A/N: The idea for this fic came out of nowhere. I probably could have expanded on it more, especially on the ending, but by then my inspiration had left me, so...yeah. Anyway, hope you enjoy! It's rated T due to some very minor sexual innuendo, just in case.

It was one of my many, regular trips to and from school when I saw him.

He was winking at me from the display window of that cute, little shop across the street. He had a beautiful light-brown skin and a look that managed to be both smooth and creamy at the same time. And while I tried to resist – really, I did – after two days of seeing him there and him wearing down my defenses, I gave in.

Seriously, it was the biggest and most gorgeous caramel-vanilla cupcake I'd ever seen! It even had chocolate sprinkles on top!

Of course, I couldn't leave the poor thing like that. So on the third day when heading from school, I told my best friend Sarai to go ahead without me, ignored her eye-roll, and crossed the street to the candy store. The tiny bell jangled when I skipped inside. I was the only customer. The place was filled with rows and rows of sweets and cakes and pastries. Heaven!

The elderly woman behind the counter looked up and smiled at seeing me.

"Why, hello there, Ibuki," she said. "Are you here to buy something again?"

"Sure am, ma'am!" I told her brightly.

'Buy something' was an understatement. I practically raided the place once a week. The little allowance I got pretty much went into sweets. Sweets all day, every day. Sanjou-sensei, my Ninjutsu instructor, didn't agree (he was adamant on what a kunoichi should be doing, and it apparently didn't involve stuffing her face with sweets or keeping toffee in her pocket so her kunai got sticky), but hey, what can you do? I love this stuff!

I wandered through the shop, taking in all the sweets and enjoying their smell before I would at last zero in on the caramel-vanilla cupcake with chocolate sprinkles. Observing….calculating….then striking at my target with decisive speed. It's the ninja way. The motherly lady's colleague, a young, pretty woman, had walked into the shop from the back room and nodded at me in acknowledgment. Yep, regular customer. That's me.

The tiny bell jangled again. I was too busy pressing my nose against the glass of the display case and staring at all the pies to pay attention, so I only noticed the new customer when his shadow fell over me.

I peered up. A young man was standing next to me and was regarding me curiously.

Got to admit, he was handsome. He wasn't much older than me - about eighteen - and he was Asian, with a slender and muscular body. I could recognize a fellow martial artist when I saw one, believe me. His dark brown hair was braided in a way that accentuated his lean face and he wore a cap that added to his dashing appearance. The guy was good-looking, absolutely, and with the way his dark eyes sparkled and the small smile that was tugging at his lips, I bet he was someone you could have a lot of fun with.

Then he opened his mouth. "Oh, my god," he said in wonder. "Your forehead is so big!"

I take it all back! The guy was a total jerk!

I straightened. "Well, excuse me for not living up to your expectations!" I snapped. "You've never seen someone with a forehead before?"

His eyebrows flew up, as if surprised at the fact that I was offended. "Not one as big as yours, I haven't."

I glared at him. He gave me a small smile and shrugged in a 'what can you do?' manner. Like it was my fault my head was well-developed! I turned away from him in a huff, not giving him the satisfaction of a reply. Which would have been an awesome comeback, by the way. If I had chosen to answer him. Which I didn't.

My gaze fell on a row of cookies and I swallowed, attempting to take my mind of Mr. Jerk behind me and focus on the sweets. I was so not letting some rude guy ruin my perfect day!

The elderly lady took pity on me. She came over. "We have a lot of new things. I'm sure you'll like them," she said soothingly, trying to salvage the situation. "The cupcakes are especially nice. Did you have something in mind, dear?"

I smiled at her and turned to the display window, opening my mouth to ask for the caramel-vanilla cupcake.

Only to realize that it was gone.

It had happened in the moment I hadn't been paying attention. I froze, my eyes darting around the shop. My gaze fell on the counter, on Mr. Jerk and the elderly woman's colleague there, and as if in slow-motion I saw her take his money and hand over the brown bag. With the caramel-vanilla cupcake. My caramel-vanilla cupcake.

I couldn't do anything about it. I could only stare helplessly as the cupcake disappeared in his pocket. In his pocket! Everyone knew you couldn't keep a cupcake in a pocket! It would totally crumple the shape and ruin the texture!

I gasped. The guy must have heard me because he turned his head and glanced at me. I goggled at him. He blinked at seeing my expression.

"Hey, you okay? You wanted this one?" He hesitated, and for a split second I thought he was going to offer the cupcake to me. Then he shrugged again, ruefully. "You snooze, you lose. Sorry."

Then he left, taking the cupcake with him. The tiny bell jangled.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry!" The elderly lady had slapped a hand to her cheek. Even the colleague looked apologetic. "It was the last one of a limited edition too!"

Of course it was. Just like that, my life was ruined. There was only one thing left to do now...

….And that was call Makoto on my cell phone that evening when I was back in my room in the village where I lived.

I was sitting on my bed, Don-chan curled around my feet, while I explained the terrible thing that had befallen me that afternoon. Admittedly, I'd rather have called Sarai if she hadn't gone to a big family meeting this evening. Makoto was a great friend, honestly. She just wasn't into the same things that me and Sarai were. She wasn't interested in talking and gushing about boys. She didn't have patience for fooling around and what she called 'trivial matters'. She was blunt and had a no-nonsense approach to, well, everything. Nevertheless, she was a good listener and I still loved chatting with her. She was also an awesome sparring partner and was a great help if I needed to polish up on my mad Ninjutsu skillz – even though that particular thing had never been high on my list of priorities.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line after I had finished my story.

"It's just a cupcake," Makoto said finally.

See? Sarai would have made understanding, comforting sounds and would have totally agreed with me. I sighed dramatically.

"But it was my cupcake," I pointed out. "That guy totally stole it!"

"He paid for it, didn't he?"

"Well, yes….But I really, really wanted it!"

Now it was Makoto's turn to sigh. "Listen," she said reasonably. "Can't you just wait for the next batch of cupcakes? I'm sure they'll have some new caramel cupcakes sooner or later."

Well, at least she was trying to console me. "Caramel-vanilla with chocolate sprinkles on top of a limited edition," I mumbled. "But I guess you're right." And she was, I knew that. Still, I couldn't keep from adding wistfully: "I was looking forward to it a lot, though."

Makoto paused again, thinking. "Say, you've got the day off tomorrow, right?" she asked. "Why not come to the dojo? I've got two people over. Twin brothers from China who practice Kung Fu. They're traveling around the world to learn more about different types of martial arts. I bet you'd like to meet them. They're pretty handsome, I suppose."

I grimaced, feeling bad. She was really trying and here I was, wallowing in self-pity. Besides, the idea of two handsome guys had piqued my interest, no doubt about it.

I nodded, although she obviously couldn't see that. "Okay, sure. Sounds great," I said. "See you tomorrow."

Makoto's dojo, one she had inherited from her deceased father, was at the outskirts of a village just outside of the big city, not far from where I lived. It was easily accessible by bus, which was fine by me, because I hated walking long distances, or walking in general (cue disapproving glare from Sanjou-sensei). The wooden building was in a nice spot, under a cherry blossom tree, with a gravel path leading up to it. While it was early afternoon (did I mention I like sleeping in?) the place and its grounds appeared deserted. Mak didn't have a lot of participants yet, unfortunately.

Still, I evidently wasn't the only one around. I could hear voices coming from the dojo when I walked down the gravel path after stepping out of the bus: one familiar and two not so much, although the last two were clearly male. I smiled to myself, the terrible ordeal of the cupcakes forgotten for the moment. I looked forward to seeing Makoto again, but I had to admit, I also looked forward to these supposedly handsome Chinese boys.

I walked up to the doorway, took off my shoes, straightened my shirt and adjusted my ponytail. Hot, handsome guys: here I come!

"Hey, Mak!" I slid open the door panel and tromped inside, waving at my friend. "How're you doing?"

The dojo was as no-nonsense as its owner. It consisted of a single large chamber made of wooden walls, wide windows with shoji screens and training mats on the floor. Maybe it was a bit on the bland side, but since it was mainly a place where people came to learn how to beat other people up, I guess it served its purpose.

Makoto, dressed in her trademark white karate gi and with a yellow hachimaki around her neck (I swear, sometimes I wonder if the girl has a wardrobe at all), was standing at the far end of the chamber with two people; the supposedly hot and handsome guys, whom I unfortunately couldn't see clearly from this distance. At hearing my voice she turned and smiled at me. Her perpetual frown seemed to have diminished somewhat and she was almost grinning. Makoto loved having people around to show off her dojo, and her Rindoukan fighting style, to.

She came over and we hugged. "Hey. Nice to see you!" she said. "I'm glad you decided to come!"

Without further ado and in true Makoto fashion, that was it for the small talk. She took my arm and dragged me over to the two visitors. "Guys, this is my good friend, Ibuki. Ibuki, these are Yang and Yun Lee."

My gaze instantly zeroed in on the guy she gestured to first, Yang, who inclined his head in greeting. Wow, he was handsome, with his lean, muscular build and dark eyes you could melt in. Kind of roguish, really. Actually, come to think of it, while his hair was shorter and lighter in color, he looked a lot like that jerk I'd met the other day...

….and who I only now noticed was standing next to Yang when I shifted my gaze to the guy introduced as Yun.

I stiffened. And gaped. And more of those things you do to convey complete astonishment and/or annoyance at a situation you didn't see coming. At all.

The guy, Yun, was staring at me with the same amount of astonishment. Then he recovered and grinned. "Hey, nice seeing you again, Fivehead!"

Fivehead? Oh, right. Forehead. Fivehead. Ha-freaking-ha.

"You!" I hissed, stalking over and ignoring Makoto's alarmed 'please-Ibuki-not-here!' look. "You're the guy who stole my cupcake!"

Yun blinked. "You mean the caramel-vanilla one?"

"Ha!" I pointed a finger at him triumphantly. "So you admit to stealing my cupcake!"

He gazed in consternation at my accusing finger and held up his hands. "I...what? I didn't steal anything! I paid for it fair and square!" He smiled at the memory. "It was good, though. Worth every penny."

I couldn't believe the guy's nerve to rub it in my face like that! This demanded harsh countermeasures!

"That's it!" I stomped my foot. "I challenge you to a fight, pal!"

Makoto and Yang exchanged glances. Their doubtful expressions wounded me.

"Ibuki, I don't think that's a good idea…," Makoto began, but I held up a hand.

"I know what I'm doing, Mak. Don't worry."

Yang shook his head and shot his brother a warning look. "Don't overdo it. You always get carried away."

"Yeah, yeah. She's the one who challenged me, you know. I say bring it." Yun grinned and adjusted his cap, turning to me. "I'll have you know I'm the best Kung Fu practitioner of my school," he told me. "I have been trained by none other than –"

I kicked him in the shins.

He jumped back, his shock totally worth the underhanded tactic. "The hell!? What's your deal?!"

In response, and in a completely mature manner, I stuck out my tongue at him.

That must have seriously annoyed him, because he growled and charged at me. Not what you would expect from a refined, professional Kung Fu master, but what the heck, he still caught me off guard when he tackled me and I failed to dodge aside in time. Within seconds we were lying on the mat, wrestling. I suspected it wasn't exactly the fight Makoto and Yang had anticipated. It also wasn't exactly my preferred position to fight in, I might add. In a match I mostly relied on speed and quick attacks. Not possible to utilize when you're rolling around on the ground.

And especially not when you get stuck in a headlock.

Yun chuckled, tightening his hold. "Who's the badass fighter now, huh?"

I grunted in reply. So much for a witty comeback. I dug my heels into the mat, pushing and thrashing, but no luck whatsoever. Darn it, the guy had a grip like a vice. Conventional methods clearly weren't going to cut it and his hold wasn't one I could easily wriggle out off, so I decided to use a highly secret ninja technique to get him off of me.

"Ouch!" Yun flinched back, loosening his grip. "You pinched me!"

"Serves you right, jerk!" I yelled. "There's more where that came from!"

Yun jerked around when I attempted to pinch him again, trying to pull away and keep his hold at the same time. We struggled on the mat, each trying to get the upper hand. There was a lot of groaning, panting and squirming involved.

"If you didn't know any better you'd think they were doing something else," I heard Yang remark behind me.

The comment was followed by Makoto's sigh of exasperation and an instant later she had launched herself at us – a small woman, all packed muscle – and was breaking us up. Her fingers hooked in the back of my shirt collar and pulled me away. Gosh, I keep forgetting how strong she is!

"That's enough! Knock it off, the both of you!" she snapped. "You look like a couple of idiots!"

"She's right." Yang had appeared next to her, pushing away his brother. "This isn't a fight, it's a disgrace."

They had a point. We were looking like a couple of idiots. I got to my feet and dusted off my disheveled skirt, embarrassed. Wiping the sweat from my brow, I sneaked a peek at Yun, who thankfully had the decency to look just as abashed. He was shifting around and righting his cap, which had come off partially.

What were we even doing? What was I even doing? Somehow this guy managed to push all my buttons. I had gotten in a fight, something I usually tended to avoid, and I was feeling both riled up, excited and frustrated...a rare combination of emotions for me.

And on top of that, I was feeling pretty guilty too...I'd basically taken Mak's invitation and thrown it back in her face by starting a fight. And all because of, what, a stupid cupcake? I really needed to take a step back and calm down.

I took a deep breath and, figuring that creating some distance would be the best course of action, mumbled an apology to Mak and headed for the exit.

Makoto followed me. "Ibuki…."

I turned back. Her eyebrows had taken a nosedive and she seemed both irritated with her guests (correction: one guest) and with me. Still, she also seemed concerned and was studying me carefully. Yang was frowning too, although he had reserved the scowl for his brother. Yun, for his part, was staring at me, the expression on his face unreadable.

I smiled at Makoto. I wasn't in the mood to stay longer, but I didn't want to rain on her parade, either.

"It's okay, Mak. You go and take care of your guests. I think it's better if I head home."

She hesitated. Miraculously, her eyebrows lowered even further. "You sure?"

"Yeah, no problem. I'll see you later." I glanced past her and pointed a finger at Yun. "You still owe me a cupcake, though."

He blinked, startled, although I had spoken half jokingly and hadn't actually meant my remark. He didn't reply. I turned and left, not expecting to talk to the twins again.

That was, until I got a call from Makoto two days later.

"He would like to see you again," she said without preamble. "Yun."

"Aren't they supposed to have left by now?" I asked, interested.

I was sitting cross-legged outside on the porch, scratching Don-chan behind his ears. He purred, leaning into my touch. I had some time off again, this time from ninja training, and the weather was wonderful. Way too nice to stay angry at what happened at the dojo. But then again, I was never someone to hold grudges for long. Also, I had to admit that I had been overreacting. Kind of. I wasn't the self-reflecting type, but the last couple of days had allowed me to put things into perspective.

"They extended their visit," Makoto replied. There was something in her tone that I couldn't place. "Would you like to come over? I think he's sorry for what happened."

I sighed, but agreed, and so I found myself back at the dojo again next afternoon after school. Makoto met me outside the building and I blinked in surprise. Gone was the white gi. She was still wearing the yellow hachimaki, but now it was complimented by a simple, but nice, blouse and jeans with matching sneakers.

"Yun's in the dojo," she told me and gave me an apologetic look. "Sorry that I can't stay longer. I have an appointment with Yang."

While I was definitely interested in Yun and what he wanted to tell me, this latest development was no less intriguing.

"Got plans?" I asked.

Makoto tugged at her blouse self-consciously. " We, uh, we're going out."

I tilted my head, leaning forward. "Really? Where?"

"Nowhere. Just…" Her cheeks were reddening a fraction. "Out."

I wiggled my eyebrows. "Oh, you naughty girl, you!" I teasingly nudged her with my elbow. "Out on a date?"

"No!" She had gone bright red. "We're just going to take a walk. Maybe spar a little. That's all."

"Riiight….'Sparring'." I giggled and Makoto scowled, flustered. I patted her arm. "I'm just kidding, Mak! Have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Makoto scowled a moment longer, then smirked. She hit my shoulder playfully, making me wince (she packed a lot of punch in that small body) and left with a wave. I waved back, grinning, and headed into the dojo.

Yun was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall. A paper bag was resting next to him and he glanced up at seeing me enter. "Hello there, Fiveh –" he began, then caught himself and cleared his throat. "Uh….Ibuki, is it?"

"That's me. You wanted to talk?" I asked, plopping down next to him. Sure, we'd gotten off on a rocky start, but like I said, I'm not someone who holds grudges for long. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, although he was losing points on the use of that stupid nickname.

He cleared his throat again. Then he abruptly put the bag between us. "Here. I thought you might like this."

After a second of eyeing him, I picked it up and took a peek inside. A cupcake with soft, brown glazing winked back at me. The smell, sweet and pleasant, tickled my nose. Caramel-vanilla. With chocolate sprinkles on top.

"You know, it took me ages to find another shop that sells this flavor," Yun said, breaking the silence. He paused after those words and shifted his weight, adding: "It's not close by, but it's a nice little candy store down at the city center." He halted again, seemed to hesitate. "And, well...I noticed this café next to the store when I was there. How about we have a drink there?" He shifted again, then continued with: "When I show that shop to you, I mean, and only if you're interested, of course. Makoto told me you liked sweets."

I regarded him from the corner of my eye. "Are you asking me out?"

"Nah," he said quickly. Then he scratched the back of his head. "Maybe. I guess so." He shrugged sheepishly. "So how about it? You're willing to give me a chance?"

I thought it over. Yes, he had an attitude. Yes, he was cocky and a bit full of himself. But he really seemed like someone you could have a lot of fun with. And I appreciated that he had gone through the trouble of getting me the cupcake. He had his good points, no denying.

Yes, I realized I wanted to get to know him better - and it looked like Yun was just as interested in getting to know yours truly too.

Making up my mind, I nodded abruptly. "I am," I told him. I picked the cupcake from the bag, holding it up. "And thanks."

Yun leaned back again, smiling. "Well, that's great." His eyes twinkled. "And sure thing."

I smiled too and took a bite out of the icing. It tasted delicious.

Maybe the loss of that first cupcake hadn't been so bad, after all.