I~

[Kleee]

Cake.

Oh, how Kei loved it so.

Ever since her visit to Toya's house, it had been all she could think about. Sure, she'd always had a thing for cake, but Toya's cake had really been something else. Unfortunately, Kei was not exactly rolling in money the way her teammates were. Unlike Toya, she couldn't just order her maids to go bake for her whenever she was in the mood for cake. Unlike Toya, Kei didn't have any maids to begin with. And she couldn't exactly just show up at Toya or Ryou's doorstep, demanding cake from them. That probably wouldn't go over too well.

And so Kei had resolved to bake one herself.

It hadn't been easy, but she'd eventually managed to get all her brothers out of the house to train somewhere else; her father was off on an important mission, as usual. Obviously she needed to have them out of the way for this, there would be no end to the relentless teasing that would ensue should her family ever discover that Kei was interested in something as girly as baking. Besides, it was probably better that they weren't around, just in case Kei... messed up somehow. Not that Kei was going to mess up. Not even Kei could screw up a simple cake... right?

As soon as Kei had to kitchen to herself, she set about working on what was about to become the greatest cake of all time. Granted, this was her first time baking a cake, so... she wasn't really how to start, and it looked like they were a little low on ingredients, but... It would all work out in the end!

Somehow.

At least, that was what Kei had thought before.

But now, several spills and small explosions later, things weren't looking too good for Kei, or the cake for that matter.

The entire kitchen was now coated in a thick layer of flour, shattered eggs, and broken dreams. Kei herself was also rather covered in flour and various other 'cake ingredients' of questionable origin. The old recipe book she'd been following up until now had left her only with a bowlful of whitish goop, not anything cake-like in the slightest. However, Kei was not about to let herself be defeated.

Especially not by a mere cake.

Kei glared at the goop, trying to think. This was the point where the actual baking part started, right? That meant she had to heat it up somehow... Kei glanced over at the oven. No, that was way too complicated. She'd never be able to figure out what all those buttons and dials did, and waiting for the cake to bake in an oven would probably take forever anyways. No, there was a much easier way to do this.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

...And that was how Kei found herself flailing about on the street in front of her house, begging random innocent passersby for someone, anyone, to come and save her flaming cake.

[Kleee]

Toya discreetly walked down one of Yuki’s residential streets, trying to blend in with the crowd as well as possible. It probably looked strange seeing a supposedly blind kid stealthily moving through the streets with the movements of a shinobi, but right now he could not afford to be spotted. His eyes darted back and forth as he stayed on the lookout for a tell-tale sign of pinkish-red hair somewhere in the dozens of pedestrians roaming the streets.

Yes, Toya was running away from a certain pair of twin maids. He had finally become fed up with the stacks of papers that seemed to be continually piling up on his desk no matter how much of it he managed to finish. Kohaku could be surprisingly strict when it came to letting him have breaks, so when she had finally allowed him a five minute walk out in the yard, he dashed off into the heart of the village and never looked back.

Unfortunately, he had not planned ahead very well. He would have to return to his house eventually, and then he would be in an incredible amount of trouble. And if one of them managed to actually find him while he was still on the run, they would be sure to drag him back and continue the punishment back at the house. Now that Toya really thought about it, wasn’t it weird for him to be afraid of his own servants? Well they had basically raised him as their younger brother and had been more like his parents than his father ever had been, but… this really sucked.

After carefully turning at the next corner, he carefully moved down the next street until he saw something that caught his eye. Aside from some smoke that seemed to be pouring out of one of the houses on this street, he could see the purple-haired, crazily-dressed figure of Kei running around screaming as if the entire village was burning down. As if this encounter wasn’t weird enough, he could see Ryou coming down the street from the opposite side.

Toya blinked as he slowly stepped forward to see what the hell was going on. ”Kei! What on earth is happening here?” He braced himself for what he knew was going to be a very loud and panicked response. Hopefully he and Ryou would be able to calm their teammate down long enough to actually figure out what had happened here.

[Kleee]

Underwear Model Parties to be held in your own home.

Any perverted fifteen year old boy's dream. The problem was that Ryou wasn't a perverted fifteen year old boy. He had enough decency to look away whenever a woman walked in with her boobs all exposed front and center. But looking away wasn't exactly possible when they were all around you. Up, down, all around. Underwear models in every single direction. Ryou's house was pretty big; but that didn't stop his stepmother's colleagues from filling the whole place up.

It had gotten to the point where Ryou just couldn't stand it anymore. Slamming the door behind him, he left Playboy Mansion for good, oblivious to his stepmother's calls to continue serving the guests food.

By the time Ryou had gotten out onto the street, he was fuming so much that he was pretty sure that the snow around his feet was melting. Honestly Pink bras, Black bras, silky bras, cotton bras! Bras bras bras! If he saw another bra again, then he was honestly just going to kill himself. Why on earth did his stepmother have to invite the whole studio over when he was actually at home? Not only was it incredibly disturbing, it also left him with absolutely no where to go. He generally just strode around the steets like a homeless kid, sometimes looking through shops and things until he knew that the hags had all left his house. The only problem was that they usually stayed until very, very, late and as a result, Ryou usually found himself wandering the streets of Yuki without a clue as to his whereabouts or destination.

As such, he was just passing by what he had thought was just another house when a faint stench of smoke filled his nose. He didn't really think much of it at first; ordinary people in Yuki were always burning their things to keep warm. But then someone that wasn't quite the ordinary person came hurtling out of the very house he was standing in front of.

"HELP!"

Kei. Had it been anybody else, Ryou probably would have just continued moving by. He wasn't one to get messed up in other peoples problems. But there was Kei, his teammate, out in front of what appeared to be his house, yelling things about saving cake.

"K-Kei!?" he called, running forward, "...What's going on? What about cake!?!"

He looked around into the house; nothing seemed to be wrong. It wasn't like the entire house was burning down or anything. Kei was in complete panic mode, arms flying everywhere, complete with hyperventilation. Ryou looked around, still wondering what exactly was going on, and then on the other side of the flailing massing of color, he could see somebody else running to help too. Toya.

Funny how small the world was, and how it seemed to revolve around cake.

[Kleee]

"HELP!"

Well, Kei had called, and it seemed her call had been answered much sooner than she'd expected. Under different circumstances, she probably would have found it odd how both Ryou and Toya had conveniently appeared in front of her like that, but there was no time for that right now. Kei had much more pressing matters to deal with at the moment, such as explaining her predicament to her teammates.

"Guys, guys! You have to help me, come quick! IT'S ON FIRE!"

...

With that said, Kei grabbed both boys by the arm and proceeded to drag them straight into her house.

Aside from the obvious smoke pouring out of the windows, nothing seemed to be wrong with the house itself. It was only once they were inside the kitchen that the problem became obvious. A lump of charred, black... something had caught fire, and the flames were slowly spreading to various other areas of the room, threatening to eventually engulf the entire house if not extinguished sometime soon.

However, it seemed Kei was exactly not the most... useful person to have along during a crisis.

"Oh crap oh crap I think it might actually be on fire I didn't realize baking was this dangerous, it was only one little cake and OH CRAP IT'S SPREADING, what do I do??" She looked desperately from Ryou to Toya and back again, as if begging for their help. Normally, Kei wouldn't have accepted this sort of help from anyone, let alone begged for it, but this was a special circumstance. Kei's cake was at stake here! "...I really think it might be on fire now! You have to do something! Um... um...!" Kei looked around wildly. "Oh right! There should be a fire extinguisher around here somewhere... go find it!"

"...Just don't hurt my cake!"

[Kleee]

The street had turned into chaos, and Toya could barely hear anything comprehensible in between Kei’s erratic bursts of shouting. Most of the other people who had the misfortune of walking on this street at this particular time had simply turned a blind eye and carried on as usual. Toya certainly couldn’t blame them for wanting to stay out of this…

"Guys, guys! You have to help me, come quick! IT'S ON FIRE!"

Well clearly something was on fire, but it seemed that Kei was referring to something aside from her house. Before Toya could ask anymore questions or respond at all, Kei had already started dragging him and Ryou into the smoking house. Upon entering the kitchen, Kei continued to completely freak out and began yelling about dangerous baking, burning cakes, and other related phrases.

"Oh right! There should be a fire extinguisher around here somewhere... go find it!"

Finally, something that actually sounded logical. Normally, Toya would have been forced to play the part of the blind boy who wouldn’t be able to run off and search for anything, but since only his teammates were present, that did not apply to this situation. He could see from a quick glance that it was not in the kitchen, so he prepared to run out and search the rest of the house.

"...Just don't hurt my cake!"


…Of course Kei would have to add something so stupid after finally saying something logical. Any remnant of an object that was possibly a cake at some point in its existence would now be completely burnt to charred remains by now. But now was not the time to think about that. He quickly left the room and began scanning the rest of the house for the fire extinguisher.

After a futile search of the central room, he spotted a closet door and figured that it would be a likely place to keep random tools and devices such as a fire extinguisher. After quickly pulling the door open and sticking his head in, the bright red extinguisher couldn’t possibly go unnoticed. Toya lifted it up and then dashed back towards the kitchen, hoping that Kei hadn’t done anything to somehow make the situation worse… like trying to fight fire with fire…

Running into the kitchen, he didn’t even bother to check if Ryou had kept Kei out of trouble. He simply pointed the nozzle of the fire extinguisher towards the flames and watched as they began to diminish as the white, foamy substance quenched them. He focused most of it on the source of the problem, the cake itself. Kei could cry about it all he wanted later, but he would thank Toya later for making sure that the flaming cake of death was stopped before it had completely destroyed the house. It was right at that moment when Toya suddenly realized that the smoldering pile of sludge that had originally been a cake was not even in the oven…

”Kei… what the hell did you do in here?!”

[Kleee]

"...Just don't hurt my cake!"

Cake. So that's what this was all about. Kei had somehow started a fire baking cake, and his house was going to burn down and everything, and the only thing that Kei was worrying about was, well.... Cake?

Now wishing that he hadn't gotten himself stuck in this mess, Ryou watched as Toya tore out of the room, searching for a fire extinguisher, with absolutely no clue what he was supposed to do next. Kei was acting like it was the end of the world, what with all of the flailing and screaming, but Ryou honestly couldn't see what why Kei valued a cake more than his house. And knowing Kei, it probably wasn't even a good cake anyway. There was fire everywhere; and Ryou himself was really confused about the entire thing. Cooking some cake in the oven shouldn't have caused a fire this big. It was like Kei had somehow actually set fire to his cake. But how could anybody be that thick?

"How on earth did you try to cook this cake?", he yelled, stepping aside as a tail of flame came hurtling at him. Kei wasn't even listening to him though. The boy was just jumping around, still fretting about the cake. Damnit, if Ryou didn't do something, then Kei was probably going to get just a burnt as his cake. He reached out, trying to latch onto Kei's arm and try to drag him away from the spreading fire, but Kei just kept knocking him off with the fretting and flailing.

"...Damnit, where are you Toya!?"

Right on cue, Ryou's other teammate came rushing down the stairs, the big fire hydrant in hand. Kei looked even more scared than ever as Toya made to extinguish the fire and essentially kill his cake; Ryou threw his arm around Kei and forcibly dragged him back, to stop him from doing something stupid like launching himself into the flames.

The last of the fire quickly died away, confirming Ryou's suspicions. The black blob of goop wasn't anywhere near the oven. In fact, the oven hadn't even been touched. Releasing Kei, Ryou looked at Toya, who seemed to be just as stunned as he was.

”Kei… what the hell did you do in here?!”

"...Yeah! You do realize that you use an oven to bake a cake!"

[Kleee]

Kei barely noticed as Toya dashed out of the kitchen in search of the fire extinguisher, she was too worried about her cake. A few moments and much flailing later he returned with it in hand, successfully extinguishing the fire and destroying Kei's poor cake once and for all. She would have attempted to snatch the cake out of danger somehow, but Ryou apparently saw this coming and dragged her backwards before she had a chance.

Kei sniffled a bit at seeing her cake meet its end so quickly. It had barely even had a beginning...! But she refused to cry in front of her teammates, not even for her cake. They rounded on her now, looks of disbelief on their faces.

"Kei… what the hell did you do in here?!"

"...Yeah! You do realize that you use an oven to bake a cake!"

"Can't you tell!? I was baking a cake, obviously. I just didn't know how to work the oven, so... I decided to speed things up a little." Kei surveryed the disaster before her and then laughed nervously. "...I guess it didn't turn out quite the way I expected it to..." Somehow, she seemed to have already entirely forgotten her panicking from earlier, now that the fire had been put out. After all...

"...Oh well. I guess there's always next time, right?"

Kei paused for a moment. Now that the immediate danger was gone, Kei was beginning to realize how awkward this situation had become. She was standing with her teammates in the middle of a half-burnt kitchen, surrounded by the remains of a charred, blackened cake, with flour, eggs, and other cooking ingredients strewn all over the floor.

Kei coughed.

A smoky half-burnt kitchen.

"...Let's go up to my room. This place is filled with smoke," Kei offered, rather unhelpfully. She lead her teammates upstairs and down the hall to her room only to open the door and realize, too late, that she had once again forgotten to clean it.

"...Oops. Uh, don't mind the clothes all over the place, okay?"

[Kleee]

Toya sighed as Kei tried to futilely explain that he had been too impatient to use an oven for his baking and had instead used a much ‘quicker’ method of cooking it. Only Kei would even consider doing something like that, but they were just going to have to accept these kinds of things as long as they were teammates. They had already promised each other to do their best to tolerate each other’s quirks, even if one of them seemed to have a lot more issues than others…

"...Oh well. I guess there's always next time, right?"

Next time? If there was a next time, Toya and Ryou would not miraculously be around to save the day again. In fact, he would not be surprised in the slightest if Kei ended up burning down his home next time he wanted a piece of toast. Actually, it was pretty surprising that nothing like this had happened in the past. Maybe Kei’s father or siblings were the ones who normally kept the kid in line. But right now the house seemed to be eerily empty.

"...Let's go up to my room. This place is filled with smoke,"

“Let’s hope the smoke hasn’t already made its way up there. It will probably move outside through the door and windows down here if we’re lucky…”

He and Ryou followed Kei as he led them to the second floor of the building and into his bedroom. One quick glance around the room confirmed what Toya had already expected. The room was just as messy as Kei’s wardrobe, kitchen, and… well a lot of other things relating to Kei.

"...Oops. Uh, don't mind the clothes all over the place, okay?"

Now that he mentioned it, there did seem to be a lot of clothes strewn about the floor and the rest of the room. Toya took another brief glance around the room before doing a sudden double-take as his eyes focused on one particular garment on the floor near some drawers. That couldn’t possibly… no, there was no way. What could a bra possibly be doing in a teenaged boy’s room? Well, besides one obvious reason that Toya had automatically ruled out… He raised his right hand to casually gesture in the direction of the clothing in question and cleared his throat to catch the attention of his teammates.

”Uhh, Kei…? You don’t happen to have any… sisters living here, do you?”

[Kleee]

"...Oh well. I guess there's always next time, right?"

Next time? Other than avoiding question of how he managed to almost burn his house down instead of bake a cake like a normal person, Kei was actually suggesting that he would do that again? Didn’t this guy know when to give up? Ryou gave a sarcastic little laugh as he watched Toya scowl. But then he suddenly felt his eyes clouding up and his throat become all stiff. Damnit, the fire was out, but the smoke…

“…Cough cough… hic… Can we get out of here?… cough -I really can't breathe...”

"...Let's go up to my room. This place is filled with smoke,"

“Let’s hope the smoke hasn’t already made its way up there. It will probably move outside through the door and windows down here if we’re lucky…”

Ryou nodded, going upstairs would probably be the best thing to do. Generally, he didn’t like going into other peoples rooms, because they were often too messy for his liking. And Kei’s room was probably no better. But thankfully, as Ryou climbed up the stairs with Kei and Toya, he found that the smoke density was clearing; he could actually breathe up here.

"...Oops. Uh, don't mind the clothes all over the place, okay?"

Ryou wiped his eyes with his sleeve, hoping his teammates hadn’t caught him crying again, and looked around. Just as he had suspected, Kei’s room was one huge mess; there were clothes and other junk spread out across the floor. Everywhere he looked there were muddy shirts, odd socks, random kunai and bras.

…

Hang on… that couldn’t be right.

”Uhh, Kei…? You don’t happen to have any… sisters living here, do you?”

Ryou looked from the bra to Toya to Kei, utterly confused. Why on earth did Kei have a bra in his room?

“…I’m pretty sure I heard somewhere that Kei only had brothers. KEI! I didn’t think you were that type of guy!?!"

[Kleee]

”Uhh, Kei…? You don’t happen to have any… sisters living here, do you?”

“…I’m pretty sure I heard somewhere that Kei only had brothers.

Kei blinked, momentarily confused.

"Yeah, I don't have any sisters, so why--"

Then she saw where Toya was pointing.

...Crap. She hadn't meant to leave that out in the open. Ryou seemed to have something else entirely on his mind, however.

"KEI! I didn’t think you were that type of guy!?!"

It took Kei's brain a few moments to process that statement.

"What's so wrong about owning a bra?? And what type of--Hey!!" Kei turned to Ryou accusingly. "Guy!? Are you calling me a GUY? Because if you are I'll--"

Kei paused, staring at her teammates as the true meaning of Ryou's words slowly dawned on her. Normally she wouldn't put it past Ryou to insult her like that, but the look on his face and Toya's told her that the two boys were dead serious. This 'guy' comment was clearly much more than a mere insult; even Kei realized that.

"Don't tell me... all this time...you actually thought...!?" Kei spluttered, at a loss for words. It wasn't like this was the first time someone had mistaken her for a boy, far from it in fact. But usually these sorts of issues were solved rather quickly, even if they were slightly awkward while they lasted. Personally, Kei had never really found a problem with random strangers and kids at the academy getting her gender wrong from time to time, but... her own teammates? The three of them had been together for WEEKS now. Surely they didn't actually still think...

"Y-yeah well, you're practically a girl yourself, Ryou-chan," Kei managed finally. Already she could practically feel her face flushing bright red with embarrassment and shame, but it didn't stop her from glaring at her teammates. Talk about a huge misunderstanding...

"And I'm most definitely NOT a guy."

[Kleee]

Okay, so Kei had no sisters, and there weren’t any other females in the house. So how exactly did any of this make sense? Toya had been about to ask another question when Ryou suddenly spoke up again.

"KEI! I didn’t think you were that type of guy!?!"

No, there was just no way that a guy like Kei could possibly be doing stuff like that at his age. Especially with his crazy personality, the way he dressed, and basically everything about him. He had a super high voice even for a young boy, he was always getting all emotional and stuff when it came to their team, and sometimes it was hard to even think of him as a guy. Wait a second…

"What's so wrong about owning a bra?? And what type of—Hey… Guy!? Are you calling me a GUY? Because if you are I'll--"

The light bulb that had slowly begun to grow brighter had finally lit up in Toya’s head. When he really thought about it, everything made sense. Back when they were getting their team tattoos, Tomo had made sure that Kei was paired up with the only female worker there. There had been signs every time they had been together, so why hadn’t they pieced it all together by now?

"Don't tell me... all this time...you actually thought...!?"

Toya was glad that the dark lenses covering his eyes prevented him from making direct eye contact with Kei, because he was already feeling a sickening mixture of surprise and shame. How could he have been so... blind to all of this? If he was feeling this bad, he could only imagine what Kei was going through after just now finding out that her teammates had assumed she was a male all this time.

"Y-yeah well, you're practically a girl yourself, Ryou-chan.”

Toya had to suppress a smirk from finding its way onto his face. Normally he would have freely laughed and maybe even added a comment of his own, but this was not the time for making jokes.

“And I'm most definitely NOT a guy.”

”Umm, I… we, uhh…” Brilliant start, Toya. At this rate he would have solved the problem and reunited the team’s friendship in no time at all. Right… ”I don’t even know how I can express how sorry I am. I guess I made a stupid assumption and then never questioned it after our first meeting. If there’s anything we can do to make it up to you… I don’t want our team to be compromised because of our stupidity.”

Did it sound too over-the-top or insincere? Toya was not exactly experienced at apologies or mediating, but he could only hope that this would be sufficient. He had spoken as honestly as possible, but now they would have to wait and see if Kei would be willing to forgive them. And hopefully Ryou would add something that would not make the situation any worse…

[Kleee]

"What's so wrong about owning a bra??"

Alot of things. There were so many things wrong with somebody of the male sex owning bra, and the fact that this was Kei they were talking about only made things a hell of alot more disturbing. Ryou was about to point these things out when Kei shot into a furious tirade.

"And what type of—Hey… Guy!? Are you calling me a GUY? Because if you are I'll--"

Of all the stupid things Kei had ever said, this appeared to be the most dumb. It took Ryou a couple of seconds to get what Kei was yelling about. What was wrong with the term "guy"? Honestly, there was nothing deregatory about that word at all. That word shouldn't have insulted anybody, unless they were a girl or something, but Kei wasn't...

...

"Don't tell me... all this time...you actually thought...!?"

Pieces of the puzzle were fitting together perfectly in Ryou's head, but it still took him a long time to process this. Kei... a girl? T-that wasn't possible. Okay, maybe it made sense, what with the tattoo incident and all, but still, this simple fact just turned the past couple of weeks upside down and dropped it on his head. So many things just seemed so wrong now. Such as when they were down in the kitchen and he had attempted to stop Kei from running forward, he had grabbed Kei across the chest and pulled him backward. No wait, not his. Her.

Her chest.

"Aaaaaaaaah! You're joking, right!?! That's so...!"

"Y-yeah well, you're practically a girl yourself, Ryou-chan.”

...Ryou-Chan? Okay, maybe Kei was a little gender confused, but Ryou knew what he was. And that wasn't a female. Had the circumstances been different, he probably would have retaliated, but he was feeling too stupid and shocked to actually be able to say anything.

“And I'm most definitely NOT a guy.”

Kei sounded so serious, it was like she was willing to actually prove it to them. And if he wanted more views of.... that.... then he might as well would have stayed home.

”Umm, I… we, uhh… I don’t even know how I can express how sorry I am. I guess I made a stupid assumption and then never questioned it after our first meeting. If there’s anything we can do to make it up to you… I don’t want our team to be compromised because of our stupidity.”

Toya seemed to have had reached his feet first, but that didn't stop him from getting completely awkward about it. Now that Ryou thought about it, it was the first time Toya seemed to actually look nervous about something.

"...Yeah," said Ryou, following in his teammate's lead, "I'll give you all the cake in my house... just don't uh... do that again,"

He forced a weak smile and looked at Kei, hoping the reaction wasn't PMS.

[Kleee]

"Aaaaaaaaah! You're joking, right!?! That's so...!"

Ryou had echoed Kei's thoughts exactly.

This was ridiculous! Kei wasn't anything like a guy, so how could her own teammates possibly have mistaken her for one? Granted, she wasn't much like a girl either, but... that wasn't the point.

Deep down, Kei was much more embarrassed and flustered than she was truly angry at her teammates, but there was no way she was ever going to let them know that. Before, when random people would assume her to be a male, Kei had never cared all that much. It didn't matter; in the end they would assume Kei was too 'weird' or 'different' for them, and they'd move on. This had never affected Kei, however. Those kinds of people were too stuck-up and boring for her taste anyways. She'd always been fine with her appearance, even if it earned her some odd looks from strangers from time to time, but now...

She didn't want Ryou and Toya to leave her too. They'd accepted her for all this time, but what if it was only because they'd thought she was male too? Now that they knew, what if they ended up judging her just like the others? Kei crossed her arms and looked away, waiting for their next words. If they were going to flip out on her, they might as well do it now.

An awkward silence followed.

"Umm, I… we, uhh… I don’t even know how I can express how sorry I am."

Toya finally broke the silence, and Kei blinked, glancing over at him. He was apologizing?

"I guess I made a stupid assumption and then never questioned it after our first meeting. If there’s anything we can do to make it up to you… I don’t want our team to be compromised because of our stupidity."

"...Yeah," Ryou echoed. "I'll give you all the cake in my house... just don't uh... do that again."

Of course.

"Fine, I guess I'll let the two of you live for now... Depending on how much cake you've got, of course."

Kei made a face, and then smiled slightly. She shouldn't have been so worried. These were her teammates after all, not just any 'random strangers. Kei should've known that better than anyone else; after all, she'd been constantly and relentlessly reminding them of that fact up until now. They weren't about to judge her for being different... after all, they weren't exactly normal themselves. They could deal with the occasional flaming cake or awkward misunderstanding.

After all, that's what teammates were for, right?

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