disclaimer: KNB © Tadatoshi Fujimaki
note: lol, i didn't really like this when i wrote it (probably because i took a long time to write it...) but i have warmed up to it since then.

Daiki should have known that Satsuki was up to something the minute she knocked on his door and looked at him with too bright of eyes and a smile he knew all too well—it was hercharm-Daiki-so-he'll-give-in-easier smile. And of course, he had let her in despite his instinct to slam the door in her face. If he hadn't let her in she would just stand there on his porch and knock until he opened the door and let her through or until one of his parents came and let her in—either way did not end well for him.

He regrets letting her in as soon she pushes her way past him too quickly and into his kitchen.

"What do you think you're doing?"

He hopes the wariness in his tone wasn't evident—Satsuki was like an animal, she could sense fear.

He takes note of the bad she has in her hand for the first time, eyeing it suspiciously, as she places it on the counter. He also notes that she hasn't answered his question.

"What's in the bag?"

She shuffles through his cupboards. No answer.

"What are you looking for?"

She takes out measuring cups, measuring spoons, a pan, a mixing spoon, a bowl, and who knows what else. And still no answer.

Daiki is beginning to lose the little patience he has.

She hands him the bowl and mixing spoon.

"Wha—?"

"We're baking a cake."

Daiki is already half way out of the kitchen, bowl and spoon forgotten. He yelps when he feels pain shoot out from his head. Satsuki had jumped, grabbed his hair, and pulled his head down to drag him back into the kitchen.

"What the fuck are you doing, you crazy bi—ouch! Let go, Satsuki!"

"We are baking a cake!"

"We are not!"

He stops trying to pry her hand out of his hair and opts to grab her hair in retaliation. She yelps and her hand tightens in his hair even more as she yanks back on his head roughly. He shouts in pain before growling and pulling just as hard on her hair.

It's not long before their hair pulling escalates to clawing at each other with their free hand. Satsuki kicks him in the shin and he drags her down to the floor with him. She pins him down. Daiki could easily throw her off but that would mean she'd pull at his hair and her grip had somehow gotten stronger. Instead, he yanks back on her head.

That is what his parents walk in on.

He let's go of Satsuki and she does the same. He pushes her off of him.

"She started it!" He blurts and points at Satsuki, panicking at the look his mother gives him.

Satsuki stops fixing her hair to punch him in the arm.

His mother walks towards them and Daiki tenses and resists the urge to flinch back. He breathes easy when all she does is help Satsuki up from the floor. He stands and dusts himself off. He walks towards his father who is still standing at the entrance of the kitchen. Daiki stands behind him—he's glad his father is a little taller than him, just tall enough to hide Daiki from his mother's gaze.

His mother calls him over. Daiki walks to her reluctantly. His mother is fixing Satsuki's hair, smoothing it down gently. He scowls in annoyance. Satsuki doesn't even have a scratch on her, she just looks disheveled. He on the other hand has a scratch on his cheek from Satsuki's nails, and it stings.

His mother pats Satsuki's cheek and smiles before finally turning to him, "What were you two fighting about?"

"Nothing important—"

"I wanted to bake a cake with Dai-chan but he was being mean, Auntie!"

"I was not! I just don't want to bake a cake with you!"

His mother shushes them both.

"Bake a cake with Satsuki."

"WHAT?! No! "

And then his mother's nails are digging into his shoulder painfully.

She smiles, "You will bake a cake with Satsuki."

Daiki throws his mother's hand off of him, clutching onto his shoulder painfully. He grabs the bowl and mixing spoon he'd left on the counter. He bites down on his tongue to stop from swearing when he hears Satsuki thank his mother. He jumps when he feels a hand on his shoulder. But, thankfully, it's his father's hand.

"Good luck, son."

Daiki's eye twitches.

It's going to take more than luck to successfully bake a cake with Satsuki. It'd probably take a goddamn miracle for this to not turn into a disaster.

And as his parents leave the kitchen, so do the last vestiges of his hope.

.

.

Three hours later and they have somehow managed to not burn the house down.

Daiki had been forced to supervise everything Satsuki did closely. It wasn't as bad as he thought it'd be she'd done a good job at not messing up and following his instructions. He hadn't even had to tell her that she had to break the eggs and not put them in whole.

All that is left now is to let the cake cool before putting the frosting on it.

Satsuki though, is having a hard time keeping her hands to herself. She keeps dipping her fingers into the chocolate frosting.

"Stop that," Daiki says, "There won't be any left for the cake."

She huffs, pushes away the frosting, and places her hands on the counter.

He sighs in irritation when she begins to drum her fingers on the counter. People would think that out of the two of them Daiki would be the most annoying but Satsuki could be just as annoying as him if not more. Luckily, the timer they set to let the cake cool down goes off. Satsuki smiles brightly and jumps up from her seat.

Putting the frosting on the cake is a lot simpler and easier than baking it. At least, Satsuki is pretty good at this. Maybe not the best but she's not terrible.

When they are finished, Daiki almost smiles because finally they're done. Finally.

And then, Satsuki does something annoying. Really, really, annoying. That'd he told her to stop doing.

She swipes her finger against the cake.

Daiki's eye twitches and he snatches her hand away, before she can put her chocolate covered finger inside her mouth.

"Hey—!"

Her words catch in her throat when he licks her finger, then wraps his lips around it and sucks, wiping away the chocolate. He bites the inside of his cheek to stop from laughing. Her blush looks hilarious. It takes a lot of will to keep his face neutral when he speaks.

"I told you to stop doing that."

"I'm—Idiot, Dai-chan!"

She pulls her hand away from his grasp, and her surprise is quick to turn into indignation. She storms out of the kitchen, probably to complain to his mom about him. His laughter follows her, when he catches sight of her growing blush.

Maybe that would teach her not to bother him on his days off, not that he really minded. Baking a cake with her had actually been alright, not as annoying as he'd initially thought it'd be.

And he'd managed to make Satsuki blush, which is always a good thing.

Things definitely ended well for Daiki.

Now, he just had to get out of here before his mother came looking for him.