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It started with a simple enough question.
“Can ya help me bake a cake for my ma’s birthday?”
Mitsuru and his mom hadn’t always been close throughout the years. If he was honest, they rarely were. But they went through patches where they did here and there, usually when his mom was sober. This was one of those patches, and it was his mother’s longest patch in years- 7 months. Mitsuru wasn’t so green that he believed this time would last forever, but he believed in celebrating while the moment was there.
Zuki rose an eyebrow at the question. “You think I know how to bake?” Zuki asked, voice almost amused.
“Don’tcha?” Mitsuru asked. He’d never really seen Zuki make anything but mixed drinks and Jell-O shots, but it seemed like the kind of thing he’d be able to do.
Zuki sighed. “I can follow a recipe, I suppose. I really should expect you to be able to do the same.” Zuki was looking down at him from the top of the counter, judgment in his eyes.
“I just want to make sure I get it right,” Mitsuru said, edge to his voice.
“Oh, relax, Mitsu,” Zuki said, jumping off the bar counter he’d been smoking on. “I was kidding. We’ll make an extravagant cake. Pinky promise!”
The thing was, promises didn’t mean a lot to Sho, even when pinkies were involved. Sho was a believer that people did what benefited them in the end. So, a promise was only good if it would benefit him. For a while, Sho had thought this promise would be kept. After all, having Mitsuru owe him one while making him suffer through a feminine activity? Score!
But then he realized there was a way that would benefit him more.
See, Sho wasn’t blind. And more importantly, he wasn’t stupid. In fact, in all the ways that counted he would argue he was the smartest person at their school. No offense to cuties like Kazuo and Mimura! It was just a fact. He was good at the important things, like reading people.
That was why he had realized that Mitsuru had a crush on Izumi Kanai while no one else seemed to notice. Which was really sad because it was very painfully obvious. Honestly, the poor boy couldn’t go five minutes without looking over at her! It was kind of sweet in a pathetic sort of way.
And now Sho was going to exploit it!
Because if there was one thing he knew, it was that if he got Mitsuru some alone time with Kanai, he’d owe him big time later!
Even if he might have to tell some lies to get things in motion, in the end, he’d definitely end up ahead.
“Mitsu, hun, I have bad news!” Sho said as he walked up to Mitsuru.
He was meeting Mitsuru for a smoke break outside the school, which he’d texted him about. He’d conveniently left the other boys out of the message. They’d probably still end up coming to meet them soon enough anyway. But for right now, Sho and Mitsuru were alone, just as Sho had intended.
“Bad news?” Mitsuru asked from his spot against a tree. He was already leaning against it and lighting a cigarette. “And don’t call me hun.”
He hadn’t even waited to light up? Ugh, so rude.
“Yes, I feel so terrible about this, but I won’t be able to help you tomorrow after school,” Sho said as he leaned against the tree beside Mitsuru dramatically. He had to sell it after all! My, what a fantastic actor he’d make! “Something’s come up, and Daddy needs me to go out of town with him.”
“Shit, f’real? Fuck. What am I s’pposed ta do?” Misturu asked as he moved away from the tree and started to pace.
“Oh, Mitsu, don’t panic. We just need to get someone else to help you!” Sho said as he lit his own cigarette. The dramatic part of his act was over. He’d never be too concerned. Worrying too much caused wrinkles.
Mitsuru turned and looked at him skeptically. “Who the fuck can I find b’fore tomorrow? It’s not like the other guys can bake shit! Hiroshi’d probably set my house on fire!”
Hiroshi probably would burn down Mitsuru’s house. The boy was hard to control with a lighter in his hand. Really the only one besides Sho who could be trusted to help would be Kazuo, but Mitsuru would never ask his precious Boss for such a favor.
“That’s true. What you need is a girl,” Sho said, working hard to keep the smirk off of his very handsome and gorgeous face.
“A girl?” Mitsuru asked, suddenly looking confused. Sho wasn’t sure why, he knew what girls were.
“Yes, a girl. They know all about baking,” Sho said with a wave of his free hand. Technically, that was a pretty large generalization, but Mitsuru wouldn’t think about that.
“I mean, I guess. But where am I gonna find a girl?” Mitsuru asked as though he’d never seen one before.
“Sweetie,” Sho said before motioning to the school. “I think you can find one.”
Mitsuru scowled at him. “I know there are girls at school, but I can’t just ask a random girl to come to my house! That’d be weird!”
Sho hummed as he finished his cigarette before crushing it under the heal of his shoe. “Maybe if it was a random girl, but I’m sure you know someone who isn’t so random. Someone nice who’s proven that she doesn’t mind helping you in times of need,” Sho suggested before he began walking back toward the school.
“The fuck are you on about, Zuki?! ‘Cause I have no idea who you’re talkin’ about!” Mitsuru yelled after him.
But Sho didn’t stop. They both knew exactly who he was suggesting. And Mitsuru could stomp his feet all he wanted, but he was still going to ask her.
My, Mitsuru was lucky to have a friend as great as him!
Mitsuru had of course understood who Zuki had been implying he ask. He’d probably even thought suggesting it was a favor, despite the fact that he’d bailed on him! Mitsuru knew he couldn’t blame him since Zuki had to help his dad, but it still fucking sucked.
Especially because Mitsuru didn’t see another option. He wanted his mom’s birthday to be special for once. He’d even bought a bunch of cake ingredients (he’d had to ask a scared employee what he’d need) with his own money! And sure, that money had come from pawning some stolen shit, but it was the thought that counted! His mom was trying to be legit, so so was he.
He didn’t want to fuck it up.
And Izumi was the only girl he really knew. Well, if she counted it as that.
They’d worked together on school stuff before, and they talked sometimes, and Mitsuru thought she was the cutest girl in school. But Mitsuru wasn’t sure what any of that really meant. Well, he knew what the last bit meant, and that was that he needed to get his head out of the clouds. A girl like Izumi would never be interested in a thug like him.
But she was really nice, and she might be willing to help him if he explained himself well.
He figured even though he wasn’t the best with words, it was worth a shot.
So, at the end of the day, he approached Izumi at her locker.
“Uh, hey, Kanai, can I talk to ya for a second?” Mitsuru asked, sounding nervous.
Izumi turned around at her locker, looking surprised to be being addressed, although not unhappy. If anything, she looked just as nervous as he sounded. “Oh, yes, of course!” she said as she nodded several times.
They walked over to a quieter part of the school hallway.
“Uh, I hope this ain’t too weird, but I actually wanted ta ask ya for a favor,” Mitsuru said, hating the way it sounded. That last thing he wanted to do was bug a girl for a favor, especially one as great as Izumi.
“Really? Me?” Izumi asked, sounding as though she hadn’t expected it, but then she smiled shyly. “Um, I’d be happy to help you in any way that I can!”
Mitsuru smiled a little at her. She was real cute. “Uh, what do ya know about cakes?” Mitsuru asked as he scratched the back of his curly head.
“Cakes?” Izumi asked, her head tilting a little to the side.
Mitsuru could feel his face heating up a little and tried to fight it. “Uh, yeah, cakes. I need ta bake one, but I’ve never done it before. I was hopin’ you could maybe help me out.”
“Oh, wow, I’m actually the worst person to ask about that! I can’t bake at all,” Izumi said in an embarrassed tone, not that Mitsuru caught on to that.
“Oh, uh, that’s okay! I can figure somethin’ else out. I don’t want ya ta have ta waste an afternoon showing me how anyw—” Mitsuru would have continued on about how he didn’t want her to waste her time with him, but she chimed back in before he could finish.
“Noriko can bake!” Izumi shouted. A few people stared over at them, but Mitsuru’s attention was on the red-faced girl. “I mean, Noriko has these great recipes that I bet even I can follow! And I’m sure together we could figure it out, right?” Izumi asked.
Mitsuru grinned. “Yeah, if we can figure out a history project together, we can handle cake.”
“Great! I’ll ask Noriko for a recipe! When do you want to do it?” Izumi asked.
“Uh, after school tomorrow? I know that’s soon. Zuki kinda bailed on me,” Mitsuru explained. He didn’t want Izumi to think he’d intentionally waited until the last minute to ask.
“No, that’s perfect! I can do that,” Izumi said as she nodded her head several times.
“That’s awesome. You’re really saving me here, Kanai.” He couldn’t help smiling at her. He couldn’t even remember why he’d been worried about asking for her help.
“It’s really no problem! I’m sure we can do it!” Izumi said, her eyes darting around the halls. Mitsuru wasn’t sure what that was about. “Just text me your address, and I’ll come over after school tomorrow!”
“Great, see you tomorrow,” Mitsuru said before he nodding goodbye and going to rejoin his friends. He felt like things were coming together. Plus, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t kind of excited to be spending time with Izumi.
Even though it could never lead to anything.
Right?
Izumi thought she’d done a fairly good job of holding herself together during her conversation with Mitsuru. Usually, when she talked to him, she’d say something that she thought sounded stupid, but she really hadn’t done too badly!
Though, there was the small detail that she couldn’t bake.
But she hadn’t lied about that! She’d told the truth! And maybe this time she could correctly follow Noriko’s recipe!
Had she ever managed to before? No. But maybe this could be the time! Sometimes you had to push yourself, right? That’s what Yukie was always saying!
Oh, man, she was toast!
She was currently scurrying through the hallway to catch Noriko before she left to meet her younger brother to walk him home from school. She luckily managed to catch her right before she left the building.
“Noriko! Hey, Noriko!” Izumi called after her.
The other girl turned and smiled at her. “Hey. Where is everyone?” Noriko asked as she looked around for the rest of their friends.
Izumi quickly looked around them before grabbing Noriko’s arm and declaring, “Not important!” Izumi then dragged Noriko out the front door of the school and off the side, where they could hide behind a conveniently located bush.
“Um, is everything okay?” Noriko asked as they crouched down in their hiding spot.
“Of course, why wouldn’t it be?” Izumi asked, trying to sound casual and not like she’d just dragged her friend behind a bush.
“Well, it seems like we’re hiding from someone,” Noriko pointed out as she motioned around them. They were currently sitting on their knees in a dirt patch, the bush acting as coverage.
“Well, we’re not!” Izumi said even as she looked around them. She didn’t see any of their friends or classmates close enough to hear them. Good. “I just wanted to ask you something privately.”
“Okay, of course,” Noriko said, looking concerned.
“I need you to tell me—No, write down your easiest cake recipe,” Izumi said. She knew from experience that if it wasn’t written down, she’d mix things all up.
Noriko’s brows drew together. “You needed to ask me that privately?” Noriko asked. She looked like she thought there was more to the situation.
Dang it! She should have known Noriko would be super perceptive!
“I didn’t want anyone to hear your secret recipe?” Izumi tried to lie, but it came out sounding more like a question, even to her own ears.
“Izu, what’s going on?” Noriko asked in that voice she had that made you really believe you could tell her anything.
Izumi sighed. “It’s—You can’t tell anyone, okay?” Izumi asked as she held out her pinky for Noriko.
Noriko grabbed it with her own and shook without hesitation. “I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
“Okay, well,” Izumi started, as she fiddled with the fabric of her skirt. “You see, I need to be able to bake a cake,” Izumi said before looking up at Noriko. The other girl’s large eyes were looking back at her kindly but also like she was waiting for more. “Because—Because Numai-kun needs my help!” Izumi said, her voice a little shrill.
Noriko’s eyes went wide.
“It’s not—It’s not like it’s a big deal or anything! It’s just that he needs to bake a cake tomorrow for—well, I actually didn’t ask him why… But I assume it’s super important or he wouldn’t have asked! And I told him I could get a recipe from you that would be really easy and that we could figure it out together—”
“Izumi, slow down,” Noriko said as she grabbed one of Izumi’s shoulders to ground her. It worked as Izumi immediately stopped word vomiting everywhere. Noriko reassuringly squeezed her shoulder before releasing it. “Okay, now explain slower. You’re going to help Numai-kun bake a cake tomorrow?”
Izumi nodded frantically, no longer trusting herself not to have a long outburst.
“Where are you doing that at?” Noriko asked.
Izumi’s face reddened. “His house…” she mumbled quietly.
“Where?” Noriko asked as she leaned closer.
“His house!” Izumi all but screamed before covering her mouth.
Noriko quickly flew back from the loud noise before regaining her composure and sitting back up straight. “Haruka would tell you that you shouldn’t do that.”
Izumi looked at Noriko desperately, hoping her friend would decide to help her. “What do you say?”
Noriko smiled girlishly. “I think I have a cake recipe that could work.”
Izumi went wide-eyed before she flung forward and hugged Noriko. “Thank you so much! You’re the best, Nori!”
Noriko hugged her back, laughing a little as she did. Once they’d pulled apart, she asked. “So, does this mean that you have a crush on Numai-kun?”
Izumi felt her cheeks get red, but instead of answering she quickly hopped up to her feet and began batting her skirt to get off any dirt. “We should get up now! I’m so sorry I made you sit in the dirt! I was being so wei—”
Noriko grabbed her arm and smiled at her softly, and, again, Izumi stopped speaking. “I won’t tell anyone. I pinky promised,” she reassured her. Izumi relaxed. “Do you want to walk with me while I write down the recipe?”
Izumi smiled. “Definitely.”
“You do have to tell me how it goes, though,” Noriko said quietly.
Izumi made a weird noise in her throat but didn’t answer. There wouldn’t be anything to tell!
After school was out the next day Mitsuru waited at the end of the street the school was on.
He wasn’t sure exactly what he was trying to do by waiting, he should just be walking to his house.
The thing was, Izumi had asked him to text her his address and he had. But then after he’d gotten to thinking about it, he realized it made more sense for them to just walk to his house together. He lived on the rougher side of town and the last thing he wanted was for Izumi to have a run-in with some guys like him.
But then he’d also thought that maybe Izumi had asked him to text her his address because she hadn’t wanted to be seen walking home with him. Mitsuru would understand that. He wasn’t really the type of guy he figured a good girl would want to be seen walking around with.
There was also a possibility that Izumi would be getting a ride to his place. The walk wasn’t super long, but he knew Kanai got driven home a lot. But then he also couldn’t see her driver dropping her off at his house. He wouldn’t drop a girl off in his neighborhood with someone he didn’t know.
What it all came down to was that Mitsuru wasn’t sure what to do. He figured if he just waited at the corner for a while, he’d figure it out. It was a good thing his friends hadn’t wanted to hang around past lunch that day, although they had laughed at him for not ditching with them.
Mitsuru was wondering if he should just start walking to his house when he saw Izumi walking toward him. She seemed to spot him just as he’d spotted her. She waved before walking the rest of the way down the street to him.
“Hey!” she called, as she did a cute little wave. Her cheeks looked pink in the sun and as usual, Mitsuru was hit by how cute she was.
“Hey, I, uh, wasn’t sure it you’d wanna walk together or anything,” Mitsuru said awkwardly as he pushed his hands deep into his pockets.
“Yes, I’d love to! I mean,” she laughed a little. “I realized that it was kind of dumb to have you text me the address when we’d be leaving from the same place, but I’d already said I would meet you there, so I wasn’t sure what to do,” Izumi said quickly as she tucked and re-tucked hair behind her ear.
Mitsuru laughed too. Something about that being the reasoning made him feel a little lighter. “’M glad I waited then. Walking with you’s way better than walkin’ alone,” he said as he began to lead the way to his house.
Izumi smiled a little. “Great! Maybe we can walk together again then! Well, I guess we usually aren’t going to the same way, are we?”
“Nah, not unless I’m goin’ ta steal something,” Mitsuru said, his voice teasing even though that was true.
Izumi laughed a short laugh, like she wasn’t sure if it was okay to laugh or not. Then she shook her head. “Um, anyway, I realized I never asked you why we were baking a cake anyway.”
Mitsuru’s eyes widened. He hadn’t realized he’d left that part out. “Well, it’s actually for my ma. It’s her birthday.”
“Aww,” Izumi practically coo’d as she clasped her hands together. “That’s so sweet of you! I’m sure she’ll love it!”
Mitsuru smiled at the reassurance. “I hope so. She definitely ain’t gonna expect it, that’s for sure. We don’t usually do birthday stuff.”
Now Izumi frowned. “You guys don’t do anything for birthdays? Not even yours?” she sounded sad about it.
Mitsuru shrugged. “It ain’t a big deal. We just ain’t really that close. I usually just go out with the guys for my birthday,” he explained, trying to keep his voice even. The last thing he wanted to do was complain about his birthday to her, especially when it wasn’t even his birthday.
Izumi nodded, although she still looked like she didn’t think that was okay. “So then why do you want to make your mom a cake this year?”
Mitsuru sighed. He wasn’t sure how in-depth to go. He didn’t talk much to anyone about his parents, not even to the guys. He didn’t want to complain, especially when plenty of people had it worse (he thought of the way Ryuhei’s old man liked to push him around). There were worse things than parents who got drunk and fought, or sometimes forgot you were around, or sometimes plain wished you weren’t around.
Still, even though it wasn’t that big of a deal, he felt like if he told Kanai, she’d feel bad. He didn’t want her to feel bad.
But he also couldn’t lie.
“Me and my ma have been closer lately. Figure while things are good, we should celebrate, ya know? Enjoy the good times,” he tried to explain.
Izumi smiled at him softly. “That’s a good way to look at things, I think. I’m sure your mom will agree.”
Mitsuru nodded as he walked, smiling at the sidewalk before he turned it on her. “What about you? What are birthdays like in your family?”
Izumi immediately looked embarrassed and began stumbling. “Oh, well, I guess we like to celebrate them! Um, they’re important to us—”
“Ya have huge parties, don’t ya?” Mitsuru asked, his tone teasing. Kanai came from one of the richest family's in town. Mitsuru figured it’d be pretty crazy if they didn’t party hard.
“I—I guess they’re sizable,” Izumi said, still looked embarrassed.
Mitsuru laughed. “Good, ya deserve a big party.”
Izumi looked over at him and then smiled softly. “Honestly the big parties aren’t that much fun,” her eyes then got wide, as though she thought she’d said something wrong. “Not that I’m complaining! Parts of them are nice! It’s just… It’s always more fun when it’s not an… event, I guess. Like, when I get to have dinner alone with my parents or have a sleepover with my friends. That stuff is better than the big parties,” she explained. It sounded like a confession of sorts, but he wasn’t sure why.
“Zuki always says ‘the company makes it a party.’ So, I guess as long as who you’re with is good, it counts as a good party,” Mitsuru said, hoping Zuki’s words made him sound smart.
“I think that makes sense,” Izumi said before her cheeks turned pink (had the air gotten warmer?) “Your mom will have a great party this year."
Mitsuru grinned. He thought so too.
They continued making conversation as they walked to Mitsuru’s house. They were talking about when Mitsuru’s mother would be home when he finally stopped in front of a place.
“This is it,” he said, suddenly looking nervous.
It was a much smaller house than the one she lived in (which could be said about almost every house in town), but also smaller than most of her friends. It was also fairly run down. Izumi hadn’t really considered what it would look like, though, and rather than focusing on those things she focused on the task at hand.
“Okay, let’s bake a cake then!” Izumi said, trying to pump herself up for the challenge.
Mitsuru nodded, his nerves disappearing as he walked toward the house. “How hard can it be, right?” he asked as he opened the door.
Inside the house was small and out of date, but it was perfectly clean, almost like someone had recently scrubbed the place.
“The kitchen’s this way,” Mitsuru said as he led her to their workspace. It wasn’t huge, but Izumi thought the two of them could move around together easily enough.
Izumi nodded swiftly, a habit she had when she was trying to convince herself that she could do something. “Okay, here’s the recipe Noriko gave me. She said it was super simple,” Izumi said as she pulled the piece of paper out of her pink backpack. “So as long as we follow it, we should be okay!”
“That shouldn’t be hard, what do we need to do first?” Mitsuru asked as he began pulling out the ingredients the shop owner said he would need.
“Okay, it says first that we need to mix the butter and sugar together. So, we need to measure those out,” Izumi said before looking to Mitsuru.
“Like… with a ruler or somethin’?” Mitsuru asked.
It was at that moment that Izumi realized that she might actually have the upper hand at this. She’d learned last year from Noriko and Chisato that a ruler was the wrong way to measure baking ingredients.
“No, with a food scale,” Izumi said, feeling a little accomplished that she knew something about baking. Maybe she could do this!
“Oh. I guess that makes more sense,” Mitsuru agreed as he started opening kitchen cabinets and looking for such an item. “It’s a good thing ya came ta help me. I’d be in here lookin’ like a nerd for nothin’ if I was by myself.”
Izumi smiled. “I only know that because my friends have tried to teach me. I guess they did teach me something.”
Mitsuru laughed as he checked another cabinet. “’M glad,” he said before spinning around to face her. “Is this it?” he asked as he pulled out a white, plastic scale.
Izumi pointed at it excitedly. “Yes! That’s it!”
“Nice,” Mitsuru said as he sat them down on the counter. “How much do we need?”
Izumi told him the measurements and they weighed them out carefully, being extra careful to get the numbers right.
“Okay, now we just stir it until it’s light and fluffy!” Izumi said once the bowl was prepared.
Mitsuru grabbed the bowl and started mixing it with a big spoon. “What the fu—heck does light mean? Like… it’ll weigh less?”
“I think?” Izumi said as her eyebrows knit together. “Or maybe it means the color will get lighter?”
“Yeah, like ‘cause the white is mixing with the yellow. So, the yellow will be lighter,” Mitsuru said as he aggressively stirred the mixture.
“That must be it,” Izumi agreed, feeling grateful they’d figured that out.
For a few minutes, Mitsuru stirred the butter and sugar. When he was satisfied, he showed it to Izumi. She nodded. It looked like the kind of thing that Noriko would mix up, so that was a good sign!
“Okay, now we mix in the eggs, cocoa, baking soda, salt, flour, and milk. And it says we need to add them in one at a time and stir in between,” Izumi explained as she read over it. She didn’t mention that Noriko had underlined the part about stirring in between. Izumi knew that had been added due to a previous baking attempt she’d made. Because apparently mixing everything together at once didn’t work.
“Damn. Sorry, dang,” Mitsuru corrected himself, and Izumi smiled. He was so sweet, trying to watch his language around her. Wait—did she say cute?! She meant considerate! What a considerate person he was! “There’s a lot of steps to this, huh?” he said as he sat the bowl down on the counter.
“Yeah, and this is one of the easy recipes. I don’t know how Noriko does the more difficult ones,” Izumi agreed as she added an egg to the bowl. She grimaced when she got a piece of eggshell in the mix. Was it okay to just reach her hand in and get it out?
“Sometimes easy’s better anyway, right?” Mitsuru asked as he reached his own hand into the batter to grab the piece of eggshell.
Izumi grinned. “Right.”
They added most of the next ingredients without issue until they reached the flour. The bag of flour was unopened and Mitsuru had taken charge of opening it and weighing it while Izumi had taken a turn stirring the batter.
The problem was that the bag seemed to be stubborn about opening. Izumi was about to suggest finding a pair of scissors when Mitsuru finally got the bag of flour to open, ripping down the side and sending flour all over his face and front of his shirt.
Izumi stood shocked for a second as she stared at Mitsuru, covered in the flour. Then he looked over at her before his tongue darted out and licked a bit of flour. His face instantly soured. “Damn, it doesn’t even taste good.”
Izumi couldn’t help it, as she began laughing. She’d never seen Mitsuru looking anything but cool or tough or sweet—this was something new. Maybe to someone else, it would have just been funny, but to her, it was also cute (no matter how much she wished she could deny it) and her heart was racing even as she laughed.
Mitsuru only looked at her for a second before he was smiling like he was holding back laughter. “Oi, you think me bein’ covered in this is funny?” he asked.
Izumi managed to stifle her laugher. “I’m sorry. I just never see you like this,” she admitted, her smile big as she looked at his flour-covered face.
Because she was looking at his face, she didn’t notice his hand reach into the flour bag until it was already wiping a line down her face, from her forehead down to the tip of her nose. She gasped. He was so close.
He was looking at her with a proud smile that she really liked. “Well, now we match.”
Her face was red, and it was hard to think straight. “I—I can’t believe you did that!” Her heart was pounding.
For a second, he looked like he thought he might have gone too far, but that look went away when she reached into the flour bag and threw a little more at his face, just to take the attention off of her for a moment.
He laughed, even as he tried and failed to wipe flour off of his head. “Is that how we’re playing this?” he asked as he got more flour in his hand.
“I guess it is!” she answered as she started to laugh too, her hand fighting to get into the flour bag as well.
From there, a small battle began with both of them laughing while they tossed and wiped flour on each other’s skin. Izumi couldn’t help how good she felt. Normally she wouldn’t be doing something so messy, but with Mitsuru, it was fun and light. She hadn’t ever realized just how much she liked his deep laugh, and his body being so close to her wasn’t so bad either (although she tried not to focus too much on that for fear that those thoughts would somehow show through on her face).
It wasn’t until their hands reached into the bag at the same time (oh god, was his hand touching hers?) that disaster struck. The bag got out of balance in Mitsuru’s hand and crashed over, landing in their bowl of batter.
Immediately the mood changed as both of them looked at the flour and bowl in panic.
They reached for the mess at the same time, Mitsuru holding the bowl while Izumi pulled out the flour bag. A bunch of flour had already fallen into the mixture and Izumi tried her best to scoop it out.
“Oh no! I have no idea how much got into it!” Izumi said as she did her best to fix the mess. Ugh, this was all her fault! Why had she thrown flour on him? Now she’d ruined his mother’s birthday cake! He’d probably never want to speak to her again!
“It’s okay; we can fix it!” Mitsuru said as he looked around. He might have been seeing if they had enough to remake it, but they’d spent so much time measuring ingredients that Izumi didn’t think they could bake the cake in time if they had to redo it all again.
“Maybe Noriko will know what to do,” Izumi said as she scurried over to her backpack to pull out her cellphone. She didn’t even care that she was getting flour everywhere. They were running out of time!
“Yeah, yeah, that’s a good idea. I’ll call Zuki too. He’s good at fixing shit,” Mitsuru said as he pulled his cellphone out of his own pocket and began walking out of the kitchen. “I’ll be back in a minute.” He then left the room and walked into what Izumi assumed was his bedroom.
Izumi felt like crying. He was probably leaving the room because he didn’t want her to see that he was upset! She had to fix this fast!
She quickly found Noriko’s number on her cellphone and called it. She was beyond relieved when Noriko answered quickly.
“You have to help me!” she said in place of a greeting as she cupped her hand around the receiver, hoping Mitsuru wouldn’t hear her panic.
“What’s wrong?” Noriko asked, her voice remaining calm despite its concerned tone.
“I completely ruined the cake! I dumped an entire bag of flour into the batter! And I tried to scoop it all out, but there’s still some in there, and I have no idea how much more to add or if I even need to!” Izumi explained as she looked down at the bowl on the counter. She had no idea how to gauge how much had been added.
“Izumi, calm down; it’s okay,” Noriko tried to soothe her, but Izumi couldn’t help feeling like she’d wrecked everything. “Have you added all the other ingredients into the mix?”
“Everything but the milk,” Izumi told her as she tried to wipe spilled flour away from the bowl. It was just going everywhere!
“Okay, then add in the right amount of milk to the batter, then mix it up. Once you’ve done that, send me a picture of it. I’ll let you know if I think you need to add more flour or not,” Noriko said calmly.
“That’s it?” Izumi asked, her eyes getting wide. It was really that easy? She could still save this?
“That’s it! Don’t panic, Izu. I’m sure you’re doing great.” Even if Noriko was just saying it to make her feel better, it worked. Izumi took a deep breath and relaxed. “You can do this.”
“I can do this,” Izumi repeated as she looked at the bowl determinedly. “Okay. I’ll add the milk, then send you a picture. I’ll fix this!”
She’d make sure she fixed it for Mitsuru.
Mitsuru went to his bedroom where he took out his phone and quickly called Zuki. He answered on one of the last rings, the way he usually did (‘if you answer too soon, you look desperate’).
“Hello,” Zuki’s voice rang out pleasantly.
“Zuki, I’m dying!” Mitsuru hissed into the phone.
“I think you’ve mistaken me for the hospital, hun,” Zuki said, not sounding at all like he cared about Mitsuru’s problems.
“I’m serious! We’re tryin’ ta make this cake and I completely fucked it up!” Mitsuru said as he paced back and forth in his room. “I spilled flour everywhere and we don’ know how much got in there. So now she’s trying ta fix it, and I look like a total jackass!”
“You don’t think you’re overreacting at all?” Zuki asked, sounding bored.
“No! I invited her over to help me an’ then I made a huge mess of everythi—”
Mitsuru got cut off by the sound of something breaking in the background of the call. Then there was yelling.
“Dammit, Hiro! Ya fuckin’ broke it!”
Mitsuru recognized Ryuhei’s voice immediately and would have even if he hadn’t been saying Hiroshi’s name. He scowled.
“Are you with Ryuhei and Hiroshi?” Mitsuru asked, his voice low and angry.
“Based on how loud the screaming is, I think you can guess,” Zuki said, voice devoid of the guilt that Mitsuru thought it should have.
“I can also guess that you didn’t have to do shit with your dad today,” Mitsuru said angrily from the spot in his room where he had stopped pacing. He was too mad to pace.
“You really are smarter than you get credit for,” Zuki said. Then in a farther off voice, probably directed at Ryuhei and Hiroshi, he said, “Be back with more drinks in a second!”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?! I needed your fucking help! I—”
“Oh, Mitsu, please stop with the screaming, you’re giving me a headache.”
“You deserve a fuckin’ headache! I should—”
“I did this for you, you know,” Zuki said, which stopped Mitsuru in his tracks for a second.
“How the fuck was you bailing for me?” Mitsuru finally asked once the shock had worn off.
“You like Kanai,” Zuki said easily, like it wasn’t a secret that Mitsuru guarded carefully. Mitsuru had to pretend he wasn’t blushing for his own pride. “And I knew that if I canceled last minute, she would be who you asked for help, thus giving you an afternoon alone. You’re welcome.”
Mitsuru stammered a little. “Well—well, I didn’t ask for that help! And anyway, I’m blowing it!” he reminded him.
“I swear, for such a tough guy, you’re always so dramatic,” Zuki said, making Mitsuru’s blush worsen.
“I’m not being dramatic! This… this is just important. Her and the cake,” Mitsuru said quietly.
“Then start acting like it, hun. I mean, what are you doing right now? Hiding away in your room while that poor girl slaves away?” Zuki asked, making guilt wash over him. Was that what he was doing?
“I—what am I supposed ta do? I don’t know how ta fix it,” Mitsuru said honestly.
“Then figure it out. Go out there and problem solve. Whatever you do, though, don’t leave Kanai alone to fix things. That’s a romance no-no,” Zuki said simply. “Anyway, I know you can do it, hun. I have to go help Daddy now, but I expect to hear all about how this went later,” Zuki sang out.
“Okay, thanks,” Mitsuru said before something hit him. “Stop lying about helpin’ your dad!” But Sho had already hung up the phone.
Mitsuru took a deep breath. He’d just have to find a way to fix things.
He walked out of his room and back into the kitchen where Izumi was mixing the batter again.
“Hey, sorry ‘bout that. Zuki wasn’t much help, but I know we can figure it out,” Mitsuru said, trying to sound confident even though he had no ideas. “Did Nakagawa help?” he asked as he looked at the batter in front of Izumi.
Izumi smiled at him. “She did! I just mixed in the milk, and now I’m going to send Noriko a picture. She’ll let us know if we need more flour or not,” Izumi explained before she set the bowl down on the counter and picked up her phone to snap a picture. After doing so, she looked at Mitsuru almost sheepishly. “I’m sorry I messed up the batter, but I think we can still finish on time.”
Mitsuru’s eyes widened. “You? I’m the one who screwed it up! I shouldn’ta wiped that flour on you.” He couldn’t believe she thought she’d done something wrong. “I asked ya ta help me, and then I made it harder on ya. ‘M sorry. Tell Nakagawa too.”
“You didn’t make it harder!” Izumi quickly told him, lifting up her hand like she wanted to grab his shoulder, but dropping it last second. “I just panicked for a second because I know how important this is to you. But you didn’t do anything wrong either,” she paused for a moment as she played with the fabric of her skirt. “I’m having a lot of fun with you.”
Mitsuru looked down for a second as he laughed and ran his hand through his flour-covered curls. “That flour fight was pretty fun before we shut it down, huh?”
Izumi laughed too. “It was,” she agreed before her cheeks turned a shade of pink. “I probably look like a mess right now.”
Mitsuru was quick to disagree. “Nah, ya… You pull it off. Ya look good in white. Cute.” His own cheeks darkened at the words, but it was true. She had flour on her nose and forehead still, and a splattering of it across her school uniform, but it didn’t take away from her beauty to Mitsuru. He’d think she was cute no matter what.
She looked away for a second as she let out a small laugh. She then looked back at him, but before she said anything, her phone pinged. She quickly grabbed it.
Mitsuru felt a little disappointed that he didn’t get to hear what she would have said, but he guessed they should get working again.
“Noriko says to add just a little more flour until it looks like this picture she sent back,” Izumi said before showing Mitsuru her phone.
He nodded. “I can do that since you did all the work while I talked to Zuki,” he said as he took the bowl and started slowly mixing in small amounts of flour to try and get the right consistency.
He did that in silence for about a minute before Izumi cleared her throat. He looked over at her.
“Your curls…They’re cute in white,” she said, her face red. Maybe it was the heat from the oven… Wait.
“Did we preheat the oven?” Mitsuru asked.
Izumi’s eyes went wide. “Oh no! I’ll do that!” Izumi said as she quickly ran over to the oven to set it.
Mitsuru couldn’t help laughing. “Even if this cake doesn’t turn out the best, I’m glad you’re the one who helped me make it.”
Izumi looked back at him and smiled. “Me too.”
Once the cake batter had looked correct, Mitsuru and Izumi had been able to put it in the oven and focus on cleaning up the kitchen and themselves.
Part of that process had been Mitsuru changing clothes and offering Izumi a shirt of his while they let her sailor top dry from the heavy cleaning she’d given it with a wet rag. Mitsuru hadn’t wanted her to have to walk home covered in flour or a wet top. Of course, now he wasn’t sure if he regretted it or not. Seeing Izumi walking around wearing his big t-shirt made his heart do shit he didn’t think it was supposed to do. But, fuck, she looked cute in it, and it had to be more comfortable.
Now they were just icing the cake that they had finally deemed cool enough that the icing wouldn’t melt off of (something neither of them would have thought of but that Noriko’s instructions had warned them about).
“I think that just about does it!” Izumi said as she made one final pass over the cake with a knife to smooth down the icing.
Mitsuru grinned. “It looks amazing.”
Really, it probably looked pretty typical, and the icing could have been laid on smoother, but with how much work it had taken, it was impossible to look at it as anything less than amazing.
“I’m so happy!” Izumi said, bouncing a little in excitement. “Your mom is going to love it!”
Mitsuru hoped so. He had a feeling she would be.
“Now we just need to get your shirt and get you back to the nice side of to—” Before he could finish the sentence, they heard the front door opening. Mitsuru and Izumi looked at each other. His mom shouldn’t be home for another half an hour.
“Mitsuru! Are you home? I brought takeout!” Mitsuru’s mother called through the house. It wasn’t really necessary though since a second later she arrived with the bags in the kitchen.
His mother, who shared the same eye and nose shape as him, stopped and did a double-take at the sight of Izumi. “Oh, hello,” she said, voice surprised but not unkind as Mitsuru came and took the takeout bags and placed them on the table for her.
Izumi immediately bowed. “Hello, Numai-san! I’m Kanai Izumi! It’s nice to meet you!”
“It’s nice to meet you too,” she said, looking pleasantly surprised with Izumi’s manners. She then looked at Mitsuru and smiled. “You didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend.”
Both Mitsuru and Izumi blushed at the comment. And began sputtering objections.
“No, she’s not—She wouldn’t—she came over to help me! With this,” he said before hurrying over to the cake on the counter and holding it up for his mother to see. “Happy birthday, Ma.”
His mom’s face immediately turned into a tight smile, the kind that came when someone was so touched they might cry. But she held it together. People in Mitsuru’s part of town were good at that. “You made me this for me?”
“Yeah, me and Kanai did,” Mitsuru said with a proud grin.
Mitsuru and his mom weren’t typically very affectionate, but she came over and hugged him just the same. It took a second, but Mitsuru hugged her back, tight. “Thank you,” she said softly.
“I love you,” he whispered, something he didn’t often say to her.
When they pulled apart Izumi was standing off to the side of the kitchen awkwardly. Mitsuru remembered he was supposed to be walking her home, or at least close to it. He didn’t think her parents would appreciate seeing him walk her to the front door.
“Sorry, Kanai, let’s grab your shirt and I’ll walk ya home,” he said, ready to go get it.
His mom threw her hand up. “Don’t do that,” she then turned and faced Izumi. “It’s late and you probably haven’t eaten. Stay and have dinner first. Then Mitsuru can walk you home.”
Izumi looked surprised. “I don’t want to intrude!”
“You ain’t!” Mitsuru quickly said. He never wanted her to feel like she didn’t belong somewhere he was.
“You aren’t,” his mom agreed. “I found out on the way home my husband won’t be joining us, so we have extra anyway. Eat with us.”
Izumi smiled nervously but nodded. “I’d love too then.”
"Why ain't Dad comin' anyway?" Mitsuru asked as he pulled the takeout food out of their bags. It was kind of a pointless question. His dad had probably made up some excuse so he could stay out with his drinking buddies.
Mitsuru's mom rolled her eyes. "He said the train he was supposed to be on hit 'some gorilla looking motherfucker' and got delayed."
"That's a new one," Mitsuru said as he looked apologetically other at Izumi.
"I checked the news. I guess the train did hit some junior high kid," his mom relented.
"That's awful," Izumi said, seeming concerned over the idea of someone their age dying.
"Yeah," Mitsuru agreed, although he wasn't thinking about that. "Sorry 'bout Dad."
Mitsuru's mom smiled. "It's okay. I think we have a pretty good group here without him."
Mitsuru smiled back before looking over at Izumi, who was smiling back at him. "Yeah, we do."
Dinner with Izumi and his mom turned out to be great. Mitsuru was worried once they began talking that maybe it’d be weird. Mitsuru’s mom made the connection pretty quickly of who Izumi’s father was, but she didn’t say much about it. He was relieved. A part of Mitsuru never stopped thinking about how different their worlds were, but his mom didn’t draw attention to that.
Instead, they had a nice dinner, followed by a cake that Mitsuru thought was pretty fucking perfect.
Finally, though, it was time for Izumi to go. Mitsuru handed her her top and let her use the bathroom to change in.
As she did that, his mother came over to him. “She’s a good girl.”
“Kanai’s the best,” Mitsuru told her honestly.
She smiled at him, although it was almost sad. “You’re good too. Don’t ever forget that,” she said before running a hand over his curls.
Mitsuru didn’t have time to analyze the advice though before Kanai appeared back in the room, back in her own shirt. She still had his in her hand.
“Um, I can take this and wash it for you if you want?” Izumi offered as she messed with the fabric.
“Oh, um, yeah, that makes sense,” Mitsuru said, despite the fact that it didn’t. A part of him just liked the idea of her having it.
She nodded before shoving the shirt into her backpack. She then stood up and looked at his mother again. “It was really nice meeting you today and getting to spend your birthday with you. Thank you so much for dinner!”
“Of course. You’re welcome over any time,” she said before sending the two of them on their way.
The two of them walked home in peaceful silence. Izumi didn’t think the day could have gone much better. Despite some hiccups, she’d had a great afternoon with him and his mother. It was hard not to smile the whole walk home.
“I really liked getting to meet your mom,” Izumi told him as they neared her house.
“’M glad. I think she liked ya too,” Mitsuru said, his walk slow. It seemed like they were both walking a little slower than usual. “Must have been that killer cake you made.”
“We made,” Izumi corrected him with a smile. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“I couldn’t have done it without ya either,” he told her. “We make a damn good team.”
“We really do,” she agreed. From school projects to baking, it really seemed like they could do anything together, even the things they weren’t good at.
They finally reached the street before hers and stopped. “I should let ya go the rest of the way on your own. Don’t want your parents ta see ya with a street punk.”
Izumi shook her head. “You aren’t a street punk,” she said before smiling at him nervously. “Maybe sometime you can meet my parents too.”
He looked surprised but smiled at her anyway. “Yeah, maybe we can bake a cake for one of those fancy birthday party’s.”
“Maybe,” Izumi laughed. She then took a deep breath as she remembered the shirt in her backpack. “I’ll get your shirt back to you soon,” she said despite not knowing when she’d get a chance to wash it. She’d never even done her own laundry… Why had she suggested it? Maybe because some super creepy part of her had wanted to keep wearing it…
Mitsuru shrugged. “If ya want to,” Mitsuru said before running his hand through his hair. “Or ya can just keep it if ya want. I mean, it looked better on you. Super badass in a cute way.”
Izumi could feel her cheeks burning. Did he mean that?! Did she really look good in it? Was he really okay with her keeping it? Did that mean she wasn’t creepy for wanting to keep it?
“Maybe I’ll just keep it then. Since—Since that’s easier anyway!” Izumi said, trying to sound casual and not like she’d just scored a shirt from the boy that she maybe sort of thought was the most incredible boy on Earth.
“Yeah! Way easier! I don’t want ya ta have ta worry about it anyway!” Mitsuru said before smiling softly at her. “I’ll see ya at school then.”
“Yeah, see you then,” Izumi said before doing a weird wave.
But even her weird wave couldn’t knock the grin off her face. Nothing could.