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Begin!
~Normal POV
It was lunchtime at Yasogami. Rise was walking through the hallways while carrying two small boxes. One was a homemade lunch from her grandma, and the other was a pastry box. She had spent all afternoon yesterday making a special treat for her boyfriend Yu.
Since he was supposed to leave town soon, they had to spend as much time together as possible making memories. She planned to give him this present for lunch. Hopefully he’d like it. She carefully opened the door to the rooftop and stepped outside.
“Hey-! Oh.” Rise looked around and saw she was the first one here today. The gang usually ate lunch together up here. It was more comfortable than eating in the cafeteria. “Guess I’m early.”
She went to sit down on one of the vents, set aside her present, and opened her own lunch to start eating. A short time later, the door opened and Naoto walked out.
Rise smiled. “Hey, Naoto!”
“Hello, Rise.” Naoto took a seat beside her.
“Where is everyone?”
“Kanji wanted to stop at the sewing club room to pick something up, he’ll join us soon. I didn’t pass our senpais’ class on the way up, so I’m not sure what’s keeping them.”
“That bitchy teacher of theirs probably.” Rise commented, taking a bite of her tofu.
“Heh, perhaps.” Naoto shrugged and opened up her lunch.
The two ate quietly while waiting. Naoto glanced down and finally noticed the pastry box.
“Why do you have two lunches?”
“Oh, it’s not that.” Rise replied, excitedly. “It’s a treat for Yu-senpai! I made it myself!”
Naoto gave her a curious look.
“What- it’s normal to bake treats for your significant other. Don’t tell me you haven’t tried baking stuff for Kanji.” Rise said, smirking playfully.
Naoto turned a little red. “Ah- um- Ok, that’s true… A-Anyway, may I see it?”
Rise lifted the lid open and presented her concoction. Naoto felt uneasy just looking at it. It was nothing more than an amorphous dark brown blob, with some light brown glaze. Somehow it was completely unidentifiable, and it smelled like a very strong hot sauce. She could barely detect scents of other ingredients that made her stomach churn with discomfort, but the hot sauce was overpowering everything.
“Doesn’t it look good?” Rise asked, happily.
“Um, honestly? I have no idea what it is…”
Rise frowned a bit. “It’s a chocolate lava cupcake.”
“...Are you sure? It looks more like sludge.”
“Ok it didn’t shape too well, but that’s because I added a little flair to it.” Rise explained, “Ya know, for originality.”
“You- what?”
“I substituted ghost pepper sauce for the chocolate lava inside. And I added some more ingredients to give it complex flavors-”
Naoto stared at her in utter disbelief, unable to speak as she kept going.
“It has chopped onions, pickles, and mayonnaise mixed in, and caramel on top for a sweet glaze. I was gonna add a cherry too, but we didn’t have any. I’d tell you more, but I don’t wanna spoil everything.”
When she was finished, Rise looked over at her friend and waited for her opinion.
“Rise…”
“Yeah?”
“Throw it off the roof.” Naoto said, bluntly with her famous grim expression.
“What?! How do you know it’s that bad if you didn’t even try it?”
“First of all, if anything you just said is true, then eating that would make me violently ill from the mayonnaise alone.” Naoto explained. “Secondly, do you remember what happened after Valentine’s Day?”
Rise turned a little pale at the thought.
“You spent the day with Yu-senpai, and then not a day later, he told us he had to see a doctor about stomach pains?”
“Um…”
“You don’t think those two things could possibly be related?” Naoto finished, frowning at her.
Rise frowned. She had given Yu homemade chocolate with durian and habanero peppers mixed in for their Valentines date. He ate it (reluctantly), but he did have an upset stomach afterwards…
“...It’s that bad, huh?” She asked, sadly.
“The smell alone is making me lose my appetite, yes.”
Rise sighed in defeat. She picked up the box and swiftly tossed it over the fence.
Naoto blinked in shock. “Ok, I didn’t mean that quite literally… I hope that didn’t hit anyone on the way down.”
But Rise wasn’t listening. “I just wanted to make a special treat for senpai… But whenever I try cooking or baking, it doesn’t exactly meet expectations.”
Naoto looked at her with concern. Maybe she was a little harsh, but it really did sound awful. Someone had to tell her, right? How else was she going to improve?
Then she got an idea.
“Rise?” She asked, getting her attention again. “Would you like me to teach you to bake?”
Rise gasped, and smiled widely. “You’d do that for me?!”
“Sure. I’ve been practicing myself to make things for Kanji.” Naoto admitted sheepishly. “He’s a much better chef than me, but I know enough to make something tasty. It wouldn’t be so bad to practice together. I can help you bake some cupcakes- Gah!”
She was interrupted by Rise giving her an unusually strong hug.
“Thank you, Naoto! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Naoto groaned. “I- I don’t remember giving you permission to hug me.”
“Oops, sorry!” Rise let go.
Naoto breathed out in relief, nursing her aching ribs. “How the hell are you so strong?”
Rise shrugged. “No idea… Ya know, that probably wouldn’t happen if you didn’t-”
“Finish that sentence, and I won’t help you.”
Rise quickly closed her mouth. She knew her friend wasn’t the type to bluff on a promise like that.
“That’s what I thought. Now, if you’re free after school, we can go to Junes and buy ingredients.”
“Sure, and I’ll pay for my own half to make it easier for you.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“And… can we keep it a secret from senpai?” Rise asked, quietly. “I really do wanna surprise him.”
Naoto smiled. “Of course.”
Rise grinned and the two went back to eating their food right as everyone else arrived at last.
“I really hope I don’t regret this.” Naoto thought.
~...
After school, the two girls went shopping at Junes for supplies to make chocolate cupcakes. The plan was for each of them to make a small batch of cupcakes to share with their boyfriends.
“It’s gonna be tough making two batches…” Rise commented.
“That’s why we’re doing it at my house. My kitchen is much larger.” Naoto said, checking her list. “I have this recipe memorized but it’s good to have a reference, just in case.”
She started listing off what they needed. Rise grabbed the items as they went along.
“Wait, shouldn’t we get sprinkles too?” Rise asked.
“I wasn’t going to since I’m not a fan of them, but you can get some for your batch.”
“What are you two up to?”
They looked and saw Yosuke approach them curiously. He was dressed for his shift today.
“We’re gonna make cupcakes!” Rise answered excitedly.
Yosuke turned to Naoto. “No seriously, what are you up to?”
“She’s not lying.” Naoto answered, “I promised I’d teach her.”
Rise ran off down the aisle to look for chocolate sprinkles.
“You really wanna do that? Have you ever tried Rise’s cooking?”
“She told me she put mayonnaise and ghost pepper sauce in chocolate. If I had tried it, I wouldn’t be here talking to you right now.”
Yosuke winced loudly. “Got it. I don’t need to hear any more… Well, it’s not as bad sounding as Mystery Food X, but it’d still knock you out cold.”
“Hey, Naoto? Does cinnamon go well with chocolate?” Rise asked, jogging back over to her and holding a small bottle.
“Sometimes, but it’s not part of this recipe.” Naoto looked down at the object in her hand. “Also, that’s cumin.”
Rise looked at it again. “Oh, oops!” She went to put it back.
Yosuke looked down at Naoto again. “Just saying, stomach medicine is downstairs on floor two.”
Naoto pointed at the bottle already sitting in their shopping cart. “I’m way ahead of you.” (It was just a precaution, in case Rise convinced her to taste test anything first.)
~...
Once their shopping trip was finished, they went back to Naoto’s house. She had a very spacious kitchen with plenty of everything they needed for their task. Turns out, her grandpa and Yakushiji were out at work right now, so they had the house to themselves.
At first, everything went somewhat smoothly. Rise wasn’t exactly a patient person in general, but she was trying. It helped that Naoto was trying to be a patient teacher.
“Alright, now pour half of this bowl into the dry ingredients.”
“Got it!”
“Then mix it thoroughly like this.”
“Uh huh…”
“And then yours should look the same as mi- what the hell?!” Naoto looked over at Rise’s bowl in shock.
The mixture inside had turned purple.
“I honestly don’t know what happened there…” Rise said, sheepishly.
“I think you might be cursed… and I don’t even believe in curses.”
Naoto went to her side of the counter and looked over the ingredients in front of her. “You grabbed onion powder and garlic powder instead of the baking powder and baking soda I told you to put in.”
“How do you know that? And those two things aren’t so bad on other foods!”
“But they don’t belong in baking confections. And I can see that they’re both open, even though I left the proper ingredients right next to you.”
“Well- why don’t you try it and see instead?”
“I won’t try anything you make unless you follow instructions.” Naoto replied, bluntly. “Now, wash those bowls and try again.”
Rise sighed. “Ok, mom…”
“If that’s what you’re going to call me, then I’ll tell you to stop slouching,” Naoto replied.
Rise gave her a confused look. “Huh?”
“Nothing, just to get to work.” Naoto said, turning her attention back to her own mixing bowl.
Rise went to wash the first bowl in the sink. “I don’t see why you’re so against experimenting. I thought the whole point of cooking was to try finding new flavors that go well together.”
“Look, there’s a time and a place for ‘experimenting’ with food. Specifically, if you want to try something yourself, then sure, go nuts. But when making a dish for someone else, they’re expecting it to taste like what it should. That’s why you follow the recipe.”
“Well… I guess that’s a good point…”
~...
“How on earth did you make it come out like that?!”
Rise stared at the purple/chocolate mush in the cupcake pan. Somehow, it didn’t cook hardly at all while in the oven. Meanwhile, Naoto’s had come out perfectly over an hour ago, and were already set aside to cool down.
“Maybe I didn’t put enough batter in.”
“The last batch you put too much in. Are you sure you were listening to me?”
“Uh… I may have tuned you out a little bit…”
Naoto pinched her nose in frustration. “Let’s try again…”
“Ok, but this time, can I add-”
Naoto suddenly hit her with water from a small water gun.
“No.”
“You didn’t even hear what I was gonna say! And- did you have that with you this whole time?!”
“I brought it while your third batch was in the oven because I had a feeling I might need it to deter you from asking to add something to the recipe…”
It continued like this for the rest of the afternoon, well into the evening. After the fifth attempt failed, Naoto was worried they’d run out of ingredients before they could finish. Somehow they managed not to.
Currently, the two girls were waiting at the kitchen table while the seventh batch was in the oven. It was dark out and they were both exhausted. Rise’s apron was covered in flour and a bit wet from getting shot at with the water gun every time she messed up or asked a dumb question. And she had to be the one to taste things along the way, so her stomach wasn’t feeling too good either. She could see why Naoto was being so strict with her.
“Ugh… I can’t take much more of this.” Rise whined.
“You’re telling me, I could have hung out with Kanji, or played Mass Effect 3 today…” Naoto replied, leaning back in her chair.
“What’s that?”
She waved her hand dismissively. “Just a new game I got a couple days ago. You wouldn’t like it, it’s a shooter.”
“Ah… How much time is left?”
Naoto lazily checked the oven timer. “About 2 minutes.”
“If this batch doesn’t come out right, let’s just give up. It’s getting late and I feel bad making you do this all day with me.”
“It’s alright. Learning to cook is difficult. I didn’t go into this expecting for you to land it on the first try.” Naoto gave her a reassuring smile. “Besides, what are friends for?”
Rise smiled again. “Aww, thanks!”
Naoto thought about something for a moment. “Tell you what… if this batch works out, then I promise to… go shopping with you sometime.”
“REALLY?!”
“Ow…”
“Oh, sorry- I mean, really?” Rise asked eagerly.
“Yes, to make up for having to shoot you with this so many times.” Naoto said, gesturing to her water gun. “That doesn’t mean I’ll end up buying anything, but-”
“That’s ok! It’ll be fun! I’ll show you all my favorite stores!”
Naoto had a feeling she might regret making this promise, but before she could think of a back up idea, the timer buzzed.
She got up and went to take the cupcakes out of the oven. They looked… normal. Exactly like they were supposed to this time.
“Well? How’d I do?” Rise asked nervously.
“They look right,” Naoto replied, as she checked the temperature. “And they’re cooked all the way through.”
“So… I did it?”
“We’d have to wait for them to cool down before we can try one, but as far as I can tell, yes, you did it.”
Rise practically squealed with joy. It only took seven tries and almost 6 hours but she did something she previously thought impossible. She gave Naoto another enthusiastic thank you hug.
“Now I can give these to senpai!”
“We still need to put icing on. But I’ll help with that since it’s late and it’ll take a while longer to cool down first.”
“Oh right, I didn’t think of that part…” Rise grinned, “But you were serious about going shopping with me, right?”
“Yes, I was. We’ll pick a day to do that soon enough. For now, you should head home for the night. I’m sure your grandma is worried.”
“Yeah, I am pretty tired. I’ll come by tomorrow to pick these up.”
“Ok, but I will be spending the afternoon with Kanji, so-”
“I won’t interrupt.” Rise said, winking playfully. “I’ll be gone before he even gets here. Then you two can have your ‘alone time.’”
Naoto blushed at the implication, but didn’t reply.
Rise then pulled out her phone and texted Yu saying she wanted to come over tomorrow for a “special surprise.”
~...
The next evening, Rise came over to visit Yu’s house to bring him the cupcakes. She’d already picked them up from Naoto, and packaged them nicely in a box. She was very eager to show them off. The two were sitting in the living room with Nanako. She figured since it turned out so good, it’d be ok to share them with her too.
“So what was it you wanted to show me?” Yu asked.
Rise set the box on the table. “I brought you some cupcakes!”
Yu went a bit pale, but Nanako perked up excitedly.
“Cupcakes!?”
“Yep, and we can share them together!”
“Yay!”
“Uh, Rise-” Yu spoke up.
“Senpai, please, I promise they’re good this time!” Rise interrupted.
Yu looked between her and the cupcakes with a healthy bit of concern. “Well…”
“I’m serious, I got better!”
Rise pouted at him with puppy eyes. Sadly, when it came from her, Yu just couldn’t resist that look.
“Alright, I’ll try one.”
This made Rise smile again. Yu picked up a cupcake and inspected it. It smelled good. And it looked and felt totally normal. With a generous glob of icing on top and chocolate sprinkles.
He took a small bite.
Rise watched while fidgeting with her hands nervously. She really hoped these were as good as Naoto said, or she was gonna be so disappointed.
“H-How is it?”
“It’s delicious!”
“Really?!”
Yu finished the rest of the cupcake in a couple bites. “Yes, I love them.”
“Can I have one now?” Nanako asked.
“Oh, sure!”
Nanako eagerly took one and bit into it. “Mmm, they’re yummy!”
Yu put his arm around Rise and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Are you sure you didn’t just buy these somewhere?” He whispered. “You can be honest with me.”
“No, I really made them… but…”
He raised a brow at her. “But what?”
“I… had some help. Naoto taught me.” Rise admitted quietly.
“What?”
“She wanted to help me improve my baking, so we made these together. She watched me like a hawk the whole time! It was like taking a final exam with the teacher staring over your shoulder so you don’t cheat.”
Yu was stunned to hear this. He knew Naoto could cook, but he hadn’t expected she’d give out lessons.
“We actually made two batches. Or rather she made one batch, it took me seven tries before I got mine right. I spent more time washing the stuff I used to make them than actually baking. She said she was gonna have hers with Kanji tonight at her house-”
“Excuse me, I’ll be right back.”
Yu stood up and quickly ran out the door.
“Wha- senpai!?”
“Big bro, where are you going!?”
~...
Naoto was sitting comfortably with Kanji on her couch. The two were snuggled up to each other watching Columbo. Well, watching and taking occasional breaks for kisses. (Naoto made sure to pause the episode while they were “distracted.”) This was one such break.
“Ya know, at this rate, we won’t finish the episode before you have to go home…”
“Mm, it’s fine, babe, I don’t have to go anywhere. Ma knows where I am.” Kanji said, playfully, giving her another kiss.
“Hehe… well ok then…”
Naoto climbed onto his lap, kissing him back happily. The kiss started to get a little heated. She ran her hand through his hair, and his hand went under her shirt a tiny bit to feel her skin. They were enjoying their little make out-
That is until the door bell rang.
Kanji and Naoto pulled apart at the noise.
Naoto looked at her watch. “Who could that be at this hour?”
“Eh, it’s probably nothing important. Just ignore it.”
She shrugged and decided he was probably right. He gently pulled her back in for more kisses.
And then the door bell rang a second time.
Naoto frowned. “I’ll be right back…”
“This had better be important.” She thought, grumpily.
She got up and went to answer the door. What she didn’t expect to see was Yu standing there. Looking very out of breath and tired with his hands on his knees. He looked like he just ran a week’s worth of laps.
“Senpai?” Naoto asked. “What on earth are you-?”
“Thank you.” Yu said, quickly.
“Huh?”
He took another deep breath. “I said thank you. Whatever you did to get through to Rise, it worked. So thank you. Seriously. You saved my life.” He finished with a tired smile.
“Oh, that? Well, you’re welcome.” Naoto replied, smiling.
“Sorry for bothering you two, I just really needed to thank you in person.”
“Ah, I understand-” Naoto looked past him and couldn’t help noticing something odd.
He didn’t have his scooter with him or his helmet.
“W-Wait, did you run all the way to my house? At night?”
“Yes. And I gotta get back before my uncle gets home. See ya!”
Yu took off down the road in a dead sprint.
Naoto shook her head in disbelief and shut the door. She went back to sit with Kanji.
“What was that about?”
“Nothing important.” Naoto said smiling, “Now… where were we?” Kanji smiled and pulled her back into his lap.
~...
“You ran all the way to Naoto’s house and back in record time just to thank her for teaching me how to make cupcakes?!” Rise asked.
Yu was lying on the couch, out of breath with his head on her lap. “Y-Yeah… Ow…” His legs were sore as hell now, but he had a smile on his face.
Rise couldn’t believe he went to so much trouble, and even nearly hurt himself just for that. She couldn’t help laughing a bit. At least all those hours spent baking were worth it in the end to see her senpai happy.
~The End!