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Kasuga opens the door of her apartment to see Nomoto standing behind it, looking apologetic as she holds out a glass container in her arms.
“I’m sorry to barge in on you like this!” she says, cheeks flushed and head bowed. Kasuga can’t help cracking a smile at that, she’s adorable when she’s bashful. “But I saw this on sale at the supermarket and before I knew it, I was in the checkout aisle!”
Kasuga leans down to inspect the label of the offered spice jar. Pumpkin pie spice, it reads, going across the paper in big block letters and Kasuga tips her head.
“I don’t think I’ve ever used that before.”
“Really?” Nomoto asks, eyes wide. “Pumpkin spice is the perfect flavor for fall. When the weather outside is cold and the wind is biting at your skin, a good pumpkin spice drink can really warm you right up!”
Nomoto’s so expressive as she talks, clutching her hands tight to her chest and Kasuga smiles.
“I’ll have to take your word for it, Nomoto-san.”
“Well,” Nomoto starts, glancing up at her. “I was thinking we could try making pumpkin spice muffins together? If you’re free? I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“You never impose,” Kasuga says and eyes the nearly-bursting grocery bag on Nomoto’s arm. The plastic looks like it’s about to burst from the combined weight. “And I’d love to.”
Nomoto grins at her, ear-to-ear, and crosses the threshold.
The actual baking goes rather smoothly. Kasuga’s expertise mostly resides in the cooking department–concerned more with feeding herself than making desserts–but Nomoto’s a seasoned expert. She pops back into her apartment to dig out her hand mixer from the cabinet and deftly pours the mixed batter into the muffin tray.
“Careful, it’s hot!” Nomoto says from over her shoulder as Kasuga opens the oven door. It’s a redundant reminder when the wave of heat rolls out from the open oven but Kasuga appreciates the warning all the same. She sets the tray onto the stovetop with her oven mitts and they let it cool for a few minutes before shimmying out a muffin each.
Nomoto stares at her blatantly over the top of her muffin and Kasuga smiles as she digs in, gobbling up half of it in one go.
“Well,” Nomoto says, eyes bright. Kasuga nearly has to take a step back from the force of her gaze. “What do you think?”
“It’s pretty good,” Kasuga says, chewing. “It’s sweet but there’s a little bit of a spicy kick to it, which is nice. Not what I’d usually expect from a dessert but good.”
“Right?” Nomoto says. “Let’s drop some off for Nagumo-san when she’s back from work.”
“That’s a good idea.” Kasuga polishes off her muffin and starts reaching for another at the same moment that Nomoto does. Their hands bump and they both jerk back half-a-foot, cheeks flushed.
“Sorry,” Nomoto says, staring at the floor. “You go first.”
“No, that was my bad,” Kasuga says and picks out a muffin for each of them. Nomoto bites into hers and sighs happily.
“It really is the perfect flavor for fall, right?” she asks pleasantly.
For Kasuga, fall has always been a difficult season. Summer was always good because the nice weather meant she could escape the house, dragging herself from park to park as the sun stretched high into the sky. But the cold chill of fall meant there was nowhere to go between school and her family’s house, corralled into her room and picked over viciously by family members until there was nothing left.
But sitting in her apartment next to Nomoto, watching the leaves rustle by outside the window in a red-and-orange spiral with the taste of pumpkin spice still heavy on her tongue, she thinks that maybe it’s time to turn a new leaf. Fall is the season of change, after all.
“Yeah,” she says, watching Nomoto pick the crumbs off her wrapper with a smile. “I think I know what you mean.”