Cake Shop Routine

Morning sunlight slanted through the classroom windows, casting a warm yellow patch across the blackboard.

Yuto lay sprawled over his desk, his chin resting on his folded arms as his unfocused gaze fell on his textbook. The teacher was lecturing about Japanese history from the podium, his steady voice as soothing as a lullaby. Every so often, the sound of chalk tapping against the blackboard jolted Yuto's drooping eyelids back open a little.

Ike, seated in front of him, was quietly discussing yesterday's gaming session with Yamauchi. They had not kept their voices low enough, though, and only fell silent after the teacher shot them a glare. To Yuto's right, Sudo was doodling in his textbook. No matter how Yuto looked at it, the drawing resembled a stick figure playing basketball. The entire classroom was steeped in that loose atmosphere unique to the first days after school began—no one had fully adjusted from their vacation rhythm yet.

Yuto shifted positions and turned his face toward the window. A group of students were running on the field during PE class, and the distant shouts of commands reached him faintly, blurred and far away through the glass.

He thought of yesterday.

The way Hiyori's eyes had lit up when she talked about The Setting Sun in the library, and the natural tone in which she had said, "You can ask me." Things had gone a little more smoothly than expected. But precisely because of that, he could not rush. He needed to keep a steady pace. Going to the library once a week was enough. He would go again on Wednesday. If he ran into her, he would greet her naturally. If he did not, he would read for a while and leave. That would maintain the rhythm without making him seem deliberate.

He also thought of running into Kushida in the cafeteria that evening. Her invitation to go shopping over the weekend. He had neither accepted nor refused, merely saying, "I'll see how things are then." That vague response was the safest option for him—it would neither make him seem overly enthusiastic nor completely cut off the possibility. He needed to keep his distance from Kushida and observe her for a while. He could not let her pull him into her social circle too quickly.

"Lin."

A voice came from beside him.

Yuto turned his head and saw Horikita Suzune looking at him. She held a pen in her hand, and there was a faintly scrutinizing look in her eyes.

"You're spacing out again," she said.

"I'm not. I'm listening to the lesson," Yuto said.

"Then repeat what the teacher just said."

Yuto fell silent for two seconds. "...Japan's economic transformation in the modern era."

Horikita raised one eyebrow slightly, said nothing, and turned back to continue taking notes.

That reaction meant he had guessed right. Yuto breathed a sigh of relief inwardly, then slumped back over his desk. Horikita looked cold and distant, but sometimes she would suddenly take the initiative to speak to him, as if checking whether he was still alive. Their interactions were hardly intimate, but they were at least better than during the first few days of school—back then, she would not even spare him a second glance.

During the break, Yuto went to the restroom. On his way back, he passed the bulletin board at the end of the hallway. Several colorful club recruitment posters were pinned there, eye-catching enough, but he only glanced at them before returning to the classroom.

When he returned to his seat, Ike and Yamauchi were talking about games. Their voices were neither too loud nor too quiet, just loud enough for the people around them to hear. Hirata listened beside them with a smile, chiming in from time to time. The classroom was noisy, no different from usual.

Yuto sat down, took out the textbook for the next class, and casually flipped through a few pages.

The morning classes passed by without incident.

When the bell rang at the end of fourth period, Yuto stretched, his bones cracking loudly. He packed up his textbooks and prepared to head to the cafeteria for lunch.

As he reached the door, Kushida Kikyo happened to be walking over from the hallway. The instant she saw him, a smile blossomed across her face.

"Lin! Want to go eat together?"

"Sure," Yuto said.

The two of them headed toward the cafeteria side by side. There were plenty of people in the hallway, and Kushida greeted passersby every so often, that perfectly measured smile never leaving her face. Her social skills truly were remarkable—Yuto noticed that she could practically call every passing student by name, and she could exchange a few words with each of them.

"Do you have any plans this weekend, Lin?" Kushida asked, as though merely bringing it up casually.

"Not yet."

"Then do you want to come with us?" Kushida tilted her head toward him, her tone carrying a hint of coquettishness. "Like I told you last time, some new shops opened over at Keyaki Mall. Let's go take a look together. Hirata and the others are going too, so it won't be boring."

"I'll think about it."

"Don't think about it. It's more fun when everyone hangs out together," Kushida said with a smile. "And you don't have to work at the cake shop on weekends, right?"

"The cake shop is closed on weekends," Yuto said. "But I might have other plans."

"What kind of plans?"

"I haven't decided yet."

Kushida smiled and did not press further. Still, Yuto could feel her gaze lingering on his face for two seconds, as though she were judging whether he was telling the truth.

When they reached the cafeteria, they each got their food and found a window-side table. They had only taken a few bites when Hirata Yosuke approached carrying his tray.

"Kushida, Lin, may I sit here?"

"Of course!" Kushida said brightly.

Hirata sat down, glanced at Yuto, and offered him a friendly smile. "Are you getting used to the school, Lin? If you need help with anything, you can tell me."

"I'm doing fine," Yuto said. "Nothing in particular has been difficult to get used to."

"That's good." Hirata nodded. "If anything comes up, feel free to talk to me or Kushida."

His tone was sincere, not just polite. Yuto had a fairly good impression of Hirata—he was the kind of person who was genuinely kind, though sometimes perhaps a little too kind.

The three of them chatted about inconsequential things while they ate. Kushida and Hirata discussed the weekend shopping trip, deciding whom to invite. Yuto ate quietly, responding once or twice now and then but mostly listening. From their conversation, he learned that the outing would mainly consist of girls, with Hirata being one of the few boys invited. Kushida also mentioned Karuizawa Kei, saying that she wanted to go too.

After lunch, they returned to the classroom. There was still some time left in the lunch break.

Yuto leaned back in his chair and checked his phone. He had one unread message, from Miki at the cake shop. "Are you free after school today? We got a shipment of new ingredients, and I'd like you to come try them out."

He replied with two words: "All right."

Setting down his phone, he looked out the window. The sky was blue, and the clouds drifted slowly. Days this peaceful made him feel comfortable. There was nothing in particular to worry about, nothing to scheme over. Every day consisted of attending class, eating, and going to the library or the cake shop. If things could go on like this forever, that would not be so bad.

But he knew perfectly well that this peace would not last long. He knew the school's rules better than anyone—the points system, class competition, special exams. Those things would come for him sooner or later. What he had to do now was establish his footing in this world before they did.

The part-time job at the cake shop was a beginning. He needed points, skills, and a reasonable excuse to approach those female characters. The cake shop happened to fulfill all three needs at once.

The first class in the afternoon was modern literature. The teacher called on several students to answer questions, including Horikita. When she stood up to answer, she spoke at an even pace and expressed herself clearly. It was obvious that she had prepared seriously beforehand. The teacher was very satisfied with her answer and nodded before telling her to sit down.

Yuto noticed Kushida, seated diagonally behind him, glance at Horikita while she was answering. That look was fleeting. If he had not happened to turn around at just that moment, he would never have noticed it. He could not tell what emotion it held, but it was certainly not friendliness.

The second class was mathematics. The teacher wrote several questions on the blackboard and had everyone solve them on the spot. Yuto lowered his head to calculate for a while, then wrote down his answers in his notebook. Beside him, Sudo scratched his head in frustration, poking at his notebook with his pen for ages without writing more than a few numbers. In the end, he simply gave up and lay on his desk, spacing out.

When the dismissal bell rang, Yuto packed up his things, said goodbye to several classmates, and left the classroom. He headed out along the school building, crossed the connecting bridge, and turned onto the path leading toward the commercial district.

The cake shop was on the shopping street behind the school building. The storefront was not large, but its sign was conspicuous: a white doorframe paired with a pale blue awning, with several display cake models arranged in the window. When he pushed open the door, the sweet aroma of butter and sugar washed over him.

"You're here." Miki poked her head out from behind the counter and smiled when she saw him. "Perfect timing. I just finished sorting out the new ingredients. Come take a look."

Miki's full name was Sato Miki. She was in her thirties, with short hair and faint lines at the corners of her eyes when she smiled, though she looked energetic overall. She was the owner and head pastry chef of the cake shop. Her baking was excellent, and she had a straightforward personality.

Yuto changed into his work clothes, tied on an apron, and headed into the kitchen.

Several bags of flour sat on the counter, along with a box of butter, several bottles of vanilla extract, and some ingredients he did not recognize.

"This batch of butter is from Hokkaido. It has a higher fat content than what we used before, so the cakes will come out softer." Miki patted the box of butter. "Get a feel for it first. Make me a basic chiffon cake."

"Okay."

Yuto washed his hands and got to work.

Beating eggs, separating the whites from the yolks, weighing flour, adding sugar, mixing... He had performed these movements countless times at the cake shop in his previous life. His hands felt somewhat different after changing bodies, but the muscle memory remained, and he did not feel rusty.

Miki leaned against the doorframe and watched him work without speaking. But Yuto could feel her gaze following his hands, as though she were evaluating his skill.

When he beat the egg whites, he deliberately continued for a little longer, making the meringue finer. The crucial part of a chiffon cake was how well the egg whites were whipped. Underwhip them and the cake would collapse; overwhip them and they would become too dry. He controlled his pace and stopped once the meringue reached that fine, glossy state.

"Not bad," Miki said.

Yuto did not stop. He continued folding the yolk batter and meringue together. His movements were neither fast nor slow, and his technique was textbook—lifting from the bottom and folding rather than stirring, preventing the mixture from deflating.

He poured the batter into a mold, lightly tapped it a few times, and placed it in the preheated oven.

"Bake it for forty minutes." Miki checked the oven temperature. "You can keep track of the timing yourself, right?"

"I can."

"Then I'll go take care of the front. Call me when it's done."

After saying that, Miki left the kitchen, leaving Yuto alone.

The oven gave off a low hum. Heat seeped out through its gaps, filling the entire kitchen with warmth. Yuto leaned against the work counter and watched the batter slowly rise inside the oven, a feeling of indescribable steadiness settling in his chest.

He liked making cakes. Not because baking cakes carried any great meaning, but because the act itself calmed him. Measuring ingredients, mixing, baking—every step had its own rhythm. He did not need to think too much. He only had to follow that rhythm.

At this school, many things required calculation, planning, and weighing pros and cons. But when he stood before an oven, he did not need to think about any of that. He only needed to do what was in front of him well.

Was that a form of escape? Maybe. But escaping once in a while was not necessarily a bad thing.

He picked up his phone to check the time, then put it down again. Waiting for something to bake was the most leisurely time at a cake shop. There was nothing to do but wait. Leaning against the counter, he listened to the oven's steady hum and felt his entire body relax.

Forty minutes later, he took the cake from the oven and turned it upside down onto a cooling rack. Its surface was a beautiful pale gold. When he pressed it lightly with a finger, he could feel its soft springiness.

Miki came in, looked at the cake, then pressed it herself before nodding. "Not bad. You've improved since last time. Did you really never receive any formal training?"

"No," Yuto said. "I just figured things out on my own."

"Then you're quite talented," Miki said. "Try out these new ingredients over the next couple of days. Once you get a feel for them, I'm planning to let you try making a featured item."

"A featured item?"

"Yeah. We'll recommend one cake each day and put it in the most prominent spot in the display window." Miki said, "There are more students at the school now. Relying on old customers alone isn't enough. We need some new ideas to attract people."

Yuto nodded.

"If you can come up with something satisfactory, I'll put it in tomorrow's featured spot." Miki patted him on the shoulder. "Give it some thought."

Then she left.

Yuto looked at the cake in front of him, his thoughts beginning to turn. A featured product—this was an opportunity.

If he could make a popular cake, it would not only increase the shop's income but also help him establish a bit of a reputation in baking circles. And then—he thought of Hiyori. If the shop released a new product, he could invite her to try it. That would be a natural excuse and would not seem deliberate. She liked peace and quiet, but she probably would not refuse a free slice of cake.

He picked up a pen and wrote down several keywords on a sticky note behind the counter: matcha, red beans, cream.

Japanese-style flavors had broad appeal among students. Matcha and red bean were a classic, foolproof pairing, and they looked good too. If he could make a matcha red bean cream roll and plate it nicely, it should sell well.

He mentally went through the method and decided it was feasible.

Just then, the bell above the shop door rang.

"Welcome!"

Miki's voice came from the front. Immediately afterward, a familiar voice rang out.

"Miki! I'm back again!"

It was Kushida.

Yuto poked his head out from the kitchen and saw Kushida walk in with two girls behind her. One was Matsushita Chiaki. Her name seemed familiar—she was also in Class D and was close to Kushida. He did not recognize the other girl. She had short hair and wore a headband, and she was probably from the neighboring class.

"I brought my friends today." Kushida smiled, sweeping her eyes around the shop. "Is Lin here?"

"He's in the kitchen," Miki said.

"Perfect!" Kushida called toward the kitchen. "Lin! Did you make anything tasty?"

Yuto wiped his hands and came out of the kitchen.

"I just baked a chiffon cake," he said.

"Really? I want to try some!" Kushida's eyes lit up. She then turned to her two friends. "Lin's cakes are really delicious. I had one he made on the first day of school."

That was a bit exaggerated—the cake she had eaten on the first day of school had simply been one sold by the shop, with nothing to do with him. But Yuto did not expose her. He merely nodded.

"It hasn't cooled completely yet. You'll have to wait a while before I can cut it."

"That's okay, we can wait!" Kushida said, pulling her two friends over to sit at one of the shop's tables.

Yuto returned to the kitchen and continued tidying the counter. He could hear the three girls chatting in the front, their voices drifting over in fragments.

"...Did you know? That Sakayanagi girl from Class A seems to be in poor health. She didn't come to school today."

"Really? Isn't she always like that?"

"This time seems pretty serious. I heard she was taken to the infirmary."

"Well, she's always been frail, but she's still pretty cute."

"What's the point of being cute? It's not like she can play sports."

The three girls chatted about gossip for a while before turning back to the weekend shopping trip.

"Will Lin come?" Matsushita asked.

"I asked him. He said he'd think about it," Kushida said.

"He hardly talks at all," the short-haired girl said. "He doesn't really say much in class either."

"That's just his personality. He talks more once he gets familiar with you," Kushida explained for him.

Yuto figured that was enough. He cut several slices of chiffon cake, arranged them on small plates, and carried them out.

"Give it a try." He placed the plates on the table.

"Wow, it looks so good!" Kushida picked up a fork, cut off a small piece, and put it into her mouth. A satisfied expression immediately appeared on her face. "It's delicious! So soft! You're amazing, Lin!"

The other two girls tried some as well, and both gave it favorable reviews.

"It really is good."

"It's even softer than the ones sold outside."

Yuto stood nearby until they finished, then collected the plates.

"Are you really not coming this weekend, Lin?" Kushida asked again.

"I'll see when the time comes," Yuto said. "If I'm free, I'll come."

"Then it's settled!" Kushida said with a smile, as though she had already decided that he would be going.

The three girls sat around chatting in the shop for a while longer before finally leaving. As she left, Kushida turned back to glance at him and waved, as if telling him not to forget.

Yuto returned to the kitchen and washed the plates clean.

Miki walked in and glanced at him. "That girl seems to like you quite a bit."

Yuto did not respond.

"But you don't seem all that interested in her," Miki added.

"It's not that I'm not interested," Yuto said. "I just haven't figured out how to handle it."

"All right, it's your own business. You can decide for yourself." Miki smiled and did not say anything more. "By the way, have you decided what you want to make for the featured product?"

"I have," Yuto said. "A matcha red bean cream roll."

"That sounds good." Miki nodded. "Make it tomorrow and let me see. If it passes, we'll start featuring it the day after tomorrow."

"Okay."

Yuto washed his hands, took off his apron, and put away his work clothes. Today's shift was over.