This little story is dedicated to Watanuki with all my heart. It's officially April 1st, 2015, so happy birthday Watanuki! (I even drew the cover art!)

One of Japan's most beautiful seasons was starting to blossom throughout Tokyo. Pink petals drifted in the cool breeze, as a responsible boy walked to work on his birthday. It was April first.

As the boy turned the corner of his employer's tall, dark wooden fence, he was greeted with overwhelming enthusiasm. Yûko, the boy's employer, stood outside with her two servants, Maru and Moro. They had prepared for the boy's birthday by planning to surprise him with a series of party poppers, instead of sending him directly to work.

"Surprise!" Everyone yelled, as the boy started down the stone walkway. Confetti rained all over him.

"Happy birthday, Watanuki," said Yûko, smiling.

"Thank you," her part-time worker replied.

Yûko told Watanuki to wait outside. A moment later, she returned with a large shopping bag.

"Are we going shopping?" The boy asked.

Yûko chuckled to herself. "You're going shopping, Watanuki. We have to celebrate your birthday, so a home-cooked meal is in order."

"I had a feeling you'd say that," the boy grumbled. "Why do I have to cook my own birthday dinner?"

"The fact that it's your birthday doesn't excuse you from work. Besides, you're such an amazing cook!"

Watanuki reluctantly took the shopping bag, and headed into town. While he was walking, Mokona nearly scared him half to death.

"Hello!" Mokona exclaimed, peeking out from the shopping bag.

Watanuki jumped. "Mokona! What are you doing in there?" The boy asked, startled.

"The mistress thought you'd need someone to remind you to buy saké."

"How could I forget the saké?" Watanuki retorted, sarcastically.

While the boy was out shopping, Yûko was frantically flipping through the pages of an old cookbook.

"I feel bad making Watanuki make his own birthday dinner, but the truth is…I don't know how to cook!" Yûko said to herself, exasperatedly.

She was going to attempt baking a birthday cake. After making sure she had all of the ingredients, Yûko put on one of Watanuki's aprons and tied her hair back.

It says to preheat the oven…how do I even do that? "Maru, Moro! Come quickly!" The woman called.

"What is it, mistress?" The girls asked. They were shocked to see Yûko dressed in an apron, setting up to make something in the kitchen.

"I'm trying to bake a cake for Watanuki. Do either of you know how to set the oven temperature?"

"That's a wonderful idea, mistress!" exclaimed Maru.

"A wonderful idea!" repeated Moro. "As a matter of fact, I've seen Watanuki do it dozens of times. Here you go, mistress," the girl said, turning the dial on the old oven.

"Thank you, girls."

Yûko searched the cupboards and drawers for bowls, cups, spoons, and something she could use to mix the batter. When she found an electric beater, she set it next to the bowl and the eggs. She forgot to let the butter soften, so she microwaved it on a plate. Thirty seconds turned the butter to liquid. It's going to get mixed in with everything else, anyway… Yûko took the plate of melted butter and poured it into the bowl.

When it was time to add the eggs, Yûko looked at them and wondered how hard she had to hit them in order for the shells to crack. She cracked the first one on the edge of the counter, but dropped much of the shell into the cake mixture. She tried to pick out the shattered fragments, but ended up pulverizing them with a wooden spoon instead. Maybe no one'll notice if I break the shells up into really tiny pieces…

As soon as Yûko plugged in the electric mixer, flour sprayed everywhere. She didn't realize it was set on high, and ended up making a mess all over the kitchen and herself. She kept adding more flour, until enough of it stayed in the bowl.

At last, the cake batter was complete. It contained lumps of flour, egg shells, and other bits of ingredients that didn't quite blend properly, but it was the best Yûko could do. She poured the batter into a pan, and placed it in the oven.

By this point, the woman was covered in flour and cake batter. She attempted cleaning up the floor while the cake was in the oven, but ended up tracking white footprints all over the kitchen.

As soon as the cake looked done, Yûko put on a pair of oven mitts. When she tried to get the cake out of the pan, she realized that she forgot to grease it. With a knife and fork, she dug the messy bits of cake out of the pan, and pieced it together on a nice plate. The cake was in at least 5 separate, uneven parts. Much of it was stuck to the bottom of the pan, and could not be salvaged. Thank goodness for frosting. This is harder than I thought it was going to be…

After the cake was iced, it looked better, but still not very presentable. There were cake crumbs visible in the chocolate frosting. Overall, it looked messy. Yûko sprinkled a few pinches of sugar onto the top of the cake, desperate to try to impress Watanuki.

Just then, the boy returned with the groceries. Yûko hadn't had time to finish cleaning up the kitchen. Watanuki walked into the kitchen, bewildered at the sight before him: Yûko, covered in flour, hair frazzled, trying to hide evidence that she'd baked something. "Yûko?" The boy asked.

The woman was embarrassed. She even had trouble finding the words she wanted to say. "I, um… baked you a birthday cake, Watanuki," Yûko said, sheepishly, as she presented the sloppy cake to Watanuki.

The boy smiled from ear to ear. He wasn't looking forward to eating what she made, as it was obviously a disaster, but he could tell that Yûko was being sincere in her effort to please him. He was so happy that he hugged her immediately, almost knocking the cake out of her hands. "Thank you so much, Yûko!"

"I'm sorry it didn't come out as planned, but I tried. I'm not exactly skilled in the kitchen," the woman admitted.

"The fact that you did this means so much to me. The last person to make me a birthday cake was my mother."

Watanuki rarely spoke of his deceased parents. Yûko set the cake onto the counter, and hugged the boy back. "I'm sorry, Watanuki. I didn't mean to upset you. I wanted you to be happy on your birthday. In fact, I always want you to be happy. I know I'm demanding, but I care about you."

"Thank you, Yûko. I'm not sad. I'm actually very happy that you made this for me," the boy said, blinking away the sparkles that were beginning to form in his eyes.

"Well, now that I'm done in the kitchen, you get to clean up my mess!" Yûko cried, tossing her apron into the air.

Watanuki sighed, glad to know that not much had changed. He wondered how much Yûko was going to take out of his paycheck for having baked him a birthday cake.