Heavy nonstop knocks on the front door alerted the girl in the kitchen. She wiped her hands on her apron as she approached the door. As she opened it, in front of her was a red haired boy, out of breath with his arm still up to continue knocking. "Hiya, Koushiro," Hikari said with a smile and turned back toward the kitchen.
Still huffing, he put down hand down in disbelief, took two steps into the residence and closed the door behind him, eyes still on her. "What's wrong, Hikari? You said there was a big emergency. I rushed here as quick as I could."
She giggled me and held up a bowl of mixed cookie dough. "There is a huge emergency! I totally forgot about my school bake sale tomorrow! I need an extra set of hands!"
He let out a long sigh and brought a hand to the bridge of his nose. "Are you kidding me? I thought it was serious!"
She gasped, bringing a hand to her chest. "It is serious! If I don't have any baked goods to sell tomorrow, my kids will not be able to go on that field trip to see the ocean next month!"
Koushiro looked at her with a wide eyed gaze. "And what makes you think I can bake?"
"I don't know, instincts?" She hummed, shrugging her shoulders. She took a whisk and continued to stir the dough in the bowl.
He trudged over to the kitchen and was in shock. It was an explosion of ingredients spread all over the counters and appliances. Countless bowls of mixtures and batters were ready to be baked into delicious desserts and pretty pastries. He gulped, at a loss of words on how he could solve this situation.
"Don't just stand there, Koushiro! I really need your help! Start mixing the next ingredients for the brownies!" She gave him no time to think and threw him his own apron. She then started rolling the cookie dough onto the sheet and pouring the batter in the pan.
After hesitating for a minute, he reluctantly put on the apron, tied it around his waist and glanced at the cookbook for the brownie recipe. After mumbling to himself the exact measurements of cocoa powder and vanilla extract, he started precisely measuring.
"What are you doing?" Hikari turned to see Koushiro carefully and slowly poured each ingredient in the measuring cups. He was crouched down to have a closer look and had one eye open to see if it matched the desired measurements.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm helping you bake!"
"The measurements don't have to be exact, Koushiro!"
"What do you mean? Of course they do! If they are not precise, it won't turn out right!"
"Oh, nevermind! Switch jobs with me. You prepare and I'll mix." She handed him the bowl of batter, shooed him to where she was and scooted past him to change spots in the kitchen. She then started retrieving each ingredient with ease and mixed them in the new bowl.
Koushiro just stood there and watched for a second, wondering why she asked for help when she seemed to doing fine with or without him. He shook his head at his thoughts and started rolling the cookie dough into balls and placing them on the pan.
The two continued to bake all kinds of cookies, brownies and pastries, leaving behind scattered ingredients to put away and dirty dishes to clean. They even took time to add decorations on some cookies. Hikari made cute designs on her batch with ease. Koushiro on the other hand cautiously created designs on his batch, sticking his tongue out as he focused. She couldn't help but smile at his hard work and dedication to make it look perfect.
When they finally had all the snacks baked and ready to be packaged, Hikari brought a hand to her chin, lost in thought. "What's on your mind, Hikari?" Koushiro asked.
"I feel like we are missing something. Like one more sweet treat to make. Any ideas?" She asked.
He followed suit, bringing a hand to his chin and thinking long and hard about it. He analyzed the leftover ingredients to decide the next plan of action. "What about daifuku?"
"Daifu-who?"
"Daifuku. You know, a soft, tender, and chewy mochi rice cake enclosed in a creamy, sweet anko red bean paste filling."
"You think we have everything for that?"
He nodded. "Yes, I think we do."
She smiled wholeheartedly. "Okay, let's do it!"
The two worked together on creating their last dessert. Hikari worked on making the filling and Koushiro worked on making the mocha wrapper. When they both had their task done, they started making the daifuku by wrapping the filling in the wrapper. For someone who clumsy baked the last few hours, Koushiro was making twice as many treats as Hikari. She couldn't help but watch his small smile as he scooped out the filling, placed it on the wrapper and pinched the corners together to create the sweets. She assumed it was some sort of muscle memory.
Once they had all the goodies set up in bags to sell, Hikari made the two of them some celebratory tea. They sat together on each side of the kitchen table with the stack of snacks packed in boxes to take with in the morning.
"Thank you," Hikari said, mug in hand. She softly blew in her brew before taking another sip.
"My pleasure," he replied. "I wish you didn't tell me it was an emergency. I would have come to help anyways." He whispered that last part, hoping she didn't hear.
"So, daifuku huh?" She asked, lips on the edge of the mug.
He coughed in his drink, caught off guard. "Yes?"
"How did you know to make that?"
"Uh," he said, hesitating for a second. He looked down at his mug and rubbed his finger on the side as he thought. Then he chuckled. "I used to make it with my mom years ago. We would make it almost every weekend. I would love take some to school everyday to have in my lunch." He never talked about his past, but when he mentioned it this time, he had a peaceful smile on his face.
"That's sweet." She giggled and reached over and placed her hand on his. He stopped rubbing his mug with his finger when he felt her touch. "I really mean it, Koushiro. I appreciate your help."
His dark eyes met hers for a second. He held his breath, words wanting to escape his mind but too scared to. Before he could work up the courage to speak, the door handle rattled and a head of fluffy brown hair entered the house.
"Hey, what smells so good?" Taichi exclaimed, peeking his head into the kitchen. "Oh hey, Koushiro!"
Hikari quickly moved her hand away from Koushiro's. "Hey, Taichi! We just finished baking treats for my bake sale tomorrow!"
"That's awesome. Mind if I take some? I'm starving!" He asked. Before the two could answer, he snatched a goodie bag from the table and popped a daifuku in his mouth. "Mmm! This is so good! What is this?"
Koushiro kept his eyes at his cup of tea. "It's daifuku."
"Daifu-who?" Taichi asked, tilting his head.
Koushiro laughed at his reaction. "Exactly."
Taichi shrugged his shoulders. "I don't care what it's called. It's delicious!" And with that, left the room.
Koushiro nodded to his comment, taking it as a compliment, and looked over at the girl in front of him.
"Will you help me bring it to school tomorrow?" Hikari asked.
"Of course." He replied.