CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO – COLORS AND CONFECTIONS (NatSuke)
Natsuki glossed over the ingredients and materials on the countertop one more time, going over each one individually in her mind and checking to see if anything was forgotten. Granted, it was her third time in a row doing so, but it helped put her own worries in check and kept the growing flush on her face at bay. The fact that she was alone for now did not help ease her mind in the slightest—Daisuke would be returning any minute now from his errand, she knew. Lost in her fear and worry, her stomach had tied itself into a Gordian knot, ready to be cut by any small mistake she would make and send her spiraling into a pit of shame and despair.
That Mrs. Matsuda would be gracious enough to let the two of them bake in the kitchen of her diner was already a given, but still, Natsuki felt like she was taking up too much of their hospitality this time around. She felt even more embarrassed when she had turned down Mrs. Matsuda's offer of help in their baking. As cordial as Mrs. Matsuda was, Natsuki still felt highly reluctant to bake in the presence of a skilled home cook like her, but refusing her help seemed like an even worse slight on her part. Thankfully, Daisuke had backed her up by explaining to his mother that they would be able to manage well enough on their own. To Natsuki's surprise, Mrs. Matsuda let them be. Though Mrs. Matsuda's stated reason for doing so was that she would be meeting a friend and running a trip to the grocery store afterwards, Natsuki could not help but wonder if Daisuke explained more than a few things to his mother beforehand to influence her decision.
After making sure that every ingredient and baking apparatus was accounted for, Natsuki checked her phone for the time. They had a maximum of five hours to get everything done—the prepping, baking and cleaning up. Natsuki nodded to herself, making sure not to get distracted too much lest she spent much of her time lagging behind their schedule and risk derailing the operation. But even more importantly, she knew that she needed to get home before she ended up running into—
The sound of a door opening made her jump, startling her out of her train of thought. She whirled around quickly, heaving a sigh of relief when she saw Daisuke walking towards her, all smiles. Though he was wearing a simple green shirt with some denim shorts, he was still as handsome as ever in Natsuki's eyes.
"Everything good?" he asked her.
"Y-Yeah, everything's here," said Natsuki. She looked around the kitchen for a moment. "Are you sure we're all alone now?"
"Yeah, the coast is clear. Mom just left."
"Okay, good." Natsuki took off her face mask and exhaled, feeling the coldness of the air dry up the sweat on her cheeks.
"Your bruises are definitely looking better," Daisuke observed.
"Good thing too. The mask's starting to make my face itch."
As the two of them began setting aside bowls and opening up bags of flour and sugar, Natsuki reached into her backpack, which sat next to a nearby counter, and pulled out two aprons. One of them was her favorite pink one, with frilly edges and the face of a handstitched cat on the front. The other was a rolled up red one.
"Wear this," she said, handing the apron to Daisuke.
"But I can get my own," said Daisuke.
"Hey, if you want to be my assistant, you have to follow my rules, okay? And the rules say you should wear this. Otherwise, no baking for you."
Daisuke took the apron from her and unfurled it. "Hearts on the pockets?" he sheepishly, indicating the heart patches that were stitched on the apron's three pockets. "Really, Natsuki?"
"What? Are hearts too girly for your taste?" Natsuki taunted jokingly back.
"Not really," he said, trying the apron on nonetheless. The hem of it reached only just below his waist. "This is your apron, right?"
"Of course it is."
"Figures. Only someone as small as you would be able to wear this properly," Daisuke shot back furtively.
"Hey, I heard that!" Natsuki snapped. She took hold of a nearby rolling pin and brandished it warningly, prompting Daisuke to scramble backwards behind a counter for protection.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he cried out, laughing. "It's just really small, that's all!"
"And by that, you mean I'm really small too!"
"Hey, don't worry about it! I'm gonna wear it all the same. And besides, there's nothing wrong with being small. Small is cute, y'know?"
"S-Shut up, dummy!" Natsuki set the rolling pin down in a huff, turning away as her cheeks started flushing. "Jeez, let's just start baking already!"
"Alright, alright," Daisuke laughed.
Because only three cupcake trays could fit at a time in the diner's oven, Natsuki knew it would be a slow but steady process to reach a hundred cupcakes, with another dozen thrown in last as a thank-you present for Mrs. Matsuda's benevolence. Focusing on her groove instead of her personal worries, she began measuring the necessary amount of sugar, flour and salt they would need. Daisuke, meanwhile, set about preparing the eggs and butter, whisking the eggs in a bowl and cutting up the butter into the right sizes for quicker softening. After around fifteen minutes of this, Natsuki stood back to gauge their ingredients again.
"I think we should start with the chocolate and vanilla ones," she remarked.
"Why not the tougher ones first, strawberry and orange cream?" asked Daisuke. "That way, it'll be easy coasting at the end."
"The ordinary flavored ones will keep better for longer. The strawberry and orange cream ones will have fresh ingredients in them, so it'll be better off if they're the last ones in the oven. Gives them more time to last until we bring them to school."
"Oh, okay. How about the frosting and filling? You said that we can't apply that until at least the day before the festival, right?"
"Yeah. If we put that on today, chances are the cupcakes will become really soggy by Monday. I'll tear the school down before I serve anyone a soggy cupcake."
"Ooh, I see. Point taken."
With that, Daisuke resumed working on his part of the baking process. Natsuki refocused herself as well, knowing that the time to cut up strawberries and grate orange zest would come later. That was the part that worried and excited her most, even more so than putting in some filling and applying frosting on the finished cupcakes tomorrow. The strawberry and orange cream cupcakes would pose the greatest trial yet in their hundred-cupcake spree for the festival, but it was also the part that made her even more determined to succeed in spite of her doubts. After all, the sweetest victories come after the harshest challenges, and while Natsuki's worry may still give her reservations, she always loved the rush of contentment and joy after taking down a particularly difficult challenge, just like she liked seeing the praise and smiles from people who tasted her handiwork, though she was content with basking in such delight in secret.
Though working with someone else still took getting used to for Natsuki, Daisuke soon proved himself to be a quiet but dutiful assistant. Natsuki had held back on giving him too many pointers for the baking, as she still secretly did not want his inexperience to mess anything up, but she noticed how quickly he had picked up on what she did teach him. He moved quickly and efficiently, measuring and whisking and occasionally asking her if the cupcake batter he was mixing had the proper consistency. It flattered Natsuki that even if Daisuke was working semi-independently, he still remembered to check on her opinion if he was doing the right thing, though Natsuki could only give blunt approval and suggestions as she was busy working on her own cupcake batter. For the most part, only silence prevailed.
As the nearby oven began heating up to its desired temperature, the two of them managed to finish their cupcake batter. They had started pouring it in the trays when Natsuki stopped. "Did you buy some extra butter for the frosting?" she asked Daisuke seriously.
"Uh, yeah," replied Daisuke, looking puzzled. "It's over there melting, just like you wanted."
"I-I see. How about sugar? And the milk!"
"Both accounted for." Daisuke frowned. "Natsuki, everything's here. You made sure of that."
"I know, I j-just . . ." Natsuki set down the bowl of batter and rubbed her temple with her free hand. "I just thought that we . . . y'know, messed up or something. . ."
"Well, with someone like you on board for this, I doubt we'd mess up."
"Hey, I'm just checking, okay?" Never mind the hundred and fourteen times I checked everything earlier, I guess. Natsuki had to wonder why she was starting to speak up all of a sudden. Perhaps the relative quietness in which they worked in was starting to get to her, marring her focus and causing her to look for something to say. Daisuke seemed so intent on working that he appeared to be actually ignoring her. Natsuki shook her head, clearing her mind as she began looking for topics to discuss in the meantime.
"So what're your plans after the festival?" she asked after a while.
"Well, I figured I'd hang around school for a while, go booth-hopping with the rest of the guys," said Daisuke as he scooped up some more batter for the last few empty cups on the tray. "How about you?"
"W-Well . . . I was kinda hoping that . . ."
"Oh, do you wanna come along with us?"
"N-No! I mean, not if I'm just gonna be the odd girl out. If you wanna go along with your friends, it's f-fine."
"But what about you?"
"I'm fine with anything, I just d-don't wanna go home too early."
A short pause ensued. Daisuke looked up at her, setting aside the now-empty bowl of cupcake batter. "Is your dad acting up again?" he asked.
"No. N-Not yet, at least. It's just . . ."
Natsuki balked, looking away for a moment as she remembered her thoughts earlier before she was interrupted in her thinking. As of late, her father was not only bringing women home from the sleazy bars downtown during evenings. A number of male strangers had started showing up at their household as well, sometimes numbering up to four every other night, drinking and making merry with her father. Once, Natsuki had dared to sneak downstairs to catch a glimpse of them, and while they resembled nothing more than average working men hanging out at a coworker's abode, she was more apprehensive of them than she was of the scantily clad women that she often saw before. For one thing, her father was still unemployed, so she wondered who exactly these men were or how her father even met them in the first place. Either way, she was thankful for the reprieve she had in being away from her house for a good part of the day, though she was also worried that she might come home later just to run into him and those men drinking in the living room.
Once she and Daisuke had placed the first batch of cupcakes in the oven, she decided to tell him everything. Daisuke listened to her closely, his amber eyes regarding her with utter seriousness. Natsuki could tell that he was starting to become alert and suspicious at this new development.
"Why do you think they're there?" asked Daisuke after she had finished.
"I don't think I want to know. And I definitely don't want them snooping around the house while I'm there. Dad doesn't let them go upstairs, so I guess that's a good thing."
"I still don't trust them. Or him. Do you think if you stay out a bit late, he'll notice?"
"Yeah. If he knows I came home late, he'll wait for them to leave b-before . . . you know."
Daisuke sighed as he poured some flour into a new bowl. "Can't you just . . . you know, live with your aunt? I know I asked this before, but there's gotta be a way—"
"No," said Natsuki in a firm tone. "If there was a way, I would've taken it, okay? Besides, I don't think Dad should be left alone n-nowadays. Who knows what he might do?"
"Run into trouble out on the streets while he's drunk? Heh, that'd be rich," Daisuke muttered darkly.
Natsuki sighed. "Alright, let's just talk about something else."
But instead of shifting to a new topic to discuss, the next hour was steeped in silence, broken only by the sound of whisks scratching against bowls and the clatter of new trays being put in the oven as the first batch of cupcakes were done. Occasionally, small talk would rise, but it never took off beyond a few exchanges. Natsuki expected Daisuke to prod her about her father's visitors, or at least reiterate to her the prospect of moving out to safer spaces, but Daisuke said nothing more of the matter.
As time passed, Natsuki began to worry in the stillness once again. Try as she might to focus on mixing up the last batch of batter they needed for the chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, she could not stop her thoughts from wandering back to her father at home. A slight chill crept up her back inexplicably, as if she was anticipating something ominous to happen at any time. Gingerly, she sifted the last of her chocolate batter onto the cupcake tray in front of her, set down the bowl, and wiped her hands on the apron. Only then did she notice how her fingers felt cold as well.
Daisuke's voice startled her temporarily. "Are we gonna start the strawberry creams first, or the orange creams?" he asked.
Natsuki rubbed her eyes wearily. Focus, darn it. "O-Orange creams. Let's start with the orange creams. I'm gonna start working on the orange mix. You start mixing the butter, cream and sugar."
Daisuke obeyed without protest, but Natsuki could feel his amber gaze upon her. "Natsuki, is everything okay?" he asked after a brief pause.
"Peachy. I just wanna take care of this before our time runs out. Can I borrow your grater for the orange zest?"
"Oh, sure thing. It's right over there."
As Natsuki settled down to start grating an orange for their cupcakes, her fingers slowly began feeling better. That's it. Focus, Natsuki. Just do what you need to do. The anxiety she was feeling was starting to ease slightly, and she clung to the relief with all her might. To her, it felt that as long as she managed to finish her baking for the day, she would finally have one less thing to worry about.
Daisuke struck up a new conversation as she was mixing the dry ingredients together. "Funny thing, this reminds me of that one scene in Parfait Girls."
"Which one?"
"The one where Yukari lost a bet and was made to teach Tomo how to make satch . . . sash-re . . . how do you pronounce that?"
Without missing a beat, Natsuki stated, "Sachertorte?"
"Yeah, that one," said Daisuke, laughing. "Are you familiar with how that's baked?"
"A little. I haven't really tried baking an entire cake yet."
"You should give it a try. And other pastries too. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I kinda feel like Tomo right now. Noobish, but learning—and learning from the best."
Natsuki snorted. "Are you trying to flatter me or something?"
"Well, I am learning from the best at the moment. Between the two of us, you're an ace in baking, Natsuki. Just like Yukari."
"Are you sure it's not because Yukari and I are both tsunderes and all that? Jerk."
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with that. Yukari's an extremely nuanced character! I mean, she's not just a tsunderes for laughs, right?"
"Heh. If you ask me, your real favorite is Kanae. Tall, pretty, silent, and really curvy for a teenager," Natsuki scoffed. "She's the type that guys always go after anyway, judging from the stuff I've seen online."
Daisuke stared at her for a moment. "Okay, first off, it'd be weird for me to fanboy over an anime girl who has the same name as Kenta's sister and . . . who also remarkably reminds me of Yuri, now that I stop to think about it."
"Oho, what's this?" asked Natsuki. "Do you secretly have eyes for Yuri? Is that it?"
"What? Of course not!" exclaimed Daisuke, and Natsuki had to laugh at the mixed look of repulsion and amusement on his face. "As a group, we do follow a bro code, alright? And also, guys don't always go for looks or body type, whether in anime or in real life. We like personality and character development too. Besides, why do people think guys always go for tall girls with curves? Is that what you think?"
"Well, I've seen my fair share of guys who are like that. They don't go for the smaller girls. I mean, it's not my fault I don't have a mature and sexy figure like Yuri does, and—"
As she noticed her own words, however, Natsuki stopped dead in her tracks, her cheeks instantly turning pink. As she glanced at Daisuke again, she saw his lips curved in a slight smirk.
"What was that?" he asked her in an amused tone.
"It's nothing!" Natsuki snapped. "Forget it!"
"Hey, it's okay," said Daisuke, his laugh belying his tone of reassurance and irking Natsuki further. "I think I get where you're coming from right now."
"Oh yeah? You sure about that? Or do you just wanna keep laughing?"
"No, really, I get it!" Daisuke coughed a few times, trying not to laugh. When he managed to calm his amusement down, he spoke in a more sincere tone. "I mean, with the way you said it and all . . . that's what you went through in the past, right? You had people just brush you aside and treat you like a kid, and that's partly because of how you looked, correct? Like, with your body type and everything."
Natsuki felt her face turning red now. Memories floated back to her, bringing tales of former crushes and the feeling of watching them go out with taller girls with more mature figures every single time. "Y-Yeah, what about it?" she asked testily.
"Well, I think you just need to remember that just because you're not like other girls, it doesn't mean you're not someone's cup of tea. I'm sure there are a lot of guys out there who are into girls like you."
"W-What? Seriously? How would you e-even know that, anyway?" asked Natsuki, narrowing her eyes.
Daisuke stared at her for a moment. Natsuki saw his cheeks turn pink. "Just trust me on this one," was all he said, his words accentuated by a smile. Even then, it took Natsuki only a few moments to know exactly what he was trying to say.
". . . Gross," she hissed, looking away.
"Hey! Was that to me?" asked Daisuke, looking startled.
"Who else?" Natsuki snapped back.
Daisuke let out a resigned sigh. "I can't win. Let's just continue baking."
Natsuki laughed, glancing back at him in partial triumph in spite of her own discomfiture at his previous words. "Did I finally find your weakness? Being called gross by a girl?"
"That, and getting socked in the arm a hundred times," Daisuke muttered.
With that, work resumed. The next couple of hours saw the two of them working together in less silence as more quips, topics and instructions were exchanged. The previous batches of baked cupcakes were stored in plastic containers and set aside to wait for the unfinished ones. The strawberry and orange cream cupcakes took up more time than they had initially anticipated, with the orange zest and strawberry pieces being measured just right so that the orange cream cupcakes would not end up having too much tang, and the strawberry cream ones would not end up too lumpy. It was only during this moment, tasting and measuring and adjusting, did the two of them work in coordinated silence once again. As she placed some diced strawberries in the pink cupcake batter, Natsuki looked up at Daisuke, who was carefully scooping more orange cupcake batter into the next batch of pans. When he caught her eye again, he smiled, and Natsuki could not help but smile back. As much as she felt embarrassed and irked by the things he often said about her, she greatly appreciated the fact that Daisuke was obviously doing so to make her feel better right now, and distract her from the worry and dread she felt about her father's visitors.
It was almost four in the afternoon when the two of them finished putting in the last batch of cupcakes in the oven, including the dozen that made up Natsuki's thank-you gift for Mrs. Matsuda. With the end almost in sight, Natsuki heaved a sigh of relief as she readied herself to make the filling and frosting in the next hour—just enough time to wrap everything up. Because they needed to have all the cupcakes filled and frosted by the following evening, right before the day of the festival, Natsuki wanted to make sure that everything was ready by the time she dropped by again the next day for the finishing touches. For now, they would be storing the filling and frosting in plastic containers to be kept in the refrigerator alongside the cupcakes themselves, keeping only one batch of frosting to start decorating the cupcakes that Natsuki would be giving to Mrs. Matsuda.
"You know, I pitched this idea to Kenta about our next get-together," Daisuke said as he pureed some strawberries for their strawberry cream frosting. "Like, instead of hanging out around here, what if we took a train to Tokyo? Get lost in the big city for a day, away from school and all that. The others, they can go where they want, but nothing's gonna stop me from going to Akihabara with you."
"Now that's something I can definitely get behind," said Natsuki with a wishful sigh. Akihabara was the Mecca of anime, a must-see stop for any otaku, Japanese or foreign, in the world. Even in the bleak life she had in Eishima, Natsuki had always envisioned visiting the district in the future one way or another, and she could never stop browsing through articles about the goings-on there as well as the various stores and venues that would make any anime and manga lover's list.
Daisuke smiled. "We'll go there one day, Natsuki. I promise you that."
"And then you'll leave me to wander while you go out looking for maid cafés?" Natsuki quipped.
"Well, you can go to a butler café in the meantime if that's what you want," Daisuke joked back.
Natsuki scoffed, setting aside her spatula as she finished mixing her batch of cream cheese frosting. "Why am I gonna do that when I already have a handsome, supportive 'butler' like you?"
Daisuke's eyes widened. Once again, his face turned pink as he stammered, "W-What? That's, er . . . I mean . . ."
"Hah!" Natsuki crowed. "Now you know how I feel when you say weird, mushy things to me!"
Daisuke sighed, scratching his head. "Alright, alright. Touché," he said, laughing embarrassedly.
"That's what you get, dummy," said Natsuki, chuckling victoriously, though she could not stop herself from blushing a little as she imagined Daisuke in a butler's uniform, looking impeccably dashing.
"But seriously, I really wanna take you to Akihabara," Daisuke went on, putting the strawberry puree into the frosting mixture and mixing away. "I might just start saving up for both of us. Hopefully, by summer vacation we'll be able to make the trip there along with Kenta, Monika and the others."
"Hey, you don't have to save up for me, alright?" said Natsuki reproachfully. "You're already doing a lot for me."
"Well, I hope I can do a lot more, to be honest," said Daisuke in return.
"I know, but y-you don't have to, okay?"
"Maybe, but I still want to." Daisuke grinned. Natsuki shook her head, breath hissing through her nostrils as she let out a sigh.
Her eyes fell on the frosting mixture that Daisuke was working on. "Hey, you're not mixing that hard enough. The frosting's still all lumpy. I can see it from here."
"Is it?" Daisuke glanced down at the bowl. "Yeah, I think you're right. I'm sorry, my arm's just tired from all the whisking and mixing and stuff. This is what happens when you don't have an electric mixer."
"I understand, but we'll be here all night if you do it like that," Natsuki pointed out. "Give it here."
When Daisuke gave her the whisk and the bowl, Natsuki titled the bowl back a little and began mixing furiously, the whisk clattering and scratching against the bowl's surface. "You . . . really need to . . . beat the crap out of it!" she grumbled, her voice straining as she picked up speed with her mixing. Within a few seconds, the mixture's consistency improved, with the lumps vanishing to form the fluffier texture ideal for pastry frosting. Natsuki nodded as she slowed down her pace.
"That's how you do it, rookie," she said proudly.
"Well, with strong arms like that, it should be easy for you," said Daisuke, laughing.
The last batches of frosting—chocolate and cream—took less time for the two of them to make. Natsuki had insisted on adding different splashes of food coloring to the cream frosting in order to make everything more decorative and pleasing to the eyes. Apart from that, chocolate chips and multicolored sprinkles would add even more flair to the vanilla and chocolate cupcakes, making them stand out just as much as the strawberry and orange cream ones. It was the part of baking that Natsuki always looked forward to, and she could not help but emphasize the importance of such artful decorating to Daisuke as they finished the last batches of cream frosting. By then, the last of the cupcakes were done, and the two of them set them aside for cooling before they would be stored away in the refrigerator, separating the ones that made up Natsuki's thank-you present. In the meantime, Natsuki decided that it was a good time to start cleaning up, and soon she was helping Daisuke wipe the countertops clean of any flour stains and batter drippings, and heave every used utensil and bowl towards the kitchen sink for later washing.
When everything had been piled onto the sink, Natsuki eagerly shifted to her penultimate duty for the day. She took the tray bearing Mrs. Matsuda's twelve cupcakes, setting it down next to some small bowls of blue, pink, green and purple frosting. Next to her, Daisuke prepped the piping bags and the various decorative nozzles that they would be using, as well as a small bowl of chocolate chips, chocolate shavings and sprinkles.
"Alright, now's the time to let your creativity flow," said Natsuki when everything was ready. "If you're gonna help me with the decorating tomorrow, you may as well start by practicing with these cupcakes. I'll take one half, you take the other half. Deal?"
"Deal." Daisuke handed one of the piping bags to her. "Happy decorating," he added with a grin.
For her own batch of cupcakes, Natsuki decided to go with pink and blue in various swirls for a test run of what she would be making for tomorrow's final decorations. She piped the first batch of frosting on top of a vanilla cupcake with a round nozzle, intending to decorate it and the others later on with chocolate chips and shavings in the same manner as she did with the cupcakes he had baked for Daisuke long ago. She bounced between nozzles, going for a different piped design with each cupcake, going at it with gentle precision brought by experience. As she piped, she cast a glance at Daisuke's handiwork, checking to see if he was emulating her. Indeed, Daisuke seemed to be following her lead, decorating each cupcake with a different pattern of frosting as he used various nozzles, and Natsuki knew that he was putting his talent in drawing to use. One vanilla cupcake already had tiny globs of piped green frosting from a closed star nozzle, with some pink frosting from a thin nozzle drizzled on top. A chocolate one was decorated with a crisscross pattern of both green and blue icing from a rose nozzle. Natsuki nodded approvingly at his take before going back to focus on her own. In no time at all, faces and patterns began appearing on the cupcakes—a cat with white chocolate ears, a chocolate chip smiling face, and a flower made out of milk chocolate shavings and dotted with sprinkles to name a few.
When everything was finally done, Natsuki stood back to admire their handiwork, feeling content and delighted. The cupcakes looked nothing short of amazing, turning out even better than the test ones she had given to Naoki and Yuri. Given that those cupcakes had been made with only a few ingredients and decorations and were still received with collective praise, Natsuki could only imagine what the reactions to their handiwork would be come Monday.
"I hope your mom likes them," she told Daisuke.
"Are you kidding? She'll love them!" Daisuke commented. "I mean, put these in a box and they can pass for bakeshop quality. At least, your cupcakes can."
"Hey, yours look good too, okay? You did a pretty good job for a noob."
Daisuke laughed. "Like I said. Learning from the best."
"If I make it out alive in ten years and create my own bakeshop, maybe I can take you in as an assistant," Natsuki joked. Even so, her face flushed as the image of Daisuke being a handsome butler flashed once again in her mind.
"That'd be a great honor, but I think I'm underqualified for that kind of work," said Daisuke facetiously.
Natsuki scoffed, shaking her head. "A lot can happen in ten years. Who knows? Maybe you'll get even better at this." And maybe things will get better too. We'll go to Akihabara, have ourselves a wonderful time, and I'll come home with no worries whatsoever. A wistful melancholy filled Natsuki as she dwelt on these thoughts. She glanced at Daisuke, at his handsome, good-natured face and his wavy blonde hair and the red apron with hearts that he wore over his clothes, and she knew that she could never thank him enough for making her feel better and giving her hope in spite of her own doubts about the world and herself.
Mrs. Matsuda returned from her day out not long after the two of them had finished washing up and storing away the bowls, utensils and other baking paraphernalia that they had been using. Natsuki quickly put on her face mask the moment she heard her enter the diner, while Daisuke hurried forward to shield her from view in case his mother went in quickly.
Mrs. Matsuda beamed at them as she entered the kitchen, placing some bags of groceries on the nearest countertop. "So how did it go?" she asked.
"See for yourself," said Daisuke, grinning and nodding towards the cupcakes, which were now arranged neatly on top of a large plate.
"My, my!" Mrs. Matsuda walked over to the countertop, her eyes lighting up as they rested upon the cupcakes. "These look even better than the ones before!"
"Thank you, ma'am," said Natsuki with a grateful bow. "Couldn't have done it without Daisuke here, though. He turned out to be an even better assistant than I'd imagined."
"I'm glad to hear that," Mrs. Matsuda tittered genially. "Daisuke's full of surprises."
"He sure is, ma'am," said Natsuki, looking over at Daisuke and causing him to blush a little.
"Well, after all that baking and decorating, all I wanna know right now is what our handiwork tastes like," said Daisuke, moving forward next to his mother as he stared down at the cupcakes. "Shall we?"
"Don't mind if I do," said his mother, who quickly picked out a pink-frosted chocolate cupcake. Daisuke followed suit, and Natsuki watched with both nervousness and excitement as she hung back to watch the two of them eat.
"Perfect. Absolutely divine," Mrs. Matsuda simpered, wiping the corners of her mouth with her fingers as she chewed. "I wouldn't mind having one of these every day after dinner. I'd gladly accept any weight I'll gain from it."
"Well, I'm just stoked to know that our work didn't turn out to be catastrophic," Daisuke proffered as he took another big bite from the vanilla cupcake he had picked. "If Mom likes them, everyone at school will. Sounds like a win for us, eh, Natsuki?"
"We'll see come Monday," said Natsuki, who could not quite keep her heart from fluttering as she listened to the praise.
"If Hiroko and I ever get around to visiting you lot at your school's festival on Monday, do you think you can spare us a few more of these?" asked Mrs. Matsuda.
"Of course, Mom," said Daisuke in reply, finishing his cupcake in two more bites. "You might have to come early, because I have a feeling that they'll all be cleaned out before the day ends."
"I'll see if I can show up early with Hiroko then," said Mrs. Matsuda, laughing. "Have you ever considered selling your cupcakes outside of school, Natsuki?"
Natsuki stood up straighter at the question, giving it some thought for a few seconds. "To be honest with you, Mrs. Matsuda, I have, but it never took off for me," she replied. "I mean, the amount of work being put in all this can make things pretty hectic especially since I'm still studying, and I don't really have any money to keep it up with the ingredients and whatnot. Plus, even if I do try it out, I wouldn't have a place to do all the baking."
"Oh, I understand," said Mrs. Matsuda. "I just figured that with your talent in baking, you can easily get hired by a lot of bakeries out there. The quality you put out is excellent enough to sell good."
"Thank you," said Natsuki, beaming beneath her face mask.
"Perhaps in the future, once you've graduated college, you'd be able to pursue the idea of setting up your own bakery." Mrs. Matsuda smiled back warmly. "Keep at it, Natsuki. Keep your interest strong and your talent sharp. In a few years' time, you'll be wowing even more people with your baking."
In spite of the bleakness of her life at home and how it made the future uncertain for her, Natsuki could not help but feel comforted and determined at Mrs. Matsuda's words. Though she herself had joked before about the idea of opening a bakery in the future with Daisuke as her assistant, the prospect took on a whole new feeling now that Mrs. Matsuda was the one sharing her sentiments. Looking into the woman's amber eyes, Natsuki again saw hints of pain and exhaustion from the past, but also the steely resolve of a lady who wanted nothing more than to keep fighting and live for the brighter side of things, and to help her children see this brighter side for themselves as well. It was an aura that every mother had, and unwittingly, Natsuki's mind flitted back to her memories of her own mother. Almost immediately, she felt her eyes sting as some tears threatened to break through involuntarily.
"If I do end up opening my own bakeshop, I'll make sure to let you know, ma'am," said Natsuki, surprised that she had gotten the words out before they were snagged in her throat.
Mrs. Matsuda smiled. "It'd be an honor to be one of your first customers. Now, if you two don't mind, I'll just go upstairs to get dressed. I should be preparing dinner soon. Natsuki, would you like to stay for dinner? We always have room for one more at the table."
A pang of longing tugged at Natsuki's heartstrings. "I'd love to, Mrs. Matsuda, but my dad will be waiting for me to get home soon," she said sadly.
"Oh, I understand. Next time, then," said Mrs. Matsuda with a smile. "Daisuke, make sure you text your sister and ask her what time she'll be coming home."
"Sure thing, Mom."
When his mother had left the kitchen, Daisuke turned back to Natsuki. "I wish you could stay for dinner," he said sadly.
"Just 'for dinner?' Not 'forever?'" Natsuki quipped.
"Well, that'd be too much to ask already," said Daisuke, laughing. "Anyway, if you're ready, I can drop you off at the street corner, as usual."
"Yeah, I think I'm good to go," said Natsuki, looking away. "T-Thanks. You know, for your help and everything. . ."
Daisuke grinned. "Thanks for always giving me the chance to help."
With that, the two of them made to leave the kitchen. As she exited through the door into the diner, Natsuki glanced back at the cupcakes on the countertop, smiling at the sight of them. With how dismally grey the atmosphere of her life was, punctuated by dread and anxiety, to see colors like them was always worth the trouble and effort.
A/N: Greetings, everyone. Yes, I'm not dead, let me just set that record straight XD I know that you all might not want to see a lot of explaining in my author's notes, but I figured that I should at least explain why I was gone for a long while.
It has been very rough for the past two months - the roughest ones I've had since college, TBH. Anxiety attacks, depressive episodes, some incidents with my friends, all rough. I was a nervous, dejected wreck all throughout. Things only started looking up recently, and I seized every chance and every moment of respite I had to start writing this chapter and the previous one. I knew that one chapter after a lengthy absence would be too lacking, so I gunned for two. I do hope you like them. It feels good to be back to deliver them to you all. I'm really sorry if it took too long.
I can only hope that things will stay straight from here on out. I have no idea as to when the next chapter will be, but rest assured that I will do my very best to make sure I'll deliver one a lot sooner than two months, and hopefully get back in my old groove. This story and you readers form a big part of what keeps me going, and I'll make sure I don't let you all down. Thank you for reading, and see you in the next chapter. Cheers!