Hsaio crawls out of bed reckoning she should have just stayed up. All the Quinx will be up before dawn, and she needs to be ready.

She heard Saiko crying about Mamman last night, and since Hsaio isn’t good with words, she wants to comfort Saiko with actions. Actions that result in food, to be exact. 

On her laptop are recipes for green tea bread and chocolate chip pancakes. Saiko likes sweets, even though Urie frowns on them. 

Hsaio rummages through their kitchen cabinets, hoping no one wakes up. She’s not a good cook, because she’d rather spend her patience on the field than in the kitchen, but she can be anything for Saiko. 

“Mmm? Hsaio?” Tooru Mutsuki trudges into the kitchen, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. “Everything okay?”

“Oh!” Hsaio’s cheeks turn pink. “Saiko was sad last night, so I wanted to cheer her up. With food.”

Mutsuki smiles. “That’s a good way to cheer her up.” He comes over to study the recipes on her laptop. “Want help?”

Hsaio brightens. “Yes, please!”

She appreciates Mutsuki. She never fit in with the other Garden kids – she was too quiet and liked the girls instead of the guys. Liked like she likes Saiko. Like Urie likes Mutsuki.

“Hey.” Hsaio has an idea. “Get Urie down here. Maybe we’ll sneak sugar into that boy yet.”

“He’s sweet once you get to know him,” Mutsuki murmurs, as if he’s not even aware of Urie’s feelings. But he’s pulling out his phone and calling Urie upstairs, so Hsaio has hope for them yet.

“What’s going on?” Urie barrels into the kitchen, dragging a tousled Aura and boxers-only Higemaru. “Where’s Saiko?!”

“Uh. We’re cooking to make Saiko happy.” Mutsuki shoves a bowl at Aura. “Get to it.”

Hsaio sighs. “Well, I guess we’re all helping now.”

“Higa. Put some clothes on.” Urie turns bright red.

He makes sure to stand right next to Mucchan, who’s carefully sifting flour. When Mutsuki smiles at him, all he wants is to kiss him.

——————————————————————————————-

Saiko awakens to the delicous aroma of baked goods wafting in her nose. Has Christmas come early?

She scrambles downstairs in her warm pajamas, afraid she’d forgot a meeting.

“Happy Saiko Day!” cheer the Quinx from the kitchen.

“Huh?”

“We love you and wanted to make you feel appreciated.” Hsaio’s face is scarlet. Those words hit too close to home.

Saiko throws her arms around Aura. She works her way down the line of Quinxes before she leaves a kiss on Hsaio’s cheek. “Thank you. I love you, too.”