Trapped

"Great. Just Great!" Anadama sighed to himself. Trying the door, but it would not budge.

"I guess the door is broken?" Kosaki asked him, clearly seeing his efforts in vain.

"If you're insinuating that this is just some old rickety door, think again." He felt a little insulted that she could imply that they would have some type of run down building for the school. Even if he hated this place, it was definitely state-of-the-art. "My dad wouldn't just cheap out on some random door. It would look out of place in a school like this." What he didn't understand was how were they stuck in the first place. The door couldn't be broken. What he didn't know however, was that when the pair fell into the closet. The broom that he was holding, thanks to completely pure bad luck, now held itself firmly jammed in the handle.

"We're really stuck in here?" Kosaki asked, looking around in completely darkness. The only light source being what leaked in from under the door. Resigned from trying to force open his escape, Anadama felt along the wall, looking for the light switch.

"Figures of all people I'd be stuck with it be you." He told her, flicking the switch on. The light illuminated the small room. In it, a janitor bucket with a mop. Above their heads were shelves that went around the room, holding numerous cleaning supplies. "The universe must really hate me I guess." That made her feel a little sad. Just as she thought that she had progress, only to take two steps back. She regretted playing her hand too hard.

"Then we should find a way out then." She replied dejected. "What about those vents?" She pointed above to the clear grill of a vent entrance.

"Useless." He shook his head. "We didn't want people being able to sneak in so easily. So we designed the vents to be impossible to get around with." The look on his face clearly showing his regret in that decision. "I guess we'll have to call someone for help then."

"Do you have your phone?" They asked each other in unison.

"Oh no, don't tell me you don't have your phone with you." He covered his face with his hands in disappointment.

"I-I'm sorry, I put it away on my station when I went to clean. I didn't want to damage it."

"Well I can't fault that logic, I did the same thing. It's over in my office." He sighed. They would be trapped together for who knows how long. Though he figured that someone was going to free them at least within the day. Obviously George would get worried if he didn't return home at his normal time after cleaning.

"Looks like we'll be here for a while…" Kosaki commented. They were indeed going to be trapped in his janitors closet for a while here. A very small closest at that. One where they weren't much space for either of them to move without coming into contact with one another.

Anadama sat down on the floor, leaning his back onto the wall and crossing his arms. She followed suit, sitting across from him as they stayed there in eerie silence. The girl felt bad about making him get angry with her. All she wanted to do was get closer to him as friends, knowing that he wasn't as bad as everyone else had said. Though it seemed now she had likely made herself his number one hated student with her actions.

"If you have something to say, you're free to talk." He broke the silence between them. His statement came as a surprise to her, seeing as he usually never wanted to talk to her at all. "I know how I've come across before, but it's kind of awkward just sitting here like this."

"Um…" She was careful with her words. Kosaki felt that feeling of once bitten, twice shy with him. Even though it was unlikely he would do anything more than simply yell at her. Honestly, it wasn't like she wasn't used to hearing the girls like Tsugumi and Chitoge yelling at Raku back in the day, but those weren't directed towards her. It was scary to be the one on the receiving end. "I, uh, hear the weather's been good."

"Yeah, we're living in Los Angeles. The weather's almost always good here." He had a bit of a snide response to what she thought was the most mundane comment she could've possibly made. "One of the few things that's actually good around here." Anadama muttered to himself.

"I guess you're right." He truly lived up to his reputation for being cold. Yet, despite it filling her with worry, Kosaki felt like she was stuck between feeling that she should back up, while also trying again. In a sense, this boy reminded her a lot of Chitoge. That girl always had her spats with Raku, yet those two did eventually fall in love with one another…

Oh, uh, that was not to say that she thought this would happen between her and Anadama. It's not like she was interested in him at all when it came to romance. Slowly, a blush grew on her face as she battled against those thoughts.

"Uh, are you all right?" He took note of her sudden change in demeanor. "I get it might not be easy to be stuck in a small room with a man like me, but I think we can be both adults about it."

"Y-yes, you're right." She couldn't stop this growing nervousness. As much as she wanted to draw her attention away from him to get her mind off of things. It was kind of impossible seeing that he was going to be in her field of vision regardless of where her eyes landed. Her body was beginning to rise in temperature by the second.

"Well, it is getting kind of hot." He pulled a bit at his collar. "It's summertime, so of course it's getting hotter around here."

"Yes." She took his statement as an excuse for her behavior. "The room's pretty small, so it's easy to heat up with both of us in it."

"We're both going to need a bath when this is all over." He said. Not only were they both dirty from all the washing they had done prior, but this sweat certainly wasn't going to help either of them out. "N-not together, of course." He quickly corrected himself. Well, Anadama didn't need to correct himself, seeing as Kosaki didn't even consider that from his statement. Either way, it was now his turn to feel a bit self-conscious.

"Right, not together…" While the statement she just said sounded fine in her head. Kosaki regretted her tone sounding like she was disappointed with the result. However, this time around she chose not to try and correct herself. Obviously it would be an over correction and reveal what was going on in her mind.

"...I should apologize." He said.

"Eh?" Those were not words she expected coming out of his mouth at this point in time. So far, in her mind, he hadn't done anything to wrong her.

"I've been a bit rude, and honestly maybe that's a bit much considering the circumstances we're in." He explained himself. "But don't get it twisted. I'm not some nice guy on the inside like you keep thinking I am." That said, he didn't let go what she said to him before they were trapped inside. It felt like a gotcha moment she had on him, which resulted in the man probably going a bit too far to deny it. "While we're stuck here, you're free to ask me whatever you want." He prayed that it wouldn't be long.

"I guess there's some things I want to know." She was cautious yet again. Kosaki did have quite a few things regarding him that she was curious about. However, due to his normal nature, she had never bothered to ask. "Why are you blonde?" His last name was Miyanagi, which was clearly Japanese. Yet despite that, he had a lot of features that made him seem more American.

"I got it from my mom." He answered. "I'm actually half American, on her side." While it was an interesting fact, it also made her realize something from all her time spent here. That being, she had never once met his mother. Sure, she also had never once met his father either. Something a bit strange considering that it was that man's academy she chose to attend. If she didn't know any better, it would almost seem like a scam. However, Anadama, despite seeming to hate the place, did treat it with prestige. He didn't look like the type of person to keep up a facade of that magnitude.

"Really? What's she like?" She asked.

"I don't want to talk about her." He was quick to shut that line of conversation down.

"But why?"

"Look, I said you could ask me whatever. I never said anything about me needing to answer everything." He was firm and quite adamant about that fact. Clearly, it was a touchy subject for him. All Kosaki could sum up about it, was that if he hated his dad, then he must've really felt something even worse towards his mom.

That sounded like such a sad life to live. Kosaki had grown up with the love of her family. Her mom, her dad, and especially Haru. The idea that he had the complete opposite of her made her think that his harsh personality was a result of his circumstances. If she went through the same stuff as him, would they had turned out the same?

Well, she certainly was nowhere near as outgoing as him, despite the boy being rather anti-social. If Kosaki were in a position where she hated her parents, and as a result the world, then she'd likely just lock herself away in her room.

"Why'd you choose to go here?" He asked a question of his own, breaking her from her thoughts.

"Huh?" Kosaki was caught off guard from his question, so she didn't have a response ready for it.

"It's not fair if you're the only one asking questions." He said. "So, why did you choose to go here?" Admittedly, he did put on a much nicer act when recruiting her. So the man wouldn't blame her for being swayed by his actions, but she was hesitant before, so something must've changed her mind.

"Hmm…" She thought about it for a moment. The truth was that she didn't have a specific reason on attending the school. The simple reason was that it was a good opportunity. One that certainly wasn't afforded to just about anyone. They'd have to be among the best to even have a shot in the first place.

...Right, they did have to be great at baking, didn't they? But, that couldn't be used to describe her skills at all. Sure, Kosaki always had the best palette among everyone she knew, but what point would there be to that if she couldn't make anything worth tasting? At her current position, is she a fraud then? "I… I joined because… Ahh!"

Given their tight position stuck in the closest. Kosaki had sat down rested her back onto the door since it wasn't going to be budged any time soon. However, it seemed that it was moved after all as it quickly opened up. She found herself falling over backwards, nearly hitting the ground.

"Kosaki!" He reached his hand out and grabbed hers to prevent the girl from having a nasty fall on the hard kitchen floor. It was done on instinct, but he needed all his reaction time just be to able to reach in time.

"Oh, thank you." She said to him. Her eyes were now facing upward, to see Chiffon standing above. It appeared that girl was their savior, as she had dropped by the kitchen to grab something she had forgotten.

"What's going on here?" Chiffon asked, visibly confused with this sight.

"We…" Anadama realized that he was still holding Kosaki's hand. Quickly, he let go, which prompted her to nearly once again fall on her head. "...Got trapped in here by a cruel act of God."