He Saw His Honesty

I honestly didn’t think Yukinoshita would go that far berating a girl. I hadn’t

just flinched; I’d been cringing halfway out the door. But apparently for

Yuigahama, that diatribe had only been flinch-worthy.

“But it felt like you were being honest. And when you talk to Hikki, you

only ever say terrible things to each other, but…you’re actually talking. I

only ever go along with what everyone else is doing, so this is the first time

I’ve ever seen something like that…” Yuigahama didn’t run away. “Sorry.

I’ll do it right next time,” she apologized, looking right back at Yukinoshita.

This time Yukinoshita was the one left speechless, silenced by

Yuigahama’s unexpected gaze. This was probably a first for her. Surprisingly

few people will apologize after being rationally and logically informed that

they are wrong. Most people would just turn bright red and snap.

Yukinoshita looked off to the side and combed her hair back with a hand.

She had an air that said she was looking for the right words but couldn’t find

them. Man, she sucked at ad-libbing.

“Teach her how to do it right. And you listen to what she says,

Yuigahama,” I said, breaking the silence between them, and Yukinoshita

exhaled a short sigh and nodded.

“I’ll show you how to do it first, so try doing it exactly as I do.” Rolling

up the sleeves of her blouse, she cracked an egg and beat it. She sifted out a

precisely measured amount of flour and mixed it thoroughly so as not to let it

clump up. Then she added in the other ingredients: sugar, butter, and vanilla

extract.

Her skills were simply incomparable to those demonstrated by Yuigahama

a moment earlier. The batter was done in a flash, and Yukinoshita started

cutting out the shapes of hearts, stars, and circles with cookie cutters. There

was already a sheet of wax paper on the cookie tray. She carefully laid the

dough onto it and slid the tray into the preheated oven.

After a short wait, an indescribably sweet aroma began wafting out.

If the prep work is perfect, the results should be, too. And sure enough,

the freshly baked cookies were a beauty to behold.

Transferring them to a plate, Yukinoshita swiftly presented them to us.

The cookies, baked to a pretty golden brown, were each no doubt worthy of

being called cookies. They were very well made, just like Aunt Stella brand

cookies. I took one gratefully.

Depositing it in my mouth, I couldn’t help but break into a broad smile.

“These are so good! What color is your patisserie?!” My honest opinion

slipped out.

My hands wouldn’t stop. I put another in my mouth. Delicious, of course.

I’d probably never get another chance to eat a girl’s handmade cookies, so I

took advantage of the opportunity to toss yet another one down the hatch.

Those things Yuigahama had made hadn’t been cookies, so they didn’t count.

“These are so good… You’re amazing, Yukinoshita.”

“Thank you.” Yukinoshita smiled without a trace of irony. “But you

know, all I did was stay true to the recipe, so I’m sure you can make them

just like mine, Yuigahama. If you can’t, I think there’s got to be something

wrong with you.”

“Why can’t she just give that guy these?”

“There wouldn’t be any meaning in that. Come on, Yuigahama. Let’s give

this a shot.”

“O-okay. Do you really think I can pull it off? Can I really make cookies

like you do, Yukinoshita?”

“You can, if you stick to the recipe.” Yukinoshita did not neglect to add

that warning.

And so began Yuigahama’s revenge.

Yuigahama went through the very same process and the very same steps

that Yukinoshita had with her dough-over… Get it, dough-over, because

they’re cookies? That was some sweet wordplay. The cookies would likely

be sugary when they were done, too… Get it? Because I made a sweet pun?

But…

“Yuigahama, not like that. When you sift the flour, draw a circle with

your hands. A circle. Do you understand? Didn’t you learn that properly in

elementary school?

“When you mix it, hold the bowl firmly. The entire bowl is spinning, so

it’s not mixing at all. Don’t spin it around. Move it like you’re cutting

through the batter.

“No, not that! Forget the ‘subtle flavoring.’ Put in the canned peaches and

such another time. And if you add that much water, it will kill the batter. It’ll

be liquidated!”

Yukinoshita, the Yukino Yukinoshita, was stumped. She was exhausted.

When they somehow got the dough in the oven, her shoulders sagged in a

heavy grief. There was no sign of her usual attitude, and sweat beaded on herforehead.

When they opened the oven, a fine smell that much resembled the one that

had come before wafted out. But…

“It’s not quite the same…” Yuigahama’s shoulders drooped in dejection.

Upon tasting, they were indeed clearly different from the ones

Yukinoshita had just baked. But they were good enough to be called cookies.

They were a lot better than the briquette-like objects she’d produced before. I

would’ve been quite willing to eat them like normal cookies.

But it seemed as though neither Yuigahama nor Yukinoshita was satisfied.

“How can I teach you in a way you’ll absorb?” Groaning to herself,

Yukinoshita tilted her head.

Watching them, I suddenly realized what this meant. Yukinoshita was a

bad teacher.

Put simply, Yukinoshita had talent, but because of her talent, she didn’t

have the slightest understanding of how the talentless felt. She couldn’t

comprehend their failures.

Saying Just follow the recipe was like telling a math student You just have

to use the formula. Someone bad at math doesn’t even get what the formula is

for in the first place. They can’t grasp how the formula will help them reach

the answer. Yukinoshita couldn’t understand why Yuigahama didn’t

understand. Putting it that way makes it sound as if Yukinoshita was at fault,

but that wasn’t the case. Yukinoshita had done everything possible. The

problem was the other girl.

“Why won’t it go right? I did it just like you told me!” An expression of

sincere bafflement on her face, Yuigahama reached out to take a cookie.

To say that really smart people always make good teachers or that they

can reliably explain things in a way that any idiot could understand is a lie.

No matter how you instruct a disappointment of a human being, they’re still a

disappointment, so they won’t get it. No matter how many times you do it

over, you can’t shore up that deficit.

“Hmm… They really are different from the ones Yukinoshita made.”

Yuigahama slumped, and Yukinoshita held her head in her hands.

I took a bite of another cookie as I watched them. “Look, I’ve been

wondering this the whole time, but…why are you trying to make such good

cookies?”

“What?” Yuigahama gave me a look that said, What’re you talking about,

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