my saving grace ~ terukane

somewhere across the sea of time

5. Nene & Hanako

~

"Is it true?"

The whisper is hurried, and Akane glances upwards.

"The pile of homework that's undone at your desk seems true, yes."

"No! I mean-" Nene huffs. "Did you really fall out of love with Aoi-chan?"

It's been a day since that encounter and rumors are already spreading. "Hm?"

"Normally, you would have jumped at an opportunity like that!" Nene flails wildly, trying to prove her point somehow through hand gestures. "You would have killed to be asked out! To the movies! By Aoi!"

Akane sighs, moving to adjust his glasses and frowning when he realizes that he's not wearing them, because oh, right, they're broken. "If you must know, then yes. I fell out of love with her, if that's how you're putting it."

Nene seems genuinely heartbroken on his behalf. "That's so sad..!"

"The only sad thing is the amount of free time I suddenly gained since I'm no longer devoting every moment to her." Akane snarks softly to himself. "I don't even know what to do anymore..."

So he's been overworking himself.

He jumps when Nene slams her hands down onto his desk- a determined grin on her face. "Then let's have an outing! As friends!"

"What?"

"We could go to the beach, or hang out at a market, or even go ziplining!"

"What?!"

For all her denseness and odd amount of obliviousness, Nene wasn't stupid. "You've done a lot for Aoi-chan, Akane-kun. There's no way you aren't overwhelmed by all the choices you have, all the potential hobbies you could explore."

Akane groans, placing a hand on his forehead. "I went out with Lemon recently, so no to those three. If you truly want to hang out, though, we could- I don't know, bake?"

Brightening up again, Nene waves a small goodbye as first period begins. "Meet me at the home economics classroom after club activities then!"

~

Teru had seemed confused when Akane sped through his work, simply nodding when saying he had a friend he wanted to get to.

("Not Akane-chan?"

"I'm sure you've heard the rumors by now. You should know it's not her.")

He stops in front of the classroom, knocking twice on the door, to no response. Did Nene ditch him?

"Akane-kun!"

Jumping slightly, Akane turns to see Nene. She had clearly sprinted there, apologetic. "I'm sorry! Am I late? Have you been waiting long?"

"No, I just got here." Akane assures slightly, knitting his brows upon observing her appearance. "Did club activities run a little slower than usual?"

"Mhm..." Sighing, Nene seems to have a grave expression on her face, before brightening up again. "What should we bake?"

"Well-"

"Donuts!"

Ah, that's right. His glasses are broken- he really needs to ask Teru for new ones. Knowing him though, it would turn into a whole thing with 'favors', or a lecture of, 'you need to be more careful, Aoi!' Akane sighs - something he seems to be doing a lot more lately - before turning to greet the new person.

"Honorable Number 7."

"Number 1!" Hanako cheers back, messing with Akane's hair. "It's rare for you to acknowledge my presence!"

Nene huffs. "I'm not making more donuts for you! Besides, only Kou-kun knows how to make them!"

The two begin bickering, and Akane watches with an odd feeling of fondness in his chest. "How about we make a cake?"

"Yes! Wonderful idea!" Nene beams, shooting the stink eye at Hanako. "Unlike someone!"

"My ideas are great, excuse you."

~

"What a beautiful entrance, absolute flop at the end though! The judges give it a 7 out of 10!"

Akane can feel his eye twitch as he reaches for another egg. After making sure they had all the ingredients, Nene and Akane had decided on making a vanilla chiffon cake. The recipe calls for seven eggs, with the yolk and whites separated. Cracking another one open, Akane carefully separates them from on another using the shell, allowing the whites to fall into a bowl while tossing the yolk into another.

"What a painful landing!" Hanako comments as the yolk lands into the flour with a plop. "3.5 out of 10!"

And Hanako, being Hanako, has decided to take it on himself to rate how stylishly the eggs fall into the mixing bowl.

"Yashiro-san, have you found the electric hand mixer?"

"It's at! The very top! I can't-!" Is the only strained response he receives. Akane scowls, grabbing another egg and repeating the process.

Hanako winces. "Ooh! The yolk opened up and broke, that's gotta hurt! 1 out of 10, pity points!"

"Two more eggs," Akane whispers out, voice pained. "And then we can get to mixing the ingredients."

"How stunning!" Hanako gasps as Akane drops the yolk in again. "Absolutely marvelous! I rate it-"

"AcK-?!"

There's a loud thud, and the sound of cardboard hitting the floor. Akane turns to the source of the noise, finding Nene in a tangle of limbs, and a box with a picture of a hand mixer on it.

"Are you okay?"

Nene's response is slightly muffled. "I did it."

Akane places the bowls to the side, helping Nene up whilst picking up the box simultaneously. "Can you separate the last egg while I check if this thing works?"

Nene nods, a bit dazed, walking over to the mixing bowls while Akane fumbles with the box. He manages to open it with a bit of difficulty, pulling it out and flicking it on as a test. There's a satisfied nod as it begins spinning, clicking it off again as Nene berates Hanako for his shenanigans.

"Okay, so the recipe says to use the hand mixer to beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, and then to add the cream of tartar..." Akane hands the mixer to Nene, looking serious. "I'll preheat the oven and prep the pan, can I trust you to do this?"

"You can count on me!"

The eggs nearly explode, and Akane has to handle the rest of the baking.

~

Around an hour later, the cake is done. It's fluffy and sweet, and Nene's savoring it while Hanako nags her for a bite.

Akane's pushing his own slice around on his plate, staring down at the dessert. Despite Hanako's shenanigans, Akane found that he didn't mind baking.

"I knew I heard cockroaches here~!"

A pair of hands takes Akane's cake from behind him, a familar rosary bead bracelet hanging from one of the newcomers' wrists. Akane blinks, craning his head slightly. "Minamoto-kaichou?"

"Hello, Aoi." Teru smiles, taking a bite of the (stolen) cake. "Did you make this, Yashiro-san? It tastes delightful."

"Ah! Actually, Akane-kun essentially made it himself..."

Teru blinks, glancing down at the cake with a newfound appreciation. "Huh. It tastes good, Aoi."

Akane can feel his heart skip a beat, and his face flushes up.

Uh-oh.