Summary: Kannuki tries to give Tsuzuki a lesson in baking a cake, but can he manage to make even a simple cake out of a pre-made mix?

Rating: K+

Genre: Humor

Characters: Tsuzuki Asato, Kannuki Wakaba

Words: 1,239

Author's Note: This spawned from a conversation with Naotoki Yamanouchi while we were baking a cake, so thanks to her for inspiration for this!

"Alright, Tsuzuki, let's get started!" Kannuki's cheery voice chirped as Tsuzuki finished tying an apron around himself. "Today we'll make a simple chocolate cake. In fact, it's so simple, we aren't even going to do it from scratch- we are going to make it out of a cake mix. You really can't go wrong like this." Though she preferred making all her baked goods from scratch, such a task for Tsuzuki's first cooking class was a bit too much, and she feared what may happen to her carefully perfected recipes should they try. Boxed cake mix was much safer- the directions were all right there, and, with her around, there was really nothing he could do wrong. At least, Kannuki didn't think so. Most others would probably disagree.

Tsuzuki grinned. "Okay! What first?"

"Well, we need to put the cake mix, some vegetable oil, water, and eggs all into a large bowl. Here are the exact ingredients we need." She held the box out to him, pointing to the side panel where the ingredients were clearly listed. "Get those things. Not anything more, not anything less. Don't stray from the recipe."

"Got it!"

Kannuki watched as the man fluttered about the kitchen at work, gathering the ingredients and tools he needed to make his cake. It was taking longer than necessary, simply because he kept stopping to look at other ingredients that might have tasted good with the cake.

"Can't we add other things too?" Tsuzuki asked after gathering the only three ingredients they needed, feeling it wasn't enough.

"Well, you could. If you wanted to add more flavor, you could add nuts or chocolate chips, or some flavoring. For example, if you like minty chocolate, you could add some peppermint extract to give the cake a little minty flavor."

"So why can't we do that?"

Kannuki sighed. "Because for now we are practicing on making a simple, plain chocolate cake. It's your first lesson, so we have to start with the basics. Now, read the directions and do exactly as they say."

Slightly disappointed that they couldn't add more, but still excited about taking baking lessons from the person he deemed the best baker in the world, Tsuzuki began following the directions on the box, step-by-step, exactly as they were written. Once everything had been correctly measured out and added, he began stirring the batter.

"Good! Keep doing that until it's all evenly mixed and there's no powder left. I'm going to find a pan to bake it in."

As Kannuki hopped off to find a cake pan, Tsuzuki's attention began to wander to other ingredients in the kitchen. She did say it was okay to add other things to give the cake more flavor, so maybe he could sneak a little something in. Sifting through the stuff in the kitchen, Tsuzuki came across a small, unmarked bottle. Curious, he unscrewed the cap and sniffed it. The smell was not unpleasant- it had a fruity sort of scent to it, like a citrus. Fruit and chocolate went good together, so why not mix a little of that in?

Deciding he shouldn't use too much, Tsuzuki filled a tablespoon with the clear liquid and dumped it into the batter. Next thing he knew, both he and his surroundings were covered in chocolate cake batter.

Hearing a noise akin to a small explosion, Kannuki turned around, fearing what may have happened. She gasped as she saw chocolate covering everything. "Tsuzuki! How did you make cake batter explode?"

"I don't know! I just wanted to add a little bit of extra flavor to the cake, so I dumped in a tablespoon of this fruity smelling stuff, and it exploded!"

There was a heavy sigh as Kannuki brought her hand to her forehead. "Tsuzuki, I told you not to add extra ingredients. Though that still doesn't explain how it exploded. What did you put in it?"

Tsuzuki handed her the unmarked bottle, letting her inspect it, though she too looked confused as to what it contained.

"Odd. It doesn't look like anything abnormal..."

Hearing the commotion, Tatsumi (who was always among the last to leave the building after work hours) peeked in to see what was going on. Upon seeing the mess, he turned to Tsuzuki with a smile that was anything but friendly.

"Tsuzuki-san...what happened?"

"T-Tatsumi!" Tsuzuki stammered, knowing he was in trouble. "I, uh...well, I wanted to add something to the cake mix, so I poured a little bit of this in, and it just exploded!"

The secretary stared for a moment, walked up to the two baking, took the unmarked bottle, examined it, then gently put it back down. The seemingly uncaring way he did all of this unnerved Tsuzuki. "I see. Tsuzuki-san, I'm sure Kannuki told you not to add unnecessary ingredients?"

"Well, she did, but-"

"And you did it anyway?"

"Yes." Tsuzuki looked down, his expression similar to a puppy that had just been caught doing something wrong.

"Well then, you are to clean this entire mess up. Hold on, I'll get you something to clean it with. Kannuki, I don't want you to touch anything- Tsuzuki-san will clean all of this up. In fact, you may go home."

Tsuzuki watched as Tatsumi left the room. Kannuki looked from the doorway, to Tsuzuki, back to the doorway, then back to Tsuzuki, unsure of what to do. She didn't want to leave him alone with Tatsumi, as she did feel sort of bad for him- who would have thought adding a little flavor would have cause the mix to explode? "I can help you clean."

Tsuzuki's expression brightened. "Really?"

"Mhmm. After all, you didn't know that would happen."

"That wont' be necessary, Kannuki." Tatsumi's voice interrupted. "He still did something he was strictly told not to, so, even if he didn't expect that outcome, it's still his fault and he's still cleaning it up. You've worked hard today, you should go home."

"Well...alright..." She glanced up at Tsuzuki with an apologetic look. "Sorry, Tsuzuki. We'll try again another time. I do have to get home- truth be told, Hajime isn't a very good cook either. He doesn't exactly have the patience to prepare anything...or wait for it to cook the right way when he's hungry." She suddenly looked worried. "Oh dear, I hope our kitchen hasn't caught fire..."

Watching what little hope he had run out the door, Tsuzuki turned pitifully to Tatsumi. The secretary smiled and held up what he had deemed an appropriate tool to clean with. "Here you are, Tsuzuki-san."

"A-a toothbrush? But, Tatsumi, that will take forever!"

"You'd better get cleaning then. I want this place sparkling when you are done."

Tsuzuki pouted. "But it wasn't even sparkling when I started!"

"Well, it will be soon, won't it? Now, I have to get going home myself. It's about time for dinner. As for Watari, who I know that bottle belonged to, I'll take care of him tomorrow." He clapped Tsuzuki on the back. "I do hope you get time to eat tonight. See you tomorrow, Tsuzuki-san."

Tsuzuki held the toothbrush, whimpering as he watched Tatsumi walk out the door. It was going to be a long night.