didn't know what Mukuro was up to, but this was the perfect chance. And he'd been worrying about how to keep the older boy from the kitchen.

should be able to work uninterrupted like this.

waited until dinner was over, and the kitchen liberated for his use. He ran upstairs to grab the recipe and came back down.

checked through the ingredients he needed, made sure that he had everything, and read through the instructions twice just to be sure.

wasn't confident about the baking and the brushing parts, though. But he had the entire night to engage in a bit of trial and error.

got more than the required amount of each ingredient, too. And if he really couldn't cut it, he figured that he could ask his mom for help.

thought that that would be his last option, though. He didn't want to bother his mother, and--

wanted to be able to say that he was the one who made everything by hand...

decided that he'd just have to take the plunge and see for himself if he could cook easily given the right motivations.

carefully rolled up his sleeves and went to work.