Houki gave off a rather large size. Sitting by herself in the rather spacious dining hall of IS academy, she had been rather down in the dumps lately. Slumping further down into the circular booth, the only thing on her mind was a certain boy. A boy that she had been enamored with since they were children, someone who she loved, but he only saw her as a close, yet somewhat violent friend. Since their almost 'kiss' around a week ago, the girl fell into her current depressive state, believing that Ichika truly did not see her as a woman. Letting out another deep sigh, Houki picked at her half-eaten meal with her chop-sticks, not feeling all that hungry at the present moment. It was a rather simple and efficient Japanese meal as well, not too many calories, while giving her the correct amount of nutrition as well. To anyone else however, it would look like something incredibly boring to consume. Without her noticing, Ichika strolled into the dining room. The room itself was rather empty, most of the other students had finished their lunch ages ago. Since the Gospel incident, all use of IS units had been prohibited, until the exact causes of the catastrophe could be analyzed. It also didn't help that IS usage became more unpopular with the general populace of the world as result of the experimental unit going rouge.
With his new-found free time, Ichika found himself able to do all of his old hobbies again that he needed to cut down on since his arrival at the prestigious school. One of his favorites past-times was cooking/baking as he did quite a lot of it during his childhood. Though lately it seemed that he could only bake sweet confections rather than creating actual meals. Maybe his other skills had deteriorated over time? Deciding it was best to not mull over such details, he tried to find Houki in the common space. Last time he heard, she was moping around in the room. Noticing that she had been rather down in the dumps lately, Ichika wanted to bake her a small cake to cheer her up. Holding a white container in his hands, he put quite a lot of effort into making such a treat, using the right amount of frosting, attaining a very moist spongy cake and even getting fresh fruit from the gardening club to use as toppings. A few minutes went by of the special teen scanning up and down the rows of booths and tables until he actual found the girl. He hadn't seen Houki in a few days and her appearance slightly shocked him. Bags under her eyes, her hair not done up in her usual ponytail cascaded down her back, and a demure expression made her look quite cute to anyone really, but it made Ichika concerned.
"Yo." was all that he need to say. Surprised at the sudden noise, she looked up to see Ichika's warm and smiling face. Almost immediately she had an urge to give him a warm smile in return, but maintained her sullen disposition.
"Oh Ichika it's you."
"Don't you 'oh Ichika it's you' me. Don't you say hi to your friends anymore?" teased her crush. Of course the word 'friend' hurt the most.
"I'm sorry, I've just been tired lately."
"Hey, don't take it personally, I was just teasing you a bit. I brought you a present today. Here open it." Ichika slowly place the small container in front of her. Surprised, she looked at Ichika and then back towards the container. Opening it, she saw that it was a cake. This cake had strawberry frosting adorned with actual strawberries and spelled out 'For Houki' in blue frosting. The sight of such a treat made the girl frown somewhat. She was never one for sweets and the calorie-filled pastry would ruin her perfect diet as well. Closing the small box, she pushed it towards Ichika.
"Sorry, I don't do sweets." By her words, his expression became a bit downfallen.
"Are you sure? I made it especially for you! And you didn't even taste it yet."
"I'm sure. I do appreciate the thought." And once again, she stared back into her half-eaten meal. Most of it had surely gone cold by now.
"Ah fine, if that's how it's going to be. Anyways I'll be off, I'll give this to Cecelia if you don't want it." Houki's ears peaked at that last part. Cecelia? What does she have to do with any of this?
"What? Why would you give it to someone else?" Ichika found the question a tad bit weird. What was the problem in giving away the cake?
"Well you don't want it. Cecelia likes my baking a lot and I thought she might like this one too." At the piece of info, something clicked inside Houki's semi-oblivious mind. If another girl liked his baking at ate his creations regularly then that would mean that they would be spending more time with him! Also they would make Ichika very happy too! She knew from experience that nothing made the teen happier than seeing other people enjoying his food. She had been such a fool! Why hadn't she had realized this earlier?!? Reaching out to the box in Ichika's hands, she forcible took it and placed it back in front of her.
"On second thought, you made this for me so it would be the courteous thing to eat it. No need to bring in anyone else. Especially that girl...' said the girl as she mumbled the last part of her sentence. Ichika's expression brightened and he took a seat right next to her. Her face flushed from the proximity, but as usually, Ichika was too dense for such things. Taking the small fork from inside the box, she began to dig in, Bringing a forkful to her mouth, she slowly placed it into her mouth. As soon as she did, a burst of flavor hit her very being. It was delicious! Incredibly so! Strawberries, cream, sugar any kind of flavor hit her palate all at once. She turned to Ichika, a grand smile on her face and a small tear in her eyes.
"T-This is incredible! How did you make it taste so unbelievable?"
"Well practice I guess. Go on then, eat the rest of it!" said Ichika, responding kindly to the flattery. With gusto the girl ate the sweet confection. Bite after bite, she wished the cake would never run out. Around 10 minutes later, she disappointingly found the container empty. Houki felt rather full at the moment too, who knew such a food could be that filling? Ichika sported a wide smile. He truly did love seeing people enjoy his food so much. Staring at the girl, she seemed transfixed at the empty box, though he noticed she had traces of frosting still on her defined chin and around her mouth. Taking out a handkerchief from his breast pocket, he motioned the girl to come closer to him.
"I-Ichika?"
"C'mere, you have frosting all over your face." said the boy as he presented the small piece of cloth. Blushing, she went in closer, her heartbeat increasing at his gesture. Bringing the cloth to her face, he gently cleaned the residue from it. Gentle motions up and down, left and right, he made sure to leave no trace.
"There all finished. I'm glad to see you like it so much!"
"Yeah i-it was pretty g-good." stuttered the 'warrior' as her face still tingled from his touch. Ichika made himself stand up from the seat. One of his shows was coming up and now he actually had the free time to watch it. However Houki quickly grabbed his lone hand with both of hers.
"Houki?"
"Ichika, do you mind if we do that again sometime? I really liked doing this with you." She dared not look into his eyes, a look of vulnerability made itself obvious and she doubted that he would appreciate such a 'pathetic' expression. Ichika warmly smiled at her. He didn't know why, but he found it cute when she acted shy like this. Using his free hand, Ichika gently lifted her face to look at him. At this point her face as red as it could be but she enjoyed his touch oh so much.
"Of course Houki. Anytime you want." said the boy in a soft tone. He felt it was important to spend time with her, just enough to return her to regular 'Houki' levels. She acted quite weirdly during these past moments. Releasing his hold right after, she did the same to his hand. Waving goodbye, he left her in the room, he left her with a warm sensation flooding her body. Her face still red, she slide back into her seat, her mind still quite fuzzy.
'Cakes don't have too many calories right?'
Ichika himself felt a tad bit weird hanging out with the girl. He couldn't place it, but it was nice simply being with her. Really nice.
'Maybe I should ask her to watch my shows with me next time? Does enjoy soap operas?' wondered the boy as he made his way down the hall back to his dorm. He had to think this one over.
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