🥐Ingredients 🥐

🥐Sorry for the long wait on part two...time got away from me with all my homework and other life stuff. I promise I won't make y'all wait too long on the next update.

🥐Also, I think this is the first time I'm writing from Kaito's POV in a short story that's being published here...and it just so happens to be one of the longest parts. How am I not surprised, lol.

🥐Anyways, I hope you all enjoy!

🥐Part Two: Deadly Flowers🥐

"Are you done buying your ridiculous chocolate?" a low voice asked from behind.

My eyes glanced over at the basket in my arm, where there were multiple small bundles of chocolates I was getting for my friends, including the brute towering behind me. Tami, Sakura, Raiden, Blake, Iris, Koto...I had one for each of them, plus a few extras just in case. One could never be sure who would all tag along when Sakura was behind it all. I was just happy we could all spend time outside of school.

"It's not ridiculous!" I defended myself. "Why should girls be the only ones to give chocolate on Valentine's Day? I value them as friends too! Besides, I don't want to be the only one showing up empty handed."

My friend let out a tired sigh when I heard someone chuckle from behind us.

"Oh, come on, Raiden. Don't tell me you don't appreciate Valentine's Day! Just think, maybe an Imported Bean will have some special chocolate just for you," Blake's voice came from behind.

I turned to look up at the dark haired teen towering beside me. It was actually kind of funny seeing him flustered for once, and the best way to do that was to bring up his crush. Raiden had always been this stoic guy who wouldn't show any speck of emotion unless he let his guard down. There was only one student in all of U.A. that forced him out of that cold state.

Sadly, I was one of the last people in our group to see that, but that could be because he had a crush on her when I was dating the girl. Thinking back on it, it was a bit strange I didn't catch onto his feelings for her earlier. I mean, whenever he was paired up with her to spar, he never went all out and beat her to pulp. At the time, I thought it was because he knew she wouldn't be able to handle a single punch from him and was doing it for my sake. Before I even confessed my feelings to her, I told Raiden about her first.

If I had known the guy had actually fallen head over heels for an actual human being, I might not have asked her out. Then again, knowing Raiden, he probably didn't even notice his own feelings for her when they first came.

None of that mattered now, not when Blake had a point. These past few months, well after I had broken up with the girl, everyone could tell the two liked each other. Everyone, that was, except for those two.

After a brief pause, Raiden shook his head. "I hope not. It's a waste of time and money."

"Awe, you don't mean that," I claimed, leaning my head towards him. "Think of it this way. For White Day, you can actually ask her out and take her out for a romantic dinner or for a stroll around the park."

Raiden grabbed my shoulder and pushed me away, rolling his eyes. "Get your damn chocolate, so we can get this fucking thing over with."

"Sounds like someone is eager to see the Imported Bean," Blake jabbed.

"Go to hell," Raiden growled before marching away from us. We watched as he walked outside, making sure he didn't leave without us. It wouldn't be the first time he'd do that to Blake and me, but we also needed to make sure he didn't go straight home.

"Damn, what bit him in the butt?" Blake asked.

I shook my head. "Don't know. Don't care. I'm going to go buy some chocolate."

•┈┈┈••✦🖤✦••┈┈┈•

Luckily, Raiden didn't leave the store as we found him leaning on the wall with his phone in his hand. Blake and I didn't have to ask who he was texting as the boy quickly tucked it into the pockets of his jeans and glared at us. If it was any giant giving that look, I might have been terrified; however, it was kind of hard with him wearing a blue corduroy button down down that did its best to make him not look so daunting.

He would never admit it, but I think it was safe to say he was doing his best to impress a certain blonde all too well.

"Finally finished?" He asked as his eyes glanced down at the bags of chocolate I was holding.

"Yup! I think I have enough tomo-choco for everyone!" I exclaimed before glancing over towards Blake, "Sure you don't want to go back there and get some gyaku-choco for Sakura."

Just as much fun as it was to get Raiden to turn into a complete mess about his crush, the same could be said about Blake. More so to be honest as he didn't even attempt to hide it. The boy's face paled at the thought. He tried to open his mouth to say something, but it came out a jumbled mess.

All I had to do was say her name.

"I—Saka—choc—uh..." he tried spitting out before shaking his head.

Before I could see it coming, his hand smacked me from behind, causing me to stumble forward a bit. It didn't help that I was much shorter than both him and Raiden, but then to add the fact that both of them were buff, well, I was screwed.

"Hey!" I protested.

"Just worry about your own choco," Blake defended, before glancing over at Raiden. "They're at the park, right?"

Raiden shook his head. "There's been a change of plans," he explained. "Instead of meeting up, we're going to meet at some cafe called Iced Magic."

"Iced Magic," Blake repeated. "Why does that place sound so familiar?"

I shrugged, glancing up at the purple haired boy. The three of us had known each other since middle school, but it wasn't because we went to the same school. With all the events our parents dragged us to, it only made sense that we'd cross paths.

It was because of that Raiden could give the answer he did. "Probably some place one of our sisters talked about. Whatever it is, we probably should go. You know how impatient that girl can go."

We didn't argue with Raiden when he said that, following him to wherever this place was located. As we did, he explained more of the details, until we had arrived at the small coffee shop with dark wood slabbed on the side of the building. On the sign hanging above, there were neat black letters painted to say "Iced Magic" on it. Honestly, it looked like the stereotypical coffee shop one could find anywhere.

From what Raiden told us, Sakura had gotten a larger table that was placed in the front. As the three of us stepped foot into the coffee shop, we expected to see them sitting there, but they were nowhere to be found. Well, not at the wooden table that they said they'd be at. Looking around, I noticed Sakura trying to yank Koto out of her seat, but the redhead grabbed onto the boy sitting next to her. I had to do a double take as it wasn't her boyfriend from 1-H; it was Ale from the Hero Course.

As much as the guy flirted in class, he didn't look as happy as he normally would with someone hanging all over him.

Oddly enough, Rocket wasn't doing anything about it. He just stood there, tilting his head to the side as he tried figuring out what to do. If that was my girlfriend throwing herself on another person, I would've been livid. Sure, that was kind of what was going on with my ex and best friend, but that was something completely different since Tami was my ex, not my current girlfriend.

Koto was still dating Rocket. Unless something happened between the two without anyone noticing, but I doubt that was the case.

I tore my head away from them as I found my mind thinking of the blonde. There was no way she would've left without Sakura. She was much too careful to wander somewhere alone. That was the only thing I could think of because she wasn't in the coffee shop at all.

"That's Tami's bag," I heard Raiden whisper.

My head turned to see it laying on the table that they were supposed to be sitting at. It was a small, brown backpack that was worn at the seams. The three of us walked towards it, not saying a word as it was left on a chair, unattended. That was out of character for Tami.

Worse was the fact that her phone was sitting beside a styrofoam cup.

I was about ready to say something when I heard Sakura saying something from behind. Whatever it was, I didn't exactly hear it. The three of us turned around to see Sakura running towards us all before she stumbled onto her own two feet. Blake didn't waste a single second to run up and catch the dark haired girl.

"Are you alright?" Blake asked. "You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"

The girl glanced up at him, blinking a few times before her face started to grow red. Never has that ever happened before, not even during our training sessions where the girl didn't even look like she could break a sweat.

Her eyes fluttered before she tore her head away from Blake. "No, I'm fine. I'm glad you caught me in time. You're quite strong, you know that?"

My jaw dropped at her statement. Sakura actually complimented someone? I mean, sure, she would do so to Tami to give her a confidence boost or if she honestly liked someone's style, she would say something, but never would she just go up and say something so bold first thing.

Seeing it happened, I glanced over at Raiden, who took Tami's phone off the table and started zipping through it. It made sense as to why he was nosing through her stuff when she was missing, but it still wasn't right. For all we knew, she could've gone to the bathroom.

But, she would've taken her phone to the bathroom, right? Don't girls bring their bags and phones with them to the bathroom in case something happens? I thought I remembered Sakura saying that was some kind of rule once, but I could be wrong.

"Th-thanks," Blake said, causing my eyes to snap back over to them. He seemed to have stabilized the dark haired girl to her own two feet. Despite that, she clung onto his arm, leaning her head onto it as her fingers stroked it, feeling his muscles. "You're pretty strong yourself. I mean, your Quirk—it doesn't make you strong or anything, but you—"

Sakura cut him off with a laugh that I could tell caught Blake off guard as there were snorts woven into her laughter. It wasn't the same soft and airy kind Tami would give.

"Nami!" I heard someone whine on the top of their lungs, catching me off guard.

With all the commotion going on, it was hard to think someone could talk above the noise. When I turned around, I noticed a very strange thing happen. A girl from my school, Aoi, was yanking on a girl's arm, trying to pull her out of her seat. I blinked a couple of times to make sure I was seeing this right, but the scene didn't seem to change.

"Nami! That's a beautiful name! Why don't you sit with me?" Aoi suggested. "Please?"

"No! Don't listen to her," a boy sitting next to the girl named Nami, begged. He leaned in close, almost trying to hint to my blue haired classmate that she was already taken, but Aoi didn't seem to get that hint.

Strange. To be honest, I didn't know Aoi that well. She was in the same class as me, sure, but she never really said anything or tried to stand out that much. Guess I never paid that much attention to know what she was like, but she was still in the Hero Department! That meant she couldn't make people feel that uncomfortable. I mean, she should be able to take a hint that Nami didn't want to be around her. If not for her date who was leaning his head on her shoulder, then for the way Nami wasn't really giving her an answer.

Wait, was I ever that bad? Gosh, I hope not, and I feel sorry for anyone who had to go through that.

Despite what the two were saying to the girl, Nami just sat there. A hooded sweatshirt hid her face, preventing anyone from seeing any kind of expression, but she didn't say a word. At least, not that anyone could hear. I glanced back at my friends, noticing they were too distracted by what was going on. Sure, I could've helped them, but I mean, maybe Sakura was just hiding her feelings until Valentines to give Blake a nice surprise. It seemed out of character for her, sure, but she did rush over to see us the moment we came.

As for Tami, I was certain she was just in the bathroom. Raiden could figure that out on his own, so I wasn't worried. What worried me was seeing the blue haired girl from my class acting very unheroic. Besides, how did she even know this girl?

I decided to walk over to figure it out for myself.

"Hey, Aoi," I said, not getting a reaction from anyone as I walked over. "Who are your new friends?"

Seconds ticked by, making me wonder if she didn't hear me, but as I opened my mouth to say something, she stood up. Her back was turned towards me as she still faced the two sitting at the table. The brunette sighed as he laid his head on the girl with the sweatshirt. She still didn't get a chance to respond or react as Aoi grabbed her once again, only this time, she used all the strength she had in her tiny body to actually yank Nami out of her seat. The pull was so hard that the hood of Nami's sweatshirt flung off her head, showing off lustrous locks of purple gems adorning her head. They glittered in the light, lighting up her pale skin.

My jaw dropped the moment I saw her hair, feeling a loss for words.

"She's mine, Kaito!" Aoi defended. "Go find someone else to be your Valentine."

Her words left me in shock that I couldn't say a word. I always had some sort of comeback I could shoot back. Sure, they weren't always the best, but all at the same time, they were at least something to crack a smile on everyone's face.

But hearing her words made me freeze. I wasn't sure why. All I could do was watch as she dragged the girl with the gemmed hair away from everyone. Once they were far enough, the poor girl turned her head, but it was useless as people moved around the cafe, blocking her view.

"What just happened?" the boy whispered.

I turned my head to see the brunette's eyes widened as his face paled. It wasn't often I saw other people with orange eyes, but they were still different from mine. Instead of emitting a soft glow, his eyes looked like a pool of stilled flames just waiting to ignite.

"Honestly, no clue," I answered. "Then again, when do girls ever make any sense, am I right?"

All I was trying to do was get the guy to relax, but my words seemed to have the opposite effect. He stood up, causing me to stumble back a bit. With how short Nami was, I didn't think this guy would be as tall as he was.

The guy quickly took a step as if he was going to go after Aoi and Nami, but I quickly grabbed his arm to stop him. Something told me there was going to be no way we could rip Nami out of the blue haired girl's grasp. If we were going to figure this out, then we were going to need to help each other.

He turned his head to look at me when I was about to tell him this, but seeing his eyes, well, something else came out of my mouth.

"Can I take a picture to prove to my friends angels exist?" I asked.

His jaw dropped all before something slammed into the back of my head. My feet stumbled before I fell right into the table that he and his date were sitting at. Luckily, their drinks were further away from me, so I didn't knock them over. The last thing I'd need was for Sakura to ridicule me even more about my outfit.

Hey! At least she wouldn't be able to yell at me for looking like an orange or a lemon when I decided to wear red today. Well, red with yellow jeans, but close enough!

"Don't be a fucking idiot," my friend growled from behind. "We've got bigger issues to worry about."

I turned around to see the brunette standing there, watching as the whole thing happened. While it was my friend, Raiden that slapped me in the back of the head, there was another girl standing beside him, taking me off guard. She was short, but she wasn't Tami or Nami. Her fluffy white hair and sheep-like appearance confirmed that all too quickly.

Unlike all the other girls I've seen today, she didn't seem to be acting weird like Sakura and Aoi did. Instead, she just stood there with her hands tucked into her pockets.

"Dude, learn to lighten up a bit," I tried as I stood up. "Take it you haven't found Tami yet?"

Raiden didn't have to answer me for me to know. Seeing eye twitch at the question made the answer loud and clear. I glanced down at the bag of chocolates in my hand. We needed to find Tami, so I could give her her tomo-choco. After all that she did for us, she deserved something nice.

All of our friends did.

"There's something weird going on here," Iris, the girl beside Raiden, explained. "Raiden and I are going to go out and look for Tami since she's not here. Maybe you two can figure out what's happening here."

"Hey now! Since when did I get wrapped up in this thing?" the brunette beside me asked.

We all snapped our heads towards him as he crossed his arms over his chest. Just moments ago, he was about ready to go after Nami, and now he was questioning all of it?

"Since this deals with your friend," Raiden growled. "Unless you don't give a damn about what happens to her."

As much as I wanted to call Raiden out on that, his threat did carry enough weight that the brunette clamped his mouth shut. His orange eyes glanced over at Aoi and Nami, wherever they were. I wanted to reach out and say that things would be alright, but the last time I tried to break the tension with this guy, well, the wrong words came out.

Something told me the minute I said something again, things would end up a lot worse.

"Don't worry, we'll figure this out," Iris insisted as she glanced at the booth Aoi had trapped the other girl in. "All you two have to do is figure out a way to get that girl away from Aoi."

"You make it sound so easy," I complained.

She did. Aoi was literally leaning her head on Nami's shoulder. Even if the other girl wanted to get out of it, she couldn't, not when the only other way out was a giant glass window that couldn't be open. It wasn't like she didn't try to escape either. Her hands tried pushing Aoi away, but the other girl was just a bit stronger and taller than she was.

"Don't worry," the brunette claimed. "I think I have a way to get Nami out of there."

•┈┈┈••✦🖤✦••┈┈┈•

After a brief introduction—and by brief, I mean, everyone else left and I had to ask the guy who gave me his name before explaining the plan—I learned that this guy's name was Cashire. Of course, because he wanted to get on with it and get his friend out of this situation, that was all the information I could pull from him.

Luckily, no more pick up lines were said after Raiden and Iris left. I did offer to Cashire that we should have gotten Blake and Sakura to help, but seeing how Sakura was holding her hand with Blake's as they looked at the sweets at the front counter, I figured maybe now wasn't the time. At least Blake could finally get Sakura to agree to be his Valentine.

Maybe she tripped a bit harder into Blake's arms than I realized.

Pushing that thought out of the way, Cashire and I decided it was best to try and pry Aoi off of Nami's arm. The two of us casually walked over, not catching Aoi's attention at all. No matter how pale the other girl looked, the bluette just couldn't take the hint.

When I glanced over at Cashire, he was already gone. He warned me this would happen, but it just made me that much more curious as to how his Quirk worked. I mean, this guy just disappeared out of thin air! Was it that he turned invisible? Was it that he was part chameleon?

Whatever it was, I just cleared my throat when I finally stood in front of the booth Tanami and Aoi were sitting at. Not matter how much the gemmed-haired girl tried to pull herself out of Aoi's grip or hide under her hoodie, the blue haired girl continued to pull it down and marvel at how shiny Tanami's hair was. It was so awkward that even I was uncomfortable by the scene.

Luckily, my job was simple.

"Hey, Aoi," I tried again, earning an irritated sigh from the said girl. "Hey! I can't be that annoying!"

The girl whipped her head to glare daggers into my eyes. Her arms were still wrapped around Tanami, almost as if she wasn't ever going to leave the girl's side. Seeing that, I realized Cashire definitely gave me the hardest part of this operation. Not that I would know how to do whatever he planned, but I knew this wasn't going to be easy.

"Look Orangie, I know you're dense, but let me have my time with Nami! Find yourself someone else to pester for a while," Aoi shot back.

It took everything in me not to shoot back at the Orangie comment. It was bad enough Sakura called me that, and then all of our close friends, but now Aoi? Sure, I wanted to get to know her better, but not in the way where she thought it was okay to call me by that disgusting fruit all the time. Besides, just because I dressed in orange did not mean I can be considered an orange.

"You know Nami isn't her actual name, right?" I questioned, remembering what Cashire filled me in on just moments ago.

Tanami gave me a strange look, probably wondering how in the world I knew that, but that didn't matter. All I knew was that Aoi fell for it as she gasped and quickly apologized for what she did.

"Please tell me I didn't offend you," Aoi begged. "Is there any way I can make it up to you?"

The girl beside Aoi tried pulling away. "Could I have a little bit of space?"

Aoi shot out her bottom lip. "But Nami, I don't want to ever lose you!"

"I think what Tanami means is that she wants some space, so she can get something from the front counter," I insisted, motioning my hand for Tanami to see that I was trying to help her if she just played along.

Whether this happened to her a lot, I wasn't sure, but her lips formed a small "o" before she nodded her head. "Yeah, what Orangie said. I'd really like a piece of chocolate cake with extra frosting."

"Hey! For the last time, my name isn't Orangie!" I yelled.

My words weren't heard as Aoi shot up, letting go of Tanami. In that split second that Aoi let go of the girl, I blinked. I had to have blinked because that girl disappeared out of thin air.

How did that even happen?

"Why didn't you say so?" Aoi said before turning around to look at Tanami. "Let's–AHH!"

The blue-haired girl whipped around and yanked the collar of my shirt. Even though Aoi had blue eyes, I could have sworn they turned black. Her nose scrunched in disgust as her lips twisted into a scowl.

"What the hell did you do to my Nami?" Aoi demanded.

My hands flung into the air in protest. "I don't know what you're talking about. I–who? You were sitting by yourself weren't you?"

"Don't play dumb, you stupid orange," Aoi growled. As she did, I could see the artificial bouquet from behind her starting to falter as it shifted shape. I gulped, having a gut feeling of what she was about to do.

We were in public, and we didn't have our hero license just yet. Using our Quirks to hurt one another, or even defend myself, would be illegal. There was no way I was going to lose my chances of becoming a Pro Hero again just by using my Quirk off school grounds.

Think, Kaito, think! What can you do to stop her from making a stupid mistake?

"Has anyone told you that you have pretty eyes?" my voice cracked as I tried to get her mind off of what she was doing.

"Those are words I want Tanami to say, not you," she said as the plastic flowers flew off the table and shot in my direction. Not wanting to take a hit, I quickly ducked and pushed the girl off of me.

Where were my friends when I needed them? I thought, looking back up at Aoi. Her face was definitely heated up from the fact that Tanami disappeared. Where to, I wasn't sure, but I didn't want to feel her wrath, especially through the use of her Quirk.

Aoi turned her head to look at me. I froze, not knowing what to do. Do I run and hope that I could run faster than her? I mean, I could always use my Quirk to help, but then I risk tripping and her beating the living shit out of me. Standing my ground wasn't much of a better option either.

No matter what I did, I was screwed.

That was when Aoi did something I wasn't expecting. She shook her head and marched off towards the bathrooms, calling out for Tanami. I was about ready to say something when a hand grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the coffee shop.

My eyes blinked, finding myself standing in front of both Cashire and Tanami. The latter of the two had pulled her hoodie over her shining hair to hide from the blue haired girl that was clearly after her. The other just took his hand off me as he crossed his arms, glancing down at his friend.

"Whew, that was a close one," I sighed in relief. "You know, for a moment there, I thought you were going to leave me there to die in the Aoi's hands, and that would not have been fun. How did you manage to pull that all off?"

"My Quirk," Cashire simply answered before giving his attention back to Tanami. "Okay, I got him out. Now can we go?" he whined.

Oh, I realized. I glanced back in the cafe. Aoi was still marching around the cafe, yelling for Tanami to come back. As she did, I could see Sakura leaning her head onto Blake's shoulder and Koto was still sitting beside Ale, no matter how much he tried pushing her away. I blinked. Ale was actually trying to push someone away? He never did that. If anything, he was the one who always flirted with others.

What in the world was going on?

"Something's not right," I commented.

"Agreed. Does that girl always act like that?" Tanami asked, earning an aggravated sigh from her friend.

"No, and neither do my friends with whomever they are with right now," I said.

"It's nothing to worry about," the brunette commented, causing Tanami and me to snap our heads toward him. "What? It's not. I just overheard someone in there that they were pulling a harmless Valentine's Day prank on everyone in there. Of course, I hate the fact that Nami got in the crossfire, but the effects only last like an hour tops. Nothing to worry about."

My jaw dropped. "An hour? Tops? Dude! That's enough time to cause some major damage!"

"The orange is right," Tanami agreed.

"For the hundredth time, my name is not Orange or Orangie; it's Kaito!" I argued.

Of course, my protests fell on deaf ears once again, especially as the brunette pulled out his phone from his back pocket to open up some text message. He didn't say much as he showed it to Tanami. Her already-porcelain face paled even more. It wasn't like she had seen a ghost with whatever was in that text; she had turned into that ghost.

The girl looked up at me. Her lips turned into a grim frown as she did. "I'm sorry. I want to help, but we have to get going. Cashire, did you happen to at least catch a glimpse at whoever was behind it?"

The boy shrugged. "He wasn't in the cafe. I just overheard him talking in the back. My guess is that he's probably one of the workers. Either way, as long as you stay out of there, you'll be fine."

I glanced back into the coffee shop. He wasn't wrong. There were more than just Aoi, Koto, and Sakura that seemed affected. It wasn't all at once either. Just as some man got up, he seemed to have fallen into a trance and grabbed the hand of the woman who was passing by. I couldn't hear what was said, but seeing her face turn red as she slipped into the seat beside him, willingly, I could see that this wasn't just some accident waiting to happen. Someone was definitely behind all this.

I frowned as I turned my head over towards my indigo-haired friend who was pushing a strand of Sakura's black hair behind her ear. It was no secret that this guy had a crush on her, especially with the googly eyes he had given to her whenever she wasn't looking. The moment he found out none of this was real, he was going to be heartbroken. Could I really do that to the guy?

My stomach tightened at the thought and clenched as I remembered the other guy I had walked into the cafe with. At this very moment, he was looking for our friend, Tami, who had gone missing. Hopefully, there was some way Raiden and Iris could find her before things got way out of control.

Honestly, for Raiden's sake, I really hoped she wasn't under the influence of whatever was making the others fall in love.

When I looked back at Tanami and Cashire, I found that both of them had disappeared. Whatever was in that text must have been important if they were willing to bail so quickly without a single goodbye. Not that it mattered. While they dealt with whatever they needed to, I knew I needed to figure a way to stop the mess from happening inside.

But how?

🥐End of Part 2 🥐

🥐Character Spotlight: Cashire🥐
Book: Vivid Decadence by Juni_Penguin_
Likes: Iced Coffee

🥐Character Spotlight: Aoi🥐
Book: Plastic Roses by -butterfly--effect-
Likes: Raspberry Scone