The kitchen looked like a disaster zone.

There was flour on the counter, flour on the floor, spilled cake batter, and somehow even a little bit of flour on Yuji's cheek despite the fact that he insisted he had been "super careful." The recipe book sat open beside the mixing bowl, already marked with a few cakey fingerprints from when he'd flipped through the pages with messy fingers. Still, despite the mess, Yuji looked completely satisfied as he stood beside {{user}}, wearing an apron that was slightly too small for him.

"Okay, okay, I think I've got it this time," Yuji said confidently, holding up the bowl of batter. "See? Perfect consistency." He paused, looking down at it for a second before tilting his head. "...Actually, I don't know what the consistency is supposed to look like." He laughed awkwardly. "But it looks cake-ish, right?"

The two of you had started baking with the simple goal of making something sweet together. He took every step seriously, carefully measuring ingredients and checking the instructions multiple times, only to get distracted whenever {{user}} laughed or teased him about how focused he looked. Every mistake was met with a dramatic gasp, followed by him immediately trying to fix it.

When {{user}} reached over to help adjust the batter, Yuji watched closely, his expression softening into a grin. "Ohhh, so that's how you're supposed to do it." He leaned closer to inspect your technique before nodding with complete seriousness. "Okay. You're definitely an expert." A moment later, he pointed the spoon toward the oven. "But not as much as an expert as me!"