☀  Kaz really didn’t need to order delivery.

Yeah, maybe it would have been hard to carry the box with her arm in a sling, and yeah, maybe she was a little afraid of being scolded by the staff again, but she didn’t really need to place a delivery order. She probably still could have managed.

“Your cake is headed out the door as we speak!” the gentle voice of a woman came through the phone. Kaz had seen her behind the counter often enough to know that it was one of the bakery’s co-owners, Panya Niji. 

“Thank you very much,” Kaz answered, hanging up the phone and laying back on her bed. How long did it take to get to UA from the bakery? She’d never really timed it. She’d probably head down to the entrance of the campus soon so she could pick up her cake. 

She sat up and got out of bed, adjusting the strap on her arm sling. It really wasn’t a serious injury, and when Recovery Girl got back to campus tomorrow, she’d fix it up right as rain. It was annoying though. She’d injured her dominant arm, and so everything she did right now was just a little clumsy.

The walk down to the front door from her room was pretty quiet. They were on break right now, so most of the students had gone home to spend time with their families. At the moment, she appreciated it. She didn’t particularly like being seen with the sling on. It made her feel vulnerable.

Since it would probably still be a couple minutes before the delivery arrived, Kaz took the scenic route to the front gate, wandering past mostly-empty dorm buildings. By her estimate, enough time should have passed for the delivery person to be at the gate, but when she got there, there was no one waiting for her. 

“Huh.” Kaz checked the time on her phone. It seemed like it had been long enough, but maybe they got caught up somewhere? Surely, they hadn’t shown up and left already. She’d given her phone number so they could call if she wasn’t at the gate.

After waiting for several minutes, Kaz decided to wander the grounds a little longer to occupy her time. Maybe traffic was really bad or something? She didn’t really know how the delivery was being made. They should still call when they got there, so as long as she had her phone on her, there shouldn’t be a problem.

Her feet carried her back towards the dorms as she watched her phone, waiting for the call. She really should have heard something by now. Hopefully, the delivery person was okay.

As she neared the 1-A dorm, Kaz caught movement at the edge of her vision and looked up. There was a figure standing outside the front door. She recognized it as one of the 1-B students, the one with the pink and blue hair. What was his name? Had she ever been told? Kaz wasn’t sure.

But what was her doing outside the building? Waiting for someone? Kaz didn’t know of anyone else staying in that building right now. She never saw anyone else anyway. 

Wait, didn’t he work at the bakery? Yeah! He was the one who scolded her last time she walked to the bakery when she shouldn’t have. He’d also given her pocky for some reason.

He must have been doing the delivery! He was a student at UA too, so he must have just decided to bring her order straight to her dorm. Wow, to think he knew what class she was in and everything.

Kaz had zoned out for a moment, remembering the last time the two of them had really interacted, and when she finally came back to reality, the boy had vanished. Surprised, Kaz looked around, not seeing him anywhere. Shoot! Where did he go? Had he gotten inside? He shouldn’t have. The door should have been locked.

“Hello?”

It was a good thing that campus was mostly empty, because it meant that there was no one around to hear Kaz shriek in surprise at the sudden voice behind her. She whirled around, her arm trying to move into a defensive position. Unfortunately, her injured arm was having none of that, and she cringed, hissing in pain.

“Oh! I’m so sorry! Is your arm injured? Do you need--?”

“I’m fine,” Kaz muttered, “Don’t worry about it.” She looked up at the person who’d snuck up behind her and found herself face to face with the cotton-candy haired boy from 1-B. “Oh! Um.”

There was an awkward moment, and then the boy grabbed the box he’d been holding under his arm. “Right! Sorry. I believe this is for you, Miss...?”

“Kaz,” she answered, “Um, here, I’ve got the--” Kaz fumbled for the wallet in her pocket for a moment and eventually managed to pull out payment for the cake, along with a tip of course. “Thanks for coming all the way out here. I’m sorry I missed you at the gate.”

“Oh, no! It was no problem, really. It’s my fault for coming inside. I knew I should have just waited at the gate.” He took the money and tried to hand her the box, but with only one hand to balance it, it was a little unwieldy for her. “Um, perhaps I could carry this to your dorm? I’d hate for you to accidentally drop it.”

Kaz blushed, flustered by her own inability to do something as simple as carry a box. “Oh! No, I’m sure I can handle it.” She tried once again to grab the box, nearly dropping it right then and there. The boy managed to catch it just in time.

“Nonsense! You’re injured, and it’s really not that far. It’s no trouble.”

She bit her lip and sighed. “Okay, you can carry it for me, um...” She looked at him for a moment, hoping he would realize she was looking for his name.

“Oh! Okashi! Panya Okashi,” he supplied. She smiled faintly.

“Right. Okashi.” The two of them headed back towards the dorms, and Kaz managed to get them inside, though she was clearly less coordinated with her right hand. Okashi seemed to watch her very carefully as they ascended a few flights of stairs to her room, which Kaz found incredibly embarrassing. She was fine! He didn’t need to keep an eye on her.

She opened the door to her room and pointed to a table just inside. “You can just set it there for now. Thanks for doing this.” Kaz grabbed her wallet out again as he set down the cake, aiming to give him a little extra for all the hassle, but Okashi stopped her before she could.

“Oh, please. It was just a flight of stairs. It’s really the least I could do for one of our regulars.”

Kaz sputtered, wanting to argue, but Okashi was already headed back to the stairwell. “I best be going! My mom will be upset if someone places another delivery order and I’m not there. Enjoy your cake! Oh, and get better soon! It’s just not the same when you can’t come into the shop!”