Strawberry Complex
It was a simple pastry. Nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary, a completely average treat. It appeared store bought, a cheap confection worthy of a lower class child's birthday party, one a desperate mother would try to add sprinkles too in order to seem like she helped.
Certainly, this cupcake was not worthy of her dear niece, and Ushiromiya Eva wanted to scream.
She raked her fingers through her hair, her bun lopsided with loose curls sticking to her brow. She was surrounded by bowls of vanilla batter and mashed strawberries. The sickly sweet aroma filling her kitchen made her stomach churn, and she never wanted to see another strawberry for the rest of her days.
Even though her husband joked she was a witch of the kitchen, this cupcake eluded her. Before her was a vanilla cupcake with pink frosting, a completely boring dessert. She knew how much Ange liked strawberries, asking if she could have chopped strawberries in her bento box. The request was off-putting, but she would do anything for her dear niece, which is what prompted her to bake a unique strawberry cupcake for her seventh birthday.
While she could have bought one, she knew she could do better. She could have ordered a lavish cake decorated with a variety of strawberries, a design fit for a queen's banquet, but no, she persevered. She was a witch of the kitchen, a sorceress of ingredients and delicacies, and no one, not even the witch who sneered in her head, could take that away from her.
Yet, she couldn't make it. She made five batches so far, each one only slightly better than the last. The taste was chalky in her first attempt, and as the early morning light filtered in from the window, her last cupcake was decent, but the frosting tasted saline, which made her nose wrinkle when she realized she used salt instead of sugar.
This cupcake was okay at best. It was nothing to call the papers about. It was smooth, only slightly crumbly. The bubblegum pink frosting swirled on top to a tiny point. It fit snugly in her palm, but it was still average. Nothing thrilled her about this cupcake with its design straight out of a grocery's lackluster bakery. She could picture it sitting in a plastic container, the frosting smearing the inside and crumbling further, and Eva knew it wasn't good enough for her precious Ange.
Such beginner mistakes nagged her. She paced around her kitchen, curses slipping past her chapped lips. She knew she didn't have to wake up before the crack of dawn to start preparations, but business was far more difficult than she imagined. She never realized how effectively her father dealt with the monsters hounding the Ushiromiya family for wealth, payments, and other greedy gambles, leaving the current head scrambling for ways to secure themselves in the face of the looming, wide-eyed media. Throwing herself into her work, she tried spending time with Ange whenever she could, noticing the little girl seemed to understand their predicament, and when she realized it would be Ange's first birthday without her family, she knew she needed to make it special.
"God. Damn. It," she seethed under her breath, teeth gritting so hard they could have cracked.
She drummed her fingers against the counter and glared at the tick-tocking clock. It was nearing 7:00 a.m., and her heart sank into her queasy stomach. Seconds flew by like seagulls over the shoreline, leaving her with fewer options. Her darling early riser would be waking up soon, and she thought she heard the distant sound of her bed creaking upstairs, her skin flushing scarlet.
Sighing, Eva rolled her neck until it cracked. The sickening snap made her shiver, but she swallowed down the memories. She didn't have time to focus on the tragedy when another was unfolding because of her. She needed to be in the present, giving Ange what she needed for her birthday, but as she gazed at the plain cupcake, all she could do with her last bit of strength was pluck a fresh strawberry and set it on top of the frosting.
"Oba-saaaan!"
Tiny footsteps echoed in the hallway, and she suppressed a scream. She swiftly threw her arms out over the counter, snatching the various bowls and tossing them into the sink. As Ange drew closer, she flipped open the lid to the trash can and shoved down her failed cupcakes until they resembled a mashed mess of powdery flour and splattered strawberries. Furiously scrubbing her hands in the sink, she broke into a wide grin as Ange appeared in the doorway, her pigtails brushed and striped pajamas on instead of her usual dress.
"Ange-chan, good morning! Here! I made this for you!" She snatched the plate and whipped around not realizing her mistake.
She slipped on a stray strawberry and fell forward, her legs kicking up behind her. Ange yelped, hurrying towards her and thrust her tiny hands up, but Eva collapsed right on top of her. Making matters worse, the cupcake flipped in the air and landed squarely on her head, smearing frosting through her uncombed locks. The plate slammed down next to them, shattering into tiny pieces and scattering across the tiled floor.
"Oba-san, are you okay?" Ange asked after a moment of silence passed between them, her voice muffed by her aunt's chest. She wriggled out from underneath her, leaving Eva on the floor.
The cupcake answered for her by sliding off her head, down her cheek, streaking a line of frosting and landing into Ange's open palm.
Frowning, she tilted her head, noticing an odd shudder running through Eva. She strained her ears, thinking she heard a strange kind of keening, but her aunt wasn't one to make such sounds. She was noble, brave, if at times too adoring, and the thought of tears never crossed her.
Her attention went back to the cupcake. It crumbled partially, a few pieces slipping between the spaces of her fingers. Opening her mouth wide, she stuffed the entire cupcake inside, her cheeks puffing out comically as she chewed.
She was greeted with the delectable taste of strawberries. The buttercream frosting and moist cupcake melted on the tongue. She wished she could have another, but she savored the treat, slowly down her chomping to taste every crumb.
"Oba-san! It's really tasty!" she cried, swallowing. "Can I have another?"
Eva's head shot up, startling the poor girl into yelping. Wet lines stained her cheeks, her eyes somehow red and puffy. Pushing herself up into a sitting position, she hunched forward, no longer having the propriety of the head of the family.
Ange blinked, her aunt's expression almost haunting. She couldn't pinpoint exactly what she was feeling, but she beamed like a light at the end of a long tunnel. Nestling into her aunt, she wrapped her arms around her back and tried to lace her fingers together. She squeezed as tightly as she could, her little arms straining, little bits of frosting slipping down Eva's cheek onto her brow.
All she could do was stare at her niece. Despite ruining everything from the cupcake to the presentation, for some reason, Ange loved it. Perhaps she might have been saying it to placate her, but as she felt Ange try to tighten her embrace, the tears welling in her eyes continued falling. Covering her mouth with one hand, she wrapped her free arm around Ange's waist and pressed her against her bosom, withholding a sob from escaping the back of her throat.
Stroking through her hair, Eva smiled and whispered, "Happy birthday, Ange-chan."