“Miii – yano!”

“Wah!... A-Anna?”

“Let’s go eat after school.”

It was the end of the last period and Honoka was packing her bag when the person named Anna had rested her petite body on her. Akii Anna, yet another famed girl who is in the same class as Honoka.

Although Akii is famous in school, no, rather than famous, you could call her an infamous person. Akii Anna is what would one call a Gyaru or Gal for short. She had blonde hair that covers till the nape of her neck. Her hair was let down on the left while her right was held up by a pin, showing off her aqua blue eyes. Her tie was loosely tied and the first few buttons of her shirt were unbuttoned, showing off a slight cleavage and her underwear. Her skirt was also shorter than the average length, making her ‘appealing’ in a sort of ways.

Anyone who had laid eyes on her would simply describe her as ‘erotic’. She was in the same class as Honoka and made friends with her almost immediately. It could be due to their similar personality.

“Ah, sorry I have club today.”

“Hm? Club? Since when did you join a club?”

“Recently. It’s called the Keikenbu.”

“Heh. What do you guys do?”

“Well, for starters, today we are making cakes? I guess.”

“Hahaha! What’s with that? Are you guys the Keikenbu or the cooking club?! Aha!”

“Heh heh. What if I told you the one teaching us actually makes the cake better than the one at the mall?”

“You’re kidding.”

“I’m serious.”

“Heh. Well, let’s go then.”

“Huh? To where?”

“The club of course.”

“Huh?! W-wait Anna!”

“Hm?”

“What do you mean go to the club? Are you planning to join us?”

“Hm? Well, it does sound interesting, and I’m interested in the chef you are talking about.”

“Ahh. Fine. Let’s go, I will explain things to them.

“Speaking of which…What was your name again?”

“Huh?! You mean you forgot mine?”

“Well, I wasn’t really paying attention back then.”

“Sigh…Miwasaki Ken. That’s my name.”

“So, where’s this club room of yours again?”

“Hm? The far end of the second floor of the club building, Mitsuki-sensei gave us the place.”

“Geh. Mitsuki?”

“Yeah, Mitsuki-sensei, our club advisor.”

“Club advisor?!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, it’s just I don’t get along well with that guy. It’s like he can peek into my heart.”

“Ah. I just remembered.”

“What?”

“I was going to teach Honoka and Honshou how to bake cakes today.”

“You…can cook?”

“Yea, it’s like a hobby of mine. If you are going to come, you have to join us.”

“Hmm…Honoka in an apron huh?”

“We are baking.”

“I-I know that!”

As Ken and I were walking towards the clubroom, we had passed by the bridge connecting the two buildings. The school was filled with the sound of shouts, talking and hitting sounds. The resounding sounds of baseball bats hitting the ball, the shouts of athletic club members running ringed through my ears.

“There sure are a lot of sports clubs.”

“Well, yea. Didn’t you know? Our school’s famous for these things.”

“You look well-built Ken, aren’t you in any of the clubs?”

“Nah, I like to work out, but I don’t like to commit to a sport.”

“What about you? Those moves of yours just now, aren’t you going to join a martial arts club?”

“I had my fair share of martial arts already.”

In truth, I once had Alfred teach me how to fight. Dad was worried about me living alone and wanted to have Alfred stay with me to guard me, but I refused and instead I asked Alfred to teach me. That way I could live alone and not worry Dad. Alfred has a black belt in Aikido, Judo, and Karate. Up till now, I still don’t have a clue on his identity and his relationship with Dad.

“We are here.”

“Ah. Yuu.”

Hearing the familiar voice calling out to me as I was about to open the door, I turned around and see Honoka standing next to a blonde haired girl.

“Honoka…and who might that be?”’

“I could say the same thing about the guy behind you.”

“H-H-Hono…”

“Heh…Is this the teacher you are talking about Miya?”

“Huh? Oh yea, this is Kanjouu Yuusuke.”

“Hi there, I’m Akii Anna. You can just call me Anna, Yuu-kun.”

“Nice to meet you, Akii-san”

“Sigh…stubborn, aren’t you?”

“Hey, Yuu. Who’s that?”

“You mean him? Wait, you don’t recognize him?”

“Have we met before?”

“I-I-I…”

“Ahaha. Ken, what are you blushing for?”

“Ken, you know Akii-san?”

“H-Huh? Y-yea, we were from the same middle school.”

“So, Honoka, what’s Akii doing here.”

“She wants to look at the club. What about him?”

“He’s joining the club, apparently.”

Seeing how Ken still couldn’t speak a word in front of Honoka while Akii was just laughing at him, I decided to enter the clubroom first and make them follow suit.

“So… It seems like our guest increased. But it is surprising to see you here, Ken.”

“Mitsuki…”

“Mitsuki-Sensei, Ken is joining the club and Akii-san is…”

“Hmm…Alright, I will join the club as well!”

“Huh?! Wait a second, Anna, are you serious?”

“Heh…why? Is there a reason you don’t want me here?”

“It’s not that I don’t, but…”

As Honoka was panicking at the sudden declaration, she glanced in my direction.

“You wouldn’t mind, would ya? Yuu-kun.”

As Anna announced that she was joining the club, she approached me slowly. Too close for comfort. I backed away a little bit, lightly knocking into the chair behind me. Anna had continue approaching me and I felt that I had to give an answer.

“Sigh…Sure.”

“Alright! It’s decided then. Nice to be with you, Miya!”

As Mitsuki-sensei looked at the scene that was unfolding in front of him, he let out a small sigh as he shrugged his shoulders.

“Clack!”

“Geh…There are more people now…”

“Ah. Kagura.”

“Miyano, who are all these people…W-Wait, Akii Anna?!”

“Ah, now there is a familiar face. How are you doing Kagura-chan?”

“Y-You haven’t done anything to anyone here yet have you?!”

“Huh, whatever do you mean?”

The moment Honshou entered the room, she looked shocked to see Akii in here. Perhaps they know each other before this, and her words…Should I be worried about anything Akii could do in here?

Honshou was glancing at Mitsuki-Sensei and Akii repeatedly when Mitsuki-Sensei just gave off a smile while Akii was snickering by herself.

“Um…Yuusuke. About the cooking lesson today you were to have. Where were you planning to have it?”

“Ah.”

“Click.”

“Sigh…Make yourself at home.”

“Pardon us.”

“Yuu, where are your family?”

“I…live alone.”

“No way! Yuu-kun, you live here alone?!”

Hearing Honoka ask about my family made me jump a little and Akii was just gasping while looking around the house like others.

Truthfully, my house was too big. The house could be said to be bigger than Honoka’s house right next door, and they have a family of 5. Entering the doorway, the wooden shoe shelves by the side were practically empty, all except for 2 pairs of my own shoe. The living room was well furnished and equipped as well, there was a long couch that no matter how you look at it, wasn’t for one person. A large screen television was facing the couch and by the living room was a huge kitchen.

The large kitchen was at the courtesy of Tsubasa who had asked father to build it larger as she knew I often cooked for a hobby. As everyone was done being mesmerized by the state of my house, I began to take out the necessary utensils and ingredients for the cake.

Cream cheese, crumbs, sugar, butter. All the ingredients were lined up. Jugs, bowls, mixers and such were also promptly placed onto the table. I specifically took out multiple sets to allow for all of them to try their hand at baking. Honoka and the others were staring at me slowly preparing the items when I saw that Akii was nowhere to be found.

Suspecting something was up, I went up to my room.

“Sigh… and what do you think you are doing?”

“Ah. Ahaha. You got me.”

My suspicions were spot on when I found Akii crawling around my room looking for something. Although, I could not exactly praise the way she was doing it. The skirt of our school was unusually short and Akii, who shorten the skirt, even more, was kneeling and crawling about, almost showing off some other things.

“You shouldn’t be crawling around in a short skirt like that, much less in a guy’s room.”

“Hehh…and why is that? What I do and what I wear is my business though.”

Looking at Akii’s face, I knew that she wasn’t feeling remorseful at all. In fact, she was snickering while making a comment.

“Whatever you are trying to find, I don’t think you will find it in the house.”

“Oh really? Then what is this certain picture I found?”

Akii pulled out a photograph and flashed it to me. It was a picture of Tsubasa, wearing comfortable homewear with a tank top, burying me in her chest while she took a selfie.

When did Tsubasa manage to sneak this into my room? I should have hidden it.

“Heh, so you have pictures like these.”

“That is my sister…”

“I’m sure it is. Don’t worry, I won’t tell the others.”

“Sigh…if that’s all, come downstairs already. In any case, we are starting our club activities and you are technically a member already.”

“Ah, of course on one condition.”

“Sigh…are you even listening to me speak, Akii-sa…”

“Stop! Anna.”

“Huh?”

“Call me Anna.”

“And why should I?”

“Click.”

At the moment I replied her, Akii had already taken out her phone and snapped a photo of the picture.

“Hehe. If not, I will spread this in school.”

“…You…are blackmailing me?”

“Of course not. It’s called negotiations, Yuu-kun!”

“Sigh. Get downstairs Aki…”

“Hm?”

“Sigh…Anna, get downstairs.”

“Okay!”

“Alright, the first step to making a good cake is to treat everything with care.”

“First, we will blend the crumbs by putting the crackers into the blender. After, the crust if finely grounded, stir in sugar and salt in a bowl.”

“Next, we will mix it with the butter and melt the butter.”

“Ohh…”

As I was going through the necessary steps for the cheesecake, everyone was silent and just watched diligently. Anna looked as if she knew how to do it already by giving off a slight smirk.

“Alright, now you guys try. Beat the cream cheese and sugar with the mixer.”

As they started to beat the mix, I looked around at their progress. Honoka was struggling a little to mix the ingredients and Honshou was doing it wildly. Ken was switching between sneaking a peek at Honoka and mixing the batter. Anna was…

“You…are good…”

“Heh, surprising isn’t it?” Baking is actually also a hobby of mine. Guess we have something in common huh, Yuu?”

“Ah. Yuu, how do you do it so smoothly?”

“Here.”

“You must gentle tilt the bowl a little while making rounds around the batter slowly. That way, you can get off the chunks and make it smoother.”

Going around and teaching each of them how to make the cheesecake was harder than expected. Mostly, it was troublesome due to Honshou mixing everything wildly despite her image, while spilling everything everywhere. In the end, the bowl was swung so hard that everything had spilled, and we had to remake it.

“Come on….”

“Ding!”

“ – It’s done!- “

As we took out the cake from the oven. The cake was already looking great. The texture of the cake was a golden brown and it looked as if it was alive, bouncing all over the place.

“Alright. Now, to finish it off, we spread the top with the sour cream mixture made just now…and we are done.”

After preparing the cake. Everyone looked really impressed with their results. We then cut one of the cakes while putting the others in the fridge.

“DELICIOUS!!!!!”

“So soft, yet fluffy!”

“Hmm, this is good!”

“It’s better than the cakes I make, that’s for sure. Nice job, Yuu!”

“You’re welcome, Akii…”

“Hmm?”

“Sigh…Anna.”

“Heh? – .

Upon calling Anna, everyone turned around and stared at the two of us.

“Anna?”

“Since when did you guys get close enough to be on first-name basis?”

“Hehe. I had my ways.”

“Ah! Yuu, how could you call Anna by her name and refused mine.”

“I was…”

Wanting to tell the truth to them, I glanced at Anna who had already pulled out her phone. She waved the picture around at me and gave off a slight smirk while sticking her tongue out.

“It isn’t like that Honok…”

“Miyano!”

“Geh...”

“Hm?”

“Sigh…Alright, I got it already.”

“…Miyano…”

“Um! That sounds nicer than just Honoka. Why don’t you take this chance to call Kagura by her name too?”

“Not a chance!”

“Well, you have your answer Miyano.”

“U-Um! C-Can I-I-I call you Miyano too?”

“Sure! We are all in the same club anyways, Ken-kun!”

Seeing how Ken’s face broke off into a smile and his faced turned a bright red that it compliments his hair, I simply sigh at the way he presented himself in front of his one-sided crush. Anna, on the other hand, was laughing behind me and trying to stifle it.

“We got to let Mitsuki-Sensei try this tomorrow! Too bad he couldn’t leave the school due to duties.”

“Yea…”

“YUU!!!!! I’m here to visit!!”

“Heh? Who’s that Yuu? Weren’t you living alone?”

“Ah.”