Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me but the cake certainly does on one day of the every year.

A/N : Reviews are like...rain on a parched soil...manna from heaven ...god's greatest gift to humankind...(get the hint ?)

A/N: Constructive criticism will be really appreciated. It has been a long time since I have written and I would really like to know where I went wrong and why.

The Chocolate Cake

I opened the door. There on my doorway was the Thunder Emperor, not looking precisely happy. "Ginji-kun, what a pleasant surprise! Come in." And it was. As much a surprise as a spider would have gotten to see the fly at his doorway. Pleasant was a different matter. He did come in. And he held out something.

A cake.

A dark chocolate affair with chocolate icing, two layers...nothing fancy. The icing proclaimed the name of the birthday boy in slightly slanting letters...my lips quirked into a smile. The whole, situation, for the want of a better word, was a tad humorous.I looked up from the cake to the person holding it and my smile widened. He looked like he had just been baked in an oven and I could almost feel the heat from his face.

"What is this?" I asked, somewhat unnecessarily.

The steam of embarrassment was almost visible. He was obviously rethinking his move.

"It's a cake...more precisely, it's your birthday and," he broke off, looked in all directions except at me, went from red to pink and finally decided to look me in the eye ."Happy Birthday Akabane-san."

I raised an eyebrow at this. "How do you know that today is my birthday?"

Especially, I thought, as I had forgotten it. One tends to do that when they start gifting people their death anniversary.

Again, he looked uncomfortable. If he could have, he would have retreated.

"When Ban had applied the evil eye on you once, I had actually ...umm...looked through your wallet ...and ...Umm…your driver license...And ..."

I think the disbelief was obvious in my face, because he grinned. Caught off guard by a mere boy. Make that two boys...Midou had better be careful. But, why instead of escaping or incapacitating me, had the boy decided to take a tour of my wallet? I voiced the thought.

Ginji took a deep breathe as if I had asked him to go deep sea diving and scrutinized my face, trying to gauge for my reactions. My reactions were obvious. The confession and the cake had not improved my temper and a scalpel had popped out and I was idly flinging it from one hand to the other. His expression grew blank and a trace of fear made itself obvious. Should have thought of this, before, Ginji. What did he expect? I would accept the cake and gorge on it like a happy puppy and thank him? Not bloody likely .Or did he have temporary amnesia and forget I am Akabane?

He opened his mouth.

"I was looking for money."

The obviousness of this lie made a few more scalpels pop out until I had a full deck in my hands. He obviously thought very little of my intelligence. I began to move towards him, a sweet smile plastered on my face.

"Try again, Ginji-kun."

The sweeter I become, the more dangerous I get...at least in Ginji's dictionary...he looked comical, backing away with a cake in his hand. I just had to smirk.

"You look lovely Ginji-kun. Very domestic. An apron would be the finishing touch."

The insult did not faze him. He gave me a speculative gaze and set the cake down carefully on a table beside him and straightened up . His eyes reflect an innate honesty which is disconcerting to those who lack good motives. It is also what brings in so many moths to the blue candle that he is. Right now, his ever childish eyes had become serious and they were making me uncomfortable some how. I shook my head mentally. How was this fault? It wasn't...Yet the look he sent me seemed to indicate that I had made a very childish mistake. Something along the lines of hurting him. Hmm...My smile did not falter, my pace did. I sighed. This boy was definitely not himself today. He should have known better than to disturb me in such a foolish fashion. And besides, I did not want to obliterate him ...yet.

My scalpels retracted as suddenly as they had appeared and I walked to the door of my apartment and held it open.

"Get out"

He looked blank as if I had spoken in Greek.

I began to lose my temper again.

"Are you deaf? Get out. "

No response.

I slammed the door in a rage and whipped out a scalpel and threw it at him.

I knew he could dodge it. And he did. But instead of letting it lodge itself in the wall, he caught it deftly and pocketed it.

P.O.C.K.E.T.E.D I.T.

My eyes widened their full extent and I think, my mouth parted a little before the self control kicked in.

Okay, let's review the whole thing. First, my biggest fan (in the negative direction) had brought me a cake, also rifled my pocket, and now collected my scalpel as if it was a souvenir. The most logical answer had eluded me. He was insane. Wrong word. I was insane. He was a freaking lunatic.

Even as I continued to stare, he took out the scalpel and ran his finger along the sharp edge gently and lovingly. Wait...Lovingly? I need to get an appointment with the optician AND the psychologist.

This time, he was smiling unmistakably...happily and he gave me his You-Are-My-Best-Friend-Smile. (Reserved so far for Midou and the brats of Mugenjou)

I had never felt so out of depth. He began to step towards me and wonder of wonders, I, yes, I...Doctor Jackal, began to back away. That is, until, a hard surface told me that there was no place to back into, and none to move forward to.

He kept on stepping forward until our bodies met and he pressed against me. It has been a long time since my personal space has been so invaded, except by blood. My mind just shut down and began noticing. His scent...he smelt of candies, chocolates. No surprise…..mint cigarettes...since when did this boy smoke?...shampoo. Nothing individual. Just a unique combination of sugar and spice and all things nice...wait. Isn't that rhyme for little girls?...

Well, his eyes, at close range exuded more feeling than I would care to decipher

..In fact way too much feeling. I might go on an empathy overload. I shrank against the wall, willing my body to contract further. He simply pressed against me again and this time I felt something. ….something I definitely had no intention of feeling..I found my voice again and in my sweetest voice, I enquired as to what he was doing.

" Well..." he seemed to consider." Kissing? "

And he did just that. Pressed his lips against mine and started kissing.

My eyes flew open in shock. Ginji was too busy ravishing my mouth. The mirror behind his reflected my expression and the back of his golden head. I pushed him with all my considerable force and had the satisfaction of seeing him sprawl out on the floor. He looked really pleased.

In fact, he turned Chibi and took out his fans. Inscribed on them, in red marker , was the legend " I kissed Akabane , Yay !". After he had done his cross-eyed dance, he sat down on the floor and looked up at me again.

I eyed him through slits. Ginji Amano. This had to be Midou's brainchild. But then again, Ginji had kissed with feeling, need...and he was watching me again. His technique needed work.

He stood up from the floor and picked up the cake again and turned to me and offered it to me.

"Happy Birthday "he said quietly, without enthusiasm and closed his eyes. No doubt he expected to get a face full of cake. Or scars.

"Open your eyes , Ginji "

He opened them and sighed.

I gently lifted the cake out of his hands and mumbled an "Arigatou "before carrying it to the kitchen.

When I came out, he was still there.

I leaned against the wall and lit a cigarette.

"Sit down"

He obeyed and slumped against the backrest of the sofa. Sloppy. What was wrong with this boy? What was wrong with me? My defense mechanisms seemed to have shut down for the present and some part of my mind warned me. Possibly. He was one of my two worst enemies. He did not give me the satisfaction of a no-holds-barred battle and was trying to kiss me into the bargain. That thought brought a smile up to my face. I was amused. I really was getting more perverse by the night. I took a drag and stared at him.

Oblivious to my gaze, he seemed to be in a far away world, touching his lips. Reliving our kiss. Thoughtful.

I went and stood in front of him and bent down until we were face to face. Then I kissed him. He was more submissive this time and parted his lips a little. I took over the kiss, enjoying the soft feeling of his lips, exploring his mouth gently.

"Care to explain what you are up to?"

Two can play at this game.

He had trouble refocusing from the kiss and I smirked again .

"I..."

"I beg your pardon"

"Well, I can't explain it...I don't hate you anymore."

"I can tell from the kiss...unless you have taken to kissing your enemies . "

"Umm, no. that is to say..IthinkIaminlovewithyou"

I blinked. I certainly heard the word love. Sugar High.

"Run that by me again" ,I instructed.

"I. Think. I .Am. In. Love. With. You." he replied through gritted teeth.

I blinked again.

"Have you gone mad?"

"Unlike you, I don't doubt what my heart tells me, nor do I try to suppress it.". I ignored that.

"Have you any idea what or who you are trying to involve yourself into?" . Great, I can't even murder in peace.Just hearing those words made me ill. Maybe after this , I should cousel my victims. Something like...don't you think an early death is a good one ?

"I do."

"I see. I would like to see the expression on Midou's face , not to mention Kazuki and Shido and all the rest of your precious gang . Well, this might be a good thing because then Midou will finally figh..." More of this and...

"They know"

I goggled.

"They know and they are the ones who encouraged me to come here today,". He grinned ." In fact, Ban gave me the money for the cake though he was muttering a lot under his breadth about cold-blooded-bastards and Kazuki helped me choose it."

I burst out laughing. Midou, that stingy snake, paid for a birthday cake for me...for ME. Life does have its moments. How it must have hurt him. But, back to matters at hand.

"Do you realize that I have no such feelings towards you ? "

He nodded.

"And that I am capable of hurting you, physically and emotionally?"

He inclined his head and sighed. "They said the same thing"

"And yet you came? Are you a full-blooded masochist? "

He got up. "I have wasted a lot of your time. I apologize. "

A pathetic attempt at dignity. I don't know why I bothered with him. But I did.

"Sit down, Ginji. Unless you prefer to be pinned to my sofa? "

Ginji sat down in a hurry and eyed me warily.

"Do not move unless you really want to be prove yourself a masochist."

I went to the kitchen and stared at the cake on the table top.

Happy Birthday, Kurodo-kun

I returned to the room to see Ginji sitting exactly as I had left him. Not a muscle out of place.

"Good boy ", I commented, sitting down beside him.

A scalpel popped out and I pinned something to it and held it up to his face.

"OICHI"

The End.

A/n : Oichi (Japanese ) means delicious. I think I got the spelling wrong .

: ) Please Review.