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Akito's love of sweets had always been something that Toya found charming about him. From the cute face he couldn't help making as he took a bite of pancakes to the shyness he held over his own awareness toward that side of himself, that part of Akito had successfully endeared Toya through and through.
That was why it made him so happy to see Akito enjoying the cupcakes he had made for White Day. The moment his partner took a bite, that familiar glimmer in his eyes at the sensation of something sweet gliding across his taste buds swirled through his face instantly. Akito played it nonchalant, of course, but his expressions spoke far louder than anything he could've said -- resulting in a grin filled with such delight that Akito couldn't bear to look him in the eye for very long before he was rendered a blushing mess.
That was when Toya solidified his will -- "I'll become somebody who can successfully gift Akito the most delicious sweets possible...! If I can't, then I've failed as his partner!"
...A tad dramatic, of course, but it felt wrong to treat any matter involving Akito as anything less than life or death. That was his partner, after all -- his rock, his best friend, the love of his life on every level. It was for that reason that his determination to meet Akito's desires remained deeply, stubbornly rooted, as if sewn into the very fabric of his heart.
In other words, he really wanted to make something that would satisfy Akito's sweet tooth well enough to spawn that cute smile again.
"I think I've got everything..." Toya thought to himself when the time came to put his experience with those cupcakes to the test. He'd managed to perfect that recipe with a little bit of help, so he didn't see why attempting to make a full-sized cake would be any different. It was essentially just pouring the exact same batter into a larger pan, wasn't it? He couldn't imagine having any trouble with it so long as he stuck to his guns.
"Toya!" came the computerized voice of a certain pigtailed virtual singer, popping up in holographic form just as the boy in question set his phone face-up on the counter.
"Ah. Hello there, Miku. You're just in time." Toya hummed with an ever-sweet smile, completely ignorant to the fact that he was about to invite the tasmanian devil into the henhouse. "MEIKO-san was kind enough to lend me the recipe for her vanilla cake, so I was going to try my hand at making it. Would you like to help me?"
"That's exactly what I'm here for! I overheard MEIKO and KAITO talking about it." Miku hummed right back, ever the reliable helper in a pinch. "Something about how 'calamity's going to strike that kitchen'...?"
"Huh. How strange... They must be having difficulties cleaning up the cafe." Toya concluded far too innocently, passing the sole active brain cell between them to Miku for a moment so she could give an equally clueless nod.
"...Anyway, we should get started!" Miku promptly moved on, bumping her holographic fist against Toya's singular lowered knuckle with her usual chill yet enthusiastic demeanor.
"I agree." said Toya with a resounding nod, unfolding the note MEIKO had made for his baking leisure as he spoke. "I've procured enough fresh ingredients to ensure our batter will be the highest quality possible, and I'd like it to remain that way."
Thus began what was arguably the worst baking session to curse the Aoyagi family's kitchen.
"First it says to sift together 2 cups of flour with 2 1/2 cups of baking powder and some salt..." Miku instructed with an unfortunate confidence, acting as Toya's eyes while he was busy gathering up all the tools he needed.
"2 1/2 cups...? That seems like a lot..." Toya only seemed to question the absurdity for but a split moment, all concern sliding off his face with a near-instant shrug. "Oh well. MEIKO-san surely knows what she's talking about. It must be because we're using a round pan instead of a cupcake tin this time."
"That sounds right!" agreed the little teal-haired devil that wasn't quite on his shoulder, watching as he dumped the powder through his sieve without so much as a second thought.
It was absolutely not right.
"Once the milk-butter mixture is whipped..." Miku continued, ignorant to the wanton horrors she was spreading. "...beat in the flour mixture."
"Yes, ma'am." Toya replied diligently within an instant, grabbing the bowl in which he'd combined his dry ingredients and dumping all of it into the wet mixture at once.
"...slowly, over 45 seconds."
"...Oh. It's probably fine, right?"
"Yeah...!"
It was not fine.
After a thousand and one additional mishaps, and a couple extra ingredients that were thrown in at Miku's insistence, which Toya agreed to for the sake of crafting something truly special for the boy he loved most... Finally, their cake was complete. It was time to put the plan into action.
"Oi, Toya. You ready for lunch?" Akito had popped into Toya's classroom to ask the following afternoon, just as the latter was counting on. It was time to thoroughly woo Akito with a sweet treat that would leave him as ecstatic as he would be speechless...!
"Yes, Akito. I'm more than ready." nodded Toya with the determination of a thousand marines, swiftly grabbing the box containing his secret weapon and rushing to join his now-puzzled partner.
The conversation started as always. Akito complained about something he'd been quietly butting heads with Shiraishi about during class, Toya would ponder their most recent lesson aloud, and then the topic drifted to that of events, composition and practice -- all perfectly ordinary topics that eased Akito into a relaxed mood, offering Toya the perfect window of opportunity on a silver platter.
"Akito..." Toya began, causing the boy in question to freeze up in the middle of taking a particularly huge bite out of the sandwich he wasted no time in his attempts to completely devour. "I brought in something special for you today. Would you like it?"
Of course, Toya didn't fail to catch the glimmer that instantly spawned in Akito's eye. The food hanging from his lips like a dog given a treat sort of dampened the taller's view of his partner's accompanying smile, but it warmed Toya's heart to know that the tiniest prospect of his kindness could brighten Akito's flames in return. In half an instant, the ginger returned his slightly dented sandwich to its place atop the bag he'd pulled it from, shoving it out from his line of sight in favor of giving Toya his undivided attention.
"Yeah, course I want it." said Akito as he practically snatched the foreign box in Toya's hands, the very idea that he'd reject a gift from his partner being one of utmost ridiculousness to him. "Wish you would've told me so I could repay the favor, though..."
"You know you don't need to worry about that, Akito." Toya chuckled off the invitation, as endearing as Akito's sense of honesty was. "I wasn't expecting anything in return when I made this for you. It's a gift, for being such an amazing partner."
"That's..." Akito really couldn't be blamed for the way he instantly turned bright red, even if he tried to hide it behind a flustered scowl. "C'mon, don't gimme that crap... Tokens are on me next time we go to the arcade, got it?"
"Heh. Alright, Akito."
With that out of the way, Akito then sunk his paws into the container before him. There was a certain delicacy in his impatient clawing open of the package, building Toya's anticipation and determination in equal measure until the moment his abomin- creation was revealed.
"Huh...?" was Akito's instantaneous reaction, an almost sinister aura gusting through him as he was made to stare down the indescribable substance. Whatever Toya had just given him, something had clearly gone terribly wrong during the creation process -- Aside from the bright orange color giving off the probably correct impression of a poison dart frog, it was scattered with an abundance of craters which struggled to hold up the sagging, caved-in center... It literally looked like it was breathing.
"It's only one piece, but Miku and I worked together to recreate MEIKO-san's vanilla cake recipe..." Toya promptly explained, and Akito would've thought it was a prank for him to do so if it were coming from literally anyone else. "It didn't turn out exact, but I poured my heart into this. I really hope you like it, Akito."
Akito was so lucky that he'd cultivated a precise talent for masking his emotions. There was no way he could disappoint Toya by unchaining the ball of despair that had welled up in the back of his throat after hearing that... He had no choice -- For Toya's sake, he'd gulp down every last drop of poison before him.
Again, perhaps that was a bit dramatic, but Akito had always been similar to Toya in that he also treated all matters involving his partner with a deathly seriousness. With those thoughts in his mind and a fork white-knuckle gripped in his hand, Akito promptly stabbed off a piece of cake and barreled it past his waiting lips.
The taste was... a unique kind of abysmal, to put it nicely. The forefront flavor was most definitely not vanilla, instead hitting Akito's tongue with an immediate chemically bitter sensation that had him fighting for his life to suppress what probably would've been the most powerful cringe of his life. The texture was far from any better -- He almost could've tricked himself into thinking the dense mouthfeel was reminiscent of a pound cake, if only he didn't bite down to find a horribly gummy texture which held secret pockets of a sticky, underbaked substance that spurted across the roof of his mouth and dripped back down his throat torturously... Honestly, he had to wonder if the batter had entirely curdled during the mixing process but they just used it anyway, feeling like he was swallowing each individual ingredient one by one rather than a complete creation.
"How is it?" Toya asked innocently, the look in his eye chock full of pride in his work as he watched Akito struggle to choke down the first bite. He really didn't want to lie to Toya, but undermining his self esteem with a truthful response seemed worse, so...
"...It's amazing! Might be the best cake I've ever tasted, man." Akito lied blatantly. He ended up immediately putting on a face, despite the fact that it was actively losing color by the moment.
"Oh... It was that bad, wasn't it?"
Ah... Akito had nearly forgotten. As good as he was at putting up a front, Toya was just as flawless at peering straight through it.
"Yeah... Kinda..." Akito sighed in defeat, setting down the container which held the source of Toya's growing frown with one hand and placing a comforting pat to his partner's back with the other. "You don't have to beat yourself up over it though, dude. You ended up making some pretty good cupcakes before, right? Just keep at it and it'll work out."
Toya couldn't help sighing in return. Deep down, he knew that Akito was right -- the patissier's path had its pitfalls, but it would be boring if everything was easy. With time, care and sufficient determination, he would use his experience surpassing that legend together to bake the ultimate sweets for Akito, no matter how long it took...!
"Yes, you're completely right." Toya huffed, the sudden switch from his dejected gloom to that of fiery determination giving Akito whiplash. "Akito, I swear I'll keep working at it until my sweets can make you smile!"
"That's seriously what this is about...?" Akito laughed fondly, sliding his hand up in order to wrap around Toya's shoulder and pull him close enough to ruffle up his hair. "Well, if you're that determined, then I guess I've got no choice but to wait, then."
If Toya's will was solid before, then it bore the hardness of titanium by now. Akito's kindness had always been a significant motivator for him in most regards, his willingness to be patient with Toya and take everything at his pace proof enough that he deserved nothing but the best -- that included the cute, sweets-loving side of Akito which he'd loved from day one and still adored endlessly years later.
He wanted so badly to make Akito happy -- for his songs to light a fire underneath him, for his very company to be a safe place in which he could allow himself to love and be loved, for his kiss to be something he craved... all things he had been able to grasp just by staying with Akito, yet he still wanted to give him more. That side of him which desired nothing more than to know that Akito felt happy and satisfied by his hand... It would never cease to exist, not even when the day hopefully came that he could place a slice of cake in front of Akito without either of them needing to worry about its radioactivity.
Toya loved Akito. And he'd put every atom of his being into making sure that he knew that.
"...So what should we do with this cake?"
"Kill it with fire. And ban Miku from your kitchen, too."