Eda swirled the mixture in the metal bowl, his thoughts muddled.
So why don't you cook blind, Shinomiya said.
He was being sarcastic, he didn't mean it-- there's no sense in holding it against him when there was no way he could've known how hard it hit him.
He sighed.
(She cries into the table, her hands shaking. She should know this, she should know this-- she should know how to do this, it's muscle memory-- so why? Why is everything not turning out well?)
He piped the buttercream, delicately, gently-- and each petal of the pink cream formed a rose. Humming lightly, he set the cupcake on the counter, and moved on to the next one.
(She burns her hand on the oven door, because she'd misplaced her mittens. She ruins the chocolate she's tempering, because she can't see, can't see, can't see.)
He poured the chocolate glaze generously over the cake, arranging a row of cranberries along the rim, sprinkling nuts over the top. He let the icing dance across its corners, and masterfully, topped it off with a chocolate flower.
(She swipes her hand across the counter, and delights in the way everything just shatters to pieces, falling into indescribable pieces on the floor.)
He took out the tray of cookies from the oven, sliding in the next batch of batter before adjusting the heat, and then he let the machine start.
Taking off his mittens, he set them on the counter. He moved to the fridge, and prepared another round of icing.
(She tears herself apart, laughs into madness, because she's lost everything.)
And he continued baking into the sunlight, because his sight was all he had left.
-
"What is all this?!?"
Fumio-san woke up to a whole bakery happening in the kitchen. Batches of cupcakes and cookies went in and out of the oven, and the boy in charge was still making more, as if hypnotized by a dead baker's soul.
Eda froze shock still, hands still half in the air.
He dropped the tray he was holding.
Then he panicked.
"I'm sorry!"
Fumio marveled at the sheer amount of pastries. There hadn't been such an avid patissier in the dorms since before the Golden Age, so it was a bright change.
"I'll replace all the ingredients, I promise!" he was still so flustered, near tears, but his hands are moving like an expert across that cupcake, setting the icing in a little bouquet of white and pink flowers.
YOU ARE READING
BiTTER (Shokugeki no Souma Fanfic)
FanfictionFumi lacks a lot of things. He's Taste-deaf. He's blind to most smells. He did not have the strength and culinary imagination many of the aspiring chefs in Tootsuki had. But he had experience, enough for a whole lifetime past. - Shokugeki no Souma ©...
