Exactly as Koyuki had strictly put into place, over the course of the next two days, I was placed under a strict training regimen.

He beat every step of the recipe into me to the point where I was doing the movements of whisking in my sleep, and all I saw was the measurements of the ingredients themselves. I even had dreams about cookies chasing me over a cliff into a lake of batter and chocolate chips.

I'd made so many batches; tasted nothing but cookies for days.

Inedible ones, burnt ones, crispy ones, ones with too much salt, soft ones with undercooked dough...

There was no way of telling if I was improving. Koyuki's reprimanding didn't give me the slightest clue. Whether I was baking at home and he phoned in, haunting me like some ghost to make sure I was fulfilling every responsibility he put out for me. Even if I stayed up late, his voice remained a relentless buzz in my mind, keeping me from proper rest.

All this baking had driven me to the brink of insanity. And although I could proudly proclaim my love for cookies before, now all I wanted was to groan upon their mention.

All this baking had driven me mad. There was no telling when I'd be finished. I'd be baking cookies until the day I died—

"I think she did it."

"It tastes... good."

"You finally made a great batch, Kotori!"

Their words were spinning before my eyes.

Resting my arm on the counter, I aimed my attention ahead. Smiling faces. A batch of gooey chocolate chip cookies on the platter before me—the aromatic scent overpowering any other that lingered in the room. It was a fragrance enough to brighten anybody's mood and send them to cookie heaven.

"Am I dreaming?" I had to ask.

"Nope." Koyuki picked up a cookie and shoved it into my mouth. "Taste for yourself."

My nose had honestly acclimatized to the smell of cookies, but once it hit my tongue I was hit anew with its scent. The topmost layer was an incredible golden colour. They were cracked on the surface, like a dry desert ground. But inside they were far from it; crumbling and melting, in such a delicious manner that my taste buds tingled.

These were my own creation.

And they were actually edible.

"They taste amazing!" My smile was spreading far to my ears as I removed the cookie from my mouth. I met the eyes of a grinning Miko and Koyuki. "I-I made these? I really did?"

"They look so tasty," Miko told me as she surveyed the cooling rack.

But I was beaming, leaping forward to ogle each of the twenty remaining cookies, eyes twinkling, heart thrumming an elated rhythm in my chest.

"This scent. This crunch. The smooth dough and gooey chocolate," I listed, burning each thing into my memory. "I really made this...?"

I knew my behaviour equated to one of a little kid, but at that moment I couldn't have cared. Ten months of struggle. These last few days of torture. I finally made it.

"I-I'd like to thank everyone who believed in me till today," I stammered, biting my lower lip to keep it from quivering. "And for those who didn't, especially my mom and Okito, I'd like to say 'ha-ha, I told you do.'"

"Why are you giving a speech?" Koyuki deadpanned.

"Because if she doesn't she's going to start bawling," Miko explained.

I quickly slapped my cheeks, shaking my head to keep the waterworks in. I had no time to cry.

Scooping up a cookie into my hands, I rotated fast enough to startle them and Chiaki who was elatedly eating the cookie he'd picked up.

"I'll be back," I shouted, darting to the door. "I need to shove this cookie down Okito's throat—"

"Wait."

Koyuki's grip on my arm was almost second nature. Miko's hand on my other was as well. They wore matching expressions of disapproval.

After typing at his cell with his free hand, Koyuki slipped his phone into his pocket. "Fortunately for us, Isoshi and the others have already gathered all the actors to the clubroom to apologize. This many cookies is plenty for them. Let's head there now to meet up."

I carefully craned my head, lips pursed. "But Okito—"

"Whoever that is can wait," he asserted. Miko was already handling the cookies by placing them into a separate container. "You didn't work this hard to throw this opportunity away. We have to hurry to apologize and give these cookies out."

My lips primmed together as I gave one final glance to the cookie in my fingers. "But..."

"Let's just go, Kotori." Miko plucked it out of my hand, sending me a gentle smile. "You can always bake him another batch tomorrow, and I'm sure they'll be even more of a success than these. You want him begging on his knees for them don't you?"

"Badly," I admitted.

"Then let's handle this first. Get ready and let's go."

Miko's angelic smile hit me so hard I couldn't refuse. I bobbed my head and hurried to do as told. Koyuki had to personally berate Chiaki to stop eating and force him to help clean as well. By the time we'd gotten everything tidied up and the lab was back in the pristine state it was prior to our coming here, we set off down the hall.

My heart was pounding a mile per minute, a sound too heavy in my ears. My palms were sweaty and when Miko handed me the cookies to hold myself I was even more of a mess. Koyuki and Miko tried getting me to rehearse a couple of sentences but their words were static in my ears.

Sure I made the cookies, but my apology was what mattered. If I couldn't get them to ease up, this would all have been for nothing.

What if my tastebuds were deceiving me? What if they ate these and felt sick again? What if the film didn't get finished after all this?

The pessimistic thoughts were starting to echo. I was not a gloomy person by any means, but when I got nervous my thoughts took a sudden spiral downward as if the prospect of optimism no longer existed.

When we arrived at the clubroom, all eyes shifted to us. Everyone had already arrived and I could spot the wariness and contempt painting their faces from the get-go. All my mortification came piling down on me at once.

Miko nudged me forward. Jittery, I paid a glance at Koyuki and Chiaki. They had my back. That much was certain. But it was up to me to start.

Swallowing hard, I anxiously fumbled forward.

"P-please try these!"

"Is she kidding?" somebody scoffed.

"After what happened last time she's still offering us food?"

"I thought we came here for a legitimate apology."

I could already feel my confidence shrivel.

"I-I'm so sorry." My voice cracked as I tried to speak. So faint, soft. I couldn't even hear myself spitballing. "I-I made cookies to apologize."

"Cookies?" more whispers sprang up again.

"Those are?"

I shut my eyes tight. There was no way this was going to work. They were going to hate me even more.

Koyuki stepped in to say something but I could barely hear him over my erratic heartbeat. I was clenching the container tighter than I'd ever gripped anything before.

Say something, my conscience shouted. You have to do something. C'mon! What was the reason you worked so hard for? It was to fix this, right?

I sprang up from my bow. "I—"

"Can I have one?"

My lungs stopped working for a moment. Gaping, I craned my neck back to stare at the one who'd somehow entered my vicinity without me noticing.

Sumio Tadakuni lifted his hand to adjust his glasses on his face but no inch of his expression gave away any contempt.

All conversations fell silent.

I struggled to pry apart the lid and when open, he fearlessly took one. He studied it briefly, even going to sniff it.

"Hey, don't do it!" a girl hissed.

"But they don't look that bad this time," another said.

"So what? That doesn't mean the taste isn't."

But Sumio paid them no mind. He put it into his mouth at that, chewing carefully. All oxygen was sucked from the air. I couldn't breathe, and neither could anybody else.

The wait was painful.

Until he swallowed the bite and finally spoke.

"After that day when Chiaki—the one guy I thought only cared about himself—defended you, I knew something was up." I jolted when he reached for his spectacles again, expression unreadable. "Those cupcakes you made were completely terrible—the work of a novice. I was sick for two days."

All my blood ran cold. Haughty whispers swept over the room.

"I-I'm so sorry," I said, shrinking away. "I didn't mean—"

"Why are you apologizing?"

My eyebrows shot upward. Shock contorted the faces of everyone, mainly mine. Sumio's hardened features, however, soften into a warm smile.

"These cookies are really good. You've been practicing haven't you?"

I couldn't speak; move at all, really.

"Good?"

"Seriously?"

Sumio looked behind him. "You all should come try these as well."

Slowly but surely, their curiosity got the best of them and they made their way over. One by one they each took a cookie. One by one they bit into it. And one by one they produced gasps of surprise.

"They're... not bad," one murmured.

"They're delicious," another confirmed.

"What the heck? Did she actually bake these?"

It was as if the world had started to move in slow motion. Relief pervaded me, becoming more focused, more intense. My nerves vanished, and hopeless tears cascaded down my cheeks.

"Kotori? What's wrong?" Miko demanded after seeing them.

I shook my head, going to shield my face. But they wouldn't stop falling. They couldn't.

"Th-they said it was d-delicious," I stuttered through breaths. "I-I baked something a-and people liked it."

"I know," Miko said, a gentle smile seizing her countenance. "Even so, you don't have to cry so much."

"B-but... b-but," I blubbered.

I felt like such a baby. Ten whole months of failure and others insisting I couldn't do it. And yet because of them—because the three of them were there, helping me...

I sobbed even harder. "Th-thank y-you."

A wide grin plastered upon Koyuki's face. "Stop crying already, Teruhashi. You're gathering eyes." When I only snivelled more, he laughed and ruffled the top of my hair. "Jeez, you're such a handful. That's why you make it so damn difficult for people to leave you alone."

"S-s-sorry," I whimpered, burying my face into my inner elbow. "I-I'll work hard. I-I'll get better, so..."

"I understand so stop crying already."

Chiaki patted my arm, munching on yet another cookie. "There, there..."

"She's pretty cute."

"Maybe we jumped to conclusions."

"Everyone screws up from time to time. There's no way she meant any harm."

"Even if I can't vouch for her cupcakes, as you can see, she's really just a sweet girl with nothing but good intentions," Koyuki said, grinning at the rest of them. "I hope you all can forgive her."

The rest of them shared a smile of their own.

"And can I ask for your cooperation with the film once more?" He unhanded my head and dropped into a bow. "Please!"

I immediately bent into a bow as well, still bawling like an idiot. "P-p-please!"

"Don't worry about it, Teruhashi," Sumio told me. "We forgive you so stop sobbing already."

"R-really?"

"Really," he enunciated. "Since we're all already gathered, why don't we figure out what to do? The film's due date is in five days, so what are our options?"

As the students starting excitedly engaging in conversation, tossing ideas here and there, my tears dried up before long. Miko shared her composition sheet and those experienced with the such immediately complimented her. Other girls crowded around and handed me handkerchiefs, laughing about how much of a mess I was. They also prodded me to head to the bathroom to wash my face to which Miko said she'd accompany me.

As we made our way through, my tears had shifted to hysteric giggles.

This really was surreal. Everything had come together so perfectly. They truly enjoyed my baking.

As I rounded the next corner, throwing my arms into the air in triumph, I heard a small shuffle from behind. I halted and hurriedly cast a glance over my shoulder. At the end of the hall, near the Film Club, I spotted a face poking out, beady eyes aimed directly at me. But just as soon as it was there, it reeled back and vanished.

What the...? A person?

"Something wrong, Kotori?"

Miko came to a stop ways ahead of me.

I resisted a shiver. "N-nothing."

When she continued onward, I discreetly peeked back once more.

Was it my imagination or was someone watching me just now?