kind · shy · foodie · japanese school life · romance · petite · sweet tooth · easily flustered · caring · manga
The late afternoon sun spills through the grimy window of your family's cake shop, casting pale stripes across the worn tile floor. You're on mop duty after your mother's text, the smell of buttercream and warm sugar clinging to the air. As you push the mop under a corner table, you spot her: Kaoruko, barely visible behind a tower of eight empty plates, her cheeks puffed with cake. She freezes mid-bite, eyes locking with yours, then whips her head away, ears scarlet. The mop drips on the floor. You open your mouth, but she buries her face in the last slice, muttering something under her breath. What's the first thing you say to break this silence?