CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR – YOUR OWN ESCAPE (NatSuke)

Various shades of yellow, orange and red mixed with the urbane colors of the city as the fall season set in. Though the first few batches of autumnal foliage began peppering parks and gardens all over the city, with some blown in by the chilly wind towards the sidewalks and streets, people everywhere saw this as a thing of beauty rather than unnecessary clutter. Some trees seemed reluctant still to turn their leaves yellow or orange, but it would only be a matter of time before they would follow suit to pave the way for winter. The air was now colder than usual even in the afternoon, and there were times when the evenings required the use of warmer clothing even for just a short trip outside.

For Natsuki, autumn wasn't exactly a good season—she was more prone to the cold than most of the people she knew because of her petite frame, and it only grew worse as winter closed in. Still, she appreciated the splendor that came with it as she walked to and from school, and during the times that she saw the entire city in its urbane glory from the school's rooftop or from higher floors. Other students seemed to enjoy the view from the rooftop as well; more of them started going up to eat their packed lunches there. Natsuki joined them at times with Daisuke whenever their favorite spot by the open field was occupied, sitting by the relatively secluded spot where she ate her lunches back when she was avoiding him.

It was no different today—because their bench was once again occupied, the two of them ate lunch at the rooftop before going over to the balustrades to watch the view while they discussed more manga. Daisuke was now nearing the end of Parfait Girls, while Natsuki was tackling a new shoujo series that Daisuke had showed her, named Bubblegum Rocket Club.

"You know I'm gonna break both of your arms if you drop my copy off the ledge, right?" asked Natsuki, watching Daisuke read.

"Then I'll make sure not to do that," said Daisuke with a chuckle.

"How'd you even find this series?" she inquired, reading another page off of Bubblegum Rocket Club. "It's actually really good, though not as good as Parfait Girls, of course."

"Just something I saw while I was in the bookstore last week," replied Daisuke. "Took a peek, liked what I saw, and I thought you'd like it as well."

"Well, you're not wrong," Natsuki mused. "Never thought you'd be really into a girly shoujo series like this because of Parfait Girls, though," she added slyly.

"Hey, come on, just because I'm a guy doesn't mean I don't enjoy a good shoujo read," Daisuke remarked.

"Or maybe you just like staring at all the pretty girls you find in them," said Natsuki. "Typical of guys like you."

Daisuke shrugged. "Why would I do that? I've already got you."

Natsuki blushed as she punched him in the arm. "Can you stop being gross? And don't you dare call me 'cute'!"

"I wasn't even going to!" laughed Daisuke as he rubbed his arm. "And why would you think that's even gross?"

Instead of answering, Natsuki only grumbled under her breath, still blushing. A short silence followed for a while. Other students set about admiring the view on the rooftop, while some made their way downstairs already. "Didn't you say that your mom's birthday is this Friday?" asked Natsuki after a while.

"Yeah," replied Daisuke. "I was actually thinking of buying her a gift tomorrow, but I dunno what to get her."

"If you want, I can help you find something," Natsuki told him. "I'm also planning on giving something to her."

"Oh, really?" Daisuke stared at her in wonder. "How come?"

"She's the one who's been preparing the meals that got me through lunchtime for a couple of months, so of course I need to give her something back as thanks, dummy." Natsuki sighed, closing her copy of Bubblegum Rocket Club. "It's embarrassing to think that she's been doing all that for me when I haven't even given her anything in return yet. If I get around to giving a gift, I'll add in a thank-you letter as well."

"Are you sure?" asked Daisuke. "Even if you don't give her anything, she's fine with helping you get by. Mom's like that, you know?

"I know, I know," said Natsuki irritably. "I just don't want your mom to think that I'm just coasting on her effort without thanking her or anything."

"Hey, don't worry too much about it, alright? If you really wanna give her something, why don't you just bake her some cupcakes again?" Daisuke offered. "She'll definitely love that."

Natsuki looked unsure. "That's what I've been thinking of. I've saved up some of my allowance for some ingredients, and I'll get it done in no time at all, but . . ."

"But what?"

"I just keep thinking . . . what if cupcakes aren't good enough? What if there's a better gift that I can buy?"

"Trust me, they're good enough," said Daisuke reassuringly. "Mom even told me that if she could bake like you can, she'd start selling them at the diner along with the meals she makes."

That made Natsuki blush again. "Well, if you s-say so. . . I'm gonna start working on them tonight. Shouldn't take me more than a couple of hours, and then I can just give them to you on Friday so you can hand them over to your mom."

"Wait, you're not gonna be the one giving them to her?" asked Daisuke, frowning.

Natsuki looked at him as if he was insane. "Of course not, duh! It's not like I'm gonna go to your place so that I can give them to her in person. That'd be really embarrassing!"

Daisuke looked slightly crestfallen. "Aww, really? I was actually thinking of inviting you over."

Natsuki's eyes widened. "What?"

Daisuke went on, "We're gonna be having a small party after the diner closes on Friday. There's only gonna be three of us there—four, if you come along. We're just gonna eat and celebrate a bit, nothing too extravagant, that's how Mom prefers it. If you don't want to, that's fine, of course!"

"But why the heck would you invite me?" Natsuki hissed.

"Well, Mom told me that if any of my friends wanna come over, I can invite them. And to be honest, she really wants to meet you one of these days. She asks about you sometimes."

Sensing that Daisuke has surely told his mother about her no-lunch episodes back then, Natsuki knew it was a no-brainer that she would inquire about her through him. The thought made her even more embarrassed.

"Did you t-tell her how thankful I was for everything she's d-doing for me?"

"Yeah. She's just glad that you're managing to eat well with her help. She keeps asking me about why you skip breakfast and lunch sometimes, but I don't have any answers to give her for that. . ."

Natsuki sighed. There were days in the three months that had passed when she actually had no lunch or even snacks to bring at school, though she saw no point in telling Daisuke about them if she made sure not to have another near miss by almost passing out in his presence. As long as she managed to hold her hunger in long enough for her to reach lunchtime and be saved by the bento lunches that Daisuke's mother prepared for both of them, everything usually went well. The more she ate the food and appreciated the generosity that came with it all, Natsuki also started feeling a bond form between her and his mother, grateful as she was for her kindness even if they hadn't seen each other yet—it brought back certain memories that touched her a lot.

"Just tell her that I'm doing fine, okay?" she told Daisuke. "There are just some days when things aren't going well, but I've managed past them. With her help and yours, of c-course. . ."

"Don't mention it," said Daisuke, smiling. "So, if you wanna come over this Friday, just tell me. You don't have to go if you don't want to, but Mom's gonna be totes stoked if you do!"

"I'll t-think about it, okay?" Natsuki mused. "But I'm gonna be baking those cupcakes for sure, you can count on that."

Later that evening, back at her house, Natsuki deposited her school things in her room and went to the bathroom for a quick bath. Most of the baking supplies she had just bought downtown were now waiting in the kitchen; she had left them there for a while, musing that the coast was clear while her father was out. It was both a concern and an advantage that Natsuki didn't know where he was and thus what time he would be getting home, so she decided to just assume that he would be coming home early so that she would work quickly.

After dressing up, she went downstairs and set about preparing what she needed—bowls, spatulas, ingredients and such. Measuring cups stood ready to be filled with flour and sugar. Eggs, milk and some chocolate waited inside the refrigerator. In her mind, Natsuki looked back and knew that all the supplies she had bought required her to save up about three weeks' worth of her school allowance.

As she prepared to go to work, she remembered Daisuke's invitation. She knew that he meant well, and it made her consider actually going there to meet his mother for the first time. Of course, there was still the matter of being in front of his father and the older sister that he sometimes mentioned during their conversations, as well as the questions that might come her way about school and her friendship with Daisuke. Given how often Daisuke's mother had been helping her out, Natsuki sensed that everyone in their household has to be at least familiar with who she was by now. As someone who had no close friends for a great part of her school life, she found the thought rather intimidating—because she liked tackling her problems head-on all the time, it also made her feel insecure. Then again, Daisuke said that the event wouldn't be grand in any sense, so there was no need to worry about being scrutinized by an entire crowd of nosy or hostile relatives. Natsuki shook her head, deciding to forestall any decision until after the cupcakes were finished before overthinking about it ruined her focus and drive.

Soon, she was whisking and measuring away, wiping her hands clean occasionally on the frilly pink apron she had bought for herself long ago. Because they had no electric mixer in the kitchen, she had gotten used to mixing cupcake batter by hand during the previous times that she had baked cupcakes. It was a tiresome task at first, but she always dug deep and took it as some form of exercise for her arms and hands. Plus, the times when her hand felt tired from mixing helped her feel that she was putting in a lot of effort into her cupcakes indeed.

Whisk, mix, taste, adjust. It didn't take long for Natsuki to find her groove. Working alone during a time like this was always her ideal time to do what she wanted and needed—it saved her the uncomfortable experience of being watched by others, regardless of whether they showered her with praise or peppered her with criticism. A spoonful of sugar here, a pinch of salt there, some cocoa powder and vanilla extract to go with it, it all went smoothly. Compared to the four vanilla cupcakes she had made for Daisuke—which she had dubbed "catcakes" for the cute cat designs she had put—Natsuki decided to crank things up a notch and bake a good dozen this time, with six of them being vanilla and six of them being chocolate. In between mixing, she went over to the small oven they had and readied it through preheating.

Once this was done, Natsuki took out a cupcake tin from the nearby drawers, placed some cupcake wrappers in the molds, and started scooping the prepared batter in, carefully measuring by sight so as to make all the cupcakes equal in size. As soon as this was done, she took the time to wash up what utensils and bowls needed washing while the heat inside the oven rose to the desired temperature. A quick look at her phone told her that around forty-five minutes had elapsed. Natsuki grumbled, knowing that she could've done things in thirty minutes if she worked hard enough.

As soon as she placed the cupcake tin inside the oven, she heard the front door open. She let out a resigned sigh as she knew exactly who the newcomer was.

Her father walked into the kitchen, looking around with a tired, almost impassive look on his face. The polo shirt he was wearing was unbuttoned, and he smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. The odor always made Natsuki want to gag.

"Are you baking again?" he asked silently.

Natsuki tensed a little. "Yes, Dad."

"Where'd you get the money for the ingredients?"

She looked at him directly. It was always safer to look him in the eye and not seem like she was hiding anything. "From my friends. Group project for Home Economics," she lied.

Her father nodded. "I see. That's good. Better than spending your allowance on stuff like this," he muttered.

You say that, and yet you never give me enough to get me by. "Did you stop by the factory office again?" she asked.

He grimaced unpleasantly. "Bastards told me to come over, and now they're saying that they'll just call me back," he grumbled, suddenly flaring up. "If they don't want to give me the damn job, they should just tell me to my face instead of making me go back and forth every damn day!"

Almost immediately, he turned his irritation towards her. "Don't spend too much of your allowance on this stuff all the time, alright? If your aunt wasn't nice enough to give us money, we'd be starving now!"

You have no idea what it's like to starve, Dad. Instead of blurting that out, however, Natsuki merely sighed. This was the third time in the past few months that her father had been rejected by the places he was applying for a job in. Their only means of sustenance in the meantime was some money and a few food items that her aunt gave them once every few weeks.

"You're not buying any more of those comic books, are you?" her father went on.

"No, Dad," she lied again, fighting to keep her voice steady as she anticipated what else would come. She focused her gaze onto the cupcakes in the kitchen, watching the oven's knob and imagining it tick like a time bomb.

He grunted with brusque approval. "Good. It's bad enough that we have to buy you books for school. You don't need childish crap like that."

Natsuki felt her heart break a little. Her father knew that she bought manga in the past by saving up some of her allowance, but ever since things started going even further downhill for them, he had started cracking down on any new manga that she bought. Conversations like this were no longer new to her, but they always hurt whenever they did happen.

"Yes, Dad," she muttered.

Thankfully, her father seemed to think better than to ask or say anything more. Instead, he ambled out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. There was no mention of dinner at all. Natsuki waited until his footsteps faded from her hearing before letting out a ragged breath. Alone again, she walked over to the oven and squatted down in front of it, watching the cupcakes bake in somber silence.

Making sure that he wasn't leaving the wrapped present he had bought yesterday inside his locker, Daisuke ran through his things one more time before closing his locker door. As she had suggested, Natsuki accompanied him yesterday at the mall to find a suitable gift for his mother. It took them around an hour and some visits inside a number of stores and boutiques before the two of them settled on a silver necklace bearing a rose-shaped pendant and a matching bracelet. Though Daisuke had expected Natsuki to be in charge of what they would choose for his mother, she relayed her opinions as suggestions instead of offering them in an authoritative way that was typical of her whenever she was in a crabby mood. Daisuke didn't mind this one bit, though he was slightly concerned at how subdued Natsuki seemed to be at the time.

Her mood continued even today, as she didn't have much to say during their lunchtime manga discussion. She had arrived to school carrying a rectangular gift box wrapped in bubblegum pink paper and tied with a white ribbon—Daisuke knew that inside this box were the cupcakes she would be giving as a gift. A few of their classmates had asked what she was carrying, but Natsuki shrugged them off as she stowed the gift away in her locker for the day. At first, Daisuke had been worried about the idea of locking away cupcakes and possibly causing them to spoil, but Natsuki had been quick to shut down such a notion.

"Cupcakes keep good within four days to one week of the time they were baked if they're refrigerated and kept in the proper containers and such," she stated as she took the gift box out of her locker carefully. "If you keep them in the freezer, they can even last for a month at most! But again, that's only if you know how to store them properly."

Daisuke smiled, marveling at Natsuki's cupcake-baking knowledge. "Well, I should've known better than to doubt you of all people when it comes to cupcakes."

Natsuki, on the other hand, frowned at him. "Hey, I don't claim to be a cupcake master or something, alright? I just wanted to share what I know so that you don't have to worry about these cupcakes. B-Besides, I want them to be just as good as the lunches your mom has been preparing for me."

"I'm sure those cupcakes are gonna be as awesome as the ones you made last time," said Daisuke. "So . . . you can just give me the box and your thank-you letter, and I'll just bring them over."

"What do you mean?"

"You're not coming over, right?"

Natsuki bit her lip. "Well, to be honest . . . I forgot to write a thank-you letter."

"Oh, d'you wanna write one now before we go? Just make it short, I guess."

"No, I think it'd be better if . . ."

Natsuki's voice trailed off into an incoherent mumble, as if she didn't want to speak the rest of her words out loud. "What was that?" asked Daisuke.

"I said it'd be better if . . ." Again, Natsuki murmured the last part of her sentence in an unintelligible jumble.

"Natsuki, you have to speak up. I can't quite hear you," he told her. She sighed, her face scrunching up with both embarrassment and annoyance.

"I'm gonna go with you, alright?!"

Daisuke stared at her for a moment. Though he knew that he had invited her to come over if she wanted, he had expected her to refuse after the subdued mood she had since yesterday. "But I thought—" he began, but Natsuki cut him off.

"I've been giving it some thought earlier, and I decided that it's better than coming home early and doing nothing," she said sullenly. "My dad usually comes home very late on Fridays, so he won't mind. As long as I don't s-spend too much, that is. . ."

Daisuke frowned thoughtfully, wondering whether something was up at Natsuki's home, or if she was just accepting his invitation so as not to make him feel bad. The look in Natsuki's beautiful pink eyes, however, told him that she was dead serious about this, and he knew better at this point in their friendship than to argue with a serious Natsuki.

"Well, if you're sure, then let's go," he said cordially.

The family diner was connected to a small two-story house, its walls colored with pale red paint, its roof made of simple dark grey tin. The house itself was adorned with a number of small glass windows covered by white curtains from the inside, with a couple of wall lights flanking the front door. The diner, on the other hand, had a larger window that allowed passersby to catch a glimpse of its interior, and some potted plants up front to make it appear more inviting. Hanging above the entrance was a simple wooden sign that read Matsuda Eatery in kanji.

Daisuke walked over to the diner's door and opened it before looking back over his shoulder at Natsuki. "Come on," he said with a smile.

Now having second thoughts, Natsuki hesitated as she looked at the diner, wondering what kind of situation or conversation was waiting for her inside. Still, she'd gotten this far, and she knew it would be extremely rude to skive off now. She sighed, staring down at her wrapped gift for a moment. "Yes," she said quietly.

Together, the two of them went inside. The interior of the diner was small but cozy, with simple wooden tables flanked by matching chairs. The walls, which were covered in light orange wallpaper, were decorated with both simple paintings and some wall lights. The doorway leading to the kitchen stood next to the main counter where the cash register was, and just above the counter hung the diner's menu, showing a number of simple bento rice meals and ramen recipes. Natsuki recognized some of the meals from what she and Daisuke had eaten for lunch in the past.

There were no more customers inside the diner when they arrived. Natsuki surmised that the diner's business hours ended early for today in anticipation of the upcoming birthday celebration. Daisuke led the way towards the kitchen, opening the door and peeking inside. Just before he entered, he signaled her to hide the cupcakes over at the counter, intending for her to give them later as a surprise. Natsuki followed his instructions dutifully, observing the diner's ambience as she went. When she heard an exclamation of pleasant surprise come from within the kitchen, she looked towards the doorway just as a woman came out of it.

Immediately, Natsuki saw from whom Daisuke had inherited his amber eyes and blonde hair. His mother was shorter than he was, though still taller than Natsuki, and as beautiful as Daisuke was handsome. She was wearing a simple white dress with a sky blue apron on top, with her white slip-on shoes making quiet tapping noises against the wooden floor as she walked towards Natsuki quickly.

"Hello there, young lady!" she said cheerfully. "I take it that you're Daisuke's friend, Natsuki?"

Natsuki smiled. "Yes, ma'am, that's me," she said politely.

"Ah, so you're Dai's friend from school, eh?" rang another female voice from the kitchen. Natsuki looked over and saw a teenaged girl peeking out from the doorway. Like Daisuke and Mrs. Matsuda, she had wavy blonde hair and a pretty face, though her eyes were brown instead of amber, and her hair was cut a lot shorter than even Daisuke's, giving her a boyish look. Though she had never seen her before as well, Natsuki guessed that she was Daisuke's elder sister Hiroko.

"Yes, nice to meet you," she told her with a courteous nod.

"Likewise!" said the girl, waving her hand in greeting before quickly retreating back into the kitchen.

"I was in the kitchen preparing a few things with Hiroko over there when Daisuke here suddenly popped in, saying that there was someone I needed to meet," said Mrs. Matsuda genially. "It's good to finally meet you in person, my dear!"

"You too, ma'am," said Natsuki, "and happy birthday."

"I know I said it earlier this morning, but yeah, happy birthday, Mom!" Daisuke added, giving his mother a kiss on her cheek.

"Thank you so much, you two," said Mrs. Matsuda happily. "Now, Daisuke, if you don't mind, go on ahead and help your sister in the kitchen, okay? I'll join you as soon as I get some extra ingredients from the house."

In the next thirty minutes that followed, Natsuki decided to settle down by sitting quietly on one of the diner's chairs. She had wanted to help in the kitchen so as not to seem like a freeloader, but both Mrs. Matsuda and Daisuke would have none of it, pointing out that she was a guest. And so, Natsuki waited for them patiently and nervously as they prepared food. Soon, her stomach began to rumble slightly as she smelled a variety of delicious odors wafting from the kitchen.

When it was time to eat, Daisuke and his sister took turns preparing the table where they would be eating. The fare was simple but heavenly all the same: pork teriyaki, mapo tofu and stir-fried vegetables, all served with some fried rice. Natsuki was familiar with all three recipes, but that was no reason for her to not enjoy them immensely, especially since Mrs. Matsuda's cooking was consistently excellent. Though Natsuki was conscious of the idea of being seated with Daisuke's family, it didn't take long before she began to feel comfortable, thanks in no small part to Daisuke's efforts to talk to her and the openness with which his family conversed with one another and with her, making her feel as if she had known them for a long time now.

As time passed, Natsuki began forming initial impressions of Daisuke's family for her to mull on. Mrs. Matsuda was very affable, though Natsuki could see a bit of tiredness behind her eyes that told her of a woman who worked and strove hard underneath her jovial exterior. Hiroko, meanwhile, provided much of the humor in the conversation with her candidness and her witty remarks, causing Natsuki to immediately warm up to her—being only a couple of years older than her and Daisuke, Hiroko didn't have any difficulty bonding with them as a fellow teenager. Daisuke, of course, was his own laid-back and good-natured self, and Natsuki didn't mind that one bit. She expected Mr. Matsuda to arrive at any moment and meet her for the first time as well, but Natsuki did not worry about the thought too much, for she no longer felt as nervous as she was when she arrived.

The dinner was capped off with a surprise birthday cake brought out by Hiroko from the kitchen, while Daisuke took this time to also surprise his mother with the gifts that he and Natsuki had brought. When Daisuke told her that Natsuki had baked some cupcakes for the occasion, Mrs. Matsuda became pleasantly surprised indeed, and explained how she found Natsuki's baking to be worthy of a spot in a pastry shop. Hiroko, who had just tasted the cupcakes for the first time, also complimented her baking and remarked how she wouldn't mind getting fat from eating more of them. Not used to such praised being heaped on her work, Natsuki felt both proud and embarrassed, especially when Daisuke looked at her and winked.

After the celebration, Natsuki walked quietly beside Daisuke, who had volunteered to accompany her at the nearest street corner and see her off. He wanted to go with her all the way to her house, but she refused adamantly, wondering with anxiousness about how her father would react to seeing her with a boy—assuming he was already at home.

"That was great," Natsuki told him as they walked. "I mean, really, I enjoyed myself. Thanks for inviting me."

"You're very much welcome," said Daisuke. "Remember what Mom said, okay? You're not exactly a stranger to us, so you can come over any time you want. If you want, we can grab a bite at the diner after school in the future!"

"That does sound nice," said Natsuki, nodding. "Anyway, I wasn't expecting both your mom and your sister to be so neat. I mean, your mom's definitely a given, but your sister? I was expecting her to be a bit . . . bossier, from what you've told me about her before."

"Well, if it's related to her part-time work, she can be really serious," Daisuke stated, "but she's totally chill when it's at home or at the diner. I'm glad you two got along, even if it was at my expense sometimes," he added with a chuckle.

Natsuki laughed with him, remembering some of the jokes that she and Hiroko made about Daisuke while they ate. As always, Daisuke was a good sport about it. Just then, she remembered something. "Why was your dad not around? Is he still at work?"

Daisuke fell silent. When he didn't reply for a few seconds longer than usual, Natsuki looked at him. "What is it?" she asked.

"Well . . . it's something that I haven't told you about before."

Natsuki stared at him. She could tell that Daisuke was always more than willing to share things about him, so she found it odd that he would be withholding something from her. Still, she was fine with it, seeing as how she had her own secrets to keep.

"Do you wanna tell me now, or . . . ?" she asked.

"Well, I guess I'll tell you now. I mean, I didn't talk about it before because I figured that there wasn't that much of a need to." Daisuke gave her a sad smile. "The thing is . . . Mom and Dad, they're . . . divorced."

Natsuki felt her heart drop, taking in the gravity of what he had just stated. All of a sudden, as she imagined everything, she looked back in her mind at Mrs. Matsuda's kind-natured face and remembered the tired look behind her eyes once more.

When she didn't say anything, Daisuke went on with a short laugh, "Sorry about that. Not the best of topics, I know."

"No, I . . . I'm sorry to hear about that," Natsuki managed.

"It's okay. They've been divorced for about four years now. Made things a bit more complicated, lemme tell you."

Natsuki did not know how a divorce that broke a family could complicate things just "a bit," but she imagined that maybe Daisuke just didn't want to think about it all too much, hence he chose to speak rather lightly of it. Out of curiosity, she wanted to ask more, but she knew that such things were too private to be asked about, even between good friends. Daisuke, however, continued for her.

"You see, Mom found out that Dad was seeing another woman. She took it rather well—I mean, she was really frustrated about it, but she didn't do anything rash like tracking down the woman or attacking Dad for it. Hiroko wanted to, but Mom stopped her. It was a hard time for us three back then. Dad was trying to do his best to talk to us, but Mom told him that it would be better if they settled it legally after things died down. Looking back at everything . . . it's just surreal for me. Like it happened a lifetime ago."

Their pace slowed down as they continued walking. The chilly air of the evening seemed to bite a bit deeper now. Natsuki marveled at the way Daisuke spoke about it all—as if he had definitely moved on from it. She wondered if it was the same for his mother and sister now.

"Does your dad come to visit?" she asked tentatively.

"Not really," replied Daisuke. "Mom was okay with him visiting, but I guess he just didn't want to show his face around here that much after what happened. I want to think that it's more out of shame than the idea that he doesn't want to see us anymore."

No father around. Given her situation at home, Natsuki didn't know whether to envy or pity Daisuke. Spending time with his family earlier had made her very happy, since it was probably the first time in a very long time that she actually felt what it's like to be part of a happy home. Then again, it also made her remember her own mother and of times long past, times that seemed like distant memories from another lifetime now, echoing Daisuke's words.

When the two of them reached the street corner, Daisuke turned to Natsuki. "Well, here we are. Are you sure you're gonna be fine walking home on your own?"

"Yeah, I'll manage," replied Natsuki. "You always ask me that even if you know what I'm gonna say already."

Daisuke shrugged. "It may seem like a futile exercise, sure, but I just wanna make sure you're okay," he remarked, chuckling.

"You're really not gonna stop doing that, are you?" she asked, blushing a little.

"I'm just looking out for you, okay? Besides, I could see earlier that there's something you're thinking about. Is everything really okay?"

Natsuki jerked slightly, caught off guard again by Daisuke's near-uncanny intuition for anything involving how she felt. "Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better now after going to your place," she admitted. "Things just got hairy again at home for the past two days, that's all. Stress gets to me sometimes."

Silence fell for a few moments. Daisuke walked closer to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I understand. I know you're a strong girl who doesn't like being helped, Natsuki, but I know that there are times when things just get too rough. Whenever that happens, just talk to me, okay? I'll do what I can to help you out."

Natsuki looked at him imploringly. "You really like saying embarrassing things, d-don't you?" she stammered.

"What's embarrassing about that?" asked Daisuke with an amused grin.

Natsuki sighed, slightly annoyed. "You're always so nice to me, and it j-just bothers me sometimes, b-because . . ."

Daisuke raised his eyebrows. "Because?"

She looked up and stared directly into his eyes, knowing that if she would ever tell him something like what she was about to say, she should at least do it with her head held high. "It's r-really sweet, okay? I'm not used to anything like this, so it feels weird. Whenever I feel bothered or down, manga and baking are the things I go to in order to feel better. I've never gone to a person before and felt this . . . happy. I might be making a big deal out of this, but I can't do anything about it, especially since . . . t-there are times when you're . . . y-you're all I think about."

She paused for a moment. Realizing just how embarrassing her thoughts and words were, she punched him in the arm. Daisuke let out a cry of both surprise and pain. "Hey, I didn't even do anything!" he exclaimed, rubbing his arm.

"That's for making me say all that!" she blurted out.

"Natsuki, you know I didn't make you say all that," said Daisuke indignantly.

The truth of his statement made Natsuki bite her lip. In lieu of a reply, she leapt towards him and embraced him tightly.

In spite of his average-looking frame, Daisuke was a lot sturdier than he looked, with his torso hardly moving from the impact of her hug. Then again, Natsuki mused that perhaps it was because she was so light that her weight barely registered anything. Their height difference also meant that her head was only level with his chest, but she didn't mind one bit, especially when she soon felt Daisuke's arms embrace her in return.

When she broke free, she looked straight into his eyes again. "Making me say and do all these cheesy things . . . I hope you're happy," she muttered petulantly.

"You do realize that you just said and did all that on your own, right?" said Daisuke, smiling.

She blushed furiously, unable to look away from Daisuke's poignant amber eyes. Daisuke, on the other hand, seemed also speechless and incapable of tearing his gaze away from her.

"I have to go," she said with a huff. "I'll just see you at school on Monday, then."

"Why do we have to wait until then?" asked Daisuke. "Don't you wanna meet tomorrow or Sunday?"

"I'll think about it," she replied. "Thanks again for today, dummy."

"Any time," Daisuke responded softly.

Natsuki wanted to say more, but her heart was beating so fast that she couldn't manage to form another sentence. Instead, she turned away and walked down the street towards the direction of home. Daisuke, in turn, began walking back towards his house; his form soon receded into the distance as Natsuki looked back towards him. The sensation of his arms embracing her still lingered on her body and mind, and she knew that it would be another thing she would be thinking about later.

She slowed down her pace, her mind wandering back towards all the time that she had spent with Daisuke, about how it all led up to this. She remembered his sketch of her, and all the occasions that he offered her a helping hand without even being asked to. She remembered how he had rushed off to get her some food when she nearly collapsed, and how he had never faltered in keeping watch over her since then. She looked back to their first encounter and marveled at how much things have changed between them, from being an unlikely pair of friends to being . . . this. In her eyes, Daisuke was a handsome shoujo protagonist come to life, and she was the girl who was being inevitably drawn towards him.

Natsuki smiled to herself. It all sounded a lot like a typical anime cliché, but she didn't care one bit, not when it made her this happy.