Friday Afternoon – Kael's Cakes & Creams
The scent of vanilla and warm butter filled the air as Aeron finished frosting a batch of eclairs. The shop was still quiet, the after-school crowd yet to arrive.
Then the bell above the door rang.
He didn't have to look.
"I'm not here to argue," Ayaka said behind him.
Aeron calmly turned to face her. "Then why are you here?"
"To help."
He blinked.
"You don't need to talk. Just show me what to do," she added.
He paused.
Then nodded.
She tied on an apron — one size too big — and stepped behind the counter. She wasn't graceful. She cracked the first egg with too much force. But Aeron said nothing.
And somehow, that made her want to try harder.
---
Later That Evening – Still at the Shop
Yume walked in, surprised to see Ayaka behind the counter wearing a flour-dusted apron.
Ayaka noticed her too.
Their eyes met.
No words were spoken.
But something passed between them.
A challenge neither had voiced yet.
"Evening," Yume said with a soft smile.
Aeron turned. "You want the usual?"
"Yeah. And maybe a cup of tea, if it's not too much."
"Never is."
He turned away, and Ayaka saw it again — that quiet softness in his voice when he spoke to Yume.
> That tone he never used with her.
Ayaka stared at her gloved hands, resting on the counter.
She didn't know how to be soft.
She only knew how to fight.
---
Night – Kitchen Cleaning
The shop had closed. Tatsuki had popped in earlier, grabbed free pastries, and vanished again. The lights were dim now, the atmosphere calm.
Aeron rinsed trays while Ayaka dried them.
"...Thank you," she said suddenly.
He glanced over.
"For letting me stay," she added quickly.
"You weren't in the way."
"Still," she muttered. "I just… don't want to be forgotten."
He turned off the water.
"You're not."
Her breath caught.
He handed her the final tray, walked past her — and for a second, her fingers brushed his.
But he didn't look back.
And neither did she.
---
Side Story – Rooftop (Earlier That Day)
Tatsuki leaned over the railing, munching on a chocolate bun.
"So, Ayaka's in your kitchen now?" he asked.
Aeron sat beside him, sipping coffee from a thermos.
"Yeah."
"Man, I don't get you. You've got two insanely pretty girls hovering around and you still act like it's nothing."
"It is nothing," Aeron replied.
Tatsuki whistled. "You say that now."
He grinned.
"But hearts don't ask permission, you know?"
Aeron stared ahead, silent.
But his grip on the thermos tightened just slightly.