Wagashi Shop (2)

Chapter 58: Episode 28 - Wagashi Shop (2)

"Even your brother is aiming to be a patissier," I told him and his purple eyes widened open in shock, clearly distraught from my words.

"B-brother is…" Ichita had a troubled look on his face that I noticed.

'What's wrong? What's with this reaction?'

"Hey, Michiko. Good work today. Let's have some tea!" Andou offered, peeking through the door. His eyes then focused over to his younger brother who had a disturbed look on his face.

"Oh, come here too, Ichita," Andou offered to us, holding a tray of cups and a teapot. Before I could say anything, Ichita glared at Andou and ran away.

"Ichita!" Andou called out to his little brother who disappeared into another room. "It's no use following him. Let's go have tea."

I nodded my head and followed him into another room. The sweets princes and the sweets spirits gathered at a table filled with various Japanese desserts while the adults continued to clean up in the kitchen. Andou's little sister, Chiyo, followed us into the room as well.

"There's still some time left before dinner so we have lots of sweets," Andou explained to me as we walked toward everyone and sat down at the table.

"Ichita… he was glaring at me a second ago," Kashino noticed, turning his head towards a door.

"Ah, he's being a bit rebellious. Don't mind him," Andou explained, holding Chiyo in his hands.

"He's 7, right? We're only 7 years apart," I brought up and Andou nodded his head.

"Yeah, we were really close before, but lately… he hasn't been talking to me…" Andou explained as he took a sip from his cup. "I'm feeling lonely…"

When I thought back to the face Ichita made, I took a bite of a soybean daifuku.

'The face he made when I said that Andou was aiming to become a patissier… Why did he look bothered by that?'

As I chewed on the daifuku, I noticed how good it tasted.

"Wow, this soybean daifuku is really soft. The red beans are particularly smooth and the soybeans are warm and not soggy to the point that they just melt on top of my tongue," I analyzed, taking another bite.

"Haha, it's our most popular item. It's nice to see Michiko enjoying it," Andou said proudly and I took another bite.

'This is my first time eating such delicious wagashi… it somehow makes me… relaxed…'

As I finished eating the daifuku, my eyes felt unexpectedly drowsy and I rested my head on the table, sleeping peacefully…

~

Kashino glanced over at Keiko who laid her head tiredly on the table.

"Michiko's asleep," Kashino noticed as her head faced him. He observed her peaceful face, seeing that the tenseness she always had finally relaxed.

"She must be really tired, I mean, we just finished the Grand Prix first round yesterday," Hanabusa said, looking at the sleeping Keiko.

"This is the first time I've seen her at peace," Andou realized, also observing Keiko as she slept.

"I've never seen Keiko go to sleep that easily…" Fraise admitted and the Sweets Princes and spirits looked at her as she had a relieved smile on her face.

"Didn't she say that she usually gets 3 or 4 hours of sleep?" Hanabusa asked Fraise and she nodded her head.

"Yeah, that's usually the longest she sleeps for. Then, she gets up super early to practice or study…" Fraise told them.

"That's not healthy for your body," Caramel pointed out.

"She's gonna collapse someday if she doesn't take care of herself," Chocolat said and everyone looked at her in worry.

"Is it… insomnia?" Kashino asked Fraise who breathed out a sigh.

"Well… it could be… When she was younger, I remember she used to be a much heavier sleeper, sleeping for 10 hours," she said.

"Maybe it's stress built up from school and classes," Hanabusa suggested and everybody nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, Andou picked up the sleeping Keiko and carried her in his arms carefully.

"I'd feel bad if we wake her, so I'll carry her like this. Can you guys bring her things?" Andou asked Hanabusa and Kashino who looked at him in shock, thinking similar thoughts.

'Now Andou's trying to make a move, huh?' Hanabusa asked himself as he saw Andou carry Keiko. He let it go and brushed his green hair to the side. 'Well, he probably does this to his siblings, so I shouldn't think much of it.'

'What does he think he's doing?' Kashino asked himself as he saw Andou carry Keiko but sighed in defeat. 'What am I thinking, this guy's a big brother to 4 kids. He probably has to deal with them like this.'

"You'll wake her up, Andou," Kashino warned but Andou gave him a smirk.

"Would you like to carry her then?" Andou offered Kashino but Kashino gritted his teeth, not saying anything. "Hmm, I thought so."

As the Sweets Princes brought Keiko back to her room, Ichita silently watched them from afar, glaring specifically at Keiko.

'Damn you, Loner… You're taking away my brother…' Ichita thought to himself, concealing his body behind a wall.