5…

At last. The timer is slowing down.

4…

3…

2…

1…

BoOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!

"Shit.." , said a frustrated female voice.

Takishima Kei is very disturbed. Even though had she desperately tried to hide it, her futile attempts were just too obvious. Moreover, she was wearing an expression that was dying to scream, "I'M HIDING SOMETHING BUT I WON'T TELL!". Feeling that he was now feeling too curious for his own good, he decided to ask.

"Hikari, what's wrong?"

Hikari slowly turned to face Kei. Kei frowned. Her usual cheerful demeanor seemed to have been replaced with nothing but a feeling brimming with a desperate but suspicious aura.

"N-n-nothing Takishima!" she said.

Kei sighed. How he wished for her to call him by his first name. His one-syllable first name that Hikari seem to have difficulty in saying.

Kei was about to ask another question when he sensed danger approaching. He was right. A huge boulder was hurtling towards him at full speed. Quick like a professional, he punched the boulder and it broke down into smithereens. Still, the danger hasn't passed yet. A very threatening person was nearing him twice as fast as the boulder and screamed, "TAKISHIMA KEI! GET AWAY FROM MY PRECIOUS HIKARI!!!!"

Kei immediately knew who that was. It was Akira, and it seems that she's in a very bad mood today. When Kei saw that Akira was about to reach for his neck and choke him, he dodged with the skill of a very flexible contortionist.

"Good morning, Akira!" said Hikari, who seemed to have gone back to her usual cheerful demeanor.

"Ahh Hikari, have you seen the test results yet? They were posted a while ago on the bulletin board."

"REALLY!? I'll go check!!!!" And off she went towards the bulletin board near the admin building.

When she had left, Akira turned her gaze towards Kei. Kei looked back at her. Both of them stared at each other for about 5 minutes. Akira's stare told Kei about what she was feeling right now; anger, rage and a serious killing intent. Kei just continued to stare with his usual calm expression as if they were playing a game. Then, a voice said, "Akira~ I'm hungry~!!!"

Kei turned around and saw Tadashi walking towards them. Suddenly, a huge strawberry shortcake was thrown in the air and landed directly on Tadashi's face.

"Hungry my face, you just ate a lot of cakes a while ago! And where have you been anyway? You were just sitting on the couch over there then disappeared!" exclaimed Akira.

"Ah I went to a forest nearby. I discovered it and saw that there was a nearby mountain near that forest and –"

"Your stupid wanderlust again! How many times must I tell you that you shouldn't just wander off somewhere whenever you are bored?!"

"But –"

"No buts! You won't get any snacks today either."

"No! Wait I'll explain –"

Tadashi was again cut in midsentence because at that exact moment Ryuu, Jun and Megumi entered the greenhouse.

"Yo." said Ryuu.

Jun smiled at the other S.A members while Megumi wrote, Where is Hikari?

"Ah you're right, I don't see her anywhere her. Where is she?" said Ryuu.

"Ah she went towards the posted test results a while ago." said Akira. Just then, Akira remembered that she and Kei was about to fight. She turned around to face Kei again, only to be greeted with nothing.

"… TAKISHIMA KEI!!!" yelled Akira.

Hikari stared at the board. As she searched her for name, she felt a familiar presence behind her and said, "Second place again, huh. Well, better luck next time."

Hikari instantly knew who it was. She can already imagine the smirk spread on his face. Turning around quickly, she yelled in anger, "Don't. Call. Me. SECOND PLACE!!!!"

Takishima laughed. Oh how Hikari would have loved it when she can kick his butt at that time.

"But it's true. See? Your name is below mine… Again." Said Kei.

Hikari quickly searched for her name. Sure enough, there in bold letters were the words first and second place. At the spot next to 1st place was Takishima's name while below his name was Hikari's name.

Second place, she thought bitterly.

"So," said Kei. "Are you going to tell me the reason why you have been hiding something from me?"

Hikari stiffened. She forgot about that a while ago. Now that Takishima mentioned it to her, she remembered it clearly now. Saying nothing, she quickly ran towards the direction of the greenhouse, leaving Kei near the bulletin board.

Kei sighed and sprinted after Hikari. As usual, he got there first.

"Come on, what's the big deal? " began Kei. "If you won't tell me then let's have a challe –"

Kei stopped in midsentence as the person in front of him disappeared. Turning around, he saw Hikari running away from him. Again.

I'll just have to wait for her answer then. He thought.

Hikari got home early. As she dressed up into her house clothes, she thought of something new to give to Takishima. It IS his birthday after all tomorrow. Thinking nothing, she went down and sought for her mother.

"Mother," she called. "Teach me how to cook properly now please."

Hikari's mother sighed. She went away from the tv and walked towards the kitchen.

"All right, let's have you make this. Let's see if you can make a bento…"

.....After 6 hours..

11 pm.

Hikari and her mom stared. Hay couldn't believe that it actually happened. Hikari HAD cooked a bento. Even if she had her mom help her, she had still cooked something. And it tasted good, too! Hikari grinned at her mom. Hikari's mom was also proud of Hikari's accomplishment. But now, it was time to rest. As Hikari was told to sleep, her mom thought that Hikari must really like the person she was giving the bento to as she was trying so hard to learn her worst weakness: cooking. Smiling to herself, Hikari's mom went to sleep, too.

Kei woke up early as usual. Doing his usual routine in the morning, he never expected that a surprise was waiting for him at the greenhouse.

Hikari, on the other hand, started the day somewhat a little different than usual. She… woke up a bit late. She had heard the alarm ring only at 7 am. And her classes start at 8:30.

BEEEEP - BEEEEP - BEEEEP !!!

Hikari woke up with a start. One look at the clock sent her in a panic. She quickly took a bath, dressed up and prepared her things. While she was eating breakfast, her mother was already packing the bento. At last when Hikari finished, her mom said, "Here, don't forget this."

"Thanks mom!" replied Hikari.

Hikari took her usual "shortcut" in going to school. Passing by some would-be late schoolmates, Hikari quickened her pace and arrived at the school gates. She went to the greenhouse, only to be welcomed by a very worried Akira.

"Hikari-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan~ I'm so glad you're here! Why were you late??" asked Akira.

"Oh. I stayed up late preparing this." Said Hikari while holding up a package. The S.A members looked curious at it, especially Kei. But that wasn't all. Kei was more surprised and joy instantly brimmed inside of him as Hikari went towards him and said, "Happy birthday, Kei!" and handed over the package.

Kei couldn't believe his ears. Hikari had said his name. His FIRST name. I'm never going to forget this, he thought. Never. Opening the package, Kei saw that it was a bento box. Lifting the lid off the box, Kei gaped in amazement. Hikari hade made a bento especially for him. Looking at the bento, he saw that Hikari put in onigiri, spring rolls, marinated daikon,smoked salmon, katsu, and cantaloupe with honey ginger dressing. The other S.A members looked at the bento nervously. Kei obviously didn't notice their stares.

And so, while ignoring the other S.A members' protests, Kei took a bite.

"It's good! It's REALLY good!" he happily exclaimed.

"Really? Let me try!" said Tadashi. Before Kei could stop him, he took a piece of katsu from the bento box.

"WOW! It really IS good!" As Tadashi turned around for more, he felt with Kei's murderous aura hit him directly like a strong wind and backed off.

"Wow, Hikari actually cooked an actual dish. And a bento at that." Said Jun.

How did you make the bento, Hikari? , wrote Megumi.

"Oh," she said. "It took several weeks and attempts but I finally did it because my mom taught me how.

"So…" said Hikari, turning to Kei. "Do you like my birthday present, Kei?"

Kei was speechless. The thought of Hikari preparing for a long time for this gift was more than enough to take him to heaven. Kei also realized that the reason for Hikari's strange behavior before was because of her preparing for his gift. Finally, after a minute or two, Kei answered, "I-i-it was good, Hikari. This is by far the best gift you have ever given me."

Hikari flashed a smile towards him in appreciation of his comment.

Oh lookie lookie!

A button!

Why

Don't

You

Click

It

And

Review?

l

l

l

l

V