew it would get back to Nagisa. She didn't want the red head to know because it would have caused the girl to worry. Not to mention, the fear she felt when Nagisa would know that Shizuma wanted her in her life. It was the fear of losing Nagisa already which discouraged her knowing her efforts would be wasted. However, the young girl did have a right to know.

She stood by her table filled with the ingredients she needed while Shizuma stood by her own table. Kaname couldn't help but notice that when an apron was added to the Miator uniform, it turned into a sort of maid's uniform. The idea alone brightened her mood. It proved how much better the Spica uniform was. Although, she couldn't help but imagine what a certain red head would look like in a sexy French maid uniform.

Speaking of red heads, Kaname looked over to the girl of her imagination. She noticed how the other girl looked uncomfortable with being there. Besides being uncomfortable, she also shot glances at Shizuma every now and again. A tight pain clutched the brunette's heart for a moment until her eyes were locked on Nagisa's. Worry shone in those red eyes. The older girl grinned at her to reassure the younger girl and to say that she shouldn't worry.

Once the mumbling room quieted down, the duelists began. They had about an hour to complete the task. During measuring and pouring, Kaname would glance over to see Shizuma's progress. The silver fox seemed not to care what was happening around, only at the task at hand. Such concentration only stoked the Spica girl's fire and determination. Once the batter was complete, she made dough balls and placed them on the cookie sheet. The sheet went into the preheated oven. While the first sheet was cooking, Kaname went on working on a second sheet, since she had left over dough. During the process, she was tempted to taste the cookie dough, but refrain from doing so leaving it up to the judges.

The hour was up and both duelists took their creations over to the judges table. Kaname laid out three small plates before the judges. Each plate contained the American Classic, chocolate chip cookies. As for Shizuma, she went with a different American Classic, brownies with a mint chocolate sauce. Her choice was based on her knowledge of Nagisa liking cookies along with other sweets like cake. The brown was a perfect mix of both cake and cookies.

Although a brownie might seem simple, it's by far from it. The thing with the brownie was the texture consistency of the finish project. It could either have a gooey texture or cake like one. With a chocolate sauce, a gooey texture is by far the best. As for the texture, it all depends on the amount of air the batter gets. How does this involve with the brownies Shizuma made; well depending on the texture of the brownie and the preference of the judges, it makes all the difference.

The judges took up Kaname's cookie first and nibbled at it. Each judge chewed gracefully as they allowed for the flavor to sink in. Once they each grew an opinion of the cookie, they each wrote down their thoughts and score, before taking a drink of milk to delude the flavor. They then gave out their judgment.

Miyuki spoke first, "Kaname's cookie was good, maybe a little salty and overly cooked; I give it a six."

Shion spoke next, "I found Kaname's chocolate chip cookies nice and crisp just the way I like it. I'll give them a nine."

Without a commentary on the cookie, Chikaru smiled and said, "Seven."

So far, Kaname's score was 22. They then went on to Shizuma's brownies and did the same with the Spica girl's cookie. Once the brownie flavor was washed away with milk, the judges gave their remarks and scores.

This time around, Shion took the reins first, "Shizuma's creation was too sweet and rich in flavor, but the texture could have been gooier, I give it a five."

A little agitated by Shion's unfair judgement, Miyuki took over, "Shizuma's brownie was perfectly gooey. The flavor was truly delicious. She gets a ten."

Chikaru, still smiling and without any commentary, gave her score, "Eight."

Just by one point, Kaname lost. Although she felt defeated in the inside, she wouldn't show it on the outside due to her pride. After hearing the results, she looked over at Nagisa, trying to figure out what might be going through the red head's mind. The younger girl still looked uneasy being there, but the blunette couldn't figure out why though. A quick study of those red eyes told her that the younger girl was experiencing some inner conflict. I wish she would open up more.

Sighing out, Kaname walked over to Shizuma and held out her hand in a sportsman like manner, "It was a fair match."

Taking the proffered hand, Shizuma agreed, "Indeed, but I still won." She grinned at the fact. "Just one more win for me and I'll have you off my back and…" she leaned in to whisper in Kaname's ear, "I'll be able to be with Nagisa again."

The Spica girl's grip tightened around the silver wolf's as she whispered back, "Remember this it's not over between us." She released the older girl's hand and straightened up, "So what is the next contest?"

"Ah, flower arrangement. Since I'm still Etoile, we'll use the flowers in the green house."

It angered the Spica girl to know they were using the flowers in such a manner. The flowers that the Etoiles grew were considered sacred. "Wouldn't that be a waste of resources?"

"Ah, the bouquets we'll make will go towards beautifying the grounds. One will be placed in the library and the other at the cathedral."

It took a moment of consideration on Kaname's part as she thought through the idea. Knowing the plans for the flowers put Kaname more at ease with the idea. "Fine, when is it?"

"About this time next week in the greenhouse," replied Shizuma as she went back over to her table to clean up.

Following suit, Kaname went to clean up. She took the remaining cookies and placed them in a zip lock bag. Once the cookies were secured, she went about cleaning everything else up. Momomi had come over to her to offer her a hand in cleaning. Gratefully, the blunette accepted the helping hand. While they cleaned, Kaname watched from the corner of her eye to see Shizuma handing her remaining brownies to Nagisa, who took them rather reluctantly. Kaname had assumed it was due to the girl's shyness around Shizuma nothing more.

Once cleaning was finished, Kaname took her cookies with Momomi on her tail. Upon approaching the first trash can, the blunette stopped contemplating throwing them in.

"Do you think you should?" asked Momomi.

"They're trash, are they not? They won nothing for me." The taller girl said as she threw them in.

Seeing the pain her ex-lover's eyes, Momomi reached out and took the bag in her hands. She opened it and tasted a cookie. "Mm, they're not bad. I think these were the best cookies you've made so far."

Kaname didn't give a thank-you or anything except, "Just do me a favor and put them back in the trash where they belong." Frustrated, she walked off soon afterwards.

As for Momomi, she had other plans. She, herself, couldn't believe what she was about to do. She resealed the cookies and took them with her until she found a certain blunette, Tamao. She might have gone to Nagisa herself, but there was still the molesting problem that kept the brunette away. An apology was far from Momomi's mind, in fact, she thought she was justified with her actions. However, the brunette knew her ex-lover had made the cookies with Nagisa in mind and decided the younger girl could at least enjoy the labor of love.