On the first day of their winter break, which fell on a freezing morning, Neesa accompanied Moira as she navigated her way to Kenta’s apartment just a few block away from Green Lily Academy. Moira gingerly rang the bell and a tall man in his mid-twenties with hair dyed ash gray opened the door, wearing what looked like oven mittens. Neesa and Moira tried their hardest to suppress their giggles.

“You must be Moira and Neesa! I am Kenta. Come in, I do not want you to be frozen! Don’t mind my mittens, I have been making muffins for breakfast. You can have some!” Kenta’s voice sounded melodic and Moira was surprised because she had expected him to sound like Lee Kinoya, whose voice was deeper and more masculine. Neesa, on the other hand, was occupied with thought of getting to sample some yummy muffins to even care about Kenta’s effeminate voice. Kenta motioned for the girls to give him their winter coats and he hang those in the closet in the hallway. Kenta’s apartment was toasty, the electric fireplace gave off an inviting atmosphere and the pale blue walls gave off a cozy, positive vibe that reminded Moira and Neesa of sunny sky. The smell of muffins filled the air and enticed the girls.

“These muffins are my own recipe, you know. I make them gluten-free. Not because I have lactose intolerance or anything, but because I found almond flour and coconut flour on sale yesterday and they happened not to have any gluten. So, are the muffins good?” Kenta chatted away as his guests stuffed their faces with the desserts.

“These are delicious! I can taste the vanilla and the banana. You use real bananas?” Neesa complimented Kenta, hoping that she would be able to take some muffins home.

“Yeah, you are very observant. By the way, Moira, you have not said anything. Don’t be shy. You are going to be my apprentice, so feel free to ask me about my work. Do you prefer if I just tell you tomorrow when the apprenticeship officially begin, though?” Kenta was a bit worried that Moira did not like him or did not like the muffins.

“Oh, I was just thinking about what Lee said about you. He is right, you are definitely a nice guy. So, do you always bake pastries and sweets or did you just do it occasionally?” Moira finally spoke up after being silent.

“I have been into baking and cooking ever since I was a kid. At first, it started as a way to make friends. My mom said that people would like me if I give them gifts, so I thought I would try to forge friendships by bringing my classmates homemade gifts. Some of them accepted my gifts graciously but some did not want to accept those just because they thought I was being weird. I suppose I was weird, but I did not hurt anybody so I never stopped baking. I actually got into Blue Orchid on a baking scholarship, did Lee mention that? I study plants not only because I am fascinated by their biology but also because I want to know how they can be exotic ingredients for my cakes and breads,” Kenta cheerfully went into his background.

“Is that what you want me to help with, then? Cataloguing plants and see if they taste good enough to be put in cakes?” Moira wondered.

“Not necessarily. I want you to become my photographer! I need good quality photos and you can be the camerawoman. I also need you to fertilize the plants as I will instruct you later and if you are up for it then I also want you to spray them with organic pesticides. I am busy with revising my dissertation, so while I focus on my revision I need you to do those errands. Think you can manage just fine?” Kenta outlined Moira’s responsibilities.

“Sure. So, this plant that you have been studying, is it edible?” Moira inquired.

“It is actually an alternative to baking soda! So yeah, technically you can eat it but it is awful on its own. This plant is finicky, though, it only grows in cold climate and once it blooms it dies so I have to harvest it on its prime. Oh, I forgot to mention its name! It is called Crimson Yeast because the color is like cherry and the smell is like mushroom. Unlike mushroom, though, Crimson Yeast does not grow from a spore and is not grown on a log, it grows from seeds and is grown on ice. It grows so fast, though, it blossoms just two months after it sprouts. My research deals with figuring out what causes such a fantastic growth rate,” Kenta said while bringing back the muffin trays and plates to the kitchen counter.

“Is there a reason Crimson Yeast only grow in White Banyan and only in this town, out of all places it could grow in? Maybe in addition to cold climate it needs certain nutrients?” Nessa chimed in, having filled her tummy with the vanilla-banana muffins.

“The ice in your town is unique and can’t be found elsewhere. The ice contains high level of salt. I know that most plants don’t need salt, but this is an unusual plant we are talking about. I know from my research that Crimson Yeast use salt to heat up the ice cube it grows on without melting the cube. As for why this plant grows on ice instead of regular soil, that remains a mystery I seek to solve in addition to my question about its phenomenal growth rate,” Kenta launched into a detailed impromptu lecture, which would put most people to sleep but intrigued Moira and Neesa even more—Neesa because she thought this would be great information to tell Aunt Zoe, who loved gardening, and Moira because she thought it would help her paint the Crimson Yeast with more accuracy. Moira wanted to add another painting to her growing collection.

“How come I have never heard or seen a Crimson Yeast, then, if it grows in my town? Gosh, I feel like I have been living under a rock!” Moira was embarrassed of her ignorance.

“Aw, c’mon, don’t frown, not everyone is a budding botanist. Now that you do know, you can use this as an opportunity to start paying attention to the local botanic scenes. I know that your specialty is not in botany, but you are still what, seventeen? Your interests can still change,” Kenta patted Moira’s knee affectionately. Moira squirmed in her seat, hoping nobody noticed but Neesa had sharp eyes.

“Moira does not like being touched on her knees, she said it gave her an unpleasant sensation,” Neesa warned. Kenta smiled sheepishly and pulled his hand back quickly.

“Sorry, I should not have been too buddy-buddy with you,” he was flustered.

“It’s okay, you couldn’t have known. It is just that I am sensitive to certain touch and some types of touch can be painful. It’s just that my neurological wiring is atypical,” Moira said.

“Right. So, Lee said that you need to find two more jobs to qualify you to be a worthy candidate in his research fellowship program. I happen to know the family who runs this town’s library. The mom and I were good friends back when I was still completing my Master’s. I do not know the dad that well, but he seems like a decent guy. The daughter is your age, Moira, and she is training to be a librarian just like her mom and dad. I think the family wouldn’t mind training another girl in library science, though. What do you think?” Kenta changed the subject abruptly, partly because he still felt guilty about the incident and partly because Lee had asked him to guide Moira without making her feel that she had it easy.

“I guess I wouldn’t know if I like library science before I try, would I? Yes, please introduce me to this family of librarians!” Moira’s enthusiasm was evident in the way her eyes sparkled.

“Good. Well, I guess that’s all for today. Tomorrow at fifteen past eight I will bring you to see the Crimson Yeast, Moira, and the day after tomorrow we can go to the library. Neesa, you can come too if you want, but I guess you have your own plan?” Kenta stood up and unlocked the front doors while the girls put their winter coats back on.

“I have promised a friend to go see the movie tomorrow, apparently those early bird tickets are so cheap, but you guys have fun and maybe one day the three of us can go watch a movie too!” Neesa waved her hand goodbye at Kenta.

The snow fell even harder than when they left home, but Moira and Neesa did not mind. Moira was joyful because, aside from the thing with the knee, her interaction with Kenta went well. Neesa was content too because she found Kenta to be a good baker and she hoped she could eat his muffins more often now that Moira became his apprentice.