FICLET 6: CUPCAKE SURPRISE

It started when the cultural club festival was announced. More specifically, it started when Natsume's class decided to have a bake sale. Over the next few days, the school and the dormitory kitchens were filled with the enticing scents of pastries, pies, cookies, cakes, and cupcakes. The sale went well, suffice to say, and it left Natsume the desire to make her own sweets. That desire turned into a necessity when Yuè stared at the cupcakes and asked what they were.

"No. Gods no. Come to my place at 19:00 tonight and we'll fix this tragedy." He was going to eat a cupcake tonight, warm and dripping with frosting, no if, ands, or buts. She added another black mark on his creators' list of mortal sins and went to go buy some extra baking supplies. She definitely wanted him to have a selection of cupcakes to choose from.

An hour later, she piled her measuring utensils, mixing bowls, cupcake pans, and the ingredients (except for the eggs and milk) on her kitchen table. She spent the next hour grading papers, had something light to eat, and then at precisely 19:00, her doorbell rang.

She let Yuè in and was pleasantly surprised to find him carrying a grocery bag of his own. "Your mother found me after the festival," he explained. "She told me I should these with me tonight."

She looked into the bag. He'd brought a container of strawberries, a bag of dark chocolate, and a can of whipped cream with him. She stared at those for a moment and then remembered that he'd talked to her mother. Of course she'd suggested-

She pressed a hand to her face, hoping to hide her blush, and choked, "Just set those on the counter. I - I'm certain we'll find some use for them." She could almost hear Natsuko Kurosawa's evil laugh from here….

She tried not to grimace when Yuè added, "Your mother said she might visit you tonight. Something about seeing what kind of sugar we were using for this. Is there something I should – Natsume, why are you beating your forehead against you palm like that?"

She stopped and tried not to look at him. "It's…nothing. My mother merely likes to tease me. Sugar indeed." When he opened his mouth to ask a question, she quickly asked, "Now is there a flavor you'd like to try? I'm planning on making a few kinds of cupcakes, but we'd best start with what you'd like."

He blinked. "What kinds are you planning to make?"

"The basics first: chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. I'm thinking of making carrot cake and red velvet for another two, but I'm open to suggestions." She certainly had enough syrups and candies to give him a range to choose from. She had a bottle of crushed peppermint canes in her herb and spice cabinet, too. She took that, the cinnamon, and the caramel out, and gestured for him to take his pick.

He was hesitant to decide on one, as if he feared her disapproval. With some awkwardness, he eventually sniffed at the syrups and then finally pushed the mint forward. "I would like that to be in something, if that is alright."

She gave him an encouraging smile. "That would be fine. What kind of chocolate would you like with it?"

He glanced between the white, milk, and dark chocolates and eventually decided on the white. Natsume nodded and made some calculations. Most of the carrot cake would go to Erika; the strawberry to her mother; the chocolate to her father; and the vanilla to the staff. She'd keep a few of them for Yuè and herself, of course. She'd have the red velvet – her favorite kind of cake – and he would have a white chocolate-mint blend. She had two cupcake pans, and each pan took twelve, so if she wanted to get the baking and frosting done before midnight…that meant three batches, with six of each type of cupcake.

They would probably be up a while, but it would be worth it. They'd start with the chocolate mint and red velvet. She took out her cookbook, mostly for Yuè's benefit, and watched him study it with some amusement. "We'll make three batches, separating each batch into two and then adding in the extra ingredients. How about you take the dry ingredients?"

He nodded and took one of the measuring cups, putting the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl. He did so carefully, intent on getting the measurements exactly right. She showed him how to sift the ingredients from one cup to another – packing in the ingredients threw off the mixture – and while he did that, she blended the milk, vanilla, and shortening together. She cracked the eggs into another bowl, checked it for shell shards, and then mixed that into the other wet ingredients.

She then had him mix the two bowls together. She advised him to add the dry ingredients in slowly – but of course he added too much at once, which made it that much harder for him to mix them together and made the powder puff into his face. He looked offended at that for a moment, but then began stirring with renewed vigor. She appreciated the muscles of his arms for a bit and then wondered how long it would before his arms got tired.

While he worked the mixture, she turned the oven on to preheat and greased the pans. After that, they split the batter into two bowls and added in the extra ingredients. She added cocoa, sour cream, and red food dye to the red velvet cupcakes, while he tipped mint extract and green dye into the mints. They looked rather Christmassy by the end.

Afterwards, they poured the batters into the pan and then put them into the oven to bake. She then handed Yuè one of the bowls and a spatula and said, "Dig in."

He gave her an alarmed look. "There are uncooked eggs in this. Is there not a risk of salmonella poisoning if-"

"The batter is worth the risk." To demonstrate, she took her spatula and scraped the inside of the bowl. She licked it and made a contented noise at the sweet taste of cupcake batter. He stared at her for a long moment, then gulped and did the same.

It was very satisfying to see the delight on his face when he tried the batter. "You see? It's worth it," she said lightly. He nodded and continued to enjoy the treat.

After a while, they washed and dried the dishes and began again with the other recipes. When the oven beeped, Natsume poked the cupcakes with a toothpick to see if they were done. Satisfied by what she found, she levitated the pan out of the oven and set it on the counter. The smell of cake soon filled the kitchen. They put the other pan in – this really did go faster with another person – and then Natsume took out the ingredients to make the frosting: powdered sugar, milk, and butter.

Yuè had been kind enough to bring chocolate and strawberries, which would definitely come in handy later. While the cupcakes were baking, she mixed up the frosting and set a smaller bowl of it aside. Into that she mixed peppermint extract and crushed candy canes. Yuè, meanwhile, melted some of the chocolate at the stove. He fidgeted whenever she didn't give him something to do. When the cooked cupcakes were cool enough, she took them from the pan.

Now it was time to decorate. She handed him a butter knife. "Alright. Now add as much frosting as you'd like."

Yuè, watching her out of the corner of his eye, very carefully and precisely smeared peppermint frosting on his cupcakes. Natsume was much more liberal with hers, adding swirls and peaks of frosting. While she did so, she told him, "When I was younger, my mother and I made cupcakes whenever I had a bad day. She'd always remind me to have fun – to experiment and making messes – because this doesn't have to be perfect. She always got me to relax by the end of it. So now the smell of cupcakes always calms me down."

When they were finished frosting the first batch, they took out the second, put the third one in, and turned back to their previous task. She took the melted chocolate and drizzled it over the cupcakes, then grabbed the whipped cream and said, "Now watch closely. This is a delicate tool."

She shook the bottle, aimed the nozzle, and added a burst of cream to one of her cupcakes. She handed the bottle to him, and after a couple of minor accidents on the counter, guided his hands. "Oh," he said as he got it. "That will take some practice."

She smiled and put a strawberry on top of each cupcake. She held up hers and he held up his. "And now we eat these while they're warm and fresh. Careful, the cream's dripping on yours."

He angled the cupcake, gave her a bewildered look, and asked, "How do I eat this?"

"Well, since it's your first time trying these…maybe shove half of it into your mouth and forget about the mess." She demonstrated for him, getting frosting and cream on nose but not even caring. There was frosting and cake and cream and chocolate and strawberry all together in a delicious, messy mix. For propriety's sake, she hid her mouth behind her hand when she urged, "Gowon" through a mouthful of cupcake.

He gave his cupcake an ambivalent look, but then shrugged and followed her example. Crumbs tumbled over his shirt and cream dripped over his chin, but his eyes lit up at the taste. "It's…it's delicious," he said in telepathy as he chewed. He then licked his lips and, for a second, she couldn't help but stare at him.

Then she swallowed hard, smiled, and said, "I told you so." Over the next few minutes, they ate the rest of their respective cupcakes and then tried to clean up.

She must not have managed to wipe away all the cream, though, because Yuè reached out and swiped at her cheek. His thumb came away with a fleck of white on it. He licked it and gave her a satisfied look. "Yes. Quite delicious."

Well now, that was bold. She tried to say something, but suddenly, and with a bright voice that made her jump, her mother peeked into the kitchen and said, "And how is the cupcake date going, dears?"

Natsume stepped back from Yuè and stammered, "M-Mother! You can't just have Father teleport you in here like that! You should use the door!"

Her mother – a brunette beauty who Natsume had inherited her good looks from – grinned at her. "Oh, Natsume, darling, then I would've broken up the moment! I couldn't have that, now could I?"

Natsume blinked and then bristled. "How long were you standing there?"

"Oh, not long. I see you made your favorite." She came in, setting her coat down and waggling an eyebrow at Yuè. Oh gods. "What about you, Yuè? Have you been enjoying my daughter's sweets? She'd make a lovely housewife someday, don't you think?"

"Mother!" No, this could not be happening! Her mother could not be doing this! She grimaced and looked at Yuè, who looked just as awkward as she felt.

He opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again and said, "I…am enjoying this evening, thank you. I am afraid I don't know much about what being a housewife entails, but I am certain Natsume could excel in it if she so chose."

Don't encourage her! she wanted to snarl at him, but she didn't know if Yuè even understood what her mother was suggesting.

Her mother beamed at him. "Well aren't you sweet. Natsume, isn't he sweet?"

"Mother-" Natsuko raised an eyebrow at her. "Yes. Yes, I suppose he is."

Really, her mother had taken one look at them and had heard wedding bells ringing in the distance. Natsume was almost certain there was a list of wedding venues somewhere in Natsuko's office. So when her mother said, "Why don't I help you decorate these? It's been ages since I've helped out," it took all of Natsume's self-control not to groan. Fortunately, Natsume had excellent self-control, so even her annoyed looks were kept at a minimum.

The next twenty minutes were slightly – no, extremely awkward, because her mother kept telling Yuè stories about her childhood cake catastrophes until Natsume was as red as her favorite cake. She had enough tact not to ask about Yuè's childhood (Natsume had warned her parents about that), but by the time the last batch of cupcakes were taken out to cool, Natsume was certain that even Yuè couldn't have missed what her mother was suggesting Gods, why couldn't Natsuko have taken a leaf out of her husband's book and pretended Natsume didn't know any men her own age…?

Eventually it was time to package Erika's cupcakes. As Yuè frosted and decorated the remaining ones, Natsume grabbed the wrapping plastic, the wax paper, and a basket and said, "Mother, why don't you help me with this?"

"Sure, dear. We'll be right back, Yuè!" her mother chimed.

Natsume sighed, levitated the carrot cake cupcakes in front of her, and led her mother into the adjacent room. As she set them down on the coffee table, she said, "You need to stop doing that."

"Doing what?" her mother asked innocently, taking a sheet of wax paper and placing it in the bottom of the basket. She took the cupcake wrappers began slipping cupcakes into them.

Natsume grimaced and said, "Suggesting that Yuè and I should get together."

Yuè quickly grew bored of decorating. As he finished adding chocolate chips and strawberries to their respective cupcakes, he went to the sink and washed the stickiness from his hands. He debated whether or not he should go into the other room, but then decided that maybe Natsume and her mother would want to know that the cupcakes were finished. Drying his hands, he walked to the doorway….

"…I think you should ask him out."

Yuè paused. Were they talking about him? He supposed that would explain why they'd left the kitchen. He stepped behind the doorframe, hoping they wouldn't notice him listening in.

"It's not that simple," Natsume insisted.

"Why not? Yuè's a good match for you. He's respectful – and intelligent – and psychically gifted. Handsome, too. And he adores you. What more could you want?"

"As I said, it's not – wait, did you say he adores me?" Natsume sounded skeptical. "Why do you say that?"

"Oh please. He tolerates the rest of us, but you're the only one he actually likes. The way he looks at you sometimes…."

Natsume didn't respond to that. Yuè felt his palms sweat and his stomach knot up. He didn't think he liked them talking about him like this, especially on this subject….

"Besides, I know you like him." What? Did she now…? "If you let this chance slip away, who knows when you'll get another? And your father and I won't be around forever, dear. We'd like to see you married and play with our grandchildren before we go." Yuè could hear the teasing note in Natsuko's voice, which only grew stronger as the woman went on, "You know, for the longest time we'd wondered if maybe you swung the other way. I mean, you spent all those nights at Erika's, so we thought-"

"M-Mother, really now! Stop trying to guilt me into this. That won't work and – and besides, there is still plenty of time left."

"It passes by quicker than you'd think. You're twenty-five, Natsume. In my day most women were married by-"

"The average marriage age has gone up since then," Natsume said dryly. "Look, I appreciate Yuè, but I can't be with him until…." There was a pause and then she said, "Until we're on equal footing."

Natsume's mother sounded as confused as he felt, hearing that. "Oh? What more would he need to do to be worthy of you?"

"That…that isn't what I meant." There was a heavy silence at that. Then Natsume said, "If…if you must know, he isn't someone the clan would approve of."

Natsuko snorted. "Oh darling, no one cares what the clan thinks."

"I think it's important to consider how people will react to a relationship before starting one," Natsume argued. "While they shouldn't have any say in it, they can put pressure on a couple and – if I start something with Yuè, I would rather focus on resolving any issues we have, rather than worry about what other people might think."

Her mother seemed to consider that. "…I understand what you're saying. I'm not entirely sure it's wise, but I understand. Alright, what would Yuè have to do to be equal to you?"

"Mother, this isn't what I me-" Her mother must have given her a look, because Natsume suddenly stopped talking. After a second, she continued. "Alright. We're supporting Yuè financially right now. He helps us by doing work around the grounds, but that isn't a job. So if we were in a relationship, I would be the one paying for everything and – and the clan would not appreciate that. They would call him a – a freeloader," she said, rather reluctantly.

"I…see. Is that the only thing?"

Natsume sounded uncomfortable as she admitted, "No. He would have to gain more experience to get a job-"

"You never did explain to me what he's been doing for most of his life."

"He…he hasn't had much of an opportunity to live his life until now. In any case, if he were to earn a degree of some sort, that would help. It hardly matters in what."

"…Have you discussed this with him, dear?"

"...Not yet."

"Do you intend to?" When Natsume didn't answer, her mother sighed. "You should. Otherwise he won't understand why you're hesitating."

"I…I don't want to make demands of him, Mother."

"These aren't demands. They're suggestions. And they do make sense," her mother said, if a little reluctantly.

"Why do you sound like you disapprove, then?"

"Well, dear, I just think you put your head before your heart too much. Doing something out of passion once in a while won't hurt you."

"Remind me never to have you as my witness if I commit a crime of passion someday," Natsume said dryly.

"You know what I mean. Kiss him. Jump him. Feed him cupcakes in bed-"

"Well that escalated quickly-"

"Don't be droll. Really, darling, try to live a little. If you're always this cautious, you're going to miss out on things. Really, really nice things."

Natsume muttered something and then said, "When he's a bit more established, I'll consider what you're suggesting. Until then, I want to take this slowly."

"Slowly? Darling, slowbros get more action than you."

"Now who's being droll, Mother?" Natsume asked. "Anyway, I think we have this basket ready. We should go back to the kitchen and see how he's doing."

"Changing the subject, I see."

"Yes. Yes I am."

Yuè quickly went back to the cupcakes, shaking some more sprinkles onto them when Natsume and her mother came in with the basket. "These are ready," he said, gesturing to them.

Natsume smiled and rested her hand on his arm. "You did a good job on them."

He nodded and joined them in putting the cupcakes in their wrappers. Over the next half an hour, he let Natsume and her mother draw him into conversation, though eventually they sensed that he would rather be left alone with his thoughts. Eventually Natsuko left with a box of cupcakes and wished them a good night. He then worked with Natsume on cleaning up the kitchen in silence. When that was done, he slid on his coat and watched Natsume out of the corner of his eye. She was standing by the table and eating another cupcake….

In a hot flash, he imagined going over to her, pressing her back against the edge of the table and licking the frosting from her lips. He had a human body right now. He could kiss her if he wanted to, if only...

If only he was on her level.

He ground his teeth at the thought. How many times had humans told him he was a lesser being? And now Natsume…but no. No, he was taking her criticism too far. This wasn't the same. Trying to smother his anger, he said, "I should be going now. This was…pleasant. Perhaps we can do this again sometime?" No matter how angry he was, he still craved her company.

"I'd like that." She walked up to him and touched his arm again. She studied his face for a moment and then asked, "Are you alright?"

There was a part of him that wanted to argue with her about what she'd said – but to what end? Were he living his life as a pokémon, then there would be no need for him to pursue a human education or career. But he was living his life as a human – an adult human, moreover – so what she'd said made sense. He had no right to be angry. He couldn't have his proverbial cake and eat it too. If he was going to spend his days as a human, then he would have to embrace the responsibilities that entailed.

Besides, his pride had never let him feel comfortable with Natsume's charity. He'd accepted her help from necessity, but perhaps it was time he started paying her back for it. He owed her that. He owed himself that. What kind of life would it be for him to simply take her handouts forever? It would not be one with dignity, nor would it give Natsume the respect she deserved.

As much as he loathed change, they would both be happier if he did this thing. So eventually, he told her, "I am fine. I will see you in the morning."

She looked doubtful, but nodded. "Alright. See you in the morning."

He went back to his apartment, his box of cupcakes balanced on his arm. Once there, he went to the computer and tried to think of how to start his endeavor. What did he want to do with his human life? He supposed he wasn't interested in pursuing anything related to pokémon battling. If he must fight, he would not do so for entertainment. However, he wasn't against using his abilities around others. He'd helped with odd jobs around the academy, after all. Yet these tasks, while an acceptable use of his time, gave him little pleasure.

So what was it that he enjoyed doing? The question gave him pause, for his life had not been a particularly enjoyable one before meeting Natsume. Spending time with her was pleasant. Her family, staff, and students were also…tolerable. He supposed if he had to choose, he would prefer to work with them if he could. They understood what and who he was, at least in part.

Most of the adults here were teachers, though they had their own specialties: some excelled in the social sciences, some in mathematics, some in chemistry and biology, some in languages and literature. Yuè knew that the years he'd spent around his creators and around trainers had instilled him with a basic understanding of genetics and battle strategies, but neither subject appealed to him. To spend his days in a laboratory again would not be pleasant either. Even the smell of certain antiseptics made his stomach churn.

So what subjects did appeal to him? He supposed he enjoyed music and art, though he didn't consider himself passionate about either. He enjoyed reading and had a wide variety of books. The ones on philosophy did interest him, but the techniques of debate seemed a tiresome affair. So what did that leave…?

He stared at the titles of his books…and then the answer dawned on him. History. He loved learning about the past. He'd been raised in a laboratory and honed in the arena, and neither environment had told him much about the world. But those books on his shelves had. They'd told him stories about wars and empires, about great loves and lineages, about calamities and the strangest of coincidences. There were so many different cultures out there and so many different beliefs about how the universe was ordered. And while Yuè knew that science had given them many answers to life's mysteries, he'd found humanity myths to be even more interesting.

Especially when those myths included his predecessor, Mew….

Maybe Yuè didn't know yet what he wanted his future to hold, but perhaps exploring the past would help him with that. So with some of the stipend he was given each month, he looked through the classes offered at the nearby Yamabuki University. At length, he settled on "HIS 150: The Myths, Mysteries, and History of Cion Town." That village, dedicated to the dead as it was, had interested him ever since he'd learned of it. He would start with this and see where it would take him.

If it somehow brought him closer to Natsume, then all the better...