"Okito!"

Despite the crowd of students loafing in the second year hall, my shout had successfully reached the one guy I wanted it to. He stopped where he was and tilted his head. Face stout and emotionless, he rose an eyebrow as he stared down at me and the open container of cookies I'd extended towards him.

Beside him, a shorter girl rotated as well, her purple pigtails bouncing onto her shoulders.

Although it disconcerted me for a second—Okito never hung around anyone considering he prided himself in being a lone wolf—I brushed it aside and plucked out a cookie, holding it out to him.

He eyed it over, mouth pressed tight. "These look crispier than the ones you brought me yesterday."

I jolted, somewhat unsurprised he'd noticed such a detail. "I took them out a little later than I was supposed to."

He snorted.

"I tasted one!" I defended. "They're still good."

Before Okito could retort, the girl beside him stepped forward. Though standing at a shorter height than me, Shiori Aida's features were morphed in a fierce glower.

"You're seriously offering him something you know is a failure?" Scoffing, she set one hand to her hip. "Gouda, who is she? Don't tell me she brings you cookies every morning?"

Okito didn't respond, but truthfully, Shiori didn't require one to go off.

"Excuse me," she said, bending over and narrowing her chartreuse eyes into slits, "why are you bothering our vice president with something so nasty looking? Do you seriously think he'll eat your crap?"

I faltered, a bit off-put by her intensity. I'd been exposed to her verbal attacks in the past—the first time I'd approached the Cooking Club and they all jeered me right out of the room. Shiori Aida was the most obnoxious member of the club and despite being vice president in the past, she offered her title to Okito to possess for whatever reason.

I knew it well, that the moment Okito officially took a position of power, joining their elitist club had become impossible.

"What I give him has nothing to do with you," I spoke up, sending a challenging frown in return.

"But it does." She leaned over and stabbed a finger at my chest. "I don't care who you think you are but our vice president's palate is too graceful to eat whatever a wench like you dishes up."

"W-wench?" I demanded.

She stood tall, jutting her chin. Digging into her bag, she retrieved a small container of her own then popped open the lid. A whiff of the hypnotizing scent immediately filled me with awe. Within the clear plastic sat tiny uniquely shaped cakes.

Were those... madeleines?

I watched as Shiori picked one up and held it to Okito's mouth. The corners of her lips quirked upward as he did what I thought impossible—parted his mouth and accepted the entire cake, features brightening as if from delight.

My heart dropped in my chest.

Shiori, smirking smugly, nudged Okito away and flipped her purple hair over her shoulders.

"Before your baker-wannabe self even dares to offer Gouda food, learn your place. You're a thousand years too early to even dream of standing on our level."

She cackled as she ambled alongside Okito toward their homeroom class. Even after they disappeared from sight, I couldn't move. Staring between my container of cookies and the recollection of Okito eating her baking twisted my gut with so much anger that everything bled red.

"That idiot! That idiot! That goddamn idiot!"

I practically slammed the container onto my desk, grounding my teeth so furiously I wouldn't be surprised if they shattered.

Just like everyone else in the room, Miko as well as a Koyuki who was standing next to her desk, turned to me.

"Eating somebody else's baking like that and enjoying it so much, too. What is he trying to make a point of exactly? Madeleines? I could make that in my sleep!"

"So it is possible for her to get mad," Koyuki mumbled.

"She's like this at least every morning," Miko enlightened him.

I surged toward the blond, a fire swelled in my eyes. "Koyuki, I need you to teach me to bake madeleines!"

"Huh?"

"As your future club president, I command you to teach me to bake madeleines!"

"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works," Miko murmured.

But I was fuming, clenching my fists until my knuckles whitened. "If he likes madeleines so much I'm going to make ones so good, he'll prostrate and lick my shoes whilst begging for more! We'll see who'll be scoffing then, Okito!"

Considering I was deep-rooted in insurmountable rage, Koyuki could only emit a low whistle.

Miko was equally astonished. "Gouda must've really crossed a line today."

Heck yeah, he crossed a line! I'd been offering him cookies for more than a week now—my other baked goods for months—and he'd always turned the other cheek. What made Shiori Aida any different? Waving a delicious smelling madeleine before his eyes and feeding it to him to boot...

If he wanted to get fed so badly, I was more than qualified to do so. Granted, I'd probably shove my hand so far down his throat and choke him, but a bastard like him deserved treatment like that anyway.

Huffing, I collapsed into my seat.

"Kotori," Miko spoke up to dissipate my exasperation, "did you talk to Hayate yet?"

The question did just that.

"How can I? He keeps running away from me! And whenever I do go looking for him it's like he's invisible."

"Don't you think that's because you're being too aggressive?" Koyuki suggested. "He doesn't even know who you are."

"Then explain why was he following me around all week."

"Chiaki and him are in the same class and are always together. Since Chiaki randomly became involved with other people, he would obviously get curious as to who they are."

Okay, I guess that did kind of serve as an explanation.

"And while I'm at it," Koyuki continued before I could comment, "I should also tell you now that Hayate never joined the Cooking Club."

"He didn't?"

"The guy has terrible anxiety. There's no way he could bake with other people watching him, much less let them taste-test it afterwards. He'd faint before you knew what happened."

"Really?" I asked.

"Poor guy," Miko said.

Anxiety? That was never a pretty sight. Then again... "But you said he made your costumes for you! And that he'd be perfect to help us decorate the birthday cake. If he could manage all that, can't he join the Baking Society?"

Koyuki's face answered that question automatically. "He was able to make those costumes because he gave all the credit to Chiaki. Don't get me wrong, Hayate is talented. He works hard at it, too. But with his anxiety, it's impossible for him to put himself out there. Much less gather the courage to join a club."

"So he currently isn't in any?"

"Well, Chiaki always mentions he goes to the greenhouse during the breaks because it calms him down, but..." Koyuki's words trailed off and he tapered his eyelids. "Teruhashi, I know you think everything will somehow work out if you talk to him, but you shouldn't get your hopes too high. You'll be disappointed when he turns you down."

I accepted his words with a cocked eyebrow. "But you don't know for sure that he will?"

"I could infer, actually."

"Then I'll just have to do my best to convince him otherwise!"

He sighed. "Look."

"At what?"

He shook his head. "Sure Hayate's creative, but even I don't know how good his baking skills are. You don't either, but you still want to try so hard to recruit him? Why?"

"'Cause why not?" The disbelief wrapped around Koyuki's face made me press onward. "I'm not starting up the Baking Society to gather skilled bakers. Unlike the stuck up Cooking Club, the Baking Society is gonna be a club where people who suck and excel at baking alike can come together and work to improve their skills."

I proudly set my hands on my waist.

"And besides, it'd be awesome having a companion learning how to bake alongside me."

"But of course the one who'll actually be stuck mentoring you is me," he concluded regrettably.

Miko chuckled.

I tossed my arms into the air, beaming. "Just you wait! I'll definitely find and recruit Hayate Inoue if it's the last thing I do!"

The school's greenhouse stood at the same size as one of the school buildings. It was positioned toward the far end of campus, nearby the Gardening Club headquarters whose members regularly spent their time inside. As soon as lunch began I'd made my way up to the entrance of the transparent glass shelter. Fortunately, it was open territory to students who wanted to come to visit, so infiltrating was an easy task.

The floor was made of simple linoleum, but unlike the gloomy rays outside, the inside was abound in a flush greenery. Even the air was scented by blossoms. I trekked around the silent building, sniffing various plants even I didn't know the names of. It was clear the Gardening Club worked really hard to maintain this. It was beautiful.

As I was meandering around a corner, I noticed a student crouched over at one of the flowerbeds. Their back was to me, but it was upon sight of the lengthy white hair draping their shoulders that I instantly knew it was Hayate.

Brightening, I tiptoed around flowerpots, careful not to disturb him and let him notice my presence. Once hidden the best I could behind pots of daisies, I peeked out to study his face. If you hadn't taken his male uniform into account, it'd be easy to mistake him as a girl. Silky looking hair surpassing his shoulders, thick eyelashes framing striking blue irises behind a pair of red spectacles; a slender physique. Even his complexion was especially fair.

"Why can't people be as simple as plants?"

My ears perked as I poked my head out further. Was he talking to himself?

Burying his face into his knees, Hayate let out a timid breath. For a while, he continued mumbling to himself, but from my distance, it was difficult to decipher what. Regardless, I knew time was ticking, and me being here wasn't helping my case.

I sauntered out into the open. Hayate didn't hear my footsteps as I approached but once I was looming over him, the corners of my lips quirked high.

"Ha-ya-te!"

I slapped his shoulders, giving him enough of a jolt to consider me. What I hadn't accounted for, however, was just how extra his response was. A loud enough screech to pierce my eardrums left his mouth, and he went toppling over, nearly falling onto his face if he didn't catch himself in time.

"Oops, sorry." I dropped into a crouch, leaning over my huddled knees. "It's only me."

His eyes had bulged like a bug's—complexion ashen, proving his petrification. Brushing that aside, I bent closer.

"Hayate, I have something to talk to you about."

He sat there, motionless, for what felt like a good minute. I blinked rapidly and went to wave at his face. He didn't move. My lips flattened. Wait, was he still alive?

I pushed myself further into his vicinity until I was inches from his beautiful eyes. Then I focused on his faint breathing that sure enough fanned against my nose. A huge smile spread across my face, and like a flip of a switch, Hayate's mouth twitched. His cheeks were consumed in a fiery blush, so dark it reached the tips of his ears.

His torso flipped, indicating he was going to run. But if I'd learnt anything from chasing him, it was that I wouldn't let him. Clambering to my feet, I gripped the sleeve of his uniform before he could dare try.

"Wait!"

Dread enveloped his features. Almost as if his entire life was flashing before his eyes. Regardless, he was finally here in front of me. I could finally talk to him...

"Hayate." I'd subconsciously drew nearer. "Please join my—"

"O-o-okay."

"But you didn't even let me fini—"

"O-o-okay."

His entire body was trembling; legs threatening to buckle under his weight and jaw jittering the same way it did in the deep winter. Along with the fact that his complexion blanched to a pallid state, his bulged eyes took on a watery sheen, tension builded behind them.

I reeled away at once, my own eyebrows rising. Koyuki's words of his anxiety flitted to mind. Was it this bad? I hadn't even gotten to ask him what I wanted and yet he already looked ready to pass out from fear. Maybe I needed to slow down and take a huge step back? Darn it, I seriously wished my persistency wasn't such a turn-off!

"I'm sorry for scaring you," I told him, holding up my hands to show him I didn't mean any harm. "I'm Kotori Teruhashi, a second year. The reason I've been chasing you around is because I'm trying to start up a club called the Baking Society. But to do so, I need members, and although I haven't seen you bake yet, I've heard how talented you are from Koyuki and Chiaki and wanted you to really, really join since. Is... that all right with you?"

It still appeared he was in dreamland, stiff as a board. Then ever so stricken, his eyes shifted downward. I followed his gaze to our hands. More specifically, my hand now situated on top of his. My blood ran cold, a terrible premonition washing over me. Oh no. I'd reached out instinctively again. But when?

Just as I slipped off my hand and opened my mouth to apologize, Hayate's incessant shaking suddenly stilled. He then swayed, as if unable to keep his balance. And with one step backwards, he crumpled like a puppet suddenly released from their strings. Eyes rolled to the back of his head, softly breathing, he lay there on the ground completely motionless.

My jaw dropped to the ground. Horror breached every inch of my face.

"Ah! He really fainted!"