CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO – HIDDEN FEELINGS (NatSuke)

As Natsuki lay atop her bed, looking up at the ceiling as she mused on some answers she was writing for her Social Studies homework, she fidgeted and grumbled and sighed, as if she was actually wrestling and contending physically with her thoughts. She needed to focus, to think in spite of the hunger that was nagging at her gut. She would be eating dinner after she had finished her homework, though what she would be eating for dinner was entirely another matter. For now, she kept grimacing and hissing and even occasionally cursing as she tried harnessing her focus into finishing the task at hand.

Try as she might, though, her mind was still thinking about Daisuke.

It was now four days since the two of them met downtown to buy things for their History and English projects, four days since she had done the unthinkable and given Daisuke a special gift. Natsuki wondered then what Daisuke thought when he saw the cupcakes, as she knew that he would undoubtedly have taken a look at them the moment she left his presence. As she walked home last Sunday, she wondered whether Daisuke had guessed correctly that she was the one who baked those cupcakes for him.

For him.

Ideally, Natsuki should stand proudly upright and boldly take credit for her cupcakes—her ability to bake was a talent of hers that would no doubt surprise those she would choose to show it to, and she was confident that she had the knack for baking really good cupcakes. So far, however, she had never done so.

She had only baked for others twice in her life: once for her cooking finals in Home Economics class, and once for her freshman class's participation in the school festival two years back. On both occasions, people had been wowed by the quality she put into baking those cute and delicious cupcakes, but not everyone knew that she was the one behind their making—at Home Economics, she had requested her professor to allow her to submit the cupcakes after class, away from the eyes of her classmates, while she gave the cupcakes for the school festival to the professor who was in charge of her class during freshman year. Such secrecy allowed her to avoid any unwanted jokes, similar to how other people took her interest in manga in a less-than-serious manner. Baking was complex and artful, and should she choose to let a friend in on her secret talent, Natsuki wanted it to be appreciated as such. The last thing she wanted to hear apart from Parfait Girls being mocked in her hearing was to hear other people mock her for taking up an interest in baking.

With Daisuke now knowing that she could bake, Natsuki felt that she might have boxed herself into a corner. She wanted to think that Daisuke might have assumed that she simply bought the cupcakes somewhere, but she knew that he wasn't that dense. Never before in her life did she imagine actually baking for a specific person, let alone him of all people. And yet, she actually took the time to save up parts of her allowance, buy ingredients, and work for three hours last Saturday in order to give him the cupcakes the following day. Was she hypnotized? Did she suddenly space out and do all of it like she was sleepwalking? After all, baking them as mandatory requirements for school was totally different from baking them freely for someone.

Because of all this, their lunch-eating and manga-reading sessions suffered as well. This all started Sunday night, when she told him through text that he didn't need to bring her lunch anymore, lying about how she now had some extra allowance and some food to get her by. Soon, she made it a point to look for an excuse to not hang around him for too long—catching up on extra schoolwork, prepping for a subject, doing an assignment in advance, and the like. Daisuke was none the wiser about the motives behind her actions, though Natsuki knew that he found everything odd and that she couldn't avoid him forever. Additionally, she felt the effects of eating less again for the past few days, and she soon found herself missing the food that Daisuke brought for her every day.

Natsuki surrendered. She sat up and let out an exasperated sigh, scratching her head irritably. She closed her notebook, laid down her pen and stood up, looking around her room to try and gather her thoughts one more time. However, not even the numerous anime and manga characters looking back at her from the posters she had plastered all over the walls of her room could provide her some peace of mind. Crossly, she grabbed her favorite stuffed pinky bunny, which sat on the end table next to her bed, and looked at it for a long while, trying to think straight. All she managed to do, however, was imagine in her mind's eye the look on Daisuke's face after she handed over her gift to him.

Knowing nothing else would come out of her thoughts, she set the stuffed rabbit back down and made her way out of her room, quietly going down the stairs. Her father would still be downstairs, she was sure, though she didn't know what state she would find him in. It was for this reason that she always moved carefully when he was around, doing her best not to do anything that would disturb him.

As she reached the foot of the stairs and made her way towards the kitchen, she could hear sounds in the living room—though she imagined that her father was watching television, she wondered whether he was actually watching or if he had fallen asleep on the sofa again. Knowing that the sounds of the T.V. would drown out any noise she would make, Natsuki decided to risk a peek in the living room.

To her relief, her father had indeed fallen asleep on the sofa. His hand dangled limply to the side of the sofa as he snored peacefully. The light coming from the television was the only source of brightness in the room; Natsuki knew that her father never turned on the lights whenever he watched T.V., remarking that it would only crank up their electric bill. The glow from the screen made the lines on his face seem more pronounced, giving him an older appearance in spite of his relatively young age of forty years. Three empty beer cans scattered next to his dangling hand told Natsuki why he had fallen asleep so early into the evening, as he always did most of the time.

Natsuki stared for a moment at her father's slumbering form, taking in his short hair that was already streaked with a bit of gray, and the food and beer stains on his shirt that made him look utterly piteous. In spite of—or rather, because of—his indolent lifestyle, her father was starting to look older and more beaten, worsened by the presence of stubble on his chin and the haunted look that his brown eyes had beneath their currently closed lids.

A sudden snore from him made her jump where she stood. Sleepily, her father twisted in his sleep and turned to lie in a better position, his back turning away from Natsuki and the television screen. His movements made Natsuki remember why she had come downstairs in the first place, so she left the living room and made her way to the kitchen.

She turned on the lights and looked around. Their small dining table was still clean, and there were no dirty dishes this time in the sink. Natsuki mused that perhaps her father had foregone eating dinner again in favor of drinking beer and sleeping the night away. She shook her head disappointedly; she didn't mind cleaning after him as long as he was eating properly at the very least. The tiles that made up the kitchen's floor were cold, causing her bare feet to sting a little as she walked over to the refrigerator.

Apart from a half-empty carton of milk, a few eggs and some frozen ham in the freezer, only a plate of leftover donburi takeout was left inside the fridge—a half-cup of rice and a few pieces of katsudon, with some egg yolk congealing over the meat. Natsuki sighed, took the plate out of the fridge and tried looking for something else to eat, knowing that these leftovers would never be enough to get her through the night. However, she knew that she would be spending a lot more time downstairs if she decided to fry a couple of eggs or defrost some ham to cook. Deciding against it, Natsuki opted to just make do with what she had rather than risk waiting for her father to wake up and enter the kitchen with her still there. She heated up the leftovers in the microwave oven they had, took a spoon from the kitchen drawers and quickly made her way back upstairs.

Back in her bedroom, Natsuki sat on her bed and picked up her cellphone. To her surprise, she saw that she had a text message from Daisuke.

"hello! hope ur doing fine over there, hope i'm not disturbing u or anything. anyway, wanna eat lunch again 2morrow? it's been a while, and maybe we can read afterwards as always :D but it's totes fine if u don't wanna! take care over there :)"

Natsuki looked at the message again, sighing sadly. Even when she lashed out at him in the past for irritating her, even now when she was avoiding him for petty reasons, Daisuke was always nice and friendly. He never imposed anything upon her that she didn't like, never grew sullen or resentful for being set aside and avoided, and never bothered her when he knew that she was in no mood to be bothered. Even in class, where the two of them sat side by side, Daisuke didn't make any move to talk to her unless she was the one who spoke first, even if these moments were merely brief interactions about a lecture or a seatwork. As always, he seemed to understand how she felt.

She considered replying to his message for a moment, wondering what to say. Deep down, she felt guilty for avoiding him, trying to imagine why she was suddenly keen on doing so after all the nice things he had done for her and with her. He's accepted everything I've thrown at him. What am I so worried about now? Unexpectedly, almost against her will, she imagined Daisuke sitting on their favorite spot underneath the trees outside their building at school, eating lunch or reading Parfait Girls all by himself. It was a sad thought that caught her off guard somehow.

She set down her phone and her plate of food next to her on the bed and lay down, grabbing one of her nearby pillows so that she could bury her face in it. Even with her eyes closed, however, she couldn't escape from her emotions, or from Daisuke's face. As she lay there, her hunger nudged at her a bit more, and her mind wandered for a moment on her current supper—if it could even be called that—and the food that Daisuke brought to her every day for lunch.

Determined anger coursed through Natsuki at everything she was being dealt with right now. Suck it up, Natsuki. Suck it up. Before tears could form on her eyes, she threw her pillow aside and snatched her cellphone.

Several streets away, Daisuke was lying atop his own bed in his room, staring at his cellphone and wondering what kind of reply he would get from Natsuki. No matter what he did, he found it difficult to do things without her text messages popping up on his phone every now and then for him to look at. He missed the blunt jokes she made about his occasional laziness and mistakes in doing his homework; he missed the way she would bombard him with messages full of emoticons just to try and get on his nerves; he missed the debates they had after they had done their homework, from their favorite characters in certain anime and manga to what their ideal anime or manga work would be.

Most of all, he missed her.

As cheesy as it sounds, Daisuke was willing to admit wholeheartedly that he enjoyed spending time with Natsuki as much as he loved spending time and messing around with Naoki and Kenta. The bliss of their downtown trip last Sunday was still over him, especially the surprise and joy he felt from the gift Natsuki had given him. Daisuke didn't know which surprised him more: the fact that Natsuki could bake, or the idea that she actually took the time to bake for him.

As such, her absence bothered him more than he would like to admit. After what happened last Sunday, he wanted to talk to her more, to get to know even more about her and spend more time with her outside of school. Daisuke sensed that such things could be a tad too brazen, but he couldn't shrug off his feelings easily. He wondered if she was eating properly without him, and imagined how she was doing at home. From what he had seen for the past few days in class as he sat next to her, Natsuki looked relatively fine in spite of her quietness. Then again, especially where a girl like Natsuki was concerned, outside appearances hide more than they should; Daisuke remembered the day when Natsuki almost collapsed from hunger, and imagined how relatively okay she looked before that happened.

He stood up and walked over to his study desk, where most of his things were. On one side of the desk, sitting neatly atop some of the manga he had, was the fourth issue of Parfait Girls' third act. He had stopped bringing the copy to school ever since Natsuki became unavailable for their manga-reading sessions, though that didn't stop him from reading it diligently every night after he was finished with his assignments. The more he read, however, the more he missed Natsuki, especially whenever his favorite character Yukari's tsundere moments in the story reminded him of her firm and straightforward attitude. He tried easing his worries and distracting himself by drawing in his new sketch pad, but to no avail—that only brought back memories of the first time he accompanied Natsuki at school by sketching while she ate.

On a whim, as if his brain was automatically commanding him to do something to divert his thoughts, Daisuke decided to go downstairs and get a glass of water. Leaving his room and walking down the short hallway to the stairs, he could hear her sister's favorite rock songs still playing inside her room.

At the foot of the stairs, he saw that the light in the kitchen was still on; Daisuke knew that his mother was still busy preparing what she would need for tomorrow's menu at the family diner. Indeed, as he passed through the white curtains that served as the door to the kitchen, he saw her stacking ingredients and meat inside the refrigerator. She turned around when she heard him come in, and wiped her hands on the blue apron she wore atop her white blouse and skirt.

"Everything okay, son?" she asked.

Daisuke looked at his mother's good-natured face, into those amber eyes which he inherited from her. As always, she seemed to know exactly when something was bothering him. "Just some stuff at school, Mom," he replied as he walked over to one of the small cupboards and took out a glass to fill with tap water.

"I see." His mother went over to the counter and started taking the other containers she would be putting in the fridge in her arms. Daisuke quickly finished his glass of water and walked on over to help her.

As the two of them worked, his mother looked over to him. "Oh, about tomorrow, should I be preparing two boxes instead of one?"

"No need, mom," he told her. "I told you before, my friend's doing better." At least, I hope she is.

"Well, I just wish she's eating properly now," his mother remarked, tutting as she glanced over the containers in the fridge, making sure that everything was in order. "Seriously, skipping breakfast and lunch? Poor dear. What are her parents even doing while she's leaving home starving like that?"

In lieu of a reply, he sighed a bit anxiously. His mother smiled. "You're worried about her, aren't you?"

Daisuke sighed. "I'd be lying if I wasn't, mom," he admitted sheepishly.

After he finished helping his mother arrange the containers neatly in the fridge, Daisuke made his way back up to his room. He had gone downstairs hoping to ease his mind about Natsuki, and yet he only managed to remember her almost collapsing from starvation. The idea that Natsuki didn't manage to eat breakfast properly at her house and had nothing to bring for lunchtime that day made him imagine what her home situation might really be, though he had never opted to ask her about it.

As he reentered his room and took a look at his phone, Daisuke saw that, at long last, Natsuki had replied.

"hello. don't worry, I'm doing ok, just been busy, alright? that's all, stop asking. really sorry, but i don't think i can meet u up 2morrow 4 lunch yet. night"

Daisuke read the message three times, mixed emotions coursing through him. Natsuki's reply told him a lot already, and its arrival lightened his mood considerably. He was, however, also a bit crestfallen that she wasn't able to eat lunch and read manga with him just yet. The lack of cute emoticons in the message told him enough about Natsuki's mood at the moment, as well as the terse way her message ended, quite similar to the way she often spoke whenever she didn't want to be disturbed or annoyed. Nevertheless, he quickly rallied, knowing that he shouldn't force the issue if Natsuki was not up to it.

As long as she says so, I'll take her word for it.

"it's ok, totes understand :) just take care, ok? and just tell me when ur up 2 it again :D gudnyt!"

As he pressed "Send," Daisuke knew he wanted to say more, but couldn't. He set down his cellphone and decided to just start a new sketch to distract his mind again. He sat down at his desk, tore out the tentative sketch he had going—a random character from Gun Blazers—and started afresh on a new page on his sketch pad. For a few moments, he didn't move as he began thinking of something new to draw. For a long while, no other noise prevailed in his room other than the sound of his mechanical pencil tapping against his desk and the occasional noises he could hear outside his house and on the streets.

Natsuki looked around the school's rooftop as she took another bite of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she had brought along for lunch. She had been coming here for the past few days to eat alone, as there were very few students who came up here to do so during lunchtime. Luckily for her, there was a spot some distance away from the rooftop entrance that students tended to ignore; this was where she had chosen to sit and eat undisturbed by anyone.

Given how little she had found to eat in the fridge last night, there wasn't much for her to eat for the day as well. Natsuki made two sandwiches for the day; one for breakfast, one for lunchtime. Her father seemed to have forgotten or neglected again to buy some proper food to restock the fridge with, though Natsuki didn't want to mention anything about it to him unless she found him in a better mood. Before she had left for school that morning, she had found him sulking at the sofa, staring at nothing in particular, his appearance exactly the same as last night. His quiescence, however, was never to be taken too lightly; Natsuki knew that sometimes, he was simply a powder keg waiting to explode.

Natsuki shook her head, focusing her thoughts now on the very brief exchange she had with Daisuke last night. Her reply to his message took her around ten minutes to articulate, and yet she still cringed at how sloppy it turned out to be. Moreover, she was slightly apprehensive that her reply might have sounded too irritated than it actually was; as she reread it last night, she could sense that Daisuke might have misinterpreted her words as an indication that she was fed up with him. Indeed, it seemed to testify exactly why Daisuke was quieter than usual today; he didn't talk much to her earlier in class, not even to ask about something regarding a lecture or a seatwork as he would occasionally do.

I should've texted him again, Natsuki thought. A follow-up text may have sufficed, but she realized that it would work only if she had something meaningful to say. The abrupt way she ended her text message to him brooked no further argument or discussion, and she sensed that any attempt from her to follow it up with anything else would be too awkward or out of place.

A cool breeze blew around the rooftop, offering relief from the noontime sun. Some students soon finished their lunches and began going back inside to descend to their classrooms. Natsuki, however, remained long after she had finished her sandwich, opting to go back to class only as soon as the first post-lunchtime bell rang, which she could only faintly hear from where she was. She crumpled up the paper bag she had wrapped her sandwich in and threw it into a nearby wastebasket as she stood up and walked around, still thinking.

As she did so, she walked over to the rooftop's balustrades and looked out towards the city. Buildings and trees worked together to provide a beautiful view, with certain areas dominated by suburban rooftops and other parts like downtown flanked by high-rise edifices and commercial structures. The creek sliced through the middle of it all, its waters glimmering in the sun as it divided the small city in two. Natsuki breathed deeply, the view and the air offering her mind some comfort and ease from her warring thoughts.

At last, she came to a decision, a decision so obvious and simple, and yet so difficult to pull off. Considering how much she prided herself on being efficient and practical when it came to dealing with problems—particularly with problems that shouldn't even have surfaced in the first place—she felt ashamed for taking the initiative this late into the week.

With one last admiring look at the city's scenery, she decided to forego waiting for the bell and made her way downstairs. The sandwich had done its work, though she knew she'd be feeling otherwise in a couple of hours or so.

Later.

As Natsuki had sensed, she was right. Just before their last class, she began feeling stabs of hunger acting up in her gut. It was a good thing that their difficult classes like Math and Science had already been held earlier that morning, or else she would have difficulty writing down notes and answering recitation questions. The hunger wasn't as bad as the one she had when she nearly collapsed next to Daisuke, but it was still enough to make her feel woozy and slightly irritable. By the time the dismissal bell rang, a cold sweat had broken out on her face.

Still, she couldn't back down from what she had decided on earlier. As she packed up her things alongside her classmates, she sneaked in a few glances at Daisuke. The expression on his face looked nearly unfathomable as he stowed away his notebook and papers. Natsuki decided to wait a bit more until there were only a few people left in the classroom.

When she saw that Daisuke was ready to leave, however, she knew that she needed to act fast, regardless of how many people were still around. She took a deep breath, as if she was about to take a dive into the ocean. Anxious or not, hungry or not, she was ready. She had to be.

Here we go. "Daisuke?"

Almost immediately, Daisuke looked up at her. Natsuki could see surprise behind his amber eyes. "Yes?"

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure thing!" Daisuke sat up straighter in his seat. "What's up?"

Natsuki shifted her feet nervously. It felt as if she was meeting Daisuke for the first time all over again. "About last night. I just . . . wanted to apologize," she said quietly.

Daisuke's brow furrowed. "Last night?"

"I'm not m-mad at you, okay? I know that what I said to you last night through text . . . I know that it might've sounded like I was mad at you, but I'm not. I just . . . I wasn't able to think clearly enough. I'm sorry if . . . if I came across as too angry or something."

Deep inside, Natsuki could feel her inner being cringe. The apology sounded so awkward in her hearing, especially now that she began processing the reasons why she had been avoiding Daisuke for the past few days.

Daisuke, on the other hand, smiled at her gregariously. "Natsuki, come on now. You really think I'd take something like that personally? Remember my reply to your message? I totally understand. If anything, I should be the one apologizing because it seems like I was just pestering you."

Now, Natsuki began to feel really discomfited. "N-No, you weren't bothering me, okay? I mean, I wasn't even really busy all week t-to begin with. . ."

"What do you mean?"

Natsuki sighed deeply again, her hunger and embarrassment starting to work together to overwhelm her. She looked around and saw to her relief that she and Daisuke were alone in the classroom now. Only the corridor remained occupied and crowded by many other students. Natsuki wiped the sweat from her brow with her sleeve, her breath hissing through her teeth as she started composing herself. Before she could say anything else, however, Daisuke cut her off.

"Natsuki . . . it's okay. You don't have to apologize."

Natsuki looked up at him. "Huh?"

He smiled again. "I think I understand what you're trying to say. And it's alright. I understand everything."

"You d-do?"

He nodded, his smile fading somewhat to make way for concern on his face. "Yes, I do. If you feel like you need to spend more time alone, I won't bother you. I was thinking that maybe you're going through a lot of things right now, and maybe that's the reason why you haven't been able to talk to me properly for a while. I understand, and you don't have to say sorry for that."

"N-No, it's not like that," said Natsuki hastily. "The reason I wasn't talking to you was because . . . b-because I was just embarrassed about what happened last Sunday, okay?!"

She blurted out the last words with her eyes closed, trying her best not to raise her voice. In her mind, she knew she had just taken the plunge. She decided to go on.

"Look, I know it's a long shot for me to imagine you believing that I bought those cupcakes somewhere instead of making them for you," she said sullenly, "b-but if it's not already obvious, I made them, and the thing is that I . . . I thought you might make fun of me for it. I mean, I know it's a special talent or whatever, b-but I don't want you or anyone else to think that it's a joke or something, okay?"

In her hearing, her words sounded rather futile and petty, with "for you" being the unwanted icing on the cake, but she didn't care at this point. Her hunger and the stress of trying to express her thoughts properly were getting on her nerves.

It took a few moments before Daisuke replied. ". . . Natsuki, why would I make fun of you for that? What's there to joke about? If anything, I should be thanking you for them!"

"D-Didn't you even think for a second that I just bought them from a bakery or something?" asked Natsuki.

"Well, not for long," said Daisuke with an apologetic chuckle. "The cat designs basically told me that you were the one behind them, because I figured it'd be something cute that you would make."

Cute. ". . . I'm gonna pretend that I didn't hear you say that," Natsuki muttered.

"I'm sorry! But you don't have to worry, okay? They tasted awesome!"

Natsuki bit her lip. "Stop it! Y-You're just patronizing me!"

"Natsuki, I'm not!" Daisuke insisted. "Even my mom liked them!"

That did it. A wave of shock coursed through Natsuki's being. Her mouth fell open, and her eyes widened. She could feel her body trembling as her mortification deepened.

"Y-You . . . y-y-you gave—"

Daisuke looked at her rather apologetically. "W-Well, yes, because I couldn't exactly hide them when I got home, right?" he remarked. "But don't worry, she really liked them!"

The thought of Daisuke giving his mother—a talented cook who could prepare delicious meals—some of the cupcakes she made was too much for Natsuki to bear at the moment. She buried her face in her hands, causing her palms to become slick with the cold sweat on her face. When she exhaled, her breathing was slightly ragged.

"Natsuki, are you okay?" asked Daisuke. "You're looking a bit pale again. Are you—?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine, it's nothing!" said Natsuki quickly, waving her hand dismissively. Once again, Daisuke had picked up on the malaise she was feeling, but this time, she didn't want him worrying too much.

Daisuke, however, would have none of it. He stood up and made his way next to her, kneeling down like he did that one time. "We've been through this, Natsuki, and I know that you're hungry right now. We can buy some food at the convenience store near here if you want. I'll help you there."

She looked at him despairingly. "Why are you doing this again to me, Daisuke?"

"Because I care, Natsuki," he replied seriously. "I care about you."

For a long while, the two of them stared eye to eye. The noise in the corridor had lessened considerably, and Natsuki sensed that the two of them would soon be the only students still inside one of the classrooms. Much like the text message she had sent him last night, the look gleaming behind Daisuke's amber eyes brooked no disagreement.

She sighed. "Fine. It's not like we can stay here forever anyway. . ."

After eating a couple of tuna sandwiches and drinking a bottle of fruit juice—bought with his own allowance in spite of her pleas—Natsuki regained her strength and composure, but Daisuke didn't leave her side until he made sure that she was doing much better. As he watched her eat, he felt both excited and happy that, at last, the two of them were getting back on track after five days of being unable to talk properly to each other.

"Like I said, you don't have to worry about it, okay?" Daisuke told her. "I understand why you did all that. It's not that big of a deal for me, I was just worried that something might be wrong with you and all."

"Well, nothing's wrong so far," said Natsuki as she finished her bottle of juice. "I'm sorry if I made you worry."

"It's nothing," said Daisuke. "I just hope you didn't starve yourself again while we weren't talking."

"No, I didn't," replied Natsuki. "I was eating less, but I tried my best not to skip meals. It's just tough when there's not much to go by at home and all. . ."

Daisuke frowned. Once again, his curiosity about Natsuki's home situation surfaced; for the second time in his presence, she had come to school without eating a proper meal. This time, it was too much for him to keep mum on it. "About that," he muttered, "is there something wrong, Natsuki? At your home, I mean."

Natsuki suddenly looked uneasy. "N-No, what made you ask that?"

He shrugged. "It's just that when you're like this, I think that you . . . um, how do I put this? . . . You seem like you don't have much to, er . . . eat at home or something. . ."

He tried to phrase his words as best as he could, but they felt pushy nonetheless, as if he was intruding on something private. Still, his worries—he couldn't label them as "fears" yet—would never be properly alleviated unless he asked and got an answer. Being unable to eat properly for a day could be understood, but being unable to do so for days was a red flag. At the back of his mind, Daisuke remembered what Natsuki had said the first time she wept in front of him.

Every day . . . Every s-single day . . . is so hard . . . I don't . . . know what to d-do sometimes anymore. . . I just want to c-come to school and . . . a-and . . .

When Natsuki replied, she sounded as if she was forcing her voice to steady itself. "D-Don't worry about it, o-okay? I'm fine. My dad just . . . forgot to buy some groceries again, that's all."

As he stared into her vividly pink eyes, Daisuke nodded to show that he understood, but he sensed that there was more to this than Natsuki was saying. Again, he remembered how she looked when she cried. It was a sight that greatly contrasted Natsuki's headstrong and determined personality, and he wondered whether that was also the first time she had ever cried in front of anyone. Right now, however, Natsuki was being her usual defensive self, and while he wanted to know more to help her, he couldn't blame her for doing so. She was a proud girl, stronger than many would give her credit for, and that was a trait that he admired so much about her. Daisuke decided to let the issue be for now.

At that moment, he remembered his drawing session last night. "That reminds me, there's something here that I want you to see," he told Natsuki. He reached for his backpack and took out his sketch pad. Immediately, Natsuki's eyes gleamed excitedly, and he smiled to himself as he knew how much she liked his drawings of anime and manga characters.

"Who is it this time?" she asked, referring to the character he had drawn.

Daisuke's grin grew wider as he passed over the sketch pad, now open on the proper page, to her. "You tell me."

Natsuki opened her mouth to say something, but she stopped when her eyes gazed upon the sketch pad's page. Daisuke scooted a little closer, wishing to see his handiwork once again, and together the two of them looked at the drawing.

The character in question was a female, drawn in an art style almost identical to the one in Parfait Girls. Her young-looking face was smiling happily, and she wore a blouse and blazer similar to the one worn by the girls at their school. Her short, straight hair had twin tails adorned with ribbons, and her fringe was decorated by a bow-shaped clip. Overall, the image was completed by a number of colors, shaded in with coloring pencils to the best of Daisuke's efforts. There was a bit of warm gray for the girl's blazer and some red for her ribbons and hair clip, but the predominant shade on the page was pink for her hair and eyes.

Natsuki's eyes shifted back and forth from the drawing to Daisuke, her mouth gaping. Redness started creeping into her cheeks. "W-W-What . . . y-you . . ."

"Well, now we know what you'd look like as a Parfait Girl, I guess," Daisuke remarked, chuckling. "It's not exactly like looking into a mirror, but at least the art style is loyal to the source material, right?"

For a long while, Natsuki continued staring at the sketch as if she was reading a deluxe copy of Parfait Girls. "It . . . it l-looks great," she managed to stammer breathlessly. "I mean, really, it's . . . really awesome."

Her hands trembling, she tried to give the sketch pad back to him, but Daisuke waved her off. "You can keep it," he said, "It's a gift. It may not be as good as your cupcakes, but, um, well . . ."

Now it was Natsuki's turn to be struck dumb with emotion from being given a gift. She continued staring at the drawing, torn between smiling and turning away. To help convince her, Daisuke took the sketch pad from her, carefully tore out the page where the drawing was, and handed it to her.

"If you want, you can just slip it inside a book and take it out when you get home," he said. "Feel free to do whatever you want with it! Share it online, keep it, throw it away, up to you."

"N-No!" Natsuki cried out, having found her voice at last. She looked agitated now, as if Daisuke had suggested something so foolish. "Of course I'm not gonna throw that away, are you kidding me, you dummy?!" She took the page from his hand and, just as he instructed, pulled out a random book from her school bag and tucked it safely away inside, careful not to crease it in any way as she did so. After she had put the book back inside her bag, she looked at him again, her eyes brimming with emotion. Daisuke couldn't help but feel stirred as well at the sight of her, and his own face started to turn pink as well.

When she spoke again, her voice was softer. "Thanks," she said. "I mean, really, thanks for that."

"You're welcome," said Daisuke earnestly. "Well, it's getting late. Wanna go home now?"

He smiled at her, and just like when she had given him the cupcakes she had baked, Natsuki smiled warmly back. It was a rare sight, always so beautiful whenever it showed.

"Alright, let's go then, dummy."