Hikari smiled as she was preparing her newest recipe with Akira. He was taking care of the spices while Hikari rolled all of the ingredients together. They had decided to make a fusion recipe, Hikari's strongest type of cooking style. It was an Indo-Japanese style sushi, using Indian ingredients mixed with a style of traditional sushi.

"Ready to get started, Akira?" Hikari smirked, preparing for the customers to come through.

Akira looked back at her and nodded. Hikari smiled and walked up to the front of their colorful stand.

"Come one and all to the five day International Mystery Stand!" Hikari called out, "The only stand of the Moon Festival that changes its menu everyday. Come join us for new recipes that will shake your senses to your core!"

Just as she finished speaking, Akira let out the wonderous scent of his many spices filled the air, drawing several people to come and try their food.

"Indo-Japanese cuisine?"

"What the heck is that smell?"

"I don't know, but it smells amazing!"

"Mommy, I wanna try some of that!"

"Let's go!"

People came up to their stand and stared as they watched Hikari and Akira prepared the food right before their eyes. 

Hikari laid out several nori sheets before placing the rice on one side. Akira followed behind and laid out a special mix of green chutney made with garlic, black salt, sugar, lime juice, green chili and other indian spices. Hikari came back with a dark soy sauce and sprinkled some green coriander leaves before she rolled it all up and sliced it with ease.

She placed all of the freshly made sushi rolls on separate serving plates and sprinkled just a little bit of black pepper on top before serving it to the waiting customers.

"Order up!" She called out to the waiting people, "Moon Fest Special: Indo-Japanese sushi rolls! Prepare to have your senses rattled beyond recognition!"

The first few people eagerly took the meal provided for their enjoyment and were not disappointed. As soon as the took their first bite, their bodies were overtaken by the wonderful and exotic tastes of Indian cuisine, but many thought that it was just normal sushi because of its appearance. It threw them all for a loop, but they couldn't get enough of it.

"Oh my gosh, this is incredible!"

"I thought that this was normal sushi!"

"No way! This is amazing!"

"Yeah, I didn't expect to find something like this at the Moon Festival!"

"I can't wait for their next dish tomorrow!"

The compliments kept coming one after another and the demands for their food came in even faster. By the end of the day, Akira and Hikari had so many stacks of money that it was almost comparable to one of the Ten, since Eishi was right next to them. Soon, the first day of the festival ended and Hikari and Akira counted the stacks of cash they had collected during the event.

"Wow! Just look at all this!" Hikari said excitedly, "We just might take first place for today."

"Yeah, all because of your incredible idea to combine Indian and Japanese cuisine." Akira commented, "It was amazing that you could create a recipe like that on the spot."

"Thank, Akira. I just thought about sushi and it came to mind." Hikari chuckled.

They went to the collection booth and entered their earnings for the day before walking down the streets so Hikari could meet up with her brother at his stand.

"...As your senior that makes me really happy!" A voice shouted from near where Soma and his stand was. Hikari and Akira came closer and saw Soma, Megumi and a Council of Ten member, Kuga, standing around in front of a large Chinese style building.

Kuga had a large wad of cash in his hand and smirked down at Soma and Megumi, "The future of Totsuki looks bright to me! You would be wise not to stay near me. Just pack it up and peddle your goods. So much for the Fall festival that would've been the peak of your youth."

Hikari sighed and walked over to her brother, "Yo, Soma, what's going on here?"

Soma turned to his sister, shrugging his shoulders, "Nothing much, just a little conversation with our senior." He said and pointed towards Kuga. Hikari turned to Kuga who smiled, oddly sweetly at her.

"Well, well, if it isn't the little sister of Soma Yukihira. Hikari was it?" Kuga said walking closer to Hikari, "We didn't get to speak too much during the Autumn Leaf viewing party, did we? Well, I would be glad to have a lovely conversation with you know if you'd like. We could even go over recipes and cooking techniques. What do you say?"

Hikari thought for a moment, but then chuckled, "Sorry, but if that's your way of asking me out on a date, you're gonna have to do a lot better than that." She spat out with the kindness smile that would throw anyone for a loop.

"What?" Kuga asked dumbly.

"I guess you're as stupid as you are short." Hikari shot back, "Look, flattery doesn't work on a girl like me. And honestly, I don't like boys that are hot-headed like you or the ones who make fun of my big brother. Maybe before you try and take a crack at me, you should polish your cooking skills, because from what I can smell from your Chinese spices and see from here, you favor your left hand when flipping the rice in your cooking, and you're using spices that wouldn't rattle my senses very much. I give you an 89.4 rating. Better luck next time."

Kuga looked down in shock that someone could just insult him like that with a simple smile and very few words. But he shook it off and placed a smile of pure confidence back on his face.

"Well then, how about a wager?" Kuga said, grabbing Hikari's interest.

"I'm listening." Hikari said.

"Whoever makes the highest ranking in the Moon Festival gets one request from the loser." Kuga offered, "If I win, your brother has to leave the academy and you have to become my girlfriend."

"Fair enough." Hikari said, "But if I win, you have to give me your Chinese cooking secrets and your best recipes on paper at the end of the festival."

Kuga was shocked by her request, but he was confident that he would win the wager and shook her hand to seal the deal.

"All right then, we have a deal. I'm thinking for our first date, I take you to China to taste some of the local cuisine." Kuga said.

"I'll be waiting for those recipes. Keep them safe for me." Hikari smirked back. Kuga walked back into his restaurant with a big hopeful smile on his face, a new fire of determination lt underneath him.

Soma whistled at his sister's boldness, "Wow, sis, that was some wager. What are you gonna do with those recipes when you win the bet?"

"Wait, how do you know that Hikari's gonna win?" Megumi said panicked.

"Oh, I'll win. I would never go out on a date with a boy that thinks so highly of himself like that. Kuga's arrogant and that really pisses me off." Hikari said then turned to her brother, "Well, Soma, I'm gonna head back to the dorm after talking with Akira about our next dish coming up for tomorrow. See ya later tonight."

Akira and Hikari walked around talking about their next recipe, they planned to make something Italian fused with Thai food. They went to the spice house and tried making the recipe, adding the right amount of spices and just finicking around the recipe bit by bit. It was nearly eleven o'clock at night before they finished the recipe to their best ability. 

"All right, it's perfect!" Hikari cheered, "This will really put us over the top in the green for sure."

"Yes, the flavors are all matched up perfectly. You can tell it's Italian food because of the meatballs and the white wine, but the soup has Thai flavorings. It's amazing. You really are a genius when it comes to fusion food."

Hikari smiled at the sweet compliment, but before she could say anything else, Hikari began to feel her head pound badly. She reached for her medication in her pocket and took out a couple of store bought headache pills, but they didn't help very much.

"Hikari, are you okay?" Akira asked.

"Yeah, just waiting for the medicine to kick in." Hikari said with a strained voice, "I should get back to the Kyokusei dorms. Soma's gonna be worried sick about me." Hikari tried to stand up, but her head was heavy so she didn't feel balanced. She nearly fell to the floor if Akira wasn't there to catch her.

"Why don't you just stay here for the night? We have an extra bed that you can used." Jun suggested, "I'll call your dorm mother about what's going on. So just relax here for the night and rest up."

Jun took Hikari to the extra room in the spice house before she could object to the offer. She gave Hikari a set of Akira's old pajamas and she was left in the bedroom alone for the night. Hikari sighed and lay down to help ease the pain in her head until she finally went to sleep, but as she slept, her dreams caused even more pain.

~~~~

A man stood in front of her, a small child with short red hair that had been recently cut and dyed black. She wore a fancy dress and gripped the cloth in anger.

"I don't want to wear an ugly dress like this." she whined, "I hate having to be so constricted!"

The man knelt down in front of her and smirked before slapping her hard across the face. She fell to the ground, clutching her stinging cheek.

"You will do as I say, Heaven's Senses." The man said, never giving up that smirk but the harshness in his voice was colder than the arctic circle.

"You will do whatever I say or else you will face the consequences. I know places where they will never find a little girl like you. I'm sure you want to go back to your parents and dear sweet twin brother, right?" The man threatened her. The girl's eyes widened at the mention of her family. She hadn't seen them in months and was terrified for her safety.

So she stood up and nodded, brushing the dust off of her dress and giving the man a sweet fake smile.

"Of course. I will do my greatest to please the sense of those I cook for." She replied. The man nodded and stood back up, taking her hand and leading her outside to the gardens to attend the party organized to announce her as a new junior chef.

But as everyone greeted her and complimented on the food she prepared for the party, her eyes were blank, as if her soul had been crushed and the pieces were hidden away.

Hikari Yukihira was nothing but a doll.