Inside a large room about thrice as big as the normal regular classrooms. This room is one of the few kitchen rooms in Kurimo Academy; this one specifically is for the first year's Culinary Study classroom.

A boy with black hair wearing a Kurimo Academy uniform with a yellow neck-tie was organizing everything in the room which includes cooking utensils, condiments, spices, plates, silverware, etc.

He's a second-year student and the one who was tasked to make sure everything was in its right place for today's class. Well, it actually got tossed to him since the girl who was originally supposed to do it yesterday forgot to do it and today she was absent because of a cold.

"A cold, my ass" The second-year grumbled in frustration; I mean, who wouldn't be when your lunch break was taken away because you had to fill in for someone else.

"What kind of excuse for a cold is 'it just started raining out of nowhere when I was on my way home'!? I call BS!" He furiously checked on everything from the clipboard; on a positive note, at least the list was very organized so he finished it fairly quickly.

After about 30 minutes, He finished organizing and even double-checked everything. Despite his complaints, he was still passionate about culinary art, he wouldn't half-ass his way out of it.

"Sigh, finally done" He sat down on a chair while reaching down to get his bento but caught nothing.

"What?" He looked towards where he usually kept his bento, however, there was only his school bag there.

*Inhale*

"UGHHHHHHH!" He groaned loudly in frustration. He had forgotten to grab his bento from his desk because he was too preoccupied with being angry.

"Can this day get any worse?"

*Slide*

"Wow, gloomy much" A third-year girl came in, she had a lollipop in her mouth and a scowl on her face.

"*I just jinxed myself, didn't I?*" He muttered to himself while clenching his fist tightly.

"Hey! I heard that!" Her expression turned dark as a vein pop on her forehead.

"What do you want, Tanyou-senpai?" He had a tired expression on; he forgot his lunch and now he had to deal with this senpai.

"Oi! Is that how to speak to the one who's bringing you lunch?" Tanyou Yumi glared at the boy while holding up a wrapped bento.

"Wait! That's mine. Did you come here just to bring it to me?" His eyes softened for a split second but quickly turned to one of suspicion as he stood from his chair.

"What is it that you're after?" He spoke in a very cautious tone; this senpai had made a fool of him multiple times while he was a first-year, he wasn't gonna fall for it that easily.

"How rude!? Can't I do something nice for my favorite kouhai without being suspected of having ulterior motives?" Yumi took the lollipop out of her mouth before talking in a softer, more refined tone, while her face was colored with sadness.

"Not after using that tone; want me to remind you what you had me do the last time you were nice to me?" He had a deadpan expression on while heightening his guard even further.

"Ugh! Whatever. Just take your lunch, I don't care anymore" Yumi dropped her lollipop in a bin near the door along with his bento before turning around and headed for the door.

"Hey! What'd you do that for!?" He shouted at Yumi while running over to the trashcan.

"*Arata no baka*" Yumi glanced at him and muttered so softly that no one but herself could hear before bolting out the room with tears leaking from her eyes.

(A/N - Arata no baka = Arata, you idiot)

"Geez, why would she just throw someone else's lunch in the trashcan like that?" Souta Arata picked up "his" bento wrapped in a yellow cloth from the completely empty trashcan aside from the lollipop she threw in as well.

Arata set "his" bento on the counter and opened it.

"!!!!!" Arata's eyes widen at the neatly arranged bento, the Japanese style egg roll formed in the shape of a heart, the cutely decorated white rice, the small stack of chicken karaage, the adorable well-designed octodog, and the vegetables on the side cut into varies cute shapes like stars, hearts, etc.

"This is…" Arata suddenly had a sinking feeling, his stomach churned and he felt dizzy. This wasn't "his" bento that he made, it was Yumi's handmade bento that she put so much effort into making and she was going to give it to him.

"Tanyou-senpai…" Arata felt all the blood left his face as he went pale; he knew he had messed up majorly this time.

He picked up the pair of chopsticks that came with the bento and tasted the juicy chicken karaage, it was very delicious. As one would expect from someone who has taken two years in Culinary Study.

"Sigh…I need to apologize to Tanyou-senpai…" Arata put down the chopstick, he had lost his appetite. He closed it and rewrapped it back to how it originally looked before sitting down on his chair; he turned to stare out the window.

He thought back to the last month, now that he had thought about it, he realized that he hadn't seen Yumi at all the week before and the entire spring break despite them living in the same neighborhood.

"Yeah, I'll apologize and give the bento back after school…" Arata said absentmindedly while still staring out the window, waiting the longest 18 minutes he had ever waited for the teacher to come.

Meanwhile

Yumi ran out of the Culinary Science building with tear droplets rolling down her cheeks, she ran along the well-paved path passing several other students before going straight into the main school building.

Yumi didn't look forward and ran based on memory towards the stairs; she ascended the stairs with fast steps. When reaching the second floor, she didn't look before turning and ran into a tall male student.

*Bump*

"Ita!"

Yumi fell backward on her bottom with her head still facing down with her long dark purple hair shielding her tear-streak face from view.

"Umm, are you hurt anywhere?" The male voice tinged with concern reached her ears.

Yumi looked up with her tear-stained face and dark purple eyes glistening from the tears, she saw a guy in uniform with a red necktie. He has black hair with bangs almost covering the right side of his dark purplish eyes, his slightly gloomy atmosphere contrasted with his bright eyes filled with conviction.

"W-what's wrong!? Are you hurt somewhere!?" He panicked after seeing her tear-filled eyes and got closer to check if she had any bruises anywhere.

"N-no, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, b-bye" Yumi hastily covered her face before getting up and bolted past from the boy without noticing two other students while heading towards the third floor.

'That was super embarrassing. Someone saw me crying, AHHHH, stupid stupid stupid' Yumi's face burned red with shame, and her floodgates open wider, releasing more tears.

Yumi kept running and running till she reached a classroom, she slid open the door loudly and scanned the room.

Everyone snapped their head towards her, after seeing who it was and how she looked, their eyes widen.

""""Yumi-san/Yumi-chan, what happened!?"""" A group of four girls quickly dropped what they were doing and ran up to her.

"*Sniff* Mina *Sniff* Mina" Yumi teared up even more and choked on her words, trying to hold her tears from leaking but to no avail.

(A/N - Mina = Everyone)

"Yumi-san, calm down, tell us one word at a time"

"Here use my handkerchief"

"Let's go sit down first"

"Yeah, Mimi-chan is right. Let's go sit down"

The four girls took the sniffling Yumi to their seats while ignoring the concerned eyes of their other classmates. They sat her down and comforted her until she calmed down enough to tell what had happened in the first-year's culinary room.

----------------------

"S…ta….So…a…."

"So..ta….S..uta…"

"Oi! Souta!"

"!!!" Arata was startled by the sudden voice of someone calling him, his head snapped towards his left. Arata saw his partner for today, a second-year boy with bleach-blond hair, red eyes, and a pretty face.

"Finally, what are you spacing out for, man? Class is about to start, you don't want to give a bad first impression to our cute kouhais, do you?" The boy stared at all the first-year girls while licking his lips.

"What the fuck, Nashiya!? Stop it, you're gonna creep out all the girls like last yea- Actually, scratch that, you already have" Arata wore a helpless expression while seeing all the disgusted looks his partner was receiving from the girls and the deathly glare he was getting from the few guys in the room.

"Haha, what are you talking about? They love me; look at those eyes filled with passion, though I would love it if they could funnel all of it into their cooking" Gouto spoke in a helpless tone while doing a greatly exaggerated gesture.

'I forgot he has a few screws loose' Arata sighed while trying to take Gouto's arm off his shoulder; Arata even didn't know when he had thrown his arm around his neck.

"Ohh, look at those two. The one with chestnut-colored hair and the blonde one, especially the chestnut-colored one, I can tell she's housewife material" Gouto pointed at the two girls who were completely ignoring his existent altogether.

"Hmm?" Arata looked to where Gouto was pointing at his dark eyes met with the green eyes of the chestnut-colored hair girl, then a sudden cold shiver ran through his spine as he felt a pair of cold icy blue eyes staring him down.

By the way, Gouto has been speaking very loudly, to the point that everyone in the classroom even the teacher heard what he had said. So, suffice to say that both Suika and Alice had heard his misogynistic comment even though they tried their best to erase his existent out of their mind.

Feeling the danger of being next to public enemy No.1, Arata quickly backed away with his hands up to show he was not a threat.

'Sorry not sorry, but you're on your own' Arata's heart beat faster and faster and he began to sweat profusely because Alice's cold eyes were still on his back, she hasn't discarded the possibility of him being a threat to her and her friend yet.

Arata tried to distract himself by looking through his notes but just couldn't shake off this unsettling feeling, he felt like he was being stalked by a predator in the wild.

*Slide*

"Sorry for being late, everyone" A male teacher slid open the door and walked to the front of the class, and scanned the class before his eyes landed on Gouto.

"Gouto, stop creeping out the first-years and get up here to introduce yourself, you too Arata-kun" The male teacher didn't even bat an eye to the situation in the class and called the two assistants from the second-year's Culinary Study class.

"My name is Nashiya Kei, I'm the Culinary Study Teacher for the first-years, I also teach Chemistry for both first-years and third-years as well" Kei-sensei introduced himself before turning to the female teacher, who has been here all this time.

"My name is Tadano Hitomi, I'm the Assistant Teacher for both Home Economic and Culinary Study for first-years, and I'm also one of the Head Chiefs at the food court" Hitomi-sensei introduced herself to everyone in a clear and gentle tone.

"And these two are your senpais, they were in this Culinary Study class last year. They're here to assist in helping you familiarize yourself with this course" Kei-sensei gestured to Arata and Gouto, who were standing side by side next to the podium.

"I'm Nashiya Gouto of Class 2-C, if you need any help just come ask me and if you have questions ask Souta here, he's kinda a nerd" Gouto introduced himself while sweeping his bleach-blond bangs to the side with one hand and putting his other arm around Arata's neck.

"Sigh, I'm Souta Arata of Class 2-A, come to me for help if you feel uncomfortable talking to him" Arata pointed towards Gouto with a tired expression.

"Haha, what do mean by tha-?" Gouto wanted to ask Arata for clarification but was cut off.

"Alright, enough chit-chat, let's get started. Open the recipe book to the Japanese cuisine section and pick one dish. I'll have you try cooking in pairs for today; don't worry about failing as it is only a natural part of learning. You have till the end of class to finish so make sure the dish you pick can be made within that time. If you don't understand the instructions written in there just ask either me, Tadano-sensei, or Arata and if you're really desperate you can ask Gouto" Kei-sensei instructed before walking off the podium.

"Hey! What's that supposed to-" Gouto got irritated and wanted to complain but…

"Gouto, Arata, look out for your kouhais and help when you see fit" Kei-sensei interrupted Gouto with a stern tone before heading off to watch over his students.

""Hai! Sensei"" The two's expression turned serious in the blink of an eye; the previous playfulness in Gouto's eyes were replaced with a serious glint, it was like his douchebag attitude was but a lie to deceive everyone.

Not like anyone paid attention to this change as they were intently looking through the recipe book trying to find the right dish for their pair. Hitomi-sensei had already told them to pair up the moment she walked through the door.

The two moved out to watch every pair from a distance so they won't be disturbed by their presence along with Kei-sensei; Hitomi-sensei was sitting at the desk off to the side registering students into a database of this class.

The students had already written down their names and class for her on paper so all she had to do was put the information in there.

Soon, one by one, every pair had picked out the dish they wanted to make and started to pick out ingredients from the back along with cooking utensils and some other stuff.

After that, everything went…smoothly. Yeah, I don't think accidents in the kitchen happen that often so the whole process when without a hitch.

Almost every student understood the book's instructions, and the few that didn't, had asked Kei-sensei or Arata for clarification. Gouto didn't even have to step in, though he never dropped that serious look on his face.

There were also a few students who were more adept at cooking, the most notable of which were Suika, Alice, and another girl.

Suika, of course, has more experience in the kitchen because her family owns a big restaurant chain with branches in many towns and cities, and she learned to cook and bake from her mom and dad; she also learned a few things from Ren's mother whenever she was over there.

Alice had never even stepped foot in a kitchen her entire life until now; however, she has great blood running through her veins and was thus able to pick up the basics instantly after watching Suika's pro-level skill at work.

The last girl was from Class 1-B, although not as fast as Alice, she still got the basics down amazingly quickly with a few pointers from her partner.

These three caught the eyes of Kei-sensei, Hitomi-sensei, and Arata. Kei-sensei even took the liberty of looking at their backgrounds later in the evening.

Arata had his attention on Suika specifically, he admired her skills and beauty while cooking, thinking maybe this was what Gouto meant by her being housewife material and he wasn't a sexist bastard, maybe just a maybe.

He wasn't too sure as they weren't friends, just familiar with each other's skill in culinary art.

Back to his thought, Arata had to admit that Gouto was right, not in a bad way. He thought that anyone who can get her as his/her wife will be very lucky. She has the looks, a great figure, was smart because she got into the honor class, and on top of that skilled in the kitchen.

Who wouldn't want a girl like her?

'Sigh, if only Tanyou-senpai can get rid of her crude way of talking, maybe she wouldn't be complaining to me all the time about how lonely it was to be single in high school. She would totally score a handsome hunk if she were nicer to guys' Arata thought to himself while comparing the girl he made cry to a girl he just met.

And he's totally clueless about it, even after seeing the bento she gave him he still doesn't get it.

Will he notice it in the future or will he come to regret it?

Only time will tell.

----------------------

Dun-don-dun-don

The bell rang, signaling the end of school. All students started to pack up and leave, go look at clubs, or stayed behind to clean the classroom because they have cleaning duty today.

That's right, although Kurimo Academy is a prestigious school, it never abandoned the practice of having students clean their own classroom.

Today happens to be the day that Hina, Suika, and Alice have cleaning duty along with the girl trio from yesterday; they got really lucky to be the only cleaning group with all girls.

Monoa and I got the short end of the sticks because our group only has five students, four if you don't count Keirou, who still can't attend school until next month. The other two were Wakaba Jirou, the guy that got rejected yesterday, and a timid German girl by the name of Sophie Valentine Bergmann; though on the class listing, she's Bergmann Sophie, gaining her a seat front and center.

Anyway, enough of that. Monoa, Akirou, and I were walking to the boys' locker room to change into our gym clothes. We haven't had PE class yet so we hadn't gone there, we had to talk to the first-year PE Teacher to get permission to go in and take a pair of gym clothes for Monoa since, you know, he left his school bag at home.

Arriving at the double door leading into the boys' locker room, I sensed five presences, two in the boys' locker room and three in the girls' locker room a bit further down the hall.

My instinct kicked in, telling me not to open the door right now but I find this amusing so I didn't stop Monoa from pushing the door open.

*Swing*

Peering in there, I saw the scene of a shirtless guy pinning a blushing first-year girl with her shirt unbuttoned, revealing her pink bra, to the lockers.

They just stared at each other in stunned silence while I killed my presence and leaned on the wall, waiting for everything to blow up.

It didn't take very long for the girl to come to her senses and turned completely red before…

"Kyaaaa!!"