The unpleasant stench of the smoke encased the room, wisps curling and fluttering through the thick, hazy air. Even after the fire had long been extinguished, the smoke lingered, ready to greet whoever opened the door.

'It's impossible to go wrong with chocolate chip cookies.'

That was what I sincerely believed.

Until today, at least.

"How the heck is it possible to start a fire that quickly? We only took our eyes off you for two minutes! Just two!"

Koyuki was fuming. Nostrils flaring and teeth gritted, he swatted the smoke as far as he could out the open window, a fire extinguisher gripped in his other hand. Chiaki stood beside him, hands clasped over his mouth as not to inhale the smoke.

From where I was ducking behind the counter, tears stung the corners of my eyes. "I said I was sorry."

Koyuki twisted away from me, going on to wave the smoke as far as he could from the smoke detectors so they wouldn't go off. Fortunately, they didn't, and the air cleared soon enough. Once the frosty January breeze permeated the room, replacing the previous smoke, Koyuki cast the extinguisher to its proper location. Chiaki also let his hands fall to his sides.

Then with one shared glance, the two made their way over to what had caused this disaster.

"So this is what we're dealing with." Koyuki stared down at the black balls of dough stuck to the cookie sheet. He prodded at them, but they were hard as black ice, shedding its flakes the more it moved. "She can seriously make coal out of anything."

"Excuse you!" I called out from where I was. "I was fine with doing a sorbet but you're the one who insisted we make chocolate chip cookies instead."

"Because I assumed anyone, including someone as inept at baking as you, could succeed in it." He sighed. "But if you can't even follow a simple recipe to make chocolate chip cookies, this is even worse than I thought."

I rose to my feet, zephyrs of cold air nipping my exposed legs and arms as I did. Seeing my pout, Koyuki sweatdropped and beckoned me over.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to insult you out so much. The only reason I let you bake without instruction was to see what I was dealing with. But thanks to that I now know I have to teach you everything from scratch. That makes things easy then."

I carefully approached him and he shoved the empty bowl of batter I'd used earlier at my stomach.

"If you can't make it yourself, I'll have to do each step with you enough times you can do it in your sleep." He went over to another station to grab more bowls. "Go wash everything you used and toss out the coal you made so we can start over."

For someone who was apparently sorry for insulting me, he sure didn't make the effort of pulling his punches.

Shaking my head, I scooped everything I needed into the sink to wash. I then returned to where I'd left the cookies to throw them out only to find Chiaki hovering over them. Eyelids sluggishly parting and closing, he picked up one of the huge blocks of crusted dough. Shaking it and then hitting it against the counter only for it to chip, he hesitantly brought it to his nose to sniff. His features morphed in distaste. Then ever so slowly, he brought it to his lips.

My heart dropped in my chest. Most likely for Koyuki too because as soon as he was returning, he gasped and slapped the thing right out of his hand. It slid across the floor, and as if he'd just saved the entire world from a detonating bomb, Koyuki wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.

"What were you thinking, idiot? Don't eat them!"

Chiaki's eyes followed the cookie on the ground, and he pouted. "But... I'm hungry," he said. "We've been here since school ended and I haven't gotten to eat anything."

As soon as he mentioned it, my stomach took the opportunity to rumble. Likewise, I could tell by the look on Koyuki's face that he was considering his own hunger as well. It should've been around five o'clock by now, and we'd been working meticulously in this room since the final bell rang around three. Hard work always blocked you from details such as time and hunger, but now that we'd recognized this famish, we needed to handle it if we wanted to continue.

"Did someone say they're hungry?"

My eyebrows shot up, mouth twisting into a grin as I turned toward the doorway. Entering with a smile of her own was my right hand and best friend, Miko. Still donned in her uniform and winter coat, she carried a large two-layered lunchbox in her hands, a purple satchel hung by her shoulder.

"My goddess!" I shouted, racing toward her.

With the clash of aromas floating into the air, there was no mistaking what was in her hands. My stomach produced another rumble as she placed it down on the main table, pulling apart the lids and revealing a mouth-watering assortment of rice balls as well as sandwiches.

"I assumed you guys needed a break soon," Miko said. "And since sweets wouldn't exactly be considered a healthy dinner, I thought rice balls would be a better substitute."

The boys approached. While Chiaki and I immediately went in for the food, uttering a simultaneous 'thanks for the food', Koyuki remained slack-jawed as he surveyed it over.

"You went all the way home and back for us?"

Miko sheepishly chuckled, brushing her hair behind her ear. "Am I being too meddlesome?"

Koyuki's smile reached his ears. "Of course not. Thanks, Sakurauchi."

"Why are you always so nice to Miko and yet look ready to bite my head off all the time?" I murmured between bites.

"Because Sakurauchi at least acts her age." He sent me a foul look for emphasis. Picking up a rice ball, he went on, "I don't know what you did to get her on your side but you don't appreciate her enough for dealing with you."

Frowning, I ambled to Miko and pulled her into a bear hug. "Leave my goddess alone and find your own."

I stuck out my tongue, squeezing her tightly. Koyuki sent me a dirty look. Miko uncomfortably laughed.

"So... yummy," Chiaki murmured through a mouth full of rice ball.

"I'm glad to hear that," Miko said after prying my hands off her. "So how's training going?"

"Terrible," I answered. "Even though they said the two of them would be teaching me, Koyuki's the only one that's been doing any instructing."

"Really?"

"I preferred Chiaki way better," I went on, nodding. "He didn't yell at me or get angry when I accidentally got too close to him. And we even got to stop and taste the delicious treat he made. Now look at me now under Koyuki's reign. It's already been two hours and we haven't made anything delicious at all!"

"You haven't made anything delicious at all," Koyuki corrected and made a face. "Do you only want to become a pastry chef so you can eat everything you make?"

"Heck yeah, I do! That's why I need to get better. So instead of berating my baking please help me reach my gluttonous dream, Koyuki."

His brow twitched, and the sight of his black look allowed fear to grip my shoulders. I paled straightaway, resisting the urge to shudder. Maybe I took that joke too far.

"Regardless of if you want Chiaki to mentor you or not, it's not going to happen," Koyuki snapped. "He isn't good at baking."

My eyes widened. And although I expected him to catch his words, he didn't.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "He told me that he makes his own desserts."

"Frozen desserts," Koyuki corrected, matter-of-factly. "If you noticed anything at all, he only gets excited about cold treats. He'll still eat warm ones but has no interest in baking them. Therefore, if our goal is to bake chocolate chip cookies, he won't be much help to you."

After Koyuki finished his explanation, I shared a look with Miko then glanced over to Chiaki who was still munching listlessly on the food Miko brought. True, whenever it came to shaved ice, matcha ice cream, anmitsu or even the watermelon sorbet, they were all cold desserts Chiaki got excited about. And aside from such things, I'd never seen equal enthusiasm emanate from him.

Technically speaking, what Koyuki said had answered a lot of questions.

"On the other hand," Koyuki went on once it clicked, "I specialize in breads, pastries, cakes—anything consisting of either batter or dough, really. Plus it's easy for me to explain what I'm doing, unlike Chiaki who just puts things together and makes it work. That's why I'm the perfect mentor for helping you learn how to bake cookies."

"But if you're good at baking you can just make the cookies for us," I reasoned.

Koyuki's features scrunched together. "Did you forget the reason we're even doing this? You want to apologize to the actors don't you? What kind of message would you be sending if you don't make them yourself?"

His words hit hard. There really was no easy way out of this.

Koyuki sighed. "That aside, thanks for coming, Sakurauchi. But as you can tell, there's still a lot of work to be done with her baking so you can head home."

"Before that," Miko said. She slipped her bag off of her shoulder and unzipped it. "I actually finished the composition for the film."

"You did?" he demanded, eyelids peeling apart.

"Yup." Smiling, she slipped out a couple of papers—music sheets—and extended them for him to see. "I was hoping you could look it over to see if you liked it. I really tried my best to match it to the film's theme."

Using his hand untouched by the food, Koyuki took the sheets from her. I moved in close to scan the sheets as well. Confusion washed my features blank.

"What do the little swirls mean?" I asked her.

"This doesn't make sense to me either," Koyuki confessed.

Miko laughed. "I should've expected so," she said. "Well, since clubs are still going on maybe we can check if the music rooms are still open. Do you have time to listen to it now?"

Koyuki returned them to her and peered at me. He frowned. "As much as I want to, we haven't made any progress with Teruhashi's baking yet, so—"

"I want to listen! Please let me listen!"

Tossing my hands into the air, I advanced toward the doors.

Chiaki rose one hand as well, his other holding another rice ball to his mouth. "Me... too," he agreed.

Before I could slip off my apron and leave the room, I was seized by the collar. Without even turning around, I knew Koyuki was glaring at me hard. "Where exactly do you think you're going?"

"The music rooms to listen to my goddess play piano."

I tried to move forward but his hold didn't relent.

"And what are you going to do about your training?"

"Mr. Hanamura gave us permission to use the lab until six o'clock." I twisted for freedom. "We have plenty of time to come back."

Koyuki suddenly let go of me, resulting in a loss of balance. I stumbled forward and grouchily looked behind me.

"You don't understand anything do you?" he snapped. "We don't have time to wait until six o'clock. With your skills we need two months let alone two days to improve your cooking so we can re-appeal the actors and film and edit the film in time. You have to use every last bit of your free time to practice."

My lips flattened. I could understand why he was on edge. I promised to do my best to make this up to him and yet look at what I was doing. I wasn't taking it seriously at all.

The due date to the film was around the corner and there was still lots to be done. If I wanted even the shot of making it up to him, I didn't have a second to waste. I'd given Koyuki hope for this thing again and I couldn't go ahead and shatter it.

Biting the inside of my cheek, my shoulders sagged. "I understand. No more wasting time."

"Good," he said. He headed in the direction of the counter only to return with the recipe book. He even handed me his cellphone, a YouTube video placed onto the screen. "Now carefully read over the recipe and watch this video until it sticks in your memory."

Once in hand, I glanced between the two items. When I elevated my head again, I noticed Koyuki slipping off his apron and placing it onto a hanger. After Chiaki did the same, the two made their way towards the exit.

"Huh?" I asked, swivelling around. "Where are you guys going?"

"To listen to Sakurauchi play piano," Koyuki replied when he was halfway out of the room. He stopped to poke his head inside, a stern frown in place. "We'll be back so don't you dare try baking anything until then. And don't forget to clean up your mess in the meantime."

"Good luck, Kotori," Miko called and waved as she left along with him.

Chiaki flashed me a thumbs-up as he followed in pursuit. Once gone and silence flooded the room as easily as the smoke had earlier, my jaw fell.

They couldn't be serious, leaving me behind like this. Sure I didn't have the time to dilly-dally like them, but this was so unfair!

"Koyuki, you demon," I whined, staring down at the recipe and video. He could be a little kinder to me, couldn't he?