"Ma-ko-to –kun!" Koshiro Miya said with her usual annoying (but funny) accent. She hugged Kashino tightly to which the latter reacted exaggeratedly.

"Ojou? What are you doing here?" Kashino panicked, trying to get away from Koshiro's grasp.

"Aww, don't be so mean, Makoto-kun!" Koshiro even tighten her hug to Kashino. "It's your birthday today! What do you want? I can get… it… for… you!"

Fortunately, the orange-haired boy was stronger so when he was finally free, he immediately took this chance to get away from her sight. Kashino could faintly hear Koshiro telling him to wait but he didn't stop. He smiled at his successful escape. After a while, it occurred to him. It IS his birthday today and his senior's question made him think. A certain girl suddenly appeared on his mind while he was thinking of what he wants for his birthday. He shrugged his head and said, "Nah… that's impossible."

Opening: Yume ni Yell! Patissiere by Gojo Mayumi

It's a beautiful Monday morning in St. Marie Academy. And it's quite typical as Kashino and Amano argues again in the kitchen room.

"I told you to pour it slowly!" Kashino yelled at Amano, while doing his own work. "The chocolate won't be smooth if you don't do that!"

Today, the students will have to make a ganache cake. As usual, Amano seems to be having a hard time as she didn't remember how to make it. Amano said, "I'm really sorry! I don't remember that I need to do that." She scratches her head and laughs nervously while Kashino scolds her again.

"We did it in one of our matches in Paris. Can't you remember at least that?" Kashino exclaimed, getting really angry at her.

"Hey, hey, relax Ma-kun." Andou told Kashino, smiling at the moment.

Vanilla popped out of nowhere and protected Amano. "Well it can't be helped, you know. It's been a few months since the finals."

Chocolat smirked. "You're just making excuses! To be a patissiere, you need to remember how to make your previous creations-desu wa!"

An angry vein popped in Vanilla's head. "What did you say 'excuse'?" she exclaimed and both Sweets Spirits fight each other with their spoon and fork.

"Stop it, you two." Café appeared as well and stopped both Sweets Spirits from fighting.

"Chocolat is right." Kashino told Amano with a rather calmer tone than before. "Forgetting to make their creations is a trait a patissiere mustn't have. Remember that well, Amano."

"I-I'm sorry!" Amano apologized to them with teary eyes.

"Don't mind, Ichigo-chan." Hanabusa walked towards Amano and reassured her. "Just make it again and you'll be fine."

"Yeah." Andou agreed.

"Thank you, Andou-kun, Hanabusa-kun." Amano wiped her tears and smiled. Then she said, "Alright! Let's do it again!"

Amano started making her ganache all over again. The cake itself was done so all she needed to do was the icing. She cut a bar of chocolate into pieces and melted it for 20 seconds at a time in the oven for up to 2 minutes. Then, she boiled the cream again. When both were done, she mixed the melted chocolate and the cream. This time, though, with Kashino's advice, she poured the cream slowly onto the chocolate and mixed it. She did this until there's no cream left.

The Sweets Oujis had finished their cakes while Amano was still in the decorating stage. They raised their hands for Ameya-sensei to check. As always, it seems Group A got the highest again as Ameya-sensei smiled after checking their designs. After a few minutes, Amano was done and raised her hand for Ameya-sensei to check as well. Ameya-sensei smiled widely at the cute design that Amano made. With this, the class was over.

XXXXXXXXXX

During break time…

Amano sighed in relief. "Good thing I made it in time awhile ago."

Kashino smirked at this. "Yeah, good thing you did 'cause Group A will suffer big time again if you didn't."

"You don't have to say that, devil Kashino!" Amano moaned and looked away. Andou sweatdropped at this scene and laughed.

"Neh Ichigo-chan, do you know what today is?" Hanabusa asked, out of nowhere. Kashino seems to react quickly by this statement.

"Huh? Today?" Amano said, clearly puzzled.

Kashino breathed heavily and said, "I'm going to my room."

Amano was surprised at this while Andou and Hanabusa just nodded. "Be back before class starts again, alright?" Andou said.

"Yeah." Kashino waved backwards and walked slowly to his room.

"Eh? Why is Kashino…?"

"Well, you see, Ichigo-chan… today is…" Hanabusa stopped and let Andou continue it.

"Ma-kun's birthday."

"EH? Kashino's birthday?" Amano was very surprised that her eyes went wide.

Andou nodded. "Yeah."

"Do you still remember what we told you about those girls who stalk Kashino?" Hanabusa asked.

"Y-Yeah…" Amano replied. She sweatdropped at the memory.

"Well…" Andou started, "ever since it happened, he can't seem to be at peace, so he celebrates his birthday in his room. Just to get away from those girls."

"Is that so…?" Amano, at first, put a very sad face but she changed this quickly and said, "Must be hard being popular, huh?", with a smile on her face.

Andou and Hanabusa glanced at Amano's reaction to their story and looked at each other and back to Amano again. It was as if they were worried about that reaction and was expecting something else.

A few minutes later, the bell ring, signaling the end of break. Amano, Hanabusa and Andou went back to the classroom for their second period.

During class, Amano glanced at Kashino for a bit, clearly not paying attention to the teacher teaching in front. It's Kashino's birthday today… so why is he sad? Amano thought to herself. After a few moments, she then decided that she'll create a cake for Kashino, even shouting, "Alright! I'll make a cake!" This caused the whole class to look at her. Amano realized what she did and sits back down, laughing nervously while apologizing for the disturbance. Kashino closed his eyes and scoffed. Andou and Hanabusa just sweatdropped at this.

XXXXXXXXXX

Classes were over after a few hours. It's about 3 in the afternoon. Amano went straight to the kitchen room and immediately started thinking about a cake for Kashino. Vanilla appeared beside her and asked, "What are you doing, Ichigo?"

"Hmm… I'm trying to make a cake for Kashino for his birthday but…" Amano stopped and began thinking for ideas.

"A cake for Kashino, huh?" Vanilla was somehow surprised. "Why don't you just make that roll cake you made in class last time?"

"Ah, that Angel and Devil fruit roll cake? Well… I don't want to make the same thing again." Amano replied. "Besides, he tasted it already. Knowing Kashino, if I make a mistake, he'll surely criticize me again."

"Oh yeah…" Vanilla sweatdropped. "Then Ichigo, why are you making a cake for Kashino?"

"Eh?" Amano was taken aback by her sudden question. "Well, it's his birthday."

"Really?" Vanilla started to sound sarcastic and made a face.

"W-What is it?" Amano said, noticing Vanilla's freaky expression. "I-It's just like a 'thank you' cake."

"'Thank you' cake?"

Amano nodded immediately. "Yeah! After all, he had helped me so many times."

Vanilla noticed Amano's tone in her last sentence and made a face again. "You sure that's all?"

"W-What's with that remark, Vanilla?" Amano glared at her Sweet Spirit.

Vanilla laughed and put up her hands in defense. "I'm just joking! Joking!"

Amano sighed exasperatedly. She looked up in the books that she got from the library before going to the kitchen room and read it thoroughly for a good recipe.

After a few moments…

"Geez… is there anything else?" Amano complained. "I can't find anything that's good."

"What's wrong, Ichigo? Some recipes are good, you know." Vanilla flies to the pile of books near Amano's workstation and used her spoon to flip a page. "Like this one: 'Lava cake'. It looks really delicious."

"Vanilla, I'm making this for Kashino. I don't think it's that good…" Amano sits down, looking very sad.

"Well… the outside can represent Kashino. Look, he can suddenly get mad at you right? Just like a lava flowing out of a volcano!"

Amano giggled. "Not really. Even if Kashino does get mad at me at times, he does give me very good advice."

"Example?"

"Example… um… ah! About my Strawberry Tart!" Amano smiled while mentioning this. "If it wasn't for Kashino's advice, I wouldn't be able to learn that copying grandma's recipe was not the right way. I was able to make a good sweet because I'm the one who created my own version. He helped me so many times and I'm… very… " Amano stopped speaking and suddenly remembered all the good things that Kashino have done.

Pictures of Kashino's kind actions to Amano appeared on her mind. That time when he helped her to train for the Grand Prix… that time when he "saved" her when she fell unconscious due to lack of sleep … that time he went after her until the end in the sweets shop… that time he saved her again from the glass shards… everything appeared on her mind, as if reminding her that even if he treated her badly most of the time, he still has a good heart in him. He's just not showing it much. With this, Amano brightened up.

"That's it!" she exclaimed, standing up from her seat and started preparing the cake.

"E-Eh? What is it, Ichigo? You've decided already?" Vanilla asked.

Amano nodded happily. "Yup! I decided to do that!"

Vanilla cocked her eyebrow in confusion when she heard Amano's reply.

XXXXXXXXXX

In the boys' dorm, in Kashino's and Hanabusa's room…

Kashino went out of the bathroom after a quick shower. He put his towel above his head and moved it everywhere, drying his hair. When he finished, he looked over to his cabinet for clothes and changed. What could they be doing at this hour? Kashino thought to himself as he remembered Chocolat's message to him while he was at the shower.

Flashback

"Kashino!" Chocolat called.

"Yeah?"

"Go to the kitchen room after you're done, okay? Everyone said to go there so I'll be going first-desu wa." Chocolat explained and immediately fled to the kitchen room.

End Flashback

Geez… they must have a good reason for this. Kashino said to himself while walking towards the kitchen room. He walked downstairs and went straight. There, he approached the nearby door to the kitchen room.

PAK! PAK! PAK!

When he opened the door, party crackers welcomed him in the room. He looked around and saw Amano, Andou and Hanabusa standing near him.

"Happy birthday, Kashino!" they all exclaimed, along with their Sweets Spirits.

Kashino was shocked by this. "When did you-?"

"Amano-san noticed how sad you were the whole day…" Andou said.

"… so, Ichigo-chan decided to make you a birthday cake." Hanabusa added.

"She did?" Kashino cocked his eyebrow in confusion and glanced at Amano for a bit. "But I didn't ask for it."

"I know but… I realized that you've done so much for me." Amano said. "You've helped me so many times and I didn't actually thanked you properly. So… here's my present for you!" She moved herself from the table to let Kashino see her creation. It was a ganache cake with not much decorations. Everyone was surprised by the simplicity of the design.

"Ichigo-chan, don't you think the decorations are too simple?" Hanabusa commented, glancing at the cake.

"Oh. I purposely did it like that." Amano smiled.

"Why-desu?" Caramel asked, flying closely to the cake.

"Taste it and you'll see!" Amano handed over a plate to Kashino, to which Kashino accepted.

He hesitated at first, since he has an idea that Amano's creation might taste bad. But after awhile, he grabbed a slice of the cake and put it on his mouth. After a few seconds, Kashino's eyes went wide in surprise. He ate a piece again and this time, he closed his eyes. He seems really astonished by the taste.

Amano spoke. "So… how is it?"

Kashino took a few moments before replying. "You… made a lava cake, didn't you?"

Amano nodded. "Yup!"

The boy sighed. "As expected of you, it was quite normal. It wasn't too special nor too ordinary."

Imaginary arrows pierced Amano when Kashino said those words. She sweatdropped at this. Andou just laughed.

"But…" Kashino continued, whispering it so she wouldn't hear much. "I guess… I could accept this."

Amano regained her normal posture and heard Kashino said something. For some reason, she didn't hear it much. "Huh? What did you say, Kashino?"

"Nothing!" Kashino increased the volume of his voice. "I'm going back."

Before anyone could stop him, he already left the room.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kashino walked towards the pond instead of going back to his room and sat somewhere near. He grabbed a stone and threw it into the water. As if on cue, Andou suddenly appeared behind him.

"Hanabusa escorted Amano-san to the girl's dorms." He told his bestfriend.

Kashino didn't reply and threw another stone.

"Ma-kun… aren't you going to tell her how you feel?" Andou asked, sounding really worried.

"What for?" Kashino was sort of angry and threw another stone.

"Amano-san is oblivious, that's why she can't tell." He explained.

Kashino grabbed a stone but held it firmly in his hands instead of throwing it. He seethed. "That's another thing. Even if I told her, I would just look like a fool."

Kashino's reply made Andou smile. "Telling Amano-san your true feelings doesn't make you a fool, Ma-kun. It makes you an honest guy."

The orange-haired boy looked downwards and stayed silent.

Andou sighed. "Come on, Ma-kun. It's almost curfew." He then walked away from his bestfriend and returned back to the dorm.

After a few moments, Kashino smirked. "Be honest… huh?"

Ending: Ichigo no Mirakuruuru by Sugihara Yukina

I apologize in advance if they're any grammatical errors and stuff because I'm not used to dealing with them anymore. I want to be as realistic as possible because I don't want to actually create a story that IS SO OUT of the whole Yumeiro Patissiere plot (such as no cake making etc.) that's why I included some cake making in this story. I also want to apologize for the cake making thingy because 1) I'm not a patissiere and 2) I only saw some videos about this in youtube and searched it in google. Any misleading information about the cake making might be included here so... yeah. :D

Anyways, like I said, I made this as realistic as possible as I don't want any of them to be OOC. Thank you for reading this one-shot! ^^ Please click the review button and review. :D