One morning Ichigo woke up from a good night's sleep, but when she looked at her alarm clock to see the time she realized that it was nearly time for school to start. "Oh gosh I'm late!" she shouted, "my alarm clock didn't go off." She quickly got into her uniform, did her hair and got her bag ready. Then she quickly ate some leftover iced buns that she made last night for snacks; there was no time for her to have breakfast. Ichigo ran down the stairs, said morning to the landlady of the girl's school dorms and quickly ran off to class. The landlady was a middle-aged woman with glasses. "This is the first time I've seen Amano being late," the landlady said to herself "I wonder what made her late?"
Luckily she made it to class just in time. "Hey Amano you're late," said Makato. "I know my alarm clock didn't go off" said Ichigo, all out of breath. After the morning normal school lessons it was time for cooking lessons. This time the lesson was about making Baumkuchen. Baumkuchen was a sponge spit cake. It was called a spit cake because the cake was made by pouring the batter on a cooking spit, in a special oven called a Baumkuchen oven. "I've never cooked on a cooking spit before," said Ichigo "what do I have to do". "We'll show how to put the Baumkuchen batter onto the spit, and then you can have a go" said Satsuki. Baumkuchen batter was made with butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and flour. "What you do is that you put a thin layer of the batter onto the spit," said Sennosuke "then when that layer is starting to brown, you put another thin layer on. And you keep on going until you've done fifteen layers". Ichigo had a go after she watched Satsuki, Makato and Sennosuke put a layer on each. Taking care not to go too fast or too slow, Ichigo managed to place a layer of the batter onto the spit. The boys finished off the rest.
"Phew, that was nerve-wracking" said Ichigo, when it was break time. She had never cooked with a cooking spit before, so today's lesson made her nervous. "You didn't need to be that nervous just because this was your first time using a cooking spit" said Makato. "Excuse me Kashino," said Ichigo "but I was told that you were panicky when you handled boiling water for the first time". Makato blushed and glared at Sennosuke. Sanosuke told Ichigo about that time. "Had you never been near a cooking spit before Ichigo-chan?" asked Satsuki. "Well a neighbor of my uncle has one," said Ichigo "and a few years ago he used his cooking spit for a barbeque. He offered to show me and my sister how to cook with it, but my dad forbids it because he thought they were too dangerous". "Well your dad is right, cooking spits can be dangerous if you're not careful" said Sennosuke. "Hey Amano, why were you late this morning?" asked Makato. "Well apparently Vanilla admitted earlier that she struck my alarm clock while she was sleeping, and that's why the alarm didn't go off," said Ichigo "I'll have to make sure she's not anywhere near it tonight".
When lessons were finished with, Ichigo was still in the cooking room and she just made some rock cakes for snacks. Rock cakes were little hard cakes with currants, raisins, and sultanas. "Another sweet to send to the queen" said Ichigo, making a recipe card. "I'll need to practice making Baumkuchen again tomorrow, to get used to the cooking spit in the Baumkuchen oven". Ichigo said to Vanilla. "I agree with you on that Ichigo, you were nerve-wracking today" said Vanilla. Ichigo looked thoughtful. "I could ask the landlady of the girl's dorm to give me a few pointers," she said, "she makes Baumkuchen, so if I ask her she might help me". "I like that idea Ichigo, but she looks scary to me because she's strict and serious" said Vanilla. "Yes that's true," said Ichigo "but seriously Kashino is way scarier than her". Vanilla chuckled at that comment.
When Ichigo was on her way to the girl's dorm she noticed that the landlady, Harue Kirishima, and her husband, Kazuhiko Kirishima, who was the landlord of the boy's dorm, were arguing. Ichigo saw the sweets princes too. "What's going on?" Ichigo asked the boys. "Mr. and Mrs. Kirishima are arguing about something, but we don't know what" said Satsuki. "It's probably a husband and wife quarrel thing," said Ichigo "my parents quarrel over things all the time too". Ichigo and the sweets princes saw Harue leave the house, where she and her husband lived, with some bags of things. Kazuhiko was trying to stop her to leave, but she wouldn't listen and just left.
After Harue left, Ichigo asked Kazuhiko what had happened. "Our son had asked Harue and me to move in with him and his family," said Kazuhiko "but Harue was against the idea. She doesn't want to leave the academy at all, and that's why she's moving into the girl's dorms. But she won't tell me why she is against the idea of moving in with our son." "How about I talk to her?" said Ichigo "I'm a girl, and I'm sure she'd listen to another girl rather than a boy". Kazuhiko and the sweets princes agreed to that idea. So Ichigo went into the girl's dorm to talk to Harue. Kazuhiko and the boys stayed outside because it was forbidden for boys to enter the girl's dorm-like it was forbidden for girls to enter the boy's dorm. Chocolat, Caramel and Vanilla went in to support Ichigo and Café had to stay outside because he was a male spirit.
Ichigo found Harue in a room sorting out her stuff, and she knocked on the door. "Who is it?" asked Harue. "It's Amano Ichigo Kirishima-san" said Ichigo. Harue let her in. "Can you give me a hand Amano?" asked Harue. Ichigo gladly helped her. After they were done, Harue presented some Baumkuchen as a snack. "Do you think you can help me with learning how to make Baumkuchen Kirishima-san?" asked Ichigo. She explained about today's lesson of making Baumkuchen and how she was feeling nervous about using a cooking spit for the first time. "My dad never let me learn how to use a cooking spit because of how dangerous they were, and that's why I was nervous today". "I understand your dad's feelings," said Harue "because I am a mum and grandma myself. But I have my own way of making Baumkuchen, which I'll show you, Amano". "Thank you Kirishima-san," said Ichigo, and she presented her rock cakes. Harue tried one of the cakes. "I've seen you come into the dorms a lot with snacks what you've made yourself". "Yeah I always have snacks with me when I'm studying," said Ichigo "and I prefer making the snacks myself because homemade snacks taste nicer than the snacks you buy from the shop". "I agree with you on that," said Harue "and I must say I've heard that you've been doing well here with your sweets making and your studies". "Well I'm not that brilliant, because there is still so much that I haven't learned yet" said Ichigo. "You'll learn plenty of new things here," said Harue. "Oh please excuse me for being nosy, but what was that argument about that you had with Mr. Kirishima?" said Ichigo.
Harue showed Ichigo a photo of a when she and Kazuhiko were young. "This was taken at the time when I graduated from St Marie Academy" she said. Harue was a student at St Marie Academy in the past. She explained that at that time the girl's dormitory didn't exist yet and there were fewer girls wanting to become patissiers. So she went to and from the school from where she lived. "One night I missed the last bus because I worked overtime with my sweets crafts. But then Kazuhiko gave me a lift home in his car". "That was nice of him" said Ichigo. "To show my gratitude to him I made some Baumkuchen because I heard it liked that," said Harue "but he never left the boy's dorm grounds and girls were forbidden to go near there, so I wasn't able to express my gratitude then. Just by watching him with his work and his bond with the male students made me become charmed with him". "So in other words you fell in love with him then" said Ichigo. "Yes but I never told him my feelings until my graduation day," said Harue "at that time it was announced that a girl's dormitory was going to be built next year. So I pitched in to become the supervisor of the girl's dormitory". "So you gave up your intention to become a patisserie to become the girl's dorm landlady?" asked Ichigo. "Yes, the truth is I didn't really want to become a professional of making sweets, my happiness was with sharing the sweets I made with Kazuhiko and with the students. When graduation came I told Kazuhiko my feelings with my homemade Baumkuchen and he accepted my decision of becoming the supervisor for the new girl's dormitory". "Then sometime after that you two got married right?" asked Ichigo. "Yes and we've been happy ever since," said Harue "but last night when I presented my Baumkuchen to Kazuhiko after our son asked us to come to live with him, it seemed he had forgotten about the times in the past. I'm happy that my son asked us to come live with him and his family, but I treasure my life very too much to leave it, but yet that guy doesn't seem too and it annoys me". "I don't think he meant it like that Kirishima-san," said Ichigo "but I suggest you make your handmade Baumkuchen again for him again; I'm certain that your sweets will make him understand your feelings". Harue thought for a moment and thought that Ichigo was right, so she decided to make Baumkuchen for Kazuhiko again.
As the cooking tools and ingredients for Harue's Baumkuchen were back at the house, Ichigo and Harue sneaked their way there while Kazuhiko and the sweets princes were still outside. Apparently Harue made homemade Baumkuchen by using aluminum foil, in the shape of a rod, with some olive oil on it for making the Baumkuchen. She placed a layer of the batter in a hot square-shaped frying pan, and when it had cooked enough Harue used the rod to roll it up. "You continue doing this five times, instead of the usual fifteen times you do with a Baumkuchen oven" explained Harue. Ichigo had a go too and she did it without being nervous this time. "I plan to practice with using the Baumkuchen oven again tomorrow to get the knack of it" said Ichigo. "As long as you don't forget the knack of making Baumkuchen this way, you'll get the knack with using the Baumkuchen oven" said Harue. Soon it was time for Harue to present her Baumkuchen to Kazuhiko. Vanilla made a recipe card of Ichigo's bite-sized Baumkuchen, which were done just right, and sent it to the queen.
Meanwhile Kazuhiko and the sweets princes were getting tired of waiting for Ichigo and Harue. Kazuhiko was about to give up, but then Ichigo and Harue turned up. Harue presented the Baumkuchen to Kazuhiko and Kazuhiko tried it. Ichigo also presented the photograph to him. "I remember when you presented this to me when you decided to become the supervisor for the girl's dorm Harue," said Kazuhiko "back then I liked sweet things but over the years my sense of taste has changed. But the feelings both I and the students have for you remain the same. So I understand your feelings of wanting to remain here because you feel happy staying here". "So is it okay that we remain here?" asked Harue. "Yes," said Kazuhiko "we'll phone our son tomorrow and let him understand what we want". So it was arranged that Kazuhiko and Harue Kirishima will stay as the supervisors of the boy's and girl's dormitories.
The next afternoon, Ichigo came back to the girl's dorm, with a Baumkuchen, with white icing, as a snack. "So you've succeeded in making Baumkuchen with the special oven huh Amano?" asked Harue. "Yes I did with the practicing I did" smiled Ichigo.
The end
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