notes: it's been a busy month, what with all the exams and studying, and when i thought that we were finally done with exams, my club comes and shoves exams into my face which is on 20th June and that sucks because St. John is really hard ... bUT i have arrived with an update for this frickfrack story and i hope you'll enjoy!

ps: and yes they work in a bakery because i was hungry when i came up with that idea and why not. also self-promotion: i have a twitter and iS THAT UMI IN MY AVATAR?!

and yes there is a lot of cussing and i'm sorry. i've never used this much profanity in a story before and now i feel very guilty.


Four things were going on in Miku's mind at that moment: one) it was raining very heavily, two) well yes duh are you stupid, yes it was raining, three) she was very angry at the weathermen for being darned liars, and four) She needed food. Very badly.

.

one

to court a kasane teto

(with the help of a hatsune miku)

(and cheese tarts too)

.

.

.

Miku stepped into the bakery, the warm air hitting her face like an exhale. She sighed with relief and set down her umbrella in the stand by the corner, before shaking her wet hair out of its ponytail and running her hand through the strands in a failed attempt to untangle them. The scent of croissants wafted into her nostrils from the kitchen and her stomach growled a little, helplessly. Maika must be baking for the event tomorrow.

"I'm home!" She called out, taking off her shoes with a sniff of disgust upon finding out that they were sopping wet. And they were brand new, too ... She fingered the fabric of her jacket and frowned. Why did it have to rain today? And why was she wet despite having an umbrella? And the weather people on the radio's morning news were liars — they'd said that there would be a little rain, but it ended up as a thunderstorm. A little rain my butt, thought Miku sadly as she trudged into the house.

She'd forgotten that she had cleaning duty on that day, plus she'd lost track of time in the library whilst studying, all of which made the class representative, Gumi, extremely mad, and Miku had landed herself with two hours of cleaning andone more hour of self-studying before she could explain properly. She didn't even get to text Maika — dang, she'd forgotten about Maika — and she hoped that her older sister isn't mad, because once Maika became mad, she'd be a horrifying monster. It wasn't her fault that she was bad at studies and needed to revise at least three months early before the actual exam ...

With a sad sigh, Miku entered the kitchen and greeted Maika glumly. Please don't be mad, please don't be mad ...She chanted in her head, like a mantra. Maika turned to her with a bright smile that fell immediately when she landed her eyes on Miku's wet figure.

"Miku! What happened? You're wet!" She cried out.

"Well, duh," said Miku before she could help herself. Maika narrowed her eyes at the younger girl, who gulped. "I mean, yes, I am wet, that's because it was raining, Maika."

"Don't you have an umbrella?" Maika asked with a tilt of her head. Miku shrugged. "Well, you better go get changed and have a warm bath — I don't want you destroying the floorboards, and I don't want you to have a cold either. Go, now!" She ordered, pointing to the door.

"Yes, ma'am," sighed Miku, and she walked away to her room upstairs. The rain had slowed a little, but judging by the lull of the rain hitting the roof tiles, it was still quite heavy. There wasn't any customers in sight, which explained why Maika was in the kitchen, baking. It made sense, though: who would leave the house in such a terrible weather?

After she took a bath and pulled on a warm shirt to wear, Miku returned downstairs to help Maika and hopefully eat some croissants while she's at it. The oven chimed, signalling a fresh batch of baked goods. Miku's stomach growled again and she hurried to the kitchen to make some lunch. The croissants could wait until later because she was just too hungry. Gumi didn't let her eat lunch, how mean ...

While she was struggling with the ribbon of her apron, a pair of firm hands pushed hers away and tied the ribbon for her. She smiled gratefully. "Thanks Mai—" A pair of blue eyes stared at her and she jumped. "...ka ..." A fourteen-year-old boy, Len, was standing behind her. He waved happily. "You're not Maika."

"Obviously not," chirped Len. "Hurry up, Miku, Maika needs you to fill in the chocolate cream for the croissants!"

"Why can't Maika do it herself?" She grumbled, but walked over obediently anyway. Maika bonked her on the head with the piping bag before handing it to her.

"Because I need to bake," Maika grunted, leaving Miku with the tray of hot croissants and heading over to the table, where she began to knead dough. Len was inserting a tray of biscuits into the oven. Miku sniffed sadly and began filling the croissants with chocolate.

"That reminds me — Miku, have you eaten anything?" Len asked, and she instantly loved him about one hundred times more than she used to. What a beautiful angel, she thought, offering food when no one thought to. People who offer her food automatically become angels to Miku.

"No, Len, I have not eaten yet, because Maika has been pestering me to go get changed and have a warm bath, and before I could eat anything she made me fill up the croissants, and can I please have some food?" She said, very aware of Maika glaring daggers into her back.

"I thought you ate in school," the girl grumbled, shaping the dough glumly. "There's some porridge I originally prepared for dinner, but oh well, you can heat it up and eat it."

Miku grinned victoriously and ran to the refrigerator. "Thanks, Maika!" She cheered and chucked the bowl into the microwave. "Oh yeah, Len — why are you here? It's not your shift yet, is it?"

"Yeah, that ..." the boy said, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. "I ... had something to talk to you about, Miku. And later! We'll talk later! Not in the kitchen!" He added hastily when Miku began to tell him to just talk in the kitchen. She looked at him strangely. Was Len always this fidgety and nervous? And — ugh, was he blushing? Has Len finally transformed into a giggly schoolgirl, like she always thought that he would?

"Is it about the cake I stole from your house the other day?" She asked suspiciously. "If it is, I'm not sorry for it, as mean as it sounds. You promised me a cake. And I like cake. So I took the cake."

"It was for you," said Len offhandedly, returning to the table to make more biscuits. "It was an experimental cake, too, so I didn't really mind."

"Oh, okay—" She paused. "Wait, not okay, experimental? For what? Your grandmother's birthday?"

"No!" Len cried, flustered. "It's ... related to the thing I'm going to tell you about later."

"What thing?"

"Later!"

A cheery ding came from the oven and Len hurried over to retrieve his biscuits. Maika and Miku stared at his back, Maika amusedly and Miku very suspiciously. If Len noticed the stares, he did not care, probably because he was too busy blushing like an idiot.

.

"What thing?" Was the first thing Miku demanded after Len pulled her into the storeroom. He looked rather taken aback by the question, before calming down by taking deep breaths. Then he had on such a serious face Miku felt very threatened. What in the world happened to Len? Did he go through some intense transformation? Did he eat something bad? Or - oh dear - was this payback for the cake-stealing incident?

"Miku, Miku, I need your help. Please." Len said, with a very sincere bow. Miku just frowned a bit and crosses her arms.

"For what?" She asked. She would have raised an eyebrow, but the problem was that she didn't know how to and she'd look stupid doing it, anyway. Raising eyebrows wasn't a Miku thing.

"For ..." Len meekly tapped his fingers together. "Matchmaking." His voice is quiet and scared.

Miku's face lit up. No, seriously. It lit up. She was glowing so much she could be a star on a christmas tree. Len seemed to consider this for about three seconds before he decided against it. "Oooh. Okay. Who is it? Is it some hot lady? Or have you revealed your secret love for young children? Or is it that one beautiful friend at History class?"

"It's none of them," said Len, flustered. "It's ... Kasane Teto."

Miku was still smiling. Then the smile dropped and she scowled furiously. "What? Kasane? That little ungrateful brat of a human being? I trusted you! I thought you had superb tastes, Len!" She cried accusingly.

"Hot ladies and children and Luka aren't good tastes!" Len said defensively. Then, as a hasty afterthought, he added: "Luka's too out of my league, anyway. She's probably got her eyes set on some really ... well, cool human being."

"You never know unless you try," said Miku with a very perverted smile. Len backed away from her a bit. "Better Luka than Kasane. That twat. I hate her so much, Len, THIS MUCH. LOOK." She spread her hands wide open and flapped them in a very exaggerating fashion. One of her arms slapped Len's face accidentally and he cried out in pain.

"Ow! I know, you don't like Kasane Teto, but I still—"

"Ugh, you ... ugh. Don't call her that! I hate her! Absolutely hate her! I hate her as much as I hate mouldy spaghetti! I hate mouldy spaghetti a lot. A LOT." Miku said, and started flapping her arms again when Len hastily took her hands and pinned them against her waist to prevent further painful accident slaps in the face.

"Why do you hate Kasane Te— Kasane so much anyway?" He asked, rather defensively. He was very aware that his voice was becoming a bit of a whine. Miku obviously noticed, because she smirked devilishly. But then the thought of Teto made her so angry that her smirk twisted into a scary expression. Len backed away a bit more.

"You know those darned people who suck the flavour out of potato chips and when you ask them about it, they look at you with a stupidly innocent face and ask you 'what did I do?' Yeah?" She took a deep, calming breath. "Well, Kasane Teto's like that, except that she EATS THE POTATO CHIP and she will LOOK AT YOU WITH A STUPID SMILE and say," She put on a simpering, high voice that was supposed to imitate Teto's, "'yes, I ate it. And is there anything you can do about it? No.' she's abhorring." She concluded with ultimate finality.

"But I like her ..." Len mumbled, defeated.

"You're wasting my ultimate matchmaking skills on this. It's stupid." Miku said firmly.

Len looked at her sadly. Her breath hitched. Len even did that cute creepy schoolgirl-ly eyelash thing. He was supposed to look ridiculous while doing it, but he managed to pull it off, somehow. Even Miku could't do it, and she's a girl. She felt very offended.

"Fine," Miku retaliated. It was Len's turn to glow.

"But I don't want to be seen with you, you dorky trash. Or with Kasane, either. You both disgust me." She said with a sniff. "Still don't understand how teenage boys can like a ... a thing like that ..." She mumbled under her breath. The mumble did not go unheard.

"Then how are you going to help me?" Len asked, confused.

Miku thought about this for a bit while tapping her cheek rhythmically with her fingers. "Through text messages, obviously." She said matter-of-factly after a moment. "Wait — do you even have my phone number?"

"Of course I do!" Len said, taking out his phone to show her. "So, Miku ... when do we start?" He asked, bobbing on the balls of his feet excitedly. Miku made a disgusted face again.

"I wish you had a crush on someone else. Someone nicer and sweeter. Someone not Kasane. Like Neru, for example," she said thoughtfully, looking at her fingers. "Neru is nice and sweet and she eats all my leftover food. I like her. You apparently don't."

"I like Neru!" Len said sadly. "Just not in that way. I like her like I like you."

"Don't bunch me together with Neru. I'm supposed to be on a higher level of like, right?"

"The person on a higher level of like isn't Teto ...?"

Miku nearly stormed out of the room, she was so angry. Of all the people! Young middle-schoolers have no taste lately. She sighed and tapped her cheek. "I'm going downstairs to help Maika. The rain has stopped and I'm sure customers will be coming soon." And she walked out from the room, leaving Len alone.

At the end of the day, Len was over the moon, Miku was positively pissed off, and Maika was very amused by the two of them.

.

"As they say, food brings two people together ..." Miku quoted grandly with an elaborate twirl of her index finger. She was sitting cross-legged on a wooden chair while Len knelt on the floor, drinking it all in. She wondered what people would think if they walked in at that moment.

"Do you mean that I have to make food for Teto and she'll fall in love with me?" Len asked hopefully, clasping Miku's hands in his. She shook him away.

"Yes, or at least, that would be my reaction. Give me food and I'll love you." She said.

"But I've given you food many times and you're still not in love with me?" Len said confusedly, scratching his head.

"I am, why do you think I follow you around so much in the bakery?" She replied, patting his head like he was her pet. Len even leant in to her palm and let her rub his head. She felt very strange. And ... his hair was soft ...

"What are you doing, you two weird humans?"

"YUUMA!" Len screamed, throwing himself away from Miku's hand. She stared at the boy by the door intensely, making Yuuma blush. "Yuuma, what are you doing here?"

"It's my school, dummy, why wouldn't I be here?" Yuuma asked, ruffling his friend's hair. "Besides, I heard that Miku would be here ... so I ..."

"Len, do you hear that?" Miku asked, frowning at the blonde. "Is it me, or do I hear a weird creep named Yuuma saying something?"

"It's just you," confirmed Len. Yuuma looked very hurt.

"What were you guys talking about?" Yuuma tried again. Miku squinted at him suspiciously and stared at Len, who shook his head furiously at her.

"Len says we can't tell you," she said, rather sadly. She seemed keen on spreading Len's secret to the whole world. Then again, she was always like that. "Pity."

"Why not?" Yuuma asked, making a sad face at Len.

"You've been asking questions ever since you stepped foot into this room," he remarked. "Please go away. I feel like my personal privacy has been trod on."

"What personal privacy?" Yuuma teased.

"Yet another question," sighed Miku. Yuuma turned bright red and stood up hastily. "He's going now," she told Len.

"I never said so, did I?" Yuuma sniffed disdainfully. Miku smiled at him angelically, her smile asking him a silent question: didn't you? "Fine, fine. I'll be going ... geez, get off my back, will you?"

"Bye, Yuu!" Len called as the boy closed the door. He turned back to the older girl with a frown. "Do you think he'll be listening outside the door?"

"There are windows, Len, we can just look out and check if he's standing there," she replied matter-of-factly. Len felt mildly embarrassed. "The point is, I wanted you to make food for Teto to win her heart and soul over to your hands, or whatever it is you want to happen. I think we should make sweets. Girls like sweets."

"We make sweets, Miku," said Len, confused. "We work in a bakery!"

"That's the point," hissed Miku, frustrated. "Good lord, are you stupid? No, you're not, Len, don't cry, I'm sorry!" She hastily added when the boy hung his head sadly. "We should go and ask Kasane what sweets she likes. Or we should just bake biscuits if you want—"

"It should be perfect," insisted Len, looking determined. Miku pushed her chair away from him in case he started grabbing her leg. "Let's go and ask her now!"

"But it'll be strange, wouldn't it?" She said hastily as she tried to pull herself away from Len, who was dragging her to the door. "An upperclassman from another school ...? In your school? It's really weird, right? Right? I'll just watch! From the sidelines!"

"An upperclassman from a prestigious school that we look up to," Len said seriously, and Miku made a noise as though he stabbed her in the heart. "And the school's star athlete, no less."

"Still weird!" She yelled, slapping his hand. He was fourteen, so why was he so much stronger than her? Was he going through puberty? Lord save her soul, Len is going through puberty.

"Can you at least stand outside the door while I ask?" He begged hopefully. Miku looked away in case he tried to pull of that creepy eyelash thing again. "Please?"

"I'll do the texting thing," she said hurriedly, whisking out her phone. "Remember our deal? I would help you through text messages, so that I wouldn't be seen!"

"It's not that embarrassing, is it?" Len said, finally slowing down. "It's just match ... making ..."

"But for Kasane," she hissed. "Ew, Kasane, I can't even say her name properly. It makes me choke on my own spit."

"You can watch me from the other building, then," he said, pointing to a rather isolated building. "That way, you can see my class clearly and not be seen." He was very pointedly ignoring her remarks about Teto and Miku sighed.

"I'll just stand in the canteen, the view is okay there too," she said finally. "Running all the way to the other building is hard!"

"But you're an athlete?"

"It's still hard, do you think I'm some sort of running goddess?"

"Let's go, then," Len said with a smile, and began dragging her off to his class, or, as she called it, her hell. "You're being a little too melodramatic, you know," he added.

Miku felt very hurt.

.

12.01pm
To: Lenno
From: Miku

HI. IT'S ME. CAN YOU SEE THIS MESSAGE? DID I ACCIDENTALLY SEND IT TO AN OLD FART?

OR ARE U THE OLD FART WINK WONK

12.01pm
To: Miku
From: Len

No, I am not an old fart. I am indeed Len.

I am also walking to Teto's classroom.

12.02pm
To: Lenno
From: Miku

Don't fake calm ;)

Also I know for one thing that you are ten thousand percent freaking out. Right? Right?

RIGHT?

12.02 pm

To: Miku
From: Len

No, I am not freaking out. I am also not faking calm, Miku.

Teto's classroom is approaching.

12.02pm
To: Lenno
From: Miku

of course you are-

AHAHA YOU BUMPED INTO SOMEONE I LAUGH THIS IS HILARIOUS

YOU LOOK STUPID I HAVE ZERO REGRETS HOLY HELL

12.04pm
To: Miku
From: Len

... ;n;

12.05pm
To: Lenno
From: Miku

which one is kasane's classroom anyways? do you even know? is she even a student in this school? :OOOO

12.05pm
To: Miku
From: Len

TETO'S CLASSROOM IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! I'M NERVOUS HELP ME!

12.06pm
To: Lenno
From: Miku

i thought u said that u weren't freaking out

12.06pm
To: Miku
From: Len

I WASN'T FIVE SECONDS AGO!

THAT'S IT I'M OUT GOODBYE I'M GOING HOME

12.07pm
To: Lenno
From: Miku

nO YOU DUMBASS GO BACK

go in and ask teto what sweets she likes, smile at everyone bc you're charming af, and get ur ass back here

12.07pm
To: Miku
From: Len

"charming af"

Thank you Miku!

12.08pm
To: Lenno
From: Miku

GO IN ALREADY I AM GLARING ONE THOUSAND DAGGERS INTO THE BACK OF YOUR HEAD AND YOUR SOUL.

CAN YOU FEEL IT?

CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE TONIGHT

12.08pm
To: Miku
From: Len

...What.

12.09pm
To: Lenno
From: Miku

BTW I can see everyone looking at you weirdly

I can literally feel your reputation depleting as seconds tick by, Len

12.10pm
To: Miku
From: Len

OKAY! I'M GOING IN! HI TETO

12.11pm
To: Lenno
From: Miku

remember to act cool len

12.12pm
To: Lenno
From: Miku

also remember to wink a lot

12.20pm
To: Lenno
From: Miku

...okay

::

::

12.50pm
To: Miku
From: Len

SHE ANSWERED ME! YAY!

12.51pm
To: Lenno
From: Miku

dear lord bless my soul you're finally back i waited for like an eternity

12.52pm
To: Miku
From: Len

She said she likes cheese tarts!

12.53pm
To: Lenno
From: Miku

cheese tarts my arse do u know how expensive they are

also we'll need a refrigerator unless you want to give her melted cheese tarts

ugh

12.54pm
To: Miku
From: Len

Cheese tarts don't melt that easily, do they?

12.55pm
To: Lenno
From: Miku

... You know what, Len? I realised that I give zero farts about Teto. Don't worry, I give a lot of farts about you, so don't cry. Let's just make cheese tarts and give it to her. It can be melted for all I care.

12.56pm
To: Miku
From: Len

I wouldn't cry!

Can we at least wrap them in a nice bag with a ribbon on it?

12.57pm
To: Lenno
From: Miku

I also realised that you are very girly. And yes, whatever you want. As long as you do the wrapping anyway

12.58pm
To: Miku
From: Len

But Rin has a ribbon and it's cute and why not?

12.59pm
To: Lenno
From: Miku

You have a serious case of Rin-addiction ... RIBBONS ARE GIRLY LEN

wait you're girly too

1.00pm
To: Miku
From: Len

Let's just go home please

.

"Please explain why the both of you took off days to make cheese tarts when you should be helping out in the bakery?" Maika asked furiously, her arms akimbo. Len and Miku shied away from her fearfully.

"Because ... we didn't have day offs at all this year. So we decided ... that we would take our day offs." Miku explained, holding a tray of unbaked tart shells. Len was diligently filling a bowl with ingredients for the filling by her side.

"Making cheese tarts?" Maika asked suspiciously, her eyebrows raised.

"Crap, this is a very bad situation," Miku whispered to Len urgently. "Can I please just tell her about your secret thing?"

"Please, no," begged Len, nearly dropping his bowl.

"I can hear you, you know," said Maika casually, making the pair jump. "What secret thing? Does Len have a girlfriend? Is that why you're making cheese tarts? If so, you should have told me earlier ..."

"No! I don't have a girlfriend!" Len yelled, flustered. The nape of his neck was very red. "Mai — Maika, just go back to work, please ..." When Maika just looked disbelieving, he turned to Miku and pleaded for help silently.

"You were pretty close, Mai, but not close enough," she said, unhelpfully. Len resisted the urge to scream at her.

"Well, finish those cheese tarts quickly and come back to work, at least," sighed Maika after a few unrelenting glares at the both of them. "Please realise that Merli and I aren't enough."

"Yes, ma'am," they chirruped, and returned to their work, bickering a bit as usual. Maika hung by the door for a while, smiling at them before walking back to the bakery.

.

"...And they're done!" Len declared, tightening the ribbon on the white bag. Miku scrutinised it whilst rubbing her chin. It did look very pretty, and the end results were delicious. They were great to sell in the shop, except ...

"I can't believe that we're going to waste this on Kasane," she said with a regretful sigh, pulling on her hair tie. "They were so yummy, too ..."

Len took the bag away from Miku's reach and put it into the refrigerator. "Don't you dare touch them, Miku," he warned threateningly. "Or else we would have wasted our whole afternoon on nothing."

"We already did," she complained, untying her apron and dusting off the flour. "Anything related to Kasane is always a waste of time." Len merely sighed at her answer and walked over to the sink so that he could clean his hands.

Two days later, Len was standing in front of Teto's classroom, texting Miku frantically, while she sat in the canteen and glared at him, even though he couldn't see her.

11.30am
To: Miku
From: Len

HELP I FEEL REALLY SCARED NOW!

11.31am
To: Idiot
From: Miku

Why should you? It's just CHEESE TARTS. Think of her as a customer or something.

11.31am
To: Brave Human
From: Len

But ... wouldn't it be weird it someone gave you cheese tarts out of the blue?

11.32am
To: Idiot
From: Miku

She asked for it first, and anyways, she was probably expecting it since you asked her about her favourite food two days ago. Just suck it up and give her the GODDAMN CHEESE TARTS ALREADY I WANT TO GO HOME.

11.33am
To: Brave Human
From: Len

THEY'RE ALL LOOKING AT ME HELP HELP HEL

11.34am
To: Idiot
From: Miku

...hello? What happened?

Did they seriously interrupt you in the middle of typing the world 'hell'?

they're all rude as expected don't go near them next time len

11.39am
To: Idiot
From: Miku

Len? Where are you?

...

i knew it

11.40am
To: Idiot
From: Miku

They kidnapped you, didn't they?

::

::

12.00pm
To: Brave Human
From: Len

I'M BACK FINALLY!

..And no, I was typing 'help' not 'hell' Miku ^^;;

12.01pm
To: Idiot
From: Miku

Oh hi welcome back

What did they do to you in the classroom? You took, like, thirty minutes.

12.02pm
To: Miku
From: Len

I'm sorry ... They interrogated me for a while, and Teto blushed!

DOES BLUSHING MEAN ANYTHING?!

12.03pm
To: Idiot
From: Miku

no she's probably just feeling very hot

12.04pm
To: Miku
From: Len

...Oh. That's sad ... Teto enjoyed the cheese tarts, however!

12.05pm
To: Idiot
From: Miku

That's nice. Not nicer than this bun, however. Your school sells delicious buns. I think I'll come here to hang out more. Also let's go home please.

12.06pm
To: Miku
From: Len

Do you think it's okay if I make her more desserts? Will she like them too?

12.07pm
To: Idiot
From: Miku

Of course she will, you work in a bakery and bakery food is always good. If she doesn't, then she's just picky and being a brat.

12.08pm
To: Miku
From: Len

Teto's not a brat ...!

12.09pm
To: Idiot
From: Miku

Don't worry Len it's just a stage teenagers go through

Also let's please go home.

12.10pm
To: Miku
From: Len

Can I bake more desserts for Teto?

12.11pm
To: Idiot
From: Miku

No.

12.12pm
To: Miku
From: Len

...okay.

.

"Did Len's secret thing enjoy the cheese tarts?" Maika asked as they scrubbed through a basketful of dishes. Len nearly spat out his banana milk and Miku bit on her tongue because she was laughing too hard. She was just about to reply to Maika when Len sent 'don't-you-dare' glares to her.

"She didn't," she managed to wheeze out. Len walked over to her briskly and proceeded to smack her arm furiously with a red face, while she laughed until she had to bend down and clutch her stomach.

"I guess she did," said Maika with a affectionate smile. The two haven't been enjoying themselves properly lately, and she was just relieved that they learnt how to, even if what they were doing was a little strange ...

"She didn't! There is no she!" Len cried out desperately, clasping his soapy hands over Miku's mouth. At first, she playfully patted his hand, but afterwards she began slapping his arms as the soap got into her mouth.

Maika laughed. She just couldn't help it.


hey hi ho the first chapter is over! i don't see a cute, middle school len anymore, instead there's SPICE SEXY VERY WOW LEN all over the fanficverse. it's very sexy, yes, but it's getting unnerving ... also dorky len is my favourite so ...

and i didn't know how to end this chapter so i just ... orz

i hope you enjoyed it! and was the text format good and understandable?