A Dash of Chili Powder

42

[Sorry it's taken so long! I'm kinda in some trouble and having family issues.]

Amaya nodded to everything after they had responded to her question. From the thin slice she created only a minute or two before, she began to make more, each piece of cake a reasonable size. She made clean lines in her cutting and turned to look at Rage for a moment. "Could you grab me a couple of plates for me, Rage-kun?"

Honorifics were polite. That strange look on the tall boy's face was, well, strange. What did she do but call him by his name with a name? Weren't they respectful?

She frowned slightly.

"Scythe-kun, why's Rage-kun confused? Well, he seems so..." Amaya questioned softly, not really knowing what else to do.

[Bad reply. ><]

Gracie

[Hope it turns out okay! <3]

"Could you grab a couple of plates for me, Rage-kun?"

Again. Again, a jolt was driven through Rage's train of thought. It was as if that little honorific spoken from Amaya's voice was a slam on the brakes. Jarring. Unexpected. Heart-stopping.

He realized he'd been standing still again when Amaya's voice lilted through the air again. "Scythe-kun, why's Rage-kun confused? Well, he seems so..." she shrugged.

Scythe watched Rage mutely recover from another surprised twitch and smiled knowingly. "Rage-kun's been running around for us since five this morning - I think he's short circuiting." He came into the kitchen and clapped Rage on the shoulder, startling him out of his dazed state. "Don't worry about dishes, bud'! Waji-kun and I'll handle 'em. You can go crash after dinner."

Rage blinked at him, orange eyes almost wild with confusion, and he shook his head.

"Yeah, I'm not doing dishes," Awaji sided with Rage, though his intentions weren't as charitable.

Scythe rubbed Rage's short black hair, making him cringe involuntarily. Something had really made him jumpy, Scythe observed. He grinned. "Don't make me pull rank on you. Right after cake, you get some shut eye," he said.

The dark haired teen hesitated for a moment before begrudgingly nodding. Scythe patted his head in approval and went to get the plates while Rage carried Awaji over to the dining room table, glancing briefly at Amaya.

"You having cake too, Amaya-san?" Scythe asked from the cupboards.