"NO, no, no no no!" cried Alice, jumping up and down to express her disapproval. Hayama sighed audibly, gone where the days of politely supressing his own display of exasperation. This woman was INSANE. He rubbed his temples, painfully watching the woman before him pout childishly and continue to stream a seemingly unstoppable dialogue. How did she find the time to breathe? Hayama gave a sideways glance towards Ryou, his previous chief competitor now temporary team member, who currently stared listlessly into the distance, wearing the face of a man who gave up long ago.

"Look, the menu is set. This is still technically Shiomi Seminar's booth, it's obvious we're serving curry!" shouted Hayama, snapping once more. He quietly prided himself in staying calm and never letting his temper get the better of him, but something about this woman made him uncharacteristically hot headed.

"Professor Shiomi herself told us to work together on the menu! What's the point of me being here if you're going to serve the same, dull, old things?" reasoned Alice, now flapping the palm of her hand to accentuate her words. Hayama groaned inwardly, remembering the conversation he had a few days ago.

…

"Akira-kun! This is an important part of school life! You must cook with your friends and create irreplaceable memories! I still remember every second I spent at the Polar Star dorm… although not everything was… pleasurable…" Shiomi shuddered involuntarily remembering the dark days of being force fed Yukihira experiments. She shook her head to shoo away the dreary thoughts before continuing, "I was so happy when Alice called you a 'precious friend'! I'm so proud of you Akira-kun, you've finally found your place! You've been helping me throughout these years, it's the least I can do to make up for all the research you've done with me!" beamed Shiomi, a happy tear leaking from her eyes.

"Jun-" began Hayama reproachfully.

"Now, now they're waiting for you in the Gastronomy department! Don't be late!" cried Shiomi, cutting Hayama off and gently pushing him towards the door. Hayama turned and opened his mouth to complain, but couldn't bring himself to say the words he intended after seeing her open glee.

"I'll see you later then." He said quietly. Shiomi rested her hand on his shoulder, looking up at her adopted son with unmistakable pride.

"You've come so far, I've taught you all I know and admittedly you've taught me just as much! The only way you can move forwards now is to learn from your peers. Alice is a nice girl, so polite." Shiomi paused for a moment, before cheekily adding, "She also has lots of good connections so make sure you stay close!" Hayama looked down alarmed, blushing more from her close proximity than from her words. Shiomi laughed, "Come on! Off you go! No need to be so shy! You have my full support." She said slowly closing the door with a wink looking extremely accomplished and feeling superior, it wasn't often she caught Hayama flustered.

Hayama help his face in his hands, trying to hide his embarrassment despite the hallway being empty. A familiar heavy weight settled once more on his chest, he knew Jun only thought of him as a child, loved him like a son or older sister. He was also equally aware of the fact that making clear his romantic feelings towards her would only cause awkwardness and corrupt the one genuine relationship he had in his life.

You're wrong, you're wrong Jun. You are the person who makes my heart beat frantically, reddens my cheeks. You're the only person I love. The words he wanted so desperately to say echoed emptily in his mind. It was a long walk to the Gastronomy wing, despite being a mere block away.

…

Hayama glanced up to check the time on the clock. Wow, 2am already. Thinking again… it wasn't too unexpected seeing as they only managed to start working after 8pm after bickering for three hours before hand. They had finally made some headway for organising the stall, he was currently adjusting the spices to fit the new modified recipes whilst Kurokiba worked on the newer components of the menu and Nakiri organised their presentation. They were to be positioned on the main street meaning a combination of both canapé and full meals needed to be prepared. They had five more days until the opening ceremony, and he was slightly anxious about the speed of their progress. He had faith in his own abilities, it was more of a trust and interaction issue than anything else. From experience, he knew Kurokiba would be able to keep up with the pressure he also knew they would be able to work with one another provided minimum interaction was used. It was more Nakiri that worried him, she seemed dead set of being their manager and insisted that they became a 'team' meaning they needed to 'support' one another and not simply word 'alongside' each other. Personally Hayama saw no qualms about the latter way of working, but as regrettable as it was he had started to begin thinking like Kurokiba when it came to Nakiri's ideas.

A loud buzzing tone broke their spell of concentration. Both Nakiri and Kurokiba became completely different people in an instant. Kurokiba who was until a second ago submerged in his 'Beserk' mode was suddenly back to his usually listless non-cooking self, headband once more around his arm, and Nakiri who was displaying regal control and dangerous concentration was frantically buzzing around the kitchen trying to find her phone to stop the high-pitched, twinkling, girly alarm. Hayama couldn't help but find them an amusing pair, Kurokiba with his split personality and Nakiri with her drastic mood swings.

"Ryou! Quickly, you need to buy the seafood we're going to use today. The markets are opening in a few hours!" said Nakiri excitedly, efficiently packing away the utensils she was using. Hayama checked the clock again, 2:30am the markets only opened at 7am what was she on about? "Ryou helps out with the fishermen, they're always saying that they're in need of young, fit workers so I suggested Ryou to help them out every so often." Explained Nakiri, obviously noticing Hayama's perplexed expression.

"Oi! Kurokiba! Are you just letting her speak for you? Do you make any decisions on your own?!" exclaimed Hayama, still bewildered at his opponent 'team-mate's' complete obedience to Nakiri. Kurokiba simply shrugged.

"It doesn't really bother me I like the sounds of the waves and I get to exercise." Said Kurokiba walking out the door.

"Ahem" coughed Nakiri, pointedly. Kurokia paused, obviously trying to remember what this message meant.

"Goodbye Milady." He grunted before continuing to walk away.

"See you at breakfast!" she cried waving him goodbye, which he held up his hand to acknowledge he heard. Hayama also took this as an opportunity to leave, he started towards the door before he was unexpectedly greeted with resistance in the form of a small hand gripping onto his wrist with surprising tenacity. "And where do you think you might be going off to?" asked Nakiri innocently.

"Back to my dorm, do I need to ask your permission Nakiri?" sighed Hayama who was more tired than he wanted to admit.

"It's Alice! Not Nakiri (also call Ryou, Ryou!), we're friends at the moment remember? That's what I told professor Shiomi, you'd better start treating me like one! You don't want to disappoint her do you? Akira-kuuuuuun" joked Alice, her grip slightly looser on his arm now she was certain he wasn't about to run away. Hayama blushed uncomfortably, he hated how she knew where to push his buttons.

"Shu-shut up, and don't call me Akira!" he stuttered, automatically leaning back as she moved closer to analyse his discomfort. He looked down to avoid her gaze, he wasn't exactly a people person and Alice didn't seem to understand personal space or she was purposely ignoring the polite distance most people allowed in conversation.

"You like Professor Shiomi don't you… and not as a younger brother?" she asked rhetorically. Hayama still refused to meet her red gaze, missing nothing. Her hand was still wrapped around his bare wrist further extenuating their differences, she was so pale impossibly pale especially against his darkly tanned skin. Everything about her seemed foreign, even her eyes were his opposite, red against green; she made him uncomfortable. While he felt so at ease talking to Jun, any conversation he had with Alice increased his blood pressure. She was definitely not healthy to be around. "Aren't you curious as to what she thinks about you? What she really thinks about you?" she whispered suddenly next to his ear, she smelt so good.

"She thinks of me as a child." Said Hayama, roughly pushing Alice away at arm's length, perhaps it was a bad idea to look away, it hadn't occurred to him that she might sneak closer. "I don't appreciate you being so nosy Alice-san." He said quietly. "If you're finished playing games, I'll see you later." Hayama briskly strode towards the door making sure she wouldn't stop him this time. Alice simply leaned against the bench, her head tilted ever so slightly as she scrutinised his actions.

"Oh! That's right, please show me around the green houses you're growing herbs in. I thought it might be nice to get some ideas about our stall's presentation, seeing as we're using cutting edge Gastronomy I thought we should stick to the entire 'science-y, futuristic feel.' Smiled Alice, once more her more cheerful, child-like persona. Hayama frowned, feeling frustrated with her fickleness, how could she be so serious one second than suddenly shift to this? He turned his back towards her and stalked out of the kitchen. "If you're still curious about Professor Shiomi's feelings I'm still willing to help." She called after him, switching to their serious conversation once more. Hayama pretended not to hear. He was too afraid of discovering Jun's true feelings, he was too scared to confirm his suspicions, he still wanted to cling onto his groundless hope of her love delving deeper than that of a guardian.

…

Hayama stifled a yawn. He was starting to understand why Ryou appeared to constantly have dark circles under his eyes. He had about three hours of uneasy sleep before needing to drag himself out of bed and show Alice around their green houses. He didn't sleep a lot either but he felt completely emotionally drained. After taking a quick shower he made his way over to the green houses to wait for Alice, she told him to meet her at 7:15am.

Hayama checked the clock again, 7:23am, she was late. He frowned as far as he knew she was extremely punctual, at least that was one virtue she held. Part of him also agreed she was what many would deem 'beautiful' with her impossibly pale skin, good height and slim frame-wait why was he thinking about his? Superficial features had little to do with his opinion of beauty, he didn't need to fall in love with the size of a woman's chest or fashion sense. He loved Shiomi for who she was and what she had done for him, her mere presence calmed him, the smell of cinnamon.

"Akira-kun! Sorry for keeping you waiting. I bumped into Alice on her way over so we talked for a bit." Called Shiomi, snapping Hayama out of his daze. He blushed slightly, embarrassed about his train of thought seconds before, not that Jun would have every guessed what he was thinking, he couldn't help but feel like his thoughts were indecent.

"Hayama!" beamed Alice, suddenly hugging his arm affectionately. Did this woman not understand personal space at all? She must've known by now he was not fond of touchy feely behaviour. He pulled back awkwardly, but jeez did she have a tight grip. Alice tugged on his arm unbalancing so that their head were at about an even level. He could feel her breath on his neck as she whispered in his ear, "Is that the expression of a proud mother?" Why did she smell so good? Her scent made his heart race.

Hayama's eyes widened in surprise, his anger quickly replaced with a confusing mixture of excitement, hope and discomfort upon seeing Jun's expression. Her smile, it was strange was it forced? Why was she averting her eyes, was that her discomfort? Countless questions ran through his head as he watched expressions he had never seen on Jun's face.

"Well! Sorry I must go! I have quite a bit of reading material for research to go through, don't want to intrude on you two either!" Shiomi laughed nervously, again wearing the strange smile. Her mixed up words only made the situation more awkward as she nervously turned to leave.

Hayama quickly straightened up, tensing his muscles yet feeling glued to the spot. He wanted to go after her and ask her what was making her act so strange. Alice let go of his arm, raising an eyebrow as she watched the professor hastily walk away.

"What did you say to Jun?!" demanded Hayama, falling back on anger as his primary emotion, he felt so confused it was simply the easiest course of action to start blaming something.

"I didn't say anything. You saw her, she was completely normal before when we were walking up to you. I'll ask you again, was that the expression of a proud mother? We both know your feelings but what about the professor's? I can help you find out what she really thinks." said Alice in a matter-of-factly tone. Hayama said nothing, Jun's face ever present in his mind. Could he allow himself to believe she was jealous?

"I'm not sure what you're playing at. You're so serious one second, meddling with Jun and I, then before I know it you're back to that superfluous personality. Pick a face will you? How can I possibly begin to trust you if you're constantly switching! Also, what could you possibly do? This is my problem, and I think I told you before. I don't appreciate you meddling." Said Hayama coldly.

"Pretend to date me." Said Alice calmly. Hayama said nothing, confused as to why she would even propose such a thing. The Nakiri family was extremely prestigious, he was quite certain she had no feelings for him so what could she possibly gain from dating an orphan?

"I still don't know what your reason for 'helping' me is, I'm not about to agree to something when I don't even know your own intentions." Said Hayama, brow furrowed. Alice tilted her head once more, mulling over his words.

"I'm not about to change my personality for you, and I'm not going to tell you my intentions either… You never told me any of your secrets so use your own brain to figure out what I'm aiming for." Said Alice coolly.

"For what reason should I even think of agreeing to your so called 'help' then?" asked Hayama almost laughing at the absurdity.

"Because you're just as curious as I am." Said Alice. Hayama narrowed his eyes, it really frustrated him how well she could read him.

"Well anyway! Give me a tour! This festival is only coming closer!" she chirped suddenly, once more excitable. Hayama resisted the urge to roll his eyes, this was definitely the most emotionally draining challenge at Totsuki so far.

Author's Note:

I hope you liked it… please comment for any feedback/ directions you'd like the story to move in.

Thanks for reading! :3