A/N: Hey everyone! I just want to put a quick note here for you guys in regards to this story.

When I'd originally come up with the idea for it, I'd planned on only doing this from Crystal's perspective (trying my hand at just one perspective for a change), including the scenes in the past when she's at Totsuki. Kind of like she's reminiscing. And then I decided to just do it differently. The present sections (when she's an adult) will be her perspective only. The past (at Totsuki) will be a combination of perspectives, depending on which character I feel like focusing on for the scene. So, rest assured, you guys will also get some of Ryo's perspective in this, instead of just Crystal's.

Also, let me know what you think of it switching between present (in the beginning and end of the chapter) to past tense for the bulk of the chapter. I don't really write in present tense, so that's a challenge all on its own for me.

Just Desserts

The next day, the scrapbook is still sitting on her mother's desk in the office. Regardless of how much Crystal wants to spend the wee hours of the morning before the store opens looking through those pages again, she can't start slacking. The restaurant needs her. She still has desserts to finish and set up in the display case. She still needs to decide on what the special is going to be that day - which Crystal is fully aware that she should have done it the day before, but she'd been a bit distracted all day - and then actually get it prepped.

"Morning, Crystal," Maria, the first waitress they'd hired when they'd opened the restaurant, mumbles around her cup of coffee while sitting beside the cash register. Her sinfully straight black hair is still hanging down around her shoulders. Knowing Maria, she'd barely had time to brush it before getting her two teenage boys out of the house for the bus at half-past four.

She smiles at the older woman nursing her daily dose of energy. "First cup?" she asks, and Maria simply nods. Her eyes close as she takes a sip, and Crystal is amazed by how serene she looks. When Maria's eyes open again, they're just a little brighter than before.

"My boys are lazy assholes in the morning," Maria sighs. She's still smiling though, and after a moment it changes to one that Crystal knows her mother wears when talking about her. "But they're doing so well at that private school in Pasco. It's gonna take them far."

"I'm glad they're doing well there." And she really is. Maria works two jobs just so she can pay the tuition for both of her sons go attend one of the best private schools near them. It's really no wonder she's so tired all the time. And suddenly, Crystal remembers what her own mother had needed to endure just to send her to Totsuki. She'd had to go crawling back to Nonni Giuseppe and work at his restaurant the entire time Crystal had been at Totsuki, even though she wanted nothing to do with him or his comments on her lack of a husband to take care of them.

Her grandfather had been the one to foot the bill for Crystal's tuition, saying that he'd worked hard to care for his family, and there was no way he'd let his youngest granddaughter not have such an amazing chance to become a famous baker.

"Well, I bet they'll do better than I did at my old school," Crystal laughs. Maria smiles into her coffee, shaking her head. It's no secret to the employees in the restaurant what school she's talking about. Her mother loves telling people that she was a student at Totsuki Academy in Japan, both because of how hard it is get in and because her daughter spent the entire summer before leaving to fly overseas learning Japanese.

"I still can't believe you got expelled from that place, though," Maria says. "Did you get into a fight or something?"

"Nah, that's not how it works there." Crystal finally comes around the counter and pours herself a mug of hot water, then grabs a tea bag from under the counter. It's one of her few vices that she's willing to pay extra for, but having authentic genmaicha tea reminds her of the time she spent in Japan. "If you're not the best, you get the boot. I wasn't the best by a long shot."

"People love your food though," Maria says.

"Sure, but we're also not some five-star restaurant. We're the epitome of American cuisine."

"Burgers and fries?" Maria snorts. "I think we're a little better than that."

"Okay," she laughs. "We're American and Italian… A mish-mash of Western cuisine in general."

"And your cakes. Can't forget those."

Crystal rolls her eyes at the wistful sigh from her coworker. Maria isn't the only one who works there that had a sweet tooth. Hell, most of the customers end up coming in just for dessert. On occasion, she still considers simplifying the menu to make it a dessert restaurant with a side of a delicatessen - having light, small meals for the people who want to eat, but focusing on the desserts instead.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me," Maria says while pouring herself another coffee and adding far too much sugar to it. "I've talked with your mom, and those special orders you do keep the books in the black."

"Crystal," her mother calls from the kitchen. She winces and grabs her tea.

"Speak of the devil," she says, and gives Maria a playfully feigned shoulder slump to show just how much of a hardass her mother isn't while walking toward her mother's voice. She loves that she's able to wake up every single day and do the one thing that makes her feel fulfilled. And Crystal loves even more that she was able to help her mother's dream come true. Owning her own restaurant.

She rounds the corner and pulls an apron from the stack on a wire shelf - thankful that they'd been delivered the day before by the company who washes them - to find her mother glaring at her cellphone, standing in front of the oven. "What's up?"

"Freddy called out," she says, and that's when Crystal sees that her mother's wearing an apron as well. "His daughter's got strep throat, and his wife-"

"She's got that big interview today for that tech job," Crystal finishes. The restaurant is a close-knit family, just the way she likes it. They all know what's going on in each other's lives, and Freddy's wife getting this job would mean that things would finally be looking up for him. But having her sous chef call out like this is really going to test her ability to run the kitchen. Luckily, the pressure is something she looks forward to while she sips at her tea. It brings back memories of the days at Totsuki, once again. The drive needed to succeed. The determination to never give up. The powerful presence she needs to have in the kitchen to make sure everything runs smoothly. With a slow grin, Crystal ties her apron on and takes long strides over to the oven, setting her cup down on the shelf where she always keeps her drink. Once she's beside her mother, she says, "I've got this, Mom. Go and start prepping. And have Maria call Mitch to see if he'll be willing to come in early today."

"You want him to work a double?" She can hear the hesitation in her mother's voice, and she understands it. They really do try not to work the employees to the bone. The only problem is that it's a Tuesday, and the lunch shift is going to be insane. It always is.

"If it slows down enough, I'll handle the kitchen on my own, and he can dip out," she says. "We can't sacrifice customer service, but it should be fine by dinner."

Her mother nods, walking off toward the front to talk with Maria. "I'll call Freddy back and see if he can just come in during dinner if we need him then." She wanted to own a restaurant, knowing that it would be hard - Crystal's grandfather had proven that time and again with his own Italian restaurant - and Crystal is going to make sure nothing changes that. They won't have a horrible day, just from being understaffed.

Because while the restaurant is her mother's… this kitchen is hers to command. Years ago, she would have balked at the responsibility of running an entire kitchen. Not now. Now, she has experience under her belt and this burning desire to make the best food imaginable for their customers. She stands before the stove with her hands on her hips, and runs through the inventory and the recipes she has memorized from their homemade cookbook, sitting on the shelf just above the prep area behind her.

She can do this. If she's learned anything from her time at Totsuki, it's that nothing will stop her from pushing forward.

By the time Ryo reached Hokotomi's Eatery, scents of freshly baked goods wafted out of the open windows, drawing the attention and intrigue of passersby. The restaurant was still technically closed for another two hours, so he went around the back and pressed the buzzer for the employee door. The locking mechanism clicked and he opened the door, only to be blasted in the face with the smell of perfectly risen yeast, baked apples and cinnamon, and chocolate. So much chocolate.

He pushed his hands into his pockets and went to the kitchen, only to find the crew prepping food for the day and setting up the makeline. Crystal was nowhere to be seen, but he knew based on how this place smelled like a bakery, she was there. Somewhere.

He was still trying to figure out what they could do to improve the restaurant while pulling on an apron, washing his hands, and grabbing a bucket of already brined fish to check their stock for the day. The menu was the easiest thing to work on, but there wasn't really anything wrong with the food being served. Maybe it just needed a little bit of a kick in the spice department. Considering he'd taken time to review his own knowledge of spices after he'd seen how insane Akira's nose was in breaking down those ratios, Ryo was confident they could improve the flavor immensely. Which meant he and Crystal would need to sit down after hours and go over the menu.

They only had five more days at this place, and if they didn't sort this issue out, then both of them would be getting the boot.

"Chef Ryo," came a soft, shaking voice from behind him - one of the other cooks in the kitchen. He hummed and dug his hands into the bucket, letting the fish run over his skin to check the consistency. He hadn't been the one to make this solution, but it seemed to be a little high on water. "W-We really need Crystal. She's been in the office for ten minutes already, and she still has prepping to do."

"So go get her," he mumbled. With a sigh, he grabbed a fish from the bottom of the bucket and laid it on a nearby cutting board. He bent down and poked it, staring lazily at the way the scales bent under the pressure.

"W-Well, I would, but… she's trying to convince Hokotomi-san-"

Ryo stood and looked from the fish to the brine bucket, then back. He picked up a nearby knife and carefully sliced down the belly, then went about filleting it. There wasn't nearly enough salt in this solution. The fish was already starting to dry out, and when it was put on the grill, it would just end up flaking off in the worst ways while they tried to cook it. Finally, his gaze lifted from the poor excuse of a fish to the woman still rambling at his shoulder. "She baked?" he asked.

Makiko nodded, a lock of sky blue hair falling from behind her ear. She pointed over to the doorway that led to the dining area. "Everything's out there so the customers can see it when they come in."

Ryo handed her the knife he'd been using on the fish. "Cook this and plate it. I want to test something in a minute."

She seemed surprised that he wasn't screaming at her, but he wasn't wearing his bandana right then. That was tucked into his pocket for the time being - he'd known that he was going to be messing with the fish, and really didn't feel like having it reek all day. Ryo walked away without another word and washed his hands again, then pushed through the door to the dining area.

Everything looked the same as before. It was all clean from the night before. The wait staff were setting up fresh napkins and cutlery, double-checking their supplies. It didn't take long to figure out what Makiko had been talking about though. Beside the register was a display case that usually held the low quality desserts Mr. Hokotomi served. They were nothing special to look at, let alone taste. Except those were nowhere to be found. Instead, the case was filled with cakes topped with strawberries and chocolate drizzle. Chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with green and yellow and robin blue icing. Two pies with simple lattice toppings, one apple and one blueberry. Several loaves of bread with yellow and white glaze over the tops of them. And then scores of miniature cupcakes, perfectly bite-sized, iced, and topped with small multi-colored sprinkles. It was a whole lot more appealing to look at, that was for sure.

This had to have been what he was smelling. And knowing that the only person who knew how to make a decent dessert was Crystal, Ryo was left wondering how she'd managed to pull this off. Had she really had enough time to make all of this stuff?

'How is that even possible?'

He turned and started walking toward the office, then paused. Crystal was there in front of the open office door with her back to him, her hands crossed in front of her, bowing her head. And silent.

"If I've told you once, I've said it a hundred times," Mr. Hokotomi groaned, finally coming into view. "We don't need some dessert menu. What we have is fine."

"But, sir, the survey we did-"

"Isn't important! I know what my customers want!"

"What they want is-"

"And what I want is for you to get back to work! Stop wasting my time with this nonsense and do what you're told!" He slammed the office door in her face, and Ryo's head tilted with curiosity when he saw her hands fist at her sides. He couldn't see her face though, so he hadn't a clue what she was going to do.

She turned away and stalked back toward the kitchen, and that was when he saw it. She looked ready to explode. Her face was red and her eyes glistened with tears he was sure she was only barely managing to keep back. He'd seen that look on Alice's face a number of times before, when one of her recipes didn't pan out. Those times usually ended with Alice locking herself in her room and crying for an hour.

He hated that look.

Except, Crystal didn't run away. She went to the kitchen and started working on preparing her station for the morning shift.

With a soft sigh, Ryo followed her. They were supposed to work together for this challenge, he supposed. He'd been lucky to not have a partner the week before. It meant he could do things his way, and that was that. But now he actually had to work with someone, and her idea really wasn't half bad. By the time he was close enough to her, he could hear her muttering under her breath while working around the plated, cooked fish that Makiko had made for him to test. So, instead of saying a word, he grabbed the plate and took a bite of the fish. Just as he'd expected, it was dry. Not unbearably so, but enough that he could tell. And there was no way he was letting something of this quality come out of a kitchen he was working in. Except Crystal was still right there. Mumbling in English, of all things. And Ryo only just understood what she was saying.

"Stupid fucking cockmunch. Your dessert tastes like ass, that's why people hate coming here at all. But no… you know what to do, right? Because you're a great chef, right? Go eat another cookie, you moron…"

It actually took quite a bit of effort not to laugh. The last thing Ryo had expected was something like that coming from her. She seemed so composed all the time, always so polite and respectful. He really couldn't blame her though. She couldn't stand up for herself when in a confrontation, but apparently, she liked to fume after the fact. "Crystal," he said, watching as she jumped and squeaked in alarm. She whirled in place and looked up at him with wide, horrified eyes. Ryo held up the fork with a bite of the fish on it. "Tell me how this tastes."

"Wh-What?"

He didn't repeat himself, instead shoving the fork into her mouth. Her brows furrowed in a glare at him, but she chewed all the same. And she focused on the flavor of it all. He could tell by the sudden pinch in her brow and how she didn't look away from him. She wasn't looking at him though, but through him. Singling out the flavors, searching for what was wrong with the fish she was eating.

Finally, she swallowed. "It's kind of dry," she said.

Ryo nodded, taking another bite of the fish. The taste was there, and the brine definitely helped to lock the flavor in. But it could be better.

"I don't understand," she said, taking the fork from him and getting another bite for herself. "It shouldn't be dry like this."

"Who did the brine?" he asked. Her cheeks flushed as she stared at him, wide-eyed. "You did it."

Crystal nodded slowly, looking back down at the fork while he put another bite of fish to his lips. "I did it wrong?"

Ryo hummed, letting go of the fork when she took it from him again. "Not enough salt in the mixture."

"But I followed the recipe."

"Did you test it with a potato?" Crystal jolted and stared at him again, almost as though he'd lost his mind entirely. "I'll show you later." He left the fish with her and turned away to wash his hands again. They still needed to finish prepping, and he was sure that any minute, Mr. Hokotomi was going to come waddling out of his office, demanding Crystal's desserts be removed and thrown out. Almost as soon as he'd thought it, the rotund restaurant owner threw open his office door.

"Crystal, get that garbage out of my display case, and put the right desserts in." She didn't answer him, and instead kept sorting her spices and sharpening her knives. "Crystal!"

"Sir!" she shouted back, acting as though she was already fully immersed in her work in the kitchen.

Ryo pulled his bandana from his back pocket and tied it on, the tension on his scalp rippling down the length of his spine, then grabbed a knife to start filleting fish for the day.

Oh, she was more than done with the way Mr. Hokotomi was talking to her. The way he'd talked to her ever since she showed up at his door with her slip from the school saying she was assigned to work for him during the Stagiaire.

"Get over here, right now!"

What Crystal wouldn't give to tell him to shove it. But the last thing she needed was to get expelled. So, with a heavy sigh, she tossed the rag she'd been using to wipe down the counter, then turned and made her way back to the office again. She could feel everyone's eyes on her as soon as she stopped in front of the restaurant's owner. "Yes, sir?" she asked, trying with everything she was worth to keep her temper in check.

"I told you to get rid of that garbage," he said, pointing to the dining area. "Grab the stuff from the refrigerator and set it out. I told you, we're not changing the dessert menu."

"Sir, if you'd just listen," she said slowly. "The people Ryo and I surveyed said that they don't like the desserts here. They can tell that it's not freshly made, and with how much you charge-"

"There's nothing wrong with my prices," he spat.

"You're charging as though they're being made here," she countered. "Sir, if you just give it a shot-"

"No!" he bellowed. "You'll do as I say, or I'll contact that school of yours and tell them that you're not doing your job here. Do you want to get yourself expelled?"

"My job here is to improve your business," she said. "But I can't do that if-"

"You can't do that at all! I don't need you here, and you know it."

What an asshole. Punching him in the face was looking more and more appealing by the second, but that was a surefire way to get sent back to the States. "If you'd just give it a chance, sir-"

"Enough!"

Good lord, she was starting to get really tired of being cut off. But she knew, in his culture, she was supposed to defer to him. He was technically her employer, and he was older than her. His age alone afforded him a level of respect that his behavior didn't really deserve. Before she could make her shoulders relax, and find a nice way to tell Mr. Hokotomi to go die in a fire, a strong, burning presence behind her drew Crystal's attention.

"Why don't you just shut up already, old man!" Ryo bellowed. She turned and her eyes blew wide when she saw him standing just behind her with a half-gutted fish in one hand and a knife in the other. She could practically see the fire and fury leaking off of Ryo as he glared at Mr. Hokotomi. "She's wasting more time arguing with you over this bullshit when she should be in the kitchen!"

"That's what I tried to tell her," Mr. Hokotomi huffed.

"No, you're telling her that she's not allowed to do the one thing we're both even here for. Fixing up your shitty little hole in the wall!"

"And you mean to tell me some little American girl can appease my Japanese customers?" he scoffed. "She doesn't know the first thing about us."

With a heavy glare of her own, Crystal turned back to him. That's what this was about? She wasn't Japanese enough to be of any real use? This had absolutely nothing to do with where she came from. Her ability to bake, to be a real chef, didn't depend on her being from Japan. And so what if she sometimes didn't know a word for something in Japanese? She was self-taught, picking things up from the people around her. She was trying, damnit. But he didn't want to see any of that. All he saw was an American, someone he hated for a reason she didn't even want to try guessing at. But that was the last straw for her. Something deep within her snapped to attention at the way he was glaring down at her. If he wanted to act this way, then his own country's customs could suck it. She was done with playing nice.

"My baking is top notch," she spat while roughly untying her apron. "You're lucky I'm even willing to help you at all with-"

"I don't care," Mr. Hokotomi began, only to stop when she threw the apron at his face.

"Shut up!" she bellowed. "You wanna shit on me for being an American and say I don't know a thing about your people, then fine. Be like that. But I'm not here for you, and I'll be damned if your close-minded bullshit is going to stop me from getting what I want!"

Mr. Hokotomi pushed the apron into her chest hard enough for her to take a step back. But only one, because Ryo was still standing there behind her. And suddenly, she was flush against his chest, feeling his heart's steady beat and his warmth, and defined muscles no teenager should have.

"Get back to work in the kitchen. I'll handle it myself."

"You touch my cakes and you'll be sorry," she said. Where this sudden fire raging in her chest had come from, she didn't know, but that didn't stop her from letting it feed her words with a strength that she didn't usually have.

"What are you going to do, gaijin?"

There was a round of appalled gasps from the kitchen staff, and even Ryo went rigid behind her. Sure, Crystal knew the word. It was kind of hard not to know what one of the biggest ethnic slurs in Japanese was, especially since she really was a foreigner. But unlike a lot of people she knew who would be utterly livid over his comment, she just smiled. She pulled the apron from him and threw it on the ground instead. Feeling Ryo against her back was oddly comforting, making her just a little more confident as she spoke again. "You're absolutely right," she said. "I'm a gaijin, and I'm tired of trying to play by your rules. So from now on, we're doing this my way!"

And then she turned and stormed out of the kitchen, leaving Mr. Hokotomi staring after her with his mouth hanging open. And Ryo still holding a knife in one hand and a fish in the other while Makiko slyly took a picture of the whole scene on her phone - one that she would send to Crystal before the two left the restaurant at the end of the week.

"Let her do her job, old man," Ryo spat before tossing the knife and fish on a nearby counter and stomping out after her. "And you! Get back in here! You've got work to do!"

"Shut up, Ryo!" Crystal shouted. The store was about to open, and she was going to make sure Mr. Hokotomi saw undeniable proof that her idea could work. Her desserts were going to be a hit. She'd made sure they were simple enough to be made by a beginner - as long as they followed the instructions - and that the decorations were elegant, but easy. Everything was easy on the palate, sweet and a little on the boring side - she would much rather have been making something more challenging, like a mashed potato and beef cupcake.

"Don't tell me to shut up, woman!"

She pulled a tray of miniature cupcakes out from the display case, and shouldered past him. "Then stop yelling at me and open that door! He wants to be an ass, then fine. I'm gonna make him eat his words!"

Ryo grinned when their eyes locked, a dark and malicious turn to his lips that had her stomach twisting itself in knots for a moment. "Little Kessho got a spine. That's what I like to see," he laughed. He opened the door for her to a crowd of people who were still milling about, smelling the results of her baking that morning.

"Hokotomi's Eatery has a new dessert menu!" Crystal called out, smiling at the enthusiastic mumbling in the crowd. "Freshly baked this morning! Come try a free sample, and let us know what you think!"

Customers flocked to the restaurant after that. Once the tray ran out, Crystal rushed back inside and into the kitchen, then right back to her station to get to work on her portion of the daily specials. And every time she caught sight of Mr. Hokotomi, she couldn't help but grin. Because he looked beyond pissed over how many customers had sampled her desserts, and how many more ordered them.

It served him right.

"Three lunch specials down," Ryo called out. "Don't dry out that fish, or I'll come over there and beat you with it, Kessho!"

"Fish beating heard, chef!" Crystal called out, grinning over her shoulder at him. And he grinned right back with a dark gleam in his eyes.

"Chef Ryo, we're down to the last tray of cupcakes and half of the apple pie is already gone," said one of the waitresses when she brought back another ticket.

"Keep upselling the desserts," he snarled at her, watching as she squeaked and grabbed the order he'd just put up in the window, then rushed back to the dining area. "Kessho!"

Crystal paused in plating the clams for her order, turning toward him with a confused frown. "Chef?"

"Get off the line and bake some more!" Ryo shouted. "Makiko, take over for her."

"But you'll be alone on the line here!" Makiko gasped when he glared down at her. Did she really think he couldn't handle expediting orders and making the damn salads? Honestly, he could do half of the work in this kitchen on his own without sacrificing service for the customers. "Y-Yes, Chef!"

Ryo turned to look at Crystal, who was staring up at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. Finally, he smiled, but it wasn't kind or gentle. There was no room for that in the kitchen. Ryo was fully aware of how intimidating he looked like this. It was something he'd perfected when he was still working in that pub in Denmark, but apparently seeing it lit a fire inside her, because she was suddenly smiling right back at him. And when he spoke again, that little flame of confidence burned its way up to her emerald eyes, lighting them up even further. "You wanna make him eat his words? Let's sell the place out, and have them begging for more!"

"Desserts heard, Chef," she said with a single nod. She rushed off to a metal table tucked in the corner that had been holding the spare pots and pans the day before. He hadn't realized it had been cleared off at all until she stopped in front of it and began pulling out large bowls and ingredients. "Someone get the oven to one-eighty!"

"Oven heard," Makiko said from Crystal's recently vacated station.

Ryo looked down at the ticket in front of him once again, and got back to work. "Another three lunch specials down," he yelled. "Two sub salad for clams. One of those with extra red pepper."

"Specials heard!" the staff called out.

Plates came up to the line rapidfire, and Ryo split his time between making the salads and checking the orders before they went out the window. It all ran smoothly, even with Crystal rushing between people with two cupcake trays on each arm toward the oven.

"Right behind," she said before Makiko could bump into her. "Open it up!"

Ryo turned and pulled the oven open, and his eyes flashed with surprise when he saw how she handled herself around the heat. Crystal slid the first two trays in on the bottom rack, and didn't miss a beat as the other two trays slid down her arms toward her hands, setting them on the upper rack. "Time?"

"Twenty-one minutes and fifteen seconds," she said, already turning back to her impromptu baking station. "Nothing more."

She got to work on another batch of something, and Ryo returned to his own station. Everything was running without a single hiccup. Just the way he liked it. The kitchen was bustling, and none of the staff buckled under the pressure. It was almost as though they'd been waiting for this moment. Like they were already mentally prepared for the increased business, even though it was dead more often than not.

As the service went on, he found himself watching Crystal every chance he got. Even with orders being called out and his own barking voice carrying across the kitchen, she never wavered in her task. She was calm, steady as she worked on laying a lattice crust over a pie he hadn't seen her mixing. Her hands never shook while she measured ingredients. But while most people would take their time scraping the excess flour from the cup, she didn't. No, instead, he watched her scoop up the flour, smack the side of the measuring cup one time, then pour it into the bowl. She wasn't slow with this, something that was clearly her comfort zone. No, she was finally confident. There was a presence about her, something that was quiet but powerful as she darted over to the oven and switched out the baked cupcakes for the pies. Even while she mixed icing and her fingers and hands ended up stained with food coloring, it was clear that she was in her own little world.

"We're out of cupcakes," another waitress called out. "And table two ordered five of the chocolate."

"Coming up," Crystal called back. The fact that she'd spoken at all was a surprise to Ryo. But he was able to take a brief moment to watch her with his full attention as she picked up a piping bag half-full of canary yellow icing. With a quick, expert flick of her hand holding the cupcake and the perfect amount of pressure on the bag, it was iced before he even knew what she'd done.

In no time, five chocolate cupcakes sat on the table, decorated and ready to be taken to the customers. But she didn't stop there. Suddenly, she became her very own confectionery whirlwind, icing cupcakes and adding sprinkles to them with so much grace, with such finesse, that he was stricken into silence. Not even the bandana that tugged on his hair to keep him grounded in the moment was able to pull his voice out of him. Not when he saw this girl, so much smaller than he was, so shy before that day, churning out treats as though she would die if she stopped to even breathe.

And when he finally snapped out of it, Ryo was left wondering if that was what other people saw when he was working.

Crystal shook her head and let out a happy sigh while she and Ryo walked down the street that night, back to their motel rooms. She'd been smiling since the lunch shift, when she'd been told to only bake for the rest of the day. And even now, when it was well past ten at night, she was still over the moon. Because she'd won. Mr. Hokotomi hadn't been able to deny the truth of her words after he saw the business that had come pouring in, all because of her desserts. They still had work to do that week, but he'd conceded defeat and agreed to buy whatever ingredients she needed to continue baking and testing recipes with the customers as the week continued. She'd won.

"Wanna run through the numbers and make another draft of the dessert menu?" she asked, finally looking over at Ryo. His arms were full of the leftovers from her baking that day, but he didn't even seem to notice the weight of it all.

He hummed, but didn't say a word otherwise. She still found it so strange, how drastic a change there was between him like this and when he wore his bandana in the kitchen. Part of her wondered if it was only in the kitchen that he was like that. Or maybe the bandana was magical, and turned him into a beast. Well, that was just silly. There was no such thing as magic.

Once they reached the motel, she looked up at him while opening the door. Except he didn't walk through it first. Instead, he stood there, watching her, and put his foot in front of the door to hold it open while she walked inside.

"So, I'll um… get a quick shower, then… meet you in your room?" she mumbled.

"Mm," he said, nodding. And that was it. He walked away after that, toward his room, leaving Crystal standing in the lobby and shaking her head once again. While walking to her own room and getting ready for a shower, she thought back to what he'd taught her when they were the only ones in the restaurant, prepping the fish brine for the next day.

She'd never known that someone could use a peeled potato to test the density of the brine. If it floated to the top, then she needed to add more water. If it sank to the bottom, then the solution needed more salt. And Ryo - without his headband, thankfully - had crouched down beside her and showed her the perfect spot on the bucket for the potato to sit at. He hadn't just done it himself, but forced her through the steps of mixing the water, salt and sugar according to his own recipe in the bucket until it dissolved. Then came the white wine vinegar and olive oil - both of which weren't on the recipe she'd been using in the first place - then sliced onions and garlic, pepper, and then ice. Once it was all mixed properly, he dropped in the potato, and they slowly adjusted the ratios until the potato was in just the right spot. Just like he'd showed her.

And Ryo had said they would test the fish the next morning, so she could taste the difference for herself.

With a gentle sigh, she stepped out of the shower and got herself dressed in a pair of sleeping shorts and a tank top, then wrapped herself up in her robe. It was already late, and as soon as they were done, Crystal planned on collapsing in her own bed and crashing for the night. Not having to change would definitely be a plus. She already had several recipes written down in a notebook on her nightstand that she was planning on using for the restaurant, so she grabbed it and made her way over to Ryo's room.

He answered the door before she could knock, and Crystal was left standing in the doorway, her cheeks lighting up with a soft blush, as he walked away from her with only a pair of pajama pants on. Still drying his hair from his own shower. Thankfully, she didn't make a complete fool out of herself while stumbling in after him. Or maybe he just didn't notice that her feet decided to not function properly.

The room was identical to her own with only one bed in the center of the left wall. When Ryo took a seat at the foot of the bed, and she saw the food they'd brought back with them set in the middle, she found herself smiling while walking over to sit down beside him. She picked up a miniature cupcake while taking stock of the desserts that were left, not noticing how Ryo flipped his own upside down so the icing hit his tongue first, or how his eyes closed in bliss for a moment.

"Well, the mini-cupcakes were a hit," she said around her food. "The kids seemed to really like them."

Ryo looked at the food that was spread out, and picked up a fork to stab at one of the two slices of apple pie left. "How many apple pies did you make?"

"Seven in total."

"Maybe plan for ten tomorrow," he said. "Return customers would be a plus."

Crystal nodded and wrote it down, then frowned while grabbing the second fork and taking a bite of the nearly complete blueberry pie. "No one seemed to like the blueberry."

"Make another one, just in case," he mumbled. "Three slices came out of it."

That was true. There was a strong possibility that customers had just really wanted the cupcakes instead. But maybe the next day, more people would want the blueberry pie. She watched Ryo put the fork down, then grab another cupcake. And this time, Crystal saw him flip it upside down to eat it with the icing first. She couldn't stop herself from giggling when his eyes opened again.

"Something funny?" he asked while still chewing.

She shook her head, but didn't stop laughing. And when all he did was stare at her, chewing even slower than before, she finally said, "My Nonni eats them the same way."

Ryo blinked. "Nonni?"

"Oh, um…" It wasn't the first time she'd failed to translate something into Japanese, but for some reason she drew a blank on what the word was. She was sure he understood English as well, since it was a required course in Japanese schools, and even some of the recipes they had to read were written in English, but she refused to take the easy route. "It's um… what's the word…"

"A person?"

Crystal nodded, frowning as she took a bite of apple pie. "He's related to… Haha?" She never really practiced talking about her family all that much. And she knew that there were different words depending on how the speaker was related to the person.

"Your mom."

"Yeah, he's her… um… Otou-san?"

"Ah, her dad." Crystal nodded quickly, and she smiled when he supplied her with the word that had completely slipped her mind. "Ojisan. Your grandfather."

"Yes!" she laughed. Sometimes she hated that this wasn't her first language. Things would be so much easier if she didn't struggle to remember words sometimes. "He eats cupcakes like that all the time, because his favorite part is the icing."

Ryo hummed and ate another miniature cupcake the same way as before, clearly unfazed by her taking notice of his eating habits. "I didn't know that was the English word for grandfather."

"Oh, it's not," she chuckled. "He emigrated from Italy to the United States when he was twenty, so me and all my cousins call him Nonni." They both ate another cupcake. "My mom and her sisters call him Nonni Giuseppe when we're around though."

Ryo nodded again. "What's this one?" he asked, pointing to one of the loaves of bread with a yellow glaze on it.

"Lemon poppy seed pound cake with a lemon glaze," she said. He broke a piece of it off the corner and popped it into his mouth, but there was no outward reaction whatsoever. She had to assume that no one had wanted to even try it, considering the entire loaf was still there. It was the same with the other pound cake she'd made. Granted, they were much more dense than a normal cake, and probably not the best choice for a dessert after the customers had filled up on their main courses.

"Too heavy."

"The recipe?" she asked, wide-eyed while turning toward him fully with her legs crossed. She felt the soft fabric of his pajamas brush against her bare knees, and nearly keeled over right then. If he hadn't looked at her, she probably would have vaulted off the bed just to make sure they weren't touching. The last thing she needed to do was turn into some hormonal teenage girl - regardless of actually being a teenage girl - when she was working with Ryo Kurokiba, of all people. Having a crush on him was even more out of the question. He belonged to Alice, and everyone knew that. And Crystal definitely didn't have a death wish.

Ryo shook his head and took another bite of the pound cake. "No, after eating. This is too heavy for dessert."

She hadn't realized that her heart had been pounding until she relaxed again. Because all Crystal could think about was that her recipe was a complete failure, and she hadn't known it until Ryo pointed it out to her. Except that wasn't the case. Her dessert was fine. Or, well, it was alright enough for him to keep eating it, at least. That had to count for something.

Ryo looked down to the notepad in her lap, then slowly took it from her. He'd moved slow enough that she could have stopped him, if it hadn't been for her stupid, stupid body locking up. Or the chocolate cupcake she'd just shoved in her mouth that nearly flew down her windpipe. He didn't open it, but read the word Recipes that she'd written across the top in English.

It was a small comfort that he didn't open it. She was actually very happy to know that he wasn't rude enough to assume she didn't mind him reading her own recipes. They weren't really anything special, since these were specifically for Hokotomi's Eatery, but still. It was the principle of the thing.

"You can look," Crystal said once she'd found her voice. And once he had permission, Ryo opened the book and started reading through it. The only change in his expression, aside from eating another bite of the pound cake, was a small, concentrated pinch between his brows.

"You should try this one," he said, showing her the page.

"Doughnut holes?" she asked with a frown. Honestly, she'd been scouring her brain for ideas that were easy to make. That hadn't even been a serious thought, but considering how few options she'd had, Crystal had written it down. "How come?"

"Put them on a stick, and it'll look like dango," he said.

Her eyes lit up in an instant. "And the more traditional crowd will be willing to give it a shot," she said. "It's closer to what they're already used to, and then they can be wowed by how different it is." Sure, there were doughnuts in Japan, that wasn't anything new, but the presentation of glazed doughnut holes to look like dango was something she hadn't personally seen before. Maybe no one in the area would have seen it either.

And if she could come up with some interesting flavors for them, then it would be even better.

He hummed again, something she was sure meant he agreed, and handed her the book. Not a moment later, he picked up his fork again and went right back to eating the apple pie while they kept working out the kinks of their project.

Ryo had no idea what time it was. Sometime after midnight, most likely. He and Crystal had eaten every bite of sweet, delectable goodness that they'd brought back to the motel. They'd figured out the newest version of the dessert menu that she was going to try for the next day's service, and he'd even put his two cents in on how to spice up the menu to make it more appealing to the customers.

There really wasn't much more that they could do, he figured. At some point after he threw away the empty containers, they'd both laid down and continued their conversation. She was still looking through the notes she'd been taking while they'd talked. Well, she mostly talked and he agreed with her. It was easier that way.

But it was quiet now. Not too quiet. He actually liked this comfortable silence that had fallen over his room. But he was exhausted, and he figured she probably was as well. Especially considering the fact that when he'd asked her how she was able to get so much done that morning, she'd told him that she went to the restaurant at four in the morning to start working.

She'd already been up for nearly twenty-four hours. She definitely needed to get some sleep.

"We'll need to figure out the training stuff for this new menu," Crystal said around a yawn.

"I'll do that." His gaze slid over to her, and he found her still reading through her notes while she quietly chuckled.

"Don't come near my desserts with all that bandana rage," she sighed. Her eyes closed in a long blink, then barely opened to keep running over the page.

Still, he didn't look away from her. Even as he hummed and her full lips turned up just a little more while her eyes closed again. When they opened, he said, "Keep feeding me, then."

She laughed, well and truly laughed, while closing the notebook around her finger to keep her place and smacking his arm with it. He barely even felt it connect though. He didn't laugh along with her, and instead just watched as her heavy lids finally won the battle for sleep, closing over exhaustion-dulled green eyes.

'She has a nice laugh…'

It was a throaty sound that was so at odds with her soft, high voice. He almost let himself wonder what it would sound like if she really laughed. If she heard a joke that was funny enough for her to double over and clutch at her sides. For some reason, he could see her snorting when she laughed hard enough. He wasn't sure why though.

But as her breathing evened out, and her small, tired smile faded while she drifted further into dreamland, Ryo realized he didn't want to look away from her.

For the first time, he'd met someone who didn't cower in fear of him. Not when he wore his bandana, and not when he was normal. She snapped to attention in the kitchen when he ordered her to do something, but there had been that moment earlier when she'd finally yelled back at the jackass who was running the restaurant. And she'd yelled at Ryo too. It was different from the way Alice spoke to him. Even when she was ordering him around, there was this air of superiority that came from her lineage. He could feel the difference in their classes just by standing next to her sometimes.

But with Crystal, they were on equal ground. She didn't talk down to him. She didn't really talk down to anybody from what he could tell.

His gaze traced the slope of her nose, how it lifted just a little at the tip, then down to her full, wide lips. Her high cheekbones and the barely noticeable lift at the outer corners of her eyes. He never looked away from her face, even when she sighed and rolled onto her side, facing him completely, and the blue terry cloth robe she'd put on slid open just enough to reveal her tank top.

'She's pretty…'

This was painfully familiar, he realized. Except this time, it wasn't the middle of the night and he wasn't on the verge of falling asleep again. This time, she wasn't watching him, but the other way around. And this time, he knew that he really was awake when he pulled the notebook from her hand and set it on the nightstand just behind him. It wasn't like he was planning on doing anything with her. Alice would kill him, if nothing else. She was weirdly possessive of his time more often than not, but it wasn't as though he really took the time to look anywhere else but at his goal of graduating from Totsuki. Okay, and kicking Yukihira's ass in a Food War. Akira, too. But both of those victories would put him steps closer to reaching his goal, so it was all fine.

He shifted until the blanket was out from under him, and carefully draped it over Crystal while she slept. And once he was sure she wouldn't move again, Ryo laid back and looked at the ceiling until his eyes grew heavy and he fell asleep as well.

He wouldn't realize it at the time, but when only three hours had passed, Crystal would wake up silently and smile over the blanket he'd given her. She would crawl out of the bed and settle the blanket back over him, then creep out of the room and back to her own to get dressed. He wouldn't have a single clue that she was at the restaurant at four in the morning, starting on the baking for the day.

Just as Crystal wouldn't be any the wiser that Ryo, once she was out of the room, turned toward the pillow she'd slept on and pulled it into his chest with a content sigh of Kessho on his lips.

By the time Crystal reaches her apartment door, she's dead on her feet. The day had been hell and then some, but it's worth it. She reminds herself every single night that this really is worth it all. She unlocks the door and trudges inside, flicking on lights as she makes her way past the dark kitchen - where she really should be stopping to eat something - and over to her living room. Well, it's really her bedroom, if she's being completely honest with herself.

It's not like she has tons of money to pay for anything more than a studio apartment. She probably would if she didn't like having a time to splurge on a vacation savings account that she'd yet to touch in the five years she'd been putting money into it. Then again, it's not like she really needs it for anything. She's not planning on taking a trip anytime soon, and it's not like she has anywhere she really wants to go.

Her travelling days are done, and now she's settled down in her mother's restaurant, doing what she'd always wanted to do.

"Ugh, why did she have to pull out that stupid scrapbook?" Crystal groans while collapsing face-first onto her bed. The same bed that sits where a normal person would probably have put a couch.

Ever since her mother had pulled that scrapbook out, she's been thinking about Ryo again. Nonstop. It's painful to think about him, and it's just a little sad too, she realizes, because they knew hardly anything about each other. And she still has feelings for him after all this time. It's stupid to feel this way, she knows, but she can't help it. Every single time she looks at a picture of Ryo, it all comes back to her.

The way he used to just grunt his responses. How slow he talked, and how much it irked the people around him when they were in a hurry. The gravelly tone of his voice when that red bandana was wrapped around his head. Most of all, she remembers his eyes - tired though they may have been - and how brilliant and red they were. She remembers his lips, and how they stretched into that wicked grin while he bellowed orders to the kitchen staff at Hokotomi's Eatery. How it had sounded when he called her Kessho.

That's the memory that has her throat clogging and her knees drawing up to her chest. Her Japanese really hadn't been spectacular back then - it was enough to get by, but it was pathetic compared to what she knew now - and she hadn't known until years later just what he'd been calling her. Kessho. A simpler way to say Crystal. Her very own nickname that was still just her name, but somehow special. Maybe it's because it came from him. Ryo was the only one who had called her that. She laughs when thinking about the first time she'd met Yukihira and Megumi, how Yukihira had tried to call her Kessho, only for Ryo to quite literally bash him over the head with a halibut. He hadn't said a word about it at the time, but she likes to think that it was his way of saying that word, that name, was reserved solely for him.

But the day he'd first called her that, was the day she'd gotten her confidence that had only grown. She'd finally stood up for herself to Mr. Hokotomi, taken control of what was happening. And every time she saw Ryo after that day, he called her that. He never said her real name again.

"God, I'm pathetic," she mutters into her pillow. She knows it's true too, because who in their right mind would be hung up on a crush from high school, when they haven't seen the person in seven years? She barely hears her computer ding where it sits on the small IKEA desk in the corner, letting her know that she has a new message on Facebook. She's too tired to get up and check it though, so it'll just have to wait until later.

For now, Crystal just wants to wallow for a few minutes, and then pass out. She has to be up at four in the morning, and there's no way she can function on only a few hours of sleep like she used to.