"Now that we're up to four members I'd like to do roll call and make sure everybody's here."

"Why do you always have to be so extra? This isn't necessary."

"Koyuki Tamura?" I went on regardless.

He emitted a loud breath. Considering lunchtime was underway and we were currently gathered at the second year staircase you'd expect a ton of hectic surveillance from any lingering students. Fortunately, as they had a special menu in the cafeteria today, most students were too busy shoving their way through the crowd to bother us.

"Here," Koyuki finally mumbled.

Grinning at his submission, I tossed an invisible mic in the direction of the lethargic teen doing his best not to doze off. "Chiaki Setoguchi?"

He opened his mouth to respond but was promptly distracted by an upcoming yawn. He brought his hand to his mouth to block it and after it waned, murmured, "Here."

I coughed, hoping Chiaki's lack of enthusiasm or interest wouldn't infringe on the energy I was putting out. I hopped over to our newest member who, instead of sitting on the staircase like the others, was huddled and tucked off as far as he could be. He was doing his complete best to block me out, but extending forth my imaginary microphone anyway, I bent over and popped my face beside his.

"Hayate Inoue?"

He buried his face into his knees, hiding all traces of his face from me. The silence that resumed was incredibly long and degrading and helped to rid all nonchalance previously in the air. I backed away and performed a little whoop.

"And with me, Kotori Teruhashi, we're all here! Woo-hoo!"

"Excuse me, I'm pretty sure one of us is clearly avoiding you," Koyuki noted.

"It's just your imagination," I said. "I know it goes without question that we're all glad to be here, right?"

I waited for them all to chime in a unified 'yes,' and even sent out pressuring gazes, but nothing but quiet loomed over us. Chiaki produced another audible yawn. I coughed and lowered my arms to my sides.

"Anyway, since my lovely goddess Miko Sakurauchi has sadly left us due to her class representative duties, I will take over as the mature figure you all desire by voicing out what our next step is. That said, I think the smartest thing to do would be to find ourselves a final member and officially form a club—"

"Or," Koyuki cut in, "we can get started on that birthday cake you agreed to make."

I cleared my throat, bringing my fist to my mouth. "As I was saying, I think this birthday cake comes as our top priority since we have a little over a week to get it done. Since, to form a club, we first need to secure a supervising teacher."

Koyuki leaned back on his palms, quirking an eyebrow.

"So," I went on as Chiaki's curious eyes drew to mine. The pressure was making me falter. "Well, I mean... To start on the birthday cake, we first need to figure out a plan for it, obviously. And to go with the plan, a proper theme—"

"Which we know is princesses because...?"

The corners of Koyuki's lips titled up high. He was so enjoying my discomfort. Dang it, I was so obsessed with Hayate lately all this information was pushed to the back of my mind.

"Because... Mr. Hanamura told us that his daughter loves princesses. So we technically need a princess birthday cake," I spitballed. "That being said, do any of you have princess movies we can go off of?"

"You do realize you're talking to a group of guys don't you?" Koyuki said.

"Are you implying that because I'm a girl I should be the one making suggestions?"

"It'd make sense."

Chiaki bobbed his head. "I... don't know much about... princess movies."

Hayate only shifted his position, not adding more that didn't need to be said.

I flattened my lips. I would like to tell them I was a huge fan of princess movies but unfortunately, even if I loved them at a young age I couldn't somehow spout all knowledge for them more than ten years later. But if we were all stumped about unique ideas for a princess themed cake, then maybe a week was too short of a time limit after all.

"I guess we didn't think this through enough," I said.

"You didn't," Koyuki corrected. "I tried telling you otherwise."

I flinched and frowned. "Stop making it seem like this is all my fault! We're doing this for the sake of the Baking Society, so even if we don't have an idea now, we all have no choice but to think some up. We'll each spend the rest of the day thinking up some sketches and report back in the second year home economics lab first thing tomorrow for a group brainstorming session!"

I hurried toward Hayate and once again dropped my head beside his. He hugged his knees tighter.

"I'll be expecting all of you to come," I enunciated and rose back up to send Koyuki and Chiaki stern looks. Then, I mock-saluted. "Nice talking to you guys. This meeting is now adjourned!"

Koyuki and Chiaki shared a short glance while Hayate remained squatted where he was, but I didn't let it get to me. Even with no ideas, there was no way we were giving this opportunity up. If it worked out, including me, we'd have four members and a supervising teacher. And with one more additional member, convincing the administration would be a breeze. The Baking Society was in reach.

We could come up with an idea for a simple princess cake in no time at all. Just watch. We'd have this all figured out by tomorrow.

Wednesday evening, the sun beginning to descend in the west and the time limit to use the lab reaching its formal end, Koyuki, Chiaki and I were seated around a large table, passing belittling looks around. Hayate, on the other hand, had curled himself in a ball at the furthest end of the room nearby one of the cooking stations, sporadically peeking out to assess the charged vibes hanging in the air around us.

"Ice cream cake... is the best," Chiaki stated. "It's delicious... and Mr. Hanamura didn't specify."

"We're not making an ice cream cake," Koyuki and I said simultaneously.

Chiaki puffed his cheeks in defence. "But—"

"It'd take too long," he said. "And it'd be tough to decorate. Besides, we're not making this to satisfy ourselves. We have to think of what kids like and what we can afford."

"I have a little brother!" I said. "That's why I'm saying cupcakes should work perfectly. Make it into a shape of a dress, add pink frosting and little accessories like a wand, crown and tiara."

"But if we make an actual cake in the shape of a castle, and pipe the frosting in a cool effect, it can work as well, or even better," Koyuki said.

"But..." I said.

"But..." Chiaki agreed.

The three of us simultaneously made faces at one another. None of us could agree. Not when we met up yesterday or all today either. Deciding a plan for a cake shouldn't have even taken this much time. But Koyuki had refused all notions of searching one online. He insisted the reason Mr. Hanamura asked us to bake a cake in the first place was to test how qualified we actually were. Also, that if we were going to be unoriginal enough as to rely entirely on other people's recipes and designs, there was no way I could dream of having a stable career as a pastry chef.

He was right, and I knew it, but his stubbornness wasn't helping our situation. We barely had any time left. The party was in a couple of days and we were still having difficulty finalizing the details for the cake.

"Should we tell Mr. Hanamura we can't do it?" Koyuki said.

"No way! I'm not giving up." My fingers curled into fists. "We got so far. There's no way I'm letting that go to waste."

Was I being too hopeful again believing things would somehow work out with effort? I needed to stop being so dependent on my feelings and look at things more objectively. We had three solid ideas. Couldn't we combine them all and make it work? I could see mine and Koyuki's idea working in that manner, but Chiaki's was too far off with ice cream. But without a frozen element added in, Chiaki's participation in preparing the cake wouldn't be much considering he didn't excel in baked goods. We couldn't forget to make sure everything was nut-free, too.

"Rock-paper-scissors!" I extended my fist. "Whoever wins gets to use their idea."

"You sure?" Koyuki said, holding out his.

"We don't have any more time to be picky. We have to start practicing as soon as we can. Not all of us will be much use depending on what we make so we'll need as much of it as we can get."

"That's true. Though your participation doesn't seem likely no matter what we make."

My heart sunk in my chest. Dramatic tears filled my eyes. I ducked behind the weary brunet. "Chiaki! Koyuki's being mean to me again."

Eyelids thinned and bed-hair as childishly dishevelled as always, Chiaki softly patted the top of my head. "There, there, Teru. There's a reason he doesn't have any friends besides us."

An animated tic make appeared on Koyuki's head. "Hey."

I stuck out my tongue to which he glowered further. Chiaki continued to gently caress my head, which, the more I remained crouched at his side, the more comfortable of a sensation I'd made it out to be. If there was one thing I enjoyed most, it was being pampered, and unlike a particular demon seated nearby, Chiaki didn't mind obliging to my selfishness.

Rising off him, I paused to admire his long hair and bangs tied back by simplistic bobby pins. Then, I scanned his glabrous skin and pinch-able cheeks. He stared right back, emerald green eyes keeping me in a daze. They were such an awe-inspiring shade.

After Koyuki interjected and engaged in some banter with Chiaki, my eyes drifted over to the corner of the room. Specifically, the white-haired boy who'd been silent this entire time, peeking out from behind the station. Once he caught my eyes, he fluttered with a flushed complexion before ducking away. I cracked a meek smile.

It was still difficult for him to join in on our conversations—talk, really—despite him assuring me his fainting episode wasn't my fault, but his embarrassment. Though, regardless of what had happened, as well as his difficulty to communicate, he still showed up. He'd consented to join the club I was working so hard to form alongside Chiaki, Koyuki and Miko.

That prospect alone was enough to fill me with enough joy to last a lifetime.

"Hayate!"

Remaining a reasonable distance away, I fell into a crouch before him. Not expecting my sudden appearance, he tumbled back. Tilting my head to the side, I sent him a wide smile.

"Stop acting like a stranger already." I outstretched my fist. "You're doing it, too. Rock-paper-scissors."

Exposed from his place on the ground, Hayate didn't budge.

"S-sorry, T-Teruhashi," he whispered. "I-I couldn't r-really..."

His word trailed off, unable to formulate a fathomable explanation to why his anxiety made it impossible for him to join us. All it made me want to do was pinch his cutely flushed cheeks. Then again, he'd probably freak out and faint, so I couldn't risk it.

Before I could assure him it was fine, something caught my attention. A sheet of paper he was squeezing tightly in his palm. I darted to scoop it into my hands. Despite his startled gasp, I'd figured out what it was in a heartbeat.

A sketch.

"Hayate, this is..."