Disclaimer: I do not own Hana Kimi

A/N: Hey there. I appreciated your reviews! All of you deserve a big chocolate chip cookie! Hope none of you are allergic to chocolate (not that it matters; it is all cyber lol). I'm not going to list your names onto the A/N since that might annoy some of you readers, but anyways, here's the long awaited chapter! Please review!

Chapter 11 – Prelude to Izumi's Past?

Izumi heard something go clack and found himself cringe at the sound. Letting out a long, slightly irritated sigh, he stopped marinating his chicken, cleaned his hands under the cold flowing crystal clear water, and wiped it dry with a small white towel located on the counter. He looked at the splattered flour and broken eggs on the ground. He wasn't too thrilled about having to clean this up later.

"Need any help?" he asked her, offering his clean hand.

Mizuki paused and looked up at the prince, as if contemplating whether or not she should take his outstretched hand. After a moment, she shook her head and proceeded with cleaning up her little mess. White flour covered at least half of the princess's face, making her look pale white like snow. He tried to hold a chuckle that seemed to travel up from his stomach to his throat as he saw her attempts in picking up the bowl of flour and sweeping the wasted flour on the floor. She just seemed like an adorable kitten that had done something wrong and tried too hard to make up for it. He found it cute, not that he could express it or anything. He fought hard not to smile at the messy girl on the floor. Strangely, he felt like her actions and attitude were really familiar to him; he just didn't know why. Frankly, it has been driving him crazy.

Mizuki blushed slightly at seeing the prince looking at her little mess. She knew she was quite clumsy, but today had been much worse! It has only been less than an hour, and within that time, she already managed to spill orange juice all over the poor guy, resulting in a very sticky mess, literally. At least he smelled like orange juice now she supposed. Oh yes, how could she forget the time when she went to the refrigerator to get a carton of milk. It would've been successful too if only the lid was fastened tightly. Unfortunately, it was loose, and she spilled at least a quarter of the carton. Thankfully Prince Izumi had been too occupied with cutting the fruits up to decorate them into a nice appetizer. At least, that's what she thought. She didn't know that Izumi had been secretly eying her all along; he wasn't stalking her with his eyes, nope! He preferred to call it making sure that Ashiya wasn't endangering his kitchen or herself for that manner. It's safety precautions for the good of everyone.

"Very clumsy today, aren't you Ashiya?" she heard Prince Izumi comment, shaking her from her current thoughts.

"Sorry," he heard her mumble.

"Well," he frowned. "Not that I want to pressure you or anything, but at this rate, it's going to be hard to catch up with the others."

"I'm sorry," Mizuki started to bow, but Izumi stopped her.

"No need to," he said. "Just try to be more careful from now on okay? And stay away from the pointy objects, from places where you might bump into, from the plates," he listed on and on.

"But what does that leave me with?" Mizuki asked him.

"You just need to stay quietly by my side," he whispered softly, but she caught it nonetheless.

That comment surprised her. She thought he'd say something along the lines like "Get away from my kitchen and don't touch anything!"

'He has softened up since I saw him the first time huh.' she wondered, softening her gaze at the prince. She remembered how he used to glare much more often as if to put up a barrier against other people. She wondered what happened to him in the past, and why did he look so much in pain when she brought up about him hating to cook. At least he smiled and laughed more often nowadays. Why, she wasn't so sure – she is unaware about her influence on the prince – but she was happy for him. Perhaps, it wasn't too bad that she is engaged to the guy. But she didn't want to leave his side; she wanted to stay her with him and her friends longer. That's why they had to get first place. Her brother can't make her go back home!

'I wonder what's up with that fire and determination I feel building up from her. This could be amusing' he let out a small smile.

Far away in the V.I.P. section, a black haired, middle-aged judge could be seen with binoculars. Suddenly, he exclaimed with utmost passion, "He smiled! Prince Izumi smiled!" His mind did a little victory dance.

He made a note for the photographers to secretly take a snapshot of it. He had seen Izumi since he was a small child, and it's a pity that the boy never once seemed to smile or laugh sincerely since that incident. He felt bad for the boy, and saw the kid as his long lost nephew that he never had before. He used to be close to the lad, but now, the boy had shut himself off from the world. From that smile, could it be that he's finally starting to open up? Could that small brunette cook beside him be the key to change him? He sure hoped so.

"What's with such enthusiasm over a little smile?" Mizuki's older brother asked the guy.

The man took a good look at Shizuki and realized that the man wasn't from around here.

'It all makes sense!' the light bulb seemed to go off in his head.

"Well, you aren't from around here, so you wouldn't know, but Prince Izumi hates cooking, especially elegant dishes such as these. Care to know why?"

"Why not," Shizuki shrugged. He could use a productive talk about his potential brother in law, not that the prince will marry his precious little sister. The little twerp annoyed him when he was little and that will not change now!

"But I could not see what that has to do with this," Shizuki pointed out. What connection did smiling have to do with cooking? This black haired man must be crazy!

The older man sipped his hot tea and smiled at Shizuki and gestured towards the couple. Shizuki looked and saw the relief and gentleness that seemed to emit from Prince Izumi.

"You saw it right? How he seems to enjoy cooking right now?"

"Yes," Shizuki hesitated for a moment before sinking further into his comfortable black sofa chair. "Are you saying that because of that assistant cook, he is comfortable with cooking?"

"I sure hope so. Now, why do you suppose that the prince hates to cook?"

Shizuki shrugged. He couldn't think of anything bad to do with cooking.

"Maybe he burned himself when he was younger?" he offered.

"Good try, my lad. But alas no."

"Care to tell me then?" curiosity sparked somewhere within Shizuki. As the saying goes, know thy enemy.

~About Nakatsu~

Oh yeah, I didn't know how to put Nakatsu in, so in case you guys were wondering, Nakatsu is working near them, about a few spaces down, and he's wearing a light pink nurse costume. He's wearing a long blond wig that is put up into two high ponytails. Looks a bit too manly, but fun to look nonetheless (the manliness is probably b/c of his muscles…don't know if he has them in Hana Kimi, but I suppose so if he's on the soccer team, but feel free to tell me if I'm wrong.

A/N: Oh no! A cliffhanger! I wonder what happened in Izumi's past? Anyone wants to try to guess? Nope he didn't burn himself, and he is an outstanding cook. It might be revealed in the next or few chapters after this, so please read and review. Constructive feedback is also welcome! I wonder if you guys liked the description I put in, or is it annoying you guys? Also, I hoped Izumi is in character (wanted to make him seem shut off, closed off didn't want to approach ppl but slowly warmed up to him and become open w/ Mizuki's appearance.) Anyways, please read and review! I really enjoy reading them, and I always try to make the stories better by taking your comments and seeing how I should improve so do review!