Kuga sighed as he sharpened his knife. How long has he been doing this? He was up before the sun and did his morning workout and he had nothing else to do, so he sharpened his knives. And yes, he brought his tools with him. If there's a kitchen, you can cook.

"..." He stopped sharpening the knife and placed it back in its place as he looked out his window. The sun's out. For an hour or two now. He stood up and walked over his messy luggage and took a change of clothes. "Bath..."

Just as he left his room, he was met with Cécil and Tanaka who was holding a vase filled with flowers.

"Good morning, Terunori!" Cécil greeted him with that cheerful smile of hers. "Going to take a bath I see! Are you busy? Are you going to do something after your bath?"

"Ah, not really!" Kuga answered, back to his cheerful face.

"Great! Then we'll live it to you!" Cécil snapped her fingers, Tanaka immediately in front of Kuga, and handed him the vase of flowers. "Please give this to mon ange after you take your bath. You see, I am incredibly late for a meeting. I have to meet up with my Tokyo branch head chef!"

Without another word, Cécil and Tanaka are gone, leaving Kuga with the vase and clothes that almost fell off his hands. "Okay... gotta put this in my room then."

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Kuga stepped out of the shower, hair dripping, muscles present. He might be small but he's quite lean. He took his towel and began to dry his body and then wrap it around his waist, covering that mini him.

He went to the mirror and followed his morning skincare because he doesn't wake up with beautiful skin like the one he has. Although he wished that he woke up with skin like that.

'Wonder what it's like having your own restaurant...' He asked himself. 'And where the heck are my RS members? Well... this is a vacation...' After finishing up his routine, he changed into his new clothes and made his way back to his room.

He took the vase and made his way to your room.

On his way, he noticed a lot of things or lack thereof. For one, the people who work here are less than 15, that includes those who work in the barn and other areas. And this place is almost a castle. His home had more workers and his place was smaller than this.

Second. Everyone who worked there seemed accustomed to your silence. It's like they didn't bother to even try to make you talk. He's sure that at this point, only he's heard your voice and Masafumi's letter confirmed it.

Third. There are basically no family pictures. In a family that was basically all sunshine and rainbows, he guessed that there'd be more pictures of family members on the walls or on the rooms. Heck, he even thought that he'd be greeted by a freaking diamond picture frame with your face in it with how much Masafumi doted on you.

But he knew that it was not in his place to meddle with it.

"Knock! Knock! (Y/N)-chin! I, Kuga Terunori have come to give you something!" He said, barging in your room without even knocking. "Bonjour! Mamie asked me to give you this!"

You looked up from your laptop, staring at Kuga with a tired stare. Your eyes were droopy, your glasses were basically falling off, your hair was a mess, and still in your pajamas. "...Kuga... right? You're not a hallucination... right?" You asked, your voice strained. "...nah... there's no way he'd be here... uhh... still need to check the new orders for autumn..."

Kuga raised a brow and placed the vase on the other nightstand. "Okay... did you sleep last night? What are you doing?" He asked, standing next to you, glancing over your laptop. "Woah, that's a lot of stuff."

"... Kuga..." You trailed off, closing your laptop and faced the guy. "Just let me be already!! You've been bugging me since last night!! It's because of you that I couldn't sleep!! Your face is in my mind whenever I close my eyes!" You cried, hitting the pillow in front of you. "I just want to sleep!!"

'What is she talking about? Last night? I was sleeping last night? When did I bug her last night?' He asked himself, trying to rack his brain for any memory of ever being here, but there wasn't a single thing. "Are you... are you okay? Like, emotionally okay?"

You paused, your fists, stuck in the air. You pouted, your eyes glistering in tears. Kuga flinched as he saw you teary eyed. This was not good. Very not good.

"I... I'm not..." You said, circling up in a little ball, refusing to lock eyes with Kuga. "...I just... want to be normal..."

"I think you're pretty normal." Kuga shrugged, sitting on your bed, right in front of you. "Why do you think that? You're like, the normal of the normal."

"That's a lie and you know it." You spat, glaring at the closet doors your eyes were focused on. "...Teru... do you know why I only talk to you..."

"...no, not really." He sighed, letting himself fall on the bed. "But I did notice that you don't talk to others. Not even your family..."

"Then, I'll tell you..." You stood up, walking to one of the hanging pictures in your room, and taking a specific picture of a garden. You began to open it, Kuga watching from the side. "I know that grandpa and mamie just covered it up... I know this frame anywhere..."

"What is it...?" He asked curiously, sitting up beside you.

After a while, you managed to open it from the back, the moment you took it, two pictures fell off, surprising Kuga as you picked it up. The first picture was the garden, the second...

"This is my family... my whole family..." You looked at the picture with sadness in your eyes.

A picture of a happy family in the gardens. Masafumi with Cécil and Yvon, they all had smiles. Then... there's a little you besides two people. Your mother and your father. All smiles and happiness.

"Your mother and father..." He muttered looking at the picture. "You look like your father..." He pointed out.

You nodded, "I get that a lot..."

"Where are they now?" At his question, you flinched in fear. He noticed how your fingers slightly crumpled the photo. "Hey, you don't have to-"

"I'll tell you..." You took a deep breath, calming yourself before continuing. "My mother and father both attended Totsuki. Then they met, fell in love and got married and had me. The usual. But... eight years in having me... eight years of living happily... my father said that he wanted to go out and explore the world, discover flavors... as he said..."

You sniffed, tears pouring from your eyes, dripping to the picture. Kuga scooted closer, patting your back and tried to comfort you.

"My mother was more than happy to let him be... it was his passion... but... but..." You were having a hard time to continue as memories of the past began to flood your mind. "On his way to the airport... he... he got into an accident... and... and he passed away..."

"After that day... my mother became distant... I could understand her... I was sad too... but..."

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An eight year old (Y/N) left the kitchen, holding into a cake that she baked. She wanted to make her mother smile, remind her of happy memories. She wanted her to remember the happy times they've had as a family.

"Mother..." She knocked on her mother's room, waiting for a response. After hearing her enter, she entered the room, closing the door behind her. "Mother, do you have a moment?"

Her mother nodded. She was standing by the window, staring outside with an empty stare.

"Mother! I made you something!" (Y/N) said with a smile, placing the tray on the table. "I know that it's not comparable to what you make, but I want to make you smile!"

Her mother turned around, shock washing over her face as she glanced at her daughter's smiling face.

"You..." She grumbled, storming over the little girl, slapping her hand away, making her drop the plate and shattering on the ground. "Why are you smiling!? Why are you laughing!? Why are you talking!? Your own father just died yet you can smile so happy like this!? What kind of daughter are you!?"

"M-mother... what are you-"

"SHUT UP!!" her mother screamed, dropping to the ground and gripping her hair in frustration. "SHUT UP!! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR VOICE!! I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE SMILING SO HAPPILY!! DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK AGAIN!! DON'T YOU DARE SMILE AGAIN!!"

"But mother, I just-"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Her mother screamed, pushing the child away

(Y/N) stumbled back, dropping to the floor as she cried, worried for her mother.

Not long after, people heard the commotion and everyone rushed to the room. Everyone was shocked and heartbroken about what they saw.

Yvon took (Y/N) away while Masafumi and Cécil talked with their daughter.

"(Y/N), are you okay?" Yvon asked her, but she didn't respond. "(Y/N)?"

At this point in life, (Y/N) had completely sealed her voice and smile away. Never to be heard and seen again by her family. She never spoke, not even reacting when they gave the stuff she used to like.

It was on that day that the (Y/N) that they've come to love had vanished.

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Kuga had no words after hearing your story. He didn't even know what to think.

But he felt pity. He pitied you.

"(Y/N)... I..." He paused as he saw you sleeping. He stood up, carefully so as to not wake you up. He gently placed you on the bed and he was about to walk away when he felt something holding his hand. 'Ah... she's crying... guess I'll have to stay...'

He sat back down, wiping the tears that stained your cheek.

"I see now..." He muttered, laying down beside you. "That's why Masafumi made me come here and that day..." 'He wants me to return the old (Y/N) back...' "Oh well, guess I have no choice."

With a soft smile, he too fell asleep.