Red Roses: Bonjour, my readers/friends. I wonder if there are any Chinese readers who are getting ready for Chinese New Year?
Light27: I'm pretty sure you know how happy I am about having Shinako in your story. If not, the feeling of joy and happiness still runs through my veins. I love your work.
LightSpeed Athlete24: I'm so glad you liked my chapter. But, unfortunately Kimiko will be staying for a while...for a while. Haha, I never realized Shinako could be Shineko, how funny! Also, you don't have to call me author-san. It's kinda embarrassing. Just call me Roses, I guess.
CherryPop0120: I'm so happy you like it. This is a big step for Katou and Shinako's relationship.
MystiqueSilver: I'm happy you like it. I really had fun writing that chapter. I feel kinda bad about doing that to Takeshida but I'm sure he's ok. :)
Thank you all for your wonderful words and support!
Now, the disclaimer...
Takeshida: *zzz...wakes up* huh? Oh, Red Roses do not own Sket Dance. How annoying...
Red Roses: That's really rude, you know.
Takeshida: *zzz*
Red Roses: WAKE UP!
WARNING: Kimiko appears in this chapter. Just saying...
"Let's see...chocolate bars, butter, sprinkles, strawberry cream..." Shina mumbled her list in her head, mentally checking off each item she named. Satisfied with her basket filled with ingredients, she walked towards the cashier.
To further understand this...Let's go back to an earlier event.
FLASHBACK
"Um...pardon?"
Shinako sat on one of the infirmary beds, staring at Kimiko with a confused expression. Harumi was in the room as well, looking rather annoyed with the soft chestnut-haired senior.
"I need you to help me make homemade chocolate!" Kimiko repeated her request, trying to act desperately cute.
"But, why?"
Kimiko placed her hands on the hips, with her signature -are-you-kidding-me look on her face. "Don't you realize what day is coming soon?"
Shinako's silent response speaks for itself and Kimiko let out a sigh like she couldn't believe the oblivious junior.
"It's gonna be Valentine's Day soon! Good grief, how long were you under a rock?"
"Um, Kimiko," Harumi spoke up, 'albeit' (if you can call it albeit) irritated. "Wouldn't it be easier for you to just buy the chocolates instead of selfishly asking your junior to make some for you?"
"Since Shinako has been giving Katou-kun homemade lunch, I realized men love women who can cook. That would be the perfect way to snatch a man's heart!"
For a few days now, making a homemade bento for Tsubaki and Katou seem to have grown into a habit for Shinako eversince Katou stopped complaining and began eating right. Some rumours started appearing of how close the ninja and female samurai has become but both parties denied anything special between them with little hesitation, throwing a few insults along with it.
"So, please Shinako!" Kimiko pleaded, stretching out her words for emphasis. "You wouldn't say no, would you?"
"Well...um..." Shinako thought for a while and submitted to her naturally helpful side. "Alright."
Kimiko smiled brightly before handing her some sort of drawing of a heart-shaped picture with small colourful rectangles on it. Shinako looked at it confusedly as she turned to the sky-eyed girl to question what it was.
"That's what I want my chocolate to look like. You should get the ingredients necessary for it before coming to my house."
"Shouldn't you get it yourself? It is your Valentine chocolate," Shinako said, to which Kimiko rolled her eyes.
"As if I know what chocolate is made of," Kimiko scoffed at the notion.
"I could give you a list of ingredients. You just need to-" Shinako cut off herself since Kimiko was already walking towards the door.
"Meet me at my house after you've gotten the ingredients. Bye," Kimiko bid farewell before closing the door behind her.
Harumi let out an uncharacteristic groan when the wavy-haired 3rd year was gone. "Urgh, what a spoiled brat."
The black-haired samurai giggled softly. "You are starting to sound like Takeshida-sensei, Harumi-san."
Harumi stared at her naive junior as she let out a sigh. "I can't believe you agreed to help her with this ridiculous request."
"Well, I don't see the harm of it," Shinako said innocently, seeing no downside of the request. Apparently, Shinako was completely oblivious to the negative sides of basically anything.
"You do realize who is she planning on giving those chocolates to?" Harumi asked but somewhere in her head, she already knew the clueless samurai's answer.
Shinako proved yet again her oblivious nature when she looked surprised. "Oh, right! Kimiko-san has forgotten to tell me!"
"...Shinako-chan, I love you like a sister but your naivety makes me want to knock a book of common sense on your head."
"Ehh!?"
END FLASHBACK
"In the end, she never did tell me who it was," Shinako shrugged as she reached to the cashier. Behind the counter was a sweet-looking, older woman with a friendly smile on her fair face. As she scanned the items, she started a casual chat with Shinako.
"So, you're making homemade chocolate for Valentine's Day," The cashier smiled when Shinako nodded her head.
"Yes, I am," Shinako replied politely. It was completely wrong. She was going to help a friend make homemade chocolate for Valentine's Day.
The female samurai enjoyed talking with the sweet woman as she had a sort of sociable motherly aura around her which makes it easy for people to approach her with a smile.
"Oh, he must be one lucky boy to have such a lovely girlfriend like you~"
SMASH
Shinako's smile quickly smashed into pieces as her entire face to her ears erupted in a bright red blush. The shy samurai waved her hands frantically at the female cashier.
"N-No, no! You're highly mistaken, ma'am! I don't have a b-boyfriend!"
The cashier looked slightly disappointed. "Really? What a shame. How can such a pretty girl like yourself be single?"
"I-I'm n-not all p-pretty..." Shinako stuttered shyly, face as red as a setting Sun.
"Nonsense! Here," The older woman dug around the compartment behind the counter and pulled out a roll of ribbon. It was a pretty pink ribbon with soft patterns on it. Perfect for Valentine's Day. "Take this, on the house."
"I can't take that!" Shinako refused the woman's kind gift but the cashier wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Nonsense! I insist!" The sweet woman packed the ribbon into Shinako's grocery bag as Shinako paid for her items. "Good luck on your Valentine's Day!"
Shinako, still blushing, bowed politely before leaving the mall. She was stuck between feeling grateful and feeling utterly embarrassed.
"Shinako!" Kimiko greeted joyfully when she saw Shinako at her doorstep. "What took you so long?!"
"I ended up chatting with a nice woman at the mall," Shinako answered, trying her best to calm down her face from recalling her earlier chat with said nice woman.
"Whatever, come in!" The hazel-haired girl pulled her junior into the house.
As they made their way into the kitchen, Shinako met up three other people in the house; a man, woman and a small boy. The samurai figured they were Kimiko's family.
"Oh, you must be the girl who's going to help Kimiko with her cooking skills," The older woman said, smiling kindly at her. The man beside her also smiled warmly at her.
Shinako bowed her head politely. "My name is Kikuchi Shinako. Please take care of me."
Kimiko's father smiled happily. "No need to be formal, silly child! It's nice to have one of Kimiko's friends around the house."
Kimiko's mother nudged the little boy in the shoulder. "Go on, introduce yourself," She urged him.
The boy grumbled under his breath before introducing himself. "My name is Kanzaki."
"Please to meet you." Shinako smiled sweetly at the boy to which Kanzaki started to blush. The black-haired girl then pulled out a small box with 3 pieces of cake.
"I brought these cakes as a gift," Shinako's smile then faded. "But, I didn't realize Kimiko-san would have a little brother. I'm afraid there isn't enough."
"No need to worry, dear. I could always share mine with Kanzaki," The older woman said, gratefully taking the cake box from Shinako.
"Come on, Shinako!" Kimiko pulled on Shinako's arm impatiently. "We need to head to the kitchen!"
"Oh, right."
"Eww, who would eat something you make, ugly sister?" Kanzaki rudely said, earning a venomous glare from his big sister.
"What did you say, you little brat?" Kimiko pinched her brother's chubby cheeks hard, turning it red.
"Ow, no guy would want a scary, ugly witch like you!"
"YOU LITTLE BRAT!"
After that little brother-sister spat, Kimiko led Shinako to her kitchen. It was based on a modern house design; glass cabinets, stainless steel pots and pans and beautiful white counters.
"Wow, your kitchen is beautiful!" Shinako praised in awe.
"Thanks now, let's get busy." Kimiko handed Shinako a white apron as she put on herself.
"Kimiko-san, you should tie up your hair." Shinako advised.
"But, I just did my hair so fabulously!"
"..."
"Fine," Kimiko gave in and tied her long, wavy hair in a ponytail.
"Ok, making chocolate is actually quite simple. First, we need to melt the chocolate." Shinako instructed, pulling out the chocolate bars she bought.
Shinako then unwrapped and placed them in a pot before placing said pot into the stove. She grabbed a wooden spoon and handed it to Kimiko.
"Now, you handle the chocolate. I'll get the other ingredients ready."
Shinako left Kimiko's side for a while to ready her necessary items from her grocery bag. She took out some assorted nuts, coloured sprinkles and the heart-shaped non-stick cake cases.
When she came back though, she did not see Kimiko in front of the stove like she expected and when she peered into the pot, she saw the chocolate slightly burned.
"Ah! Kimiko-san, where are you?!" Shinako called out Kimiko who came rushing in with the wooden spoon Shinako handed her earlier.
The female samurai took the wooden spoon from her hands and started stirring the chocolate in an effort to try and save it.
"What happened?" Shinako asked, after successfully saving the melted chocolate.
"Well, the stove was getting hot and my makeup was running. I thought I could leave for a bit to fix my makeup." Kimiko tried to excuse herself but Shinako was not the least bit pleased.
"You have to stir the chocolate at all times or else it'll get burned like this. You can't simply leave the kitchen like that." Shinako rebuked the blue-eyed senior's actions but sighed in the end.
"This may not be as easy as I thought."
After a short while, the melted chocolate looked ready and Shinako pointed to the assorted nuts from the counter.
"Now, you can put in the nuts inside the chocolate." Shinako said but Kimiko did not budge from her place. "Kimiko-san?"
"I just did my nails and if I grabbed those nuts, I'm sure it'll ruin my nails." Kimiko complained, showing off her colourful nails to Shinako as if to emphasis her point.
"Kimiko-san, you can't be serious..."
"Shinako, I work so hard on my nails! I can't just ruin them!"
The helpful junior sighed as she grabbed the nuts herself and sprinkled it into the pot.
This happened another occasional times. Kimiko begins to complained, unwilling to destroyed her appearance and forcing Shinako to do all the work. Shinako already poured the melted chocolate into the small heart-shaped cake cases and added the sprinkles on it.
"There, now we just put it in the fridge for it to freeze." Shinako grabbed the chocolate-filled tray and was about put it into the fridge.
"Ooo~ I can't wait to see Katou-kun's face when he sees this chocolate!"
"...!" Shinako stopped in her tracks and turned to her light chestnut-haired senior. "W-What?! You're planning on giving this to Katou?!"
"Well, duh." Kimiko rolled her eyes in her junior's obliviousness. "Who else would it have been?"
"B-But he's nothing but a delinquent ninja!"
"So? Nothing's more hot than a bad boy." Kimiko swooned at the thought of the brash ninja while Shinako had a much different expression.
"Relationships are worthless and troublesome."
Katou's opinion on relationships echoed through Shinako's mind as she saw the lovestruck look on Kimiko's face. The samurai knew if she gave the chocolate to Katou, he would immediately reject her.
"Kimiko-san, I don't think you should give this chocolate to him. He won't accept it"
"How dare you say that?! Mind your own business!" Kimiko tried to pulled the tray from Shinako's hands but during the midst of it, both girls lost their grip and the tray crashed to the floor. The melted chocolate stained both the girls and the kitchen floor.
Kimiko was fuming with anger as she glared at Shinako. "You what you did! Now what am I supposed to give him?!"
"Kimiko-san..." Shinako attempted to rationalize with the angered woman but Kimiko wouldn't listen to her.
"You, Shinako, are a selfish, good-for-nothing poser!" Kimiko forcibly tossed the grocery bag and Shinako's schoolbag at the samurai, who caught it despite her shock.
Kimiko pointed to the front door. "GET OUT!"
In the midst of her shock, Shinako obeyed and dashed out of the house. Once the brown-eyed girl was far enough, Kimiko slammed the door harshly behind Shinako.
Sullen, Shinako walked back to her home with her grocery bag and her schoolbag in hand.
"I'm back."
"Welcome back," A familiar voice welcomed her. It was Hibiki.
Hibiki occasionally sleeps over Shinako's house once in a while when Mrs. Kikuchi's lessons last a little too long. Shinako doesn't mind it though, Hibiki was her first friend and was like a brotherly figure to her. And like all brothers, they mock you and pass out insults like chocolate chip cookies. Everyone gets one.
"You look terrible," Hibiki told her bluntly to which Shinako sighed in response. Hibiki took Shinako's bag from her and led her to the living room. Shinako sat down on the sofa, her hands resting on her lap.
"Hibi-kun..."
"Yeah?" Hibiki raised an eyebrow. He was always able to predict Shinako's actions, being practically raised along with her.
"Am I a selfish, good-for-nothing poser?"
Ok, he didn't quite expect that.
"What?"
Shinako looked to him with sad doe-like eyes like he kicked a poor puppy in a street. Shinako was obviously upset. Hibiki sighed and took a seat next to her.
"Lady Shinako, I can name a lot of things to call you."
"..."
"But selfish or good-for-nothing wouldn't quite cut it."
Shinako's face lit up with pleasant surprise as Hibiki continued.
"You can be quite stubborn but you do things for another person's sake and hold no grudge towards anyone you've met."
"Hibi-kun..."
The ice-eyed man gave her a small, sincere smile. "I suppose that could be the reason you're one of the people I couldn't imagine my life without."
Shinako smiled brightly and she embraced her old friend in a warm hug. Hibiki returned it by patting her on the back gently.
"Although, if I weren't in your life, I can't imagine how you could survive without me with that naive and oblivious nature of yours."
"Hibi-kun, that's mean!"
Red Roses: Sorry if there's too much Kimiko and no Katou in here. But I swear, Katou will be in the next chapter. Promise!
In another note, the next two chapters will have two special event. A Valentine's Day chapter and a surprise event chapter.
If there is anyone one of you who knows how to make Valentine's Day chocolate and what I wrote made no sense, I'm sorry. I'm no cook and I have never done anything for Valentine's Day before.
Well, that's all for this chapter. Au Revoir.
