if anyone is doing nanowrimo but doesn't want to use the OG website because of their stance on AI (or just wants a year-round motivator to write), i've got a trackbear leaderboard you can join <3
for those who are unaware, it's a website where you can track the amount of words you write daily, and if you join a leaderboard, you can see yours compared to other writers'. you can count any project toward your word count - original works, fics, academic papers, etc, and there are no social aspects or servers needed to participate in a leaderboard
(🏷️) paring(s): Kageyama x gn!reader
(⚠️) warning(s): just a single cuss word bujiuhiubji
(🔖) word count: 2068 :’)
(💌) note from Yami: repost bc when i posted it before it flopped really bad 😃
“Hey, Tobio!” you called from the kitchen, peeking your head out to look at him. He hummed in response. “Can you come bake these cupcakes with me?” surprisingly, he paused the recording from one of his games and walked over to you and into the kitchen. You could already feel the excitement start to bubble within your core.
You had to ban him from entering the kitchen without you for a month because he almost burnt the house down trying to cook something himself. He’s still banned because you truly can’t trust him after burning the ramen.
“I found this really good looking recipe online! I really wanna try it out with you!” you pleaded, knowing he wouldn’t be able to refuse. You showed him the recipe, scrolling through the steps and pictures, “those do look good..”
“Exactly! That’s why you should make them with me!” Tobio pondered for a second, before nodding, agreeing to bake them with you, “yAY-!”
You took another look at the recipe, making sure you got everything you needed. “Okay~ i think we have everything.” you said, placing your phone on the counter.
“First, we have to preheat the oven and line the cupcake tin with 12 cupcake cases,” you turned around and walked out the kitchen, coming back with a grocery bag you had gotten previously. You took out a small pack of red and white cupcake cases, placing them on the counter and putting the bag away for later. “Open these and place one each into those,” you pointed at the cupcake tins, “I’ll preheat the oven.” the setter picked up the bag and opened it as you headed over to the oven.
You watched closely as he placed the cases into the tins, accidentally placing two into one of them, however, you didn’t really care. As long as he wasn’t burning anything this time around.
Although, you do wonder how he could mess up such a simple task..
You set the oven to 180 degrees and picked up your phone, scrolling to the next step.
You read the next step ‘cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy’ you get out the butter and sugar you had gotten beforehand and throw it into the mixing bowl, using your hand mixer to cream it.
You notice Tobio watching intently at what you’re doing, probably noting the circular motion you’re using to presumably mix everything evenly.
Though, you already know this is information he’ll forget overnight, considering it’s not in any way related to volleyball.
After mixing for a while, you looked back over at your phone, reading the next steps. ‘then add the beaten eggs one by one and the vanilla extract, mixing well between each one to ensure the mixture does not curdle.’ “hm, okay~”
You took out the eggs you had previously done and poured it in bit by bit, mixing well in between each one like the instructions said.
Afterwards you added the vanilla extract, mixing that in just as well.
“What’s that?” Tobio asked, looking over your shoulder. “Vanilla extract. It adds the flavor, Tobio.”
“Oh.”
You scrolled down to find the next steps, reading them out loud despite knowing your boyfriend would have no idea what you’re talking about.
“Sift in the flour, cocoa and baking powder and carefully fold in until just incorporated, do not over mix. Then add the red colour and carefully mix until distributed evenly through the batter.” the instructions read.
You got out the flower from the grocery bag you placed to the side earlier, opening it up and pouring some out into a bowl.
You opened up the drawer and got out a swifter, handing it to Tobio.
“Hold this above the mix.”
“That’s it?”
“Yup!”
You positioned his arm exactly where you wanted him to hold it and proceeded carefully pour the flour into it
“What does this do?”
“It gets rid of all the clumps inside the flour, see?” you said as you pointed to a small bump inside he was sifting. He nodded in response
“Try shaking the swifter a bit, the flour won’t just unclump itself~”
“Oh.”
He gently shook the swifter as you instructed, making a bit of a mess but doing much better than you expected. You continued to pour in a little more until all the flour in the bowl was neatly sifted, leaving only a few more stubborn clumps inside the swifter.
You got out a spoon and used it to smooth them down, not wanting to waste any flour, even if it was only a bit.
“Now the cocoa powder~”
“There’s more??”
You laughed at his comment while getting the cocoa powder out of the bag, also taking out some baking powder while you were at it.
You then poured both into separate bowls, getting ready to sift them aswell.
The two of you managed to finish sifting the last of it and added the red food colouring, giving it the velvet look you were going for.
You washed your hands and began to fold the mix with your hands, using a continuous pattern to make sure you mixed and folded everything neatly and evenly.
You noticed how Tobio was watching very closely, probably still trying to learn. You find it cute how attentive he is for you.
“Okay, i think it’s done!” you say as you head over to the sink to wash of your hands, looking back at Tobio to make sure he doesn’t fuck it up.
“What do we do now?”
“Put it in the tins,”
“….?”
You jokingly roll your eyes and pick up your phone, reading the next step,
‘Spoon into the cupcake cases until they are 2/3 full then place in the oven for 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean and the cakes are springy to the touch.’
You watched the confusion twist on Tobio’s face, already knowing you would have to simplify those instructions for him.
“Use this spoon to put the batter into the cases you already finished, don’t fill them all the way though.”
“Oh, okay.”
You watched his movements closely as he did what you instructed, not exactly perfect but nothing too bad. Not cases weren’t even and one of them wasn’t even filled half-way but nothing was being burned and that’s all that mattered.
“Done?” you ask upon seeing all the cupcake cases were filled, to which the setter nodded. You looked them over and pointed out the ones he messed up, fixing them for him, telling him to take note for next time.
Once you were done you placed the tin into the preheated oven, a wave of heat hitting your face when you opened it.
You then put a timer on your phone for 25 minutes.
“What now?” Tobio asks, seemingly eager for his next instruction.
“We just wait for the cupcakes to bake now, it should only take about half an hour.”
“Okay.”
The two of you mutually decided to watch over the recording of his game, as he hadn’t finished it yet.
You watched and listened as he over analyzed every part of the video, making comments on his team as well as the other team.
“Hinata boke’s block sucked.”
“That’s all you have to say??”
“Yea.”
You hear your phone ring, signalling that the cupcakes you had set to bake earlier were supposedly finished. You turned off the alarm and walked over to the kitchen, your boyfriend following behind.
You take out a fork and open the oven, carefully poking the fork inside one of the freshly baked cupcakes.
You slowly slid the fork out and looked at it, there was no cupcake on it, signalling that they were in fact done.
You take out your oven mitts and cautiously slide the tin of cupcakes out of the oven, placing them on the stove but then moving them to the counter after closing the oven.
The sweet, velvety smell of freshly baked goods filled the kitchen air as you took out the grocery bag to get the rest of the ingredients you needed to finish off the cupcakes.
You looked over to your phone and read over the next steps
‘Whilst the cakes are cooling you can make the sugar paste hearts. Knead the red and white sugar paste icings and to make pink add a small amount of red to some of the white and knead until the colour is uniform, repeat until you have the desired shade of pink. Roll the icings out on a surface dusted with icing sugar until they are about 2-3mm thick, then cut out different sized hearts using heart shaped cutters. Put them to the side on some baking parchment to set whilst you make the rest.’ step six read.
You got out the red and white icing and did as the instructions said, re-reading them every once and a while to make sure you were doing everything right.
Once you got everything the way you wanted it, you took out the heart shaped cutters, placing them in order from smallest to largest.
“Okay, this is simple. Use these heart shaped cutters to make hearts with the icing sugar, then place them on this, okay?” you pointed to a sheet of parchment paper,
“Oh. Okay.”
You watched him do it for a while before coming to the conclusion that he was doing everything right, so you looked over the next step
‘To make the buttercream, place the butter and icing sugar in a large bowl with the vanilla extract and start to beat together slowly to start with then increase the speed and beat until the buttercream is light and fluffy. You can add a few drops of food colour here if you wish.’
You get out some extra butter and place it in the bowl along with icing sugar, and begin to mix it with the hand mixer, starting slow but increasing the speed every once and awhile.
After about 5 minutes of mixing, the buttercream was ready.
You decided not to add any food colouring, just to keep the red velvet look.
You looked over at Tobio to see he was almost finished with the hearts, seemingly only having a few more to go.
Relieved you only had one more step to go, you scrolled down and read it over.
‘Pipe or smooth buttercream onto the top of each cake using a piping bag or palette knife, then place the rolo on top. Add sweets as extra decorations if desired.’
You got out a plastic bag and spooned the buttercream into it, twisting and cutting the tip of it, making it into a piping bag.
Tobio watched closely as you started icing the still fresh batch of cupcakes, taking note of the slow yet swift circular motion you used to make it into a perfect swirl.
“Can i do something?” he asked, awaiting your next order.
The line ‘Add sweets as extra decorations if desired.’ from the recipe rung in your brain for a moment.
You carefully placed the homemade piping bag on the counter and got out some red and white sprinkles you had gotten, opening them and handing them to him.
“sprinkle these to the top of the cupcakes I add the icing to, not too much though.” you sprinkle some on as an example, giving Tobio the rest of them to continue, to which he nodded.
The two of you continued working your magic, finishing your cupcakes no more than 8 minutes later.
You looked them over to make sure they had enough sprinkles, which to your surprise, they did.
“Wow! These look so good!” you say, taking out your phone to take a picture.
“Can i eat one?”
“Of course! You helped make them, didn’t you?”
“well…..yea.”
“Then have one!! These are ours to enjoy!”
Without hesitation, the both of you each grabbed one of your cupcakes, peeling off the cupcake case and taking a bite
The red velvet flavor was immaculate, truly blessing your taste buds in a way no other food has in a while.
“wOW- these are really good!!” you smiled “thanks for making these with me, Tobio!” you said, tightly hugging him.
“I… w-why wouldn’t I make them with you, dumbass…?”
“Mmm.. i dunno, maybe its cuz you’re always focused on volleyball~”
“Stupid boke.. You know I love you more than volleyball.”
May Queen with her crown of flowers and gilded lies and lilies lies upon a mount of guilt and glamour midway upon the midsummer of her life.
Dorothy remains in Oz, there’s no place like her new home.
Her wizard is the tornado, swept her up with human contact and caring, compassion a whirlwind - swept literally off her feet - birthday birthday did the heartless tin man even recall?
May the May Queen remain joyful with her newfound family of familiars, the fruit of her labours borne not only from her grief, but from the blood of her love.
