"Yoshiko! You're not supposed to stir it!"
"I-I knew that, I was just testing you!"
Pushing away the dark haired girl from the saucepan, Chika began to shake the pan lightly so that the sugar wouldn't form clumps.
It was the first day of October, and the breeze that swept around the school was fresh and crisp. The air smelt of fallen leaves, there was a chilly breeze, and all you could hear outside was the crunch, crunch, crunch of people walking on the leaves that were scattered all over the ground. Many a people were enjoying warm drinks like apple cider, hot tea, warm coffee, and different kinds of pumpkin spiced drinks. Girls shivered while outside, their skirts a little too cool for the weather.
When the bell signalling the end of the school day rang, the members of Aqours were off to enjoy the day the way they saw fit. You was very sad about the weather being too cold for swimming, Riko wanted to head to a café to work on some music, Kanan, Dia, and Mari wanted to go to a coffee shop to spend some time together, and Ruby and Hanamaru had plans to visit some candy shops to find caramel apples. Finally, Chika and Yoshiko made plans to make caramel together at Chika's house.
The plan, however, was not going well.
Chika had tried to salvage the sugar in the pan from Yoshiko's stirring, but it was starting to clump already. Despite her efforts, it seemed she would have to start over.
"Yoshikoooo, you ruined it! We have to start over!" Chika complained, whining to her friend.
"It's Yohane!" Yoshiko said. "This was all because of my bad luck, however. For I, the fallen angel Yohane, have the worst of luck, and it has been cast to you too, my little demon. I must apologize."
Chika giggled. "You always make situations like this fun, Yohane."
Yoshiko blushed. "I-I wasn't trying to do that! My bad luck is real!"
Chika sighed, looking at the clumped sugar in the saucepan. "Shall we start over? This time I'll take care of everything."
Yoshiko nodded, helping Chika to clean the sugar from the pan. It was still pretty hot, so the girls had to be careful when dumping it out.
When it was all clean, Chika began the process anew. She combined the sugar and water again, but refrained from stirring it. Instead, she shook the pan lightly, back and forth, to keep the sugar and water at an even level.
After she was done, she explained to Yoshiko that they only had to wait and watch.
"Lets watch it change colour, Yohane!"
Yoshiko blushed again, when Chika grabbed her hand suddenly. She was so excited to participate in this activity together, because she and Yoshiko rarely got a chance to spend time together. This was her chance to bond with one of her juniors. Chika really liked Yoshiko, and wanted to get to know her better.
Yoshiko shared the same feelings.
Chika was always so supportive of her alternate lifestyle, and she really appreciated that. She wasn't very good at cooking, but making caramel with Chika seemed like a lot of fun. Even though she ended up not being much help, she was enjoying herself.
She just hoped her blushing wasn't giving away her feelings.
A few minutes had passed while Chika and Yoshiko stared intently at the sugar forming into caramel. Yoshiko was a little more focused on how soft Chika's hand was, but she was still watching the pan. Maybe.
"Look, its starting to turn colour!" Chika exclaimed. She squeezed Yoshiko's hand tighter than she already was, and Yoshiko could feel her heart start to pound even harder.
Chika seemed to notice the change in Yoshiko's expression, and let go of her hand with a worried expression. She turned to her friend, ignoring the pan on the stove. "Are you okay? You look like you're about to pass out."
"H-huh!? I'm fine!" Yoshiko blurted out, trying her hardest to seem normal. Her cheeks continued to turn a brighter pink, of course.
"Are you sure...?" Chika asked, her face getting closer to Yoshiko's. She grabbed Yoshiko's cheeks with her small hands, trying to feel if she was hot.
She was very hot!
"Yohane, you're burning up! You should go rest..."
"I-it's nothing! I'm fine. The great Yohane will not succumb to sickness so easily!" Yoshiko tried to keep herself composed, but the close proximity of her face to Chika's made her even hotter. She could feel a knot welling up in her throat, and she tried to swallow it.
'This really isn't how I want to confess...' Yoshiko thought.
Feeling defeated, Chika backed down and left Yoshiko alone. Realizing the caramel was done, she walked away and turned off the stove. She moved the pan off the hot burner and left it to cool. Only... she noticed it had burnt because of how distracted she was.
"Well, it looks like we're done, Yohane..." Chika said, all life drained from her voice.
Noticing her lack of spunk, Yoshiko cocked her head and walked over to Chika. "Chika? What's wrong? Did it get spoiled?"
"Yeah..." Chika replied, pausing, as she balled her palms into fists. "It's burnt..."
"W-well, we can try again! This time we won't take our eyes off of it!" Yoshiko replied, doing her best to try to cheer Chika up.
"But it's late and we're all out of sugar!" Chika whined, her eyes starting to water. "I just wanted to make caramel with you, but I messed it up!"
Yoshiko blinked. She was taken aback by Chika's distress, and really wanted to cheer her up.
Looking at the saucepan of burnt caramel, she took a nearby spoon into her hands. Dipping it into the pan, she scooped up some of it on the spoon. She blew on it to cool it down a bit, and dipped her index finger in it. It was still pretty hot, but she decided to try it. It did taste a little burnt, but it wasn't bad.
"It's not that bad! Try it." She gestured to the spoon in her hand.
Chika's eyes began to dry as she looked at Yoshiko. She noticed Yoshiko was gesturing for her to try the caramel on the spoon, but she had a different idea.
Chika walked closer to Yoshiko, so that their faces were close together yet again. She could see the leftover caramel on Yoshiko's cheek, and licked it off with her tongue.
This made Yoshiko's cheeks turn a bright, tomato red. Her face was even hotter than it was before.
"Ch-ch-chika!?" She exclaimed, at a loss for words.
"It's delicious!" Chika grinned. "Can I taste more?"
Yoshiko nodded, so Chika proceeded to dip her finger in the caramel spoon. The caramel was still pretty warm, and dripped from her finger. She smiled, touching Yoshiko's lips with her finger that was covered in caramel. She then leaned in and kissed her, licking her lips to taste all of the caramel.
"Yohane is... delicious."
At this point, Yoshiko couldn't handle what was happening. She could feel her consciousness starting to fade.
She passed out.