“Then it's a promise. When the time comes, I'll sit in the most conspicuous spot in your class's café, order the most expensive cake, and wait for you to serve it to me yourself in your maid outfit.”
Yuki looked at Qiluo, a certain certainty shining in her eyes.
“I'll save the best seat for you, and the prettiest slice of cake too.”
This time, it was Qiluo's turn to fall silent.
She had only teased Yuki out of habit. Based on past experience, Yuki would have blushed, lowered her head, and then Qiluo would have laughed and said she was just joking before they went back to drinking tea.
But this time, Yuki had played along with the joke.
This left the next tease Qiluo had prepared completely useless.
She picked up her teacup and took a sip. The strawberries on the side of the dessert were fresh, the powdered sugar was sprinkled just right, and the cake sponge was perfectly fluffy.
Today's joke was also just right for Yuki Kurokawa.
She poked another piece with her fork and popped it into her mouth, thinking that this afternoon's sunlight and black tea were probably a perfect match.
Meanwhile, Yuki sat quietly beside her, scrolling through the school festival preparation notice on her phone, occasionally looking up to steal a glance at her.
An afternoon like this didn't need any extra embellishments; it was complete in itself.
Rin Kurokawa stared at the paragraph on her screen, which still felt awkward despite her repeated edits. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, hesitant to press down.
The knock on the door was very light, just two taps.
She closed her laptop, smoothed a few stray hairs by her temples with her fingers, stood up, and walked to the door.
Before opening it, she glanced at the digital clock on her desk. It was 3:30 PM.
Yuki would usually send a message on her phone saying, “I'm going to knock,” instead of knocking directly like this.
Qiluo Tian Gong stood outside, one hand still raised in a knocking gesture, while the other was tucked behind her back.
“The dough is ready. Come bake cookies with us.”
Standing behind her bedroom door, Rin Kurokawa still had her hand on the doorknob. Qiluo's voice filtered through the wood, losing its usual crispness and taking on a softer quality.
Rin Kurokawa was taken aback.
“Together”—the word felt somewhat foreign to her.
She had thought it was enough for her younger sister and Qiluo to spend time together, and that she herself had already overstepped quite a bit today.
She hadn't expected Qiluo to come call her specifically.
She looked down at her loungewear, making sure all the buttons were neatly fastened before turning the doorknob.
The moment the door opened, Qiluo's hand was still raised in mid-air, likely preparing to knock a third time.
Seeing Rin open the door, she withdrew her hand, tucked it behind her back, and tilted her head with a smile.
“I thought you were asleep.”
“...No, I was reviewing some documents.”
She followed Qiluo toward the kitchen, keeping a distance of about one step.
In the kitchen, Yuki had already taken the chilled dough out of the refrigerator and was gently rolling it out with a rolling pin.
Several cookie cutters were neatly arranged on the counter.
Stars, moons, kittens... she had dug them all out from her pile of baking tools.
Hearing footsteps, Yuki looked up. Seeing her older sister walking in behind Qiluo, her movements hesitated slightly.
“Are you joining us too, Sis?”
“Yeah...”
Rin walked to the opposite side of the counter and rolled up her sleeves.
Qiluo was already standing beside Yuki, looking down to examine the cutters. She picked up the star-shaped one and held it up to the light to see if the edges were sharp.
“The star is mine, the kitten is Yuki's, the moon is Rin-jie's, and the little airplane is mine too.”
“You want two for yourself?” Rin asked as she took the moon cutter.
“Because the little airplane is so cute, and it's really well-made.”
Qiluo couldn't exactly say that she had never seen an airplane in the other world and was just novelty-seeking.
She aligned the little airplane on the dough, then looked up at Rin, a faint hint of playfulness in her eyes.
“And Rin-jie, the moon suits you perfectly. It's cool and quiet, hanging up in the sky without saying a word, yet everyone looks up at it.”
Rin pressed the moon cutter into the dough. She watched as Qiluo pressed down the star and the little airplane in turn, then carefully peeled away the excess dough scraps. Qiluo's movements weren't practiced, but she was highly focused.
She had probably just said those words in passing.
But to the one they were aimed at, it felt as if a casually shot arrow had struck dead center in a corner of her heart she rarely touched herself.
She carefully transferred the pressed moon cookie to the baking sheet, placing it next to Qiluo's little airplane. The spacing was just right, as if leaving room for the stars and kittens too.
Qiluo placed the last little airplane cookie onto the baking sheet, took a step back, and wiped imaginary sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.
Yuki had already turned to preheat the oven. Standing across the counter, Rin was using a small brush to gently sweep away excess flour from the surface of the moon cookie.
Even though it didn't really do much.
The wait for the cookies passed quickly, as if offering a quiet respite after the earlier chatter.
With a ding from the oven, Yuki put on oven mitts, bent down, and gently pulled the baking sheet out.
A wave of hot air, carrying the sweet aroma of baked butter and flour, rushed over them, drifting between the three of them.
“These look pretty decent,” Qiluo said, leaning in. She tested the temperature of the baking sheet's edge with her finger, only to have her hand gently slapped away by Yuki.
“It's hot. You have to wait for it to cool down before touching it,” Yuki said, placing the baking sheet on the cooling rack. Her movements were gentle, and the metal rack clinked softly as it met the sheet.
Using tongs, she transferred the cookies one by one to the cooling rack, lining them up with equal spacing between each one.
There were also a few abstract creations that Qiluo had molded into unrecognizable shapes.
Yuki placed those abstract pieces in a separate corner, neither throwing them away nor mixing them with the other cookies.
“These ones are mine,” Yuki said, pointing at the abstract pieces.
Rin watched her younger sister claim the ugliest cookies Qiluo had made. She didn't say anything, but simply pushed the moon cookies in front of her slightly toward Qiluo.
Yuki took out several small transparent bags from the cabinet, carefully tying each one with a thin silver ribbon into a neat little bow.
Seizing the moment Yuki turned around to get the sugar, Qiluo reached out, snatched a crooked, unrecognizable cookie, and stuffed it into her mouth.
Yuki turned back, holding the sugar jar she had just found.
She looked at the obvious gap at the edge of the baking sheet, then at the evidence on the corner of Qiluo's mouth that hadn't been destroyed yet. She set the powdered sugar jar down on the counter.
Pulling out a tissue, she gently wiped away the crumb at the corner of Qiluo's mouth.
“It's still hot, and it hasn't even been dusted with powdered sugar yet.”
Yuki Kurokawa had failed to keep an eye on the habitual food thief.
“The plain flavor is good too,” Qiluo said righteously as she stuffed the other half into her mouth and chewed, her gaze already drifting toward another untouched plate of green cookies on the table.
Rin had already picked up a matcha-flavored cookie and taken a light bite. The slight bitterness of the matcha melted on her tongue, followed closely by the rich creaminess of the butter and the sweetness of the sugar.
Rate on N.U.
