Disclaimer: I do not own Hana Kimi.

A/N: Wow I'm amazed. About 11 reviews after not uploading for about 2 months! Anyways, I'd like to thank all of you guys that have been supporting my fic so far! guardianranger, I'll think about your request, but it'll be a long time before that happens. flamingbunnies, Kiya-chan, Mystic-fan55, here's your long awaited chapter! Thanks for pointing out the "aniki" mistake, but I'll change that later, by the time I finish this fic, if not remind me again. As for all of you guys curious about Sano's painful expression, you guys will have to wait and see what happened in his past! It might be revealed soon, since to win the competition, he might have to get over his past? Or not….donno yet…anyways, enjoy the fic.

Please read and review!

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Chapter 9 – It's a Date?!

'Or so I thought' Izumi had believed.

He looked at the cooking competition flier with enough disdain to pierce a hole through the paper. Cooking, he can take, but that, he is not so sure of. After all, he had his princely pride. Doing that would jepardize his status and even cause him to be a laughing stock. Then again, he could be thinking too much. His eye twitching with annoyance, he crumbed the paper and threw it away. Mizuki looks shocked as well, he noted, but little did he know that she was shocked for a whole different reason, a reason that could jepordize her mission.

Shuuichi, wiping the wine glasses with a soft, white towel in a slow, circular motion, looked at them behind the kitchen counter and frowned. 'What are wrong with those two?' he wondered, placing the clean glass into the glass rack and moved to pick up the now forgotten crumbled piece of paper, and flattened it out. He read it, and snickered quietly so that Mizuki and Izumi wouldn't hear him.

'This ought to be fun' he thought.

'Maybe I should participate? I wonder if Mizuki is also competing. If not, I'll ask her to become my assistant' he supposed with glee and went back to his work behind the counter.

Izumi, meanwhile, grabbed his coat off the coat rack and signaled to Mizuki that it is time to get the supplies and ingredients.

"Wait," Mizuki called after him.

"What," he grunted, slightly annoyed; he couldn't help it since he was in a bad mood.

"You know…" Mizuki trailed off, "you don't need to compete…"

Izumi shut her up with a death glare so cold she could feel a shiver down her back.

"Is that all you have to say? Let's go then," he said taking her hand, as if it were the most normal thing for him to do.

A bit embarrassed by his sudden action, Mizuki decided it was nothing and said, "Um, are you sure you want to go out dressed like that?"

He glanced down, and grimaced. His princely clothing would draw too much attention to him. Good thing that he had a stash of Shuuichi's clothes somewhere. Izumi mumbled something incomprehensible, ran upstairs, and slammed his bedroom door shut.

'So the prince has some temper management issues' she silently noted. 'But he doesn't have to get that mad. Sheesh!'

Izumi came out and caught Ashiya looking at him. 'Girls' he thought, shaking his head.

'No matter how you look at him, he looks like a prince!' Mizuki's mind screamed.

His black long coat made him look even more mysterious, like a detective at work or something.

Seeing her stare, he quirked an eyebrow and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Hmm…." Mizuki looked at him grimly.

She walked up to him, tiptoed and rubbed his hair.

"That's more like it," she smiled happily.

Izumi felt a blush coming on, so he said to her, "What the hell are you doing?" and quickly turned his back to her.

'Is that girl just plain too forward or is she just naive? I can't tell.'

"Can we go now?" Izumi questioned impatiently.

~some time later~

Mizuki's eyes got wide with anticipation; everything seemed to amaze her. Now, her eyes looked longingly at the plush machine.

'She wants that? But it's full of teddy bears!' Izumi thought.

'I guess I'll get one for her then, as thanks for helping me out. That's all. Why am I giving her a tour of the supermarket again?' Izumi couldn't help but wonder.

~Flashback to buying eggs~

"What's wrong?" he asked her, noticing that she looked a bit down; her shoulders drooped like a dog's ears; she looked so helpless.

"I want to see the city," she said in a small voice.

"…" *hopeful eyes* "…alright. After we get the groceries," he told her.

"Why do we need to buy food and supplies? Aren't you a prince? You should have everything in the castle."

"True, but don't you think that's unfair for other competitors who need to go out and buy stuff? Plus, the supplies are also much fresher this way."

"Oh I see!" Mizuki exclaimed, and in the process, knocked down some vegetables.

Lettuce and cabbage spluttered on to the floor. She moved to pick them up, but when Izumi glared at her, she decided to back away immediately, knowing that the glare meant for Mizuki to stay still and not touch anything. While walking beside him in an awkward silence, Mizuki decided to start a conversation.

"How often do you grocery shop, Prince Izumi?"

Izumi stopped in his tracks."Not often. Rarely. Why?" he asked her.

"Well, you seem like a pro at choosing things…"

He sighed and spoke, "Well, my mom used to take me out with her to do grocery shopping. She loved to cook."

'Why the hell am I even telling her this?' he couldn't help but wonder.

"Oh," she said, looking dejectedly at him.

'Oh no,' Izumi thought. "What's wrong now?" he gently asked her.

"I felt like I just asked something very personal and I shouldn't ask questions like that."

~End flashback~

So, here they were, at the plush machine.

"Move," Izumi said to Mizuki. He found the white teddy bear and bushed the red button to get the claws onto the bear.

"Here you go," he presented the soft plush to her.

"I didn't want that one," Mizuki tried to persuade him, remembering how weird it would be for guys to want a plush. It just seemed too girly. "I wanted the light brown one for my friend."

Izumi's eye twitched. 'This girl,' he thought. "Just take it."

He put the white plush into her hands and stomped off like a prince.

'How did he know I wanted this one?' Mizuki wondered.

A/N: Well here's the long awaited update you guys have been waiting for. Hope you guys liked it! My summer has just started, so I think I should be able to upload faster now, so do look forward to it. Please read and review! Thank you ^.^